Ballet Boys is an English dance company consisting of only men. Going into the show, I expected to see a performance that had a more dominant feel than a classical ballet performance because there were no women dancers. I was wrong to make such an assumption. The male dancers were just as elegant as any female dancer. The performance was memorable because the male dancers added a new twist to ballet that I had never seen before. At times, they were explosive and strong and at others they were soft and elegant. The performance consisted of two dances, one that was said to have a theme and the other that the choreographer proposed was without a theme. I interpreted the first dance as a fight against ones own thoughts. In todays society, many …show more content…
The inner struggles were represented by each dancer. Every dancer was meant to be seen as different, controversial thought. When all of the dancers left the stage and one dancer was left, he continued with the same intriguing type of dance. When only a single dancer was left on the stage, the dancer,s mind was free from all of the controversies and inner struggles. When the other dancers made their way back onto the stage they ran into the single dancer, bashed him, threw him and left him. I assumed that the return of the dancers was the return of his inner struggles. Eventually the dancers regrouped as one interconnected thought; in their original maze pattern with their arms holding onto a single dancer in the front. A movie screen appeared before the second dance a to give us some background information about the upcoming piece. The choreographer admitted that, “we pretty much choreographed the dance in a hallway.” And also that the dance did not have a theme. After hearing this and visually seeing the dance I was immediately able to recognize this in the dance because the dancers did not move from one area to …show more content…
They both continued the original dance of “standing still tag.” After seeing the beginning of the second dance for the second time I was able to make a realization about how important the aspect of lighting is to ballet. I interpreted the dancers reaching for the light as if they were reaching for their only sense of hope. Adding a spotlight into a dark area looked like a moon but shined more like a sun. Maybe this addition of light is meant to be a sign of hope for the dancers, something they might possibly strive to
My first choice was a ballet piece named La Sylphide. La Sylphide is a story about a young Scottish man named James who is soon to be wed. He falls asleep and has an intricate dream about a beautiful sylphide, which is a spirit. In his dream they dance and he soon falls in love with the sylphide. When he awakes, he soon forgets about the sylphide and focuses on his fiancée.
Not only was it evident that the dancers had worked hard, but that ballet was truly something was inherently a part of them, so much that many of them would have had a void within them that would be hard to fill without this art form in their lives. This was incredibly evident from the outstanding choreography, and how each dancer was like a part of a clock working together to solidify the haunting story of Madame Butterfly. I also loved how each character had different characterizations to help silently establish who they were. For example, much of Pinkerton’s movements were sharp, while Butterfly’s were more slow and graceful. I also loved how mirroring was used to help establish and solidify relationships of characters. For example, in the second act, after Sharpless has read Butterfly the letter from Pinkerton, Suzuki and Butterfly have very similar choreography that works to compliment and define the strength of their relationship. I also noticed how there was very similar choreography when Pinkerton introduced Kate as his wife, as there was for when he introduced Butterfly as his wife. I think this choreography enhanced who Kate was, and how much harm Pinkerton was actually causing Butterfly by not only finding her replacement, but by taking the only thing that Butterfly could remember him by: His
The work ‘Ghost Dances’ by Christopher Bruce was viewed on 26th August, 2011 to the Year 12 Dance class. The individual interpretation of the social/political or world issue/ comment the piece is attempting to make. Using direct examples from the performance, the use the choreographer has made of the movement and the non-movement components have been identified. Also the effectiveness of this piece has been evaluated.
