Canada’s Prima Ballerina: Karen Kain
Zoe Valbuena
N.Francis
CHC2D1
12/19/17 The National Ballet of Canada, a classical ballet company established in 1951 by Celia Franca, hosting repertoires from a range of traditional pieces to pieces developed by Canadians in modern era (Crabb, National Ballet of Canada). As of today, its artistic director Karen Kain; a former ballet dancer herself, has lead the company to its successful status as a prideful arts organization (National Ballet of Canada). Kain was a well-renowned dancer of her time, her technique in movement and good sense of musicality lead her to an all-time high in her career, continuing to dance past the age of 40. Being respected amongst many, Kain paved the way for contemporary
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"When I grow up I am going to be a ballerina. I could go out every night and dance. I will be in Giselle. It will be so much fun being a ballerina" (Library and Archives Canada). Words she stated as a child soon became a reality, in 1962 Kain was enrolled into the National Ballet School of Canada (Library and Archives Canada). Eventually, she would dance under the National Ballet of Canada in 1969, and debut in 1971 as the Swan Queen in Swan Lake. With her hard work, determination and rise in popularity, this would lead her to be casted in many other dances, most notably Giselle (Doob). With her retirement in 1997, Karen Kain closed her doors for dancing, but would later return to the scenes as the National Ballet of Canada's artistic director in 2005. …show more content…
At the time, ballet was only gaining a general Canadian audience until the 1930’s, where it truly embarked (Crabb, Ballet). Due to Karen Kain’s success, it raised the awareness of the National Ballet of Canada, and gave others a new perspective of dance being that of a lifestyle and a serious career path. In her autobiography, A Movement Never Lies, she states; “For Michelangelo, the human body was an instrument for the soul, the noble means by which we reach towards God... To understand the ancient belief that the true artist is possessed by some power, some spirit.” (Kain) Now as an admirable icon among many has used this to her advantage, she is the founder of the Dancer Transition Resource Centre, helping aspiring dancers transition into their careers more smoothly. The Karen Kain School of the Arts is named after her, in honour and tribute to her feats and contribution to Canada's artistic dominion (Doob) . She's truly made an impact on those who which to excel further into a path in arts, and has pushed others to make their dreams come
Ballet has been an art form since the late fifteenth century, but society did not truly see the impact of ballet until the nineteenth century. Modern day thinkers possess the idea that ballet began with tutus and pointe shoes, but it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that this opinion was observed. Ballet has come a long way. It has survived the turmoil of many wars and has changed itself by accepting new ideas and impressing the audience with its unique stylistic views.
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Rachel Dein is a London Based artist, who studied Fine Arts at Middlesex University . She is most famously known for her tiles made of cement and plaster featuring molds of flowers. She currently runs and owns the Tactile Studio in North London to support herself and her three children. Before setting up her own studio, but after going to art school, she decided to take up an apprenticeship at The Royal Opera House and later branched out to other theaters to continue her prop making career including The English National Opera, The West End Theaters, London Transport Museum and Selfridges Christmas windows. Her time in prop making allowed her to explore her love of theatre, film, and opera while expanding her knowledge of 3d design. She also enjoys gardening, which is where she has gotten some of the materials for her craft.
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In the 20th century, ballet started to experiment and movement. It was due to its Russian
Ballet is an athletic art form that utilizes muscle control, flexibility, and physical strength. It requires extreme discipline from the dancers and takes an extreme amount of mental concentration. This discipline causes dancers to have success throughout life and specifically in academic studies. There are many ways that dance can affect the success of a person’s life; however, there are two in specific that make dancers generally more successful. To begin, ballet causes dancers to be self-motivated workers; dancers cannot rely on others to push them to be better, but must have the drive within themselves.
