The “Perfect” Dancer Body Imagine this. You’re getting fabulously dressed and ready to see a performance of Swan Lake at Carnegie Hall. You have been earnestly waiting for months to watch what spectacular talent and beauty awaits. The hype of going to see this show in person has put you in a daze. You finally get into your seats and wait for the curtains to open. At this moment you are about to jump out of your seat and rip those curtains off the latch. They finally open and a ballerina playing the role of Odette appears in her stunning outfit. She gracefully walks out onto the stage, and the show is about to begin. The orchestra starts and you 're beyond ready to see her elegantly sweep the audience away with the beautiful ballet dancing. …show more content…
Flexibly is just one of the many things that takes time to achieve in dance. The majority of dancers actually start when they are rather young giving them a head start on this nearly impossible task of literally tearing the muscle and then strengthening it to achieve the sense of perfect body lines when performing, for example, a penché. It’s not an easy task. It’s a task that is painful and is expected to be painful. The dancer gets used to the feeling of sore muscles and learns to push past the pain and go a little deeper with the stretch, one rep farther with some crunches, the extra step to get that much farther to “perfection.” Is this a healthy mindset to keep or is this causing ballerinas to have eating disorders, unnecessary injuries, or mental health …show more content…
You will most likely get kicked out of class if you show up to a professional ballet company class without your attire on. The reason for wearing this outfit is so that the instructor and the dancer can see their body lines and easily correct the mistakes that the dancers make and have a better understanding of their body shapes when working at the barre or going across the floor with combinations. On one hand, the use of ballet clothing makes for a great way to correct your mistakes, but on the other hand is it too much? There is an article of writing written by Brena R. Price and Terry F. Pettijohn II where they address the issue of “The Effect of Ballet Dance Attire on Body and Self Perceptions of Female Dancers.” (4) In the article, they mention that the use of mirrors and ballet attire hinders a ballet company’s performance in class. Since most ballerinas spend hours and hours criticizing and critiquing themselves, they can cause mental problems like eating disorders and a lack of self confidence. The reason for this being said is that it shows an unnecessary amount of pressure for a dancer that can cause severe problems for them down the
The dance was divided up into three different choreographed parts. The plot of the ballet was revealed through the different stages. In the first stage, there were tw...
Throughout the years, America has pursued the performing arts in a large variety of ways. Theatre plays a dramatic and major role in the arts of our society today, and it takes great effort in all aspects. Musical Theatre, specifically, involves a concentration and strength in dance, acting, and singing. This is the base that Musical Theatre is built upon. For my Senior Project, I helped choreograph multiple scenes in a community musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie”. Choreography is a way of expressing oneself, but it has not always been thought of for that purpose. Agnes de Mille’s expressive talent has drastically affected how people see choreography today. Agnes de Mille’s influence in the world of dance has left a lasting impact in the Performing Arts Department, and her revolutionary works are still known today for their wit, lyricism, emotion, and charm.
From the time when Anna was a child, she had an active imagination and love of fantasy. She believed these aspects of her personality are what drew her to the world of ballet. Although her family was poor, her mother was able to afford a trip to the Mariinsky Theatre to see the ballet production of the Sleeping Beauty. After seeing this performance, Anna was so amazed and inspired that she decided she wanted to become a ballet dancer herself. Anna’s mother supported her every step of the way and did what she could to make her daughter’s
Ballerinas will never improve if they fall back into old, mundane, and routine habits. They must push themselves outside of their comfort zone in order to build stronger muscles, increase flexibility, and dance with increased grace. This self-motivation to be better helps dancers to be more successful in school, due to the fact that they have the inner drive to study, get the
On November 12, I had the incredible experience of seeing Ballet West’s Production of Madame Butterfly. I am so grateful for this experience because I was the first time I had ever seen a ballet performed. I enjoyed the evening immensely, and hope to be able to attend more ballets in the future.
