The 1960’s - Rooster

The 1960’s - Rooster

In expressive arts we are studying the theme of the 60’s. In our

lesson we watched a dance called “Rooster”.

Rooster was created for the Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve and

first performed on October 10 1991 at the Grand Theatre de Geneve,

Switzerland. It was first performed by Rambert Dance Company on 8

December 1994 at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle. Christopher Bruce (the

choreographer), wished to celebrate the music and to use the qualities

of the song to reflect the "sexual war" between women and men that he

felt was revalent during his teenage years. He compared the image of a

strutting cockerel with its fine feathers and the men dressed up to go

out. Rooster is a creation of the 1960’s by using music, dance,

gesture and costume to create the feeling of a Saturday night out.

My first impression of the dance was very strange, as it opened with a

man moving across the stage in a very strange way. A style of walk

that the man did was a move where he slid his feet along the floor and

jutted his head forward. This move reminded me of a bird, and was

actually named the “rooster strut”. There are about 10 people in this

dance, but there are 2 main dances throughout. I believe it shows what

a normal night out in the 60’s was like.

The costumes are very significant to the dance. The women wear a mini

skirts, this relates to the 60’s because this was very fashionable at

this time. It is a combination of black and red. This contra...