Li’s passion for ballet shows on and off stage through his arabesques, flexibility, fouettés, grande jeté and pirouettes that were nothing less than perfection. I understood that becoming a dancer requires commitment, passion and having a great memory as there’s many moves, routines and ballet terms that you need to learn. When I was performing on stage, I felt free and that I could own the stage as it felt like it was my second home. I also felt complete within myself just as Li felt. To perform on stage, you need to be light and graceful along with connecting to the music using precise steps, poses and formal gestures. The film used dance, music, scenery, and costumes to portray a story characterised by Li’s dance. Classical ballet dancers require the utmost grace and I’ve found that you also need a tremendous level of concentration and memory. This portrays when his choreographer Ben Stevenson asked Li Cunxin to replace the main male role due to an injury on the day of the performance to memorise new dances and perform them in front of an enormous crowd. Many of my performances have been in a group where we all need to be in sync and work together. This film highlighted that in order to become a professional ballet dancer, you have to prepare to work extremely hard no matter how gruelling the schedule is in order to
Many people are shocked by her height, she is 5’2! She also even danced with Prince in December of 2010 to his song, “The Beautiful One.” San Francisco Ballet had offered her a scholarship, but she had declined. At ABT, she has to practice 8 hours a day 6 days a week! The most strangest fact about her is that she was born with her knees facing backward, which mostly affected her injury back in
Boston Ballet's internationally acclaimed performances, world-class school programs, and ground-breaking community outreach programs have made the institution a leader in its field and one of the major dance companies in the world with a 52-year history of promoting excellence and access to dance.
...he ballerina both physically and narratively drew focus to the increasingly vital role of the supernatural, unattainable woman in ballet. The spectacle of Romantic ballet could not be so exuberant without its visual presentation in scenery and dance style, yet the pinnacle of Romantic ideals became the woman in her ethereal, supernatural presence. Giselle was built as a vision of Romanticism as changes in lighting and illusion centralized around her plotline, floating, skimming dance steps enhanced her ethereal qualities, and the narrative of the ballet itself projected her as an unattainable, otherworldly being. She was an isolated spectacle, both mysterious and alienated. The ballerina became the epitome of awe and mystical beauty in reflecting these Romanticism ideals. The ballerina was the most effective expression of a supernatural presence in Romantic ballet.
Her accomplishment lead to her promotion to principal rank the same year and introduced her to Frank Augustyn. Kain and Augustyn danced many acclaimed performances and won numerous awards, especially with the help of Soviet-trained dancer Rudolf Nureyev. He took a “special interest in Kain and Augustyn, and helped accelerate their rapid ascent to fame as Canada’s favourite dance partnership, ‘the gold-dust twins’.” From 1973 and 1984, Kain toured the world with Nureyev and appeared in several “guest engagements.” Her successful dancing career lasted longer than most ballerinas, and Kain continued performing after the age of 40. She produced a farewell tour across Canada and retired as a full-time principal dancer in 1996. Two years later, she returned to the National Ballet, with the title of artist-in-residence, and in 2000, became artistic associate. She “focused her efforts on coaching the dancers, staging select works from the repertoire, fundraising and contributing generally as a member of the senior executive management team.” Kain was named Artistic Director soon after James Kudelka resigned from the position in May of
The new dancers wanted their movements to be authentic and to tell a story. An example of this is Isadora Duncan, a dancer and choreographer of the 20th century, when “in 1904 [she] established a school in Grunewald, Germany (and others in France and Russia), in which pupils were trained through gymnastic exercises and encouraged to express themselves through movement” (Kassing). Duncan inspired dancers to unravel themselves in their own movements, and to use the music and nature as a muse: “My art is an effort to
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At the end of the 19th century, ballet was the most prominent form of dance. However, to Isadora Duncan, "ballet was the old order that needed to be overthrown, an embodied symbol of all that was wrong with oversymbolized 19th century living" (Daly 26). Duncan believed that the over-technical, over-standardization of ballet was not what dance should be about. Her vision of dance was one of emotions, ideas, social betterment, and the complete involvement of the body, mind, and soul (26). With these ideas in mind, she began to create a new form of dance; what she referred to as the "new dance" (23), and what is now known as modern dance. In creating this new dance, she was inspired by composers such as Beethoven, Nietzsche, and Wagner, writers like Walt Whitman, scientists Darwin and Haeckel, her Irish grandmother, and ancient Greek culture, as well as the spirit of America and its people (Duncan 48, 54). It was a combination of these influences that helped her to create the most expressive, soulful dance known today.
Ballet is a popular dance form that originated in the 1500s around the time of the renaissance. It consists of many different forms that have evolved over the years. Some examples of these forms include French Ballet, Vaganova (Russian Ballet), Cecchetti (Italian Ballet), and Balanchine. Ballet forms and variations originated mainly from Italy, Russia, and France. However, today, many different forms of Ballet exist. Despite the many different variations, all Ballet has certain things in common. It is an effective form of exercise, requires special equipment, contains many set principles, and can result in specific injuries.