Young girls and women symbolize femininity with being a ballerina. Kelso comments that in the shadows of the spotlight lurks an abusive world of eating disorders, verbal harassment, fierce competition, injuries, fatigued, and malnourished dancers (Kelso, 2003). In today’s world of ballet, dancers suffer from always being in pain, worrying their body image is not the right look they need to have to get lead roles resulting in the development of eating disorders, and male ballet dancers are stereotyped as being homosexual when most of the male dancers are in fact heterosexual.
Lancioni, J. (2006) Cinderella Dances Swan Lake: Reading Billy Elliot as Fairytale. Journal of Popular Culture, 39, (5), page 718, 723.
The typical idea of a dancer is that they are tall, slender, full of energy, and lucky because they dance with all of the “stars”. Much of this is true, however, what many people do not think of are the many hardships that a dancer goes through in order to achieve their high status in the dance world. It takes much hard work and determination along with good direction to become a dancer. However, nothing good comes without a price. Dancers often times have many pressures put on them which can lead to physical and emotional damages. These damages occur through the pressures from the media, parents, teammates, and the stereotype that society has placed on dancers.
The author of this article focuses on the art of dancing, specifically ballet. This ballet shares many plot elements with other
Ballet is a beautiful and romantic type of performance art. It originated in the Italian court systems in the 15th century (Jonas). Since its origination, ballet has undergone many changes and gained worldwide recognition. Filled with elaborate costumes, cheering audiences, lights, weightless movements and beauty; ballet is admired by many. On the magical stage ballerinas can become whoever they wan to be, and perform in a world of fantasy. For these reasons, children, especially little girls, all over the world dream of becoming ballerinas when they grow up. However, becoming a professional ballerina is an extremely difficult accomplishment, in which few will achieve (Kelso 1). The world of ballet may seem to be filled with glitz and glamor but, behind the curtain there is an entirely different story. There are extreme demands and pressures put on these young dancers to be very thin and nearly perfect. Some of which include body and weight demands, competition, and social pressures. These constant pressures can lead to a negative body-image and even debilitating eating disorders (Price and Pettijohn).
The topic I decided to choose to conduct my Capstone Research on is Copyright in Choreographic Works. Choreography is “Choreographers use dance performances to express ideas and stories. There are many types of dance, such as ballet, tango, modern dance, tap, and jazz (bls.gov). Choreography is also something that should be made from the heart, it’s not something that should be taken from someone else because at that point, it wouldn’t be considered your choreography and it wouldn’t be something you made from your own mind and creativity. Dancing is something you have a passion for and you show your emotions through your movements, so there shouldn’t be a need to copy. The problem now is, many choreographers are starting to steal choreography
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
Dance is my favorite hobby when I was a child. I used to watch dance concerts on TV shows, but I had not even watch it on stage. On April 08th, 2016, I attended a dance concert called Make Your Move like an audience. It was performed at John Anthony Theatre – Spring Creek Campus of Collin College. The concert consists of many styles of dancing from different College and University such as Collin College, West Texas A&M University, and Illinois State University. Three performances that I like best were Intus, 9.28.11 and Havana Dream.
In conclusion, one must look more into ballet and not just see it as a form of art. Not only in our culture today is it seen as an art, but also reflective of Western ideology. Many ideals the West based their culture off of shows up in modern and classical ballet. One must learn to read and analyze such an art and not just see it as entertainment pleasing to the eye.
Many people will insist that dance is not a sport, but they are wrong. Dance, though also an art, is an intense sport, especially ballet. Sports are physically demanding, require a commitment, involve being fit and active, and are competitive and enjoyable. Ballet fits every single criterion above. A professional ballerina attends class every day, including tests of flexibility, gracefulness, and strength. Ballerinas are also continually rehearsing for their performances, which involve stressful costume changes. Nevertheless, dancers love it. Indeed, ballet should be considered a sport by all. Ballet is an old art and intense discipline that has endured for hundreds of years with a long, complex, and remarkable history including famous men and women remembered to this day.