This section opens with the ghost dancer exiting the stage and three female dancers and three male dancers enter the stage. One female is wearing an old dirty old flowy dress that is ripped up, the second female is wearing a nice frilly red skirt and flowy white top, the third female dancer is wearing a button up grey shirt with a black mid-length skirt. As for the male dancer, one male is wearing a grey suit, the second male is wearing a nice business shirt and pants. The last male dancer is wearing an old long white t-shirt with baggy pants. These costumes represent how everyone was affected by the Pinochet regime and it wasn’t just the poor who suffered. They used folk lament which is a very happy upbeat song. They use space and levels in this section, space and levels gave structure and interest to the section. The ghost dancer return and violently grab the male dancers and throw them to the ground, and take their place in the partner work. The female dancer and male dancer are moving in unison, they run down the stage to either left or right. They then begin to do their motif, which is where they swing their shoulder forwards and backwards, and they then jump and turn around and began walking slowly in the other direction. The ghost dancers return at the end of section and repeat their motif, this motif represents victimisation (Jane Pritchard, 2000, Ghost Dances Study
In fact, by excluding God and all religious aspects the monologue can now be shared to an even larger audience than before. Continuing his speech, Jon declares, “But then I did a little research and by that I mean I researched and researched and researched over and over again and through all of my researching I keep coming up with the same exact question” (Jorgenson). At this point in the dance, the dancers are preforming a turn called a fouetté. As Jorgenson repeats himself they spin around and around; this motion is repetitive just like his statement. The actions within the dance create pictures that coincide with the words. Jon says, “when I lean on hope,” (Jorgenson) and the dancers all lean together. Throughout the entire dance this pattern repeats itself. Jorgenson verbalizes a motion and the dancers carry it out. Another example of this is when he says, “I’ll ask you again, what room does fear have when I step out of the darkness and I bask in the light”. The dancers lift their legs dramatically and step as if they are stepping out of the darkness like the quote entails. Every movement in this dance functions as a depiction of the monologue. In an interview with Jade Dowling, a dancer of 16 years, she claims that, “none of the motions in any dance are used without purpose. Whether it is to portray a certain word, action, or phrase, or if the motion is to
She bounces again in a pulsing motion, aligning her spine, kicking up her right leg, and extending her right arm far in front of her and left arm far behind her in a defensive pose. She pauses here for a second before bringing her right foot down to kick her left foot up and raise her arms in a “V” above her head. She then contemplates her right foot, dangling from her bent right leg, reaches her hands down to grab it, then releases her arms in a tossing motion. She comes back to a standing position, with her right leg raised slightly so that her foot is only a few inches off of the ground. The movements expressed in these few seconds were clearly more sudden and powerful than any of those aforementioned. This section demonstrates the anger and rejection of memories. Her swift leaps and pulsations showed the audience the reactionary side of the human psyche: the pain, the rejection, and the frustration. One can only fill in the backstory when watching “the mind” (the dancer) at work: maybe there were unpleasant memories associated with the items that the narrator was talking about. Despite what the circumstances may be, the audience is undoubtedly being shown the more angry and reactionary side of the
Every person who was interviewed had been associated with either Islam, different cultural divides or freedom of speech. Each interview was recorded and documented until some were chosen for the piece. These Interviews were then used as a script in the work. Through improvisation and different movement tasks the dancers found movement to fit and relate to the text through their bodies. This interview process inspiring the movement, may have created a deeper context behind the piece by having the context to the piece not just be an underlying element but is pushed into the faces of the audience and is something you can not ignore.
By keep combining different dance elements Merce Cunningham was seeking for intelegence in the dancer. Since the dancing for him was not about anything but the movement itself it was easy to focus on perfecting ''absolute clarity'' (Solomons, 2007, 96). The choreographer once declared about his clasroom work: '' There are so many movements that are common to any style, because we all have two legs, two arms, and a head, and they move the way they move, but the variety within that is endless'' (Solomons, 2007, 96). Having done Cunningham technique it is posible to notice obvious similarities between ballet.
They expected classical dance which was floaty and elegant but were presented with strange stamping which defied every idea of
The movement of their bodies was mesmerizing. Whatever the male dancer did, the female followed in such precise synchronization. The male initiated each movement and directed the female. Both their movements were simultaneous and occurred at the same time in tune with one another. Her hips were a live and did not harm or distract the movement.
[6] Cohen, Selma Jeanne. International Encyclopedia of Dance: A Project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc. New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Print.
Dance isn’t just a sport involving the body and its movements; instead it is a very mental process. When someone dances in their room or even on stage there are two systems in their brains working to make sure that everything goes on as planned. These two systems are always present in us but they take a unique perspective when relating to dance. System 1 is processing what is happening all around and is making sure that there are no immediate emergencies. System 2 on the other hand is either zoning out or thinking about the next step.
However, in this ballet concert, the choreographer had designed the scenes to be more like a comedy. The movement of the sisters are more amusing than cruel. For example, when they pulled each other for being eager to dance with the prince, or when they tried to hurt and bully the Cinderella, these movements are not that cruel but amusing. Even the stepmother was drunk and danced comically in the prom scene. Moreover, the movements of all the girls who wanted their feet to fit in to the ballet shoe which Cinderella had dropped in the prom are also very funny. These kinds of design successfully made the audience laugh out loud and without hurting the hearts of the little girls who went to see the performance with their
Coming together again, the dancers were even more individualized. Breaking into solos then, the group watched from afar as the solo dancer found their own way of moving, some more classically and some breaking from tradition. The piece ends with the dancers unifying, embracing one another and breathing together, representing the friendship and close bonds formed in the college
“Dance, the art of precise, expressive, and graceful human movement, traditionally, but not necessarily, performed in accord with musical accompaniment. Dancing developed as a natural expression of united feeling and action.”