Choreographer Busby Berkeley’s Contributions to Film
Berkeley’s creations were not meant to focus on dance. He envisioned an overall moving pattern, which he created by using moving bodies. He made the art of choreography a technique of design and visual mathematics, and combined this with his knowledge of film to bring his vision to life on the big screen. The skill of this multi-talented man brought Hollywood musicals to their full potential, creating a high demand for dance in films.
William Berkeley Enos was born November 29, 1895, in Los Angeles. He began his career as a choreographer in 1918 as a lieutenant in the army. Conducting and directing parades. He gained the ability to work with large masses of moving bodies to
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His camera was said to have done the dancing. It was not the individual dancers, but his quick editing cuts, multiple angles and shots, and special effects that created the brilliant movement.
Possibly Berkeley’s most memorable filming technique is his use of overhead angles. He even would drill holes in the ceilings of the studios so that he could make these shots possible. That is how he created his kaleidoscopic patterns that he was well known for.
One of Berkeley’s greatest displays of choreography is the production of 42nd Street. With the popularity of musical films decreasing around 1932, Warner Brothers decided they needed a real spectacle to save the genre. They brought in Busby Berkeley to create it. It was a smash hit, and so Berkeley was given an impressive seven year contract. Between 1933 to 1937, Berkeley created the dance sequences for almost every successful musical Warner Bros. released.
Some of his most well known productions were Footlight Parade(1933), Dames(1934), his extravagant use of 150 dancers in “Lullaby of Broadway” in the film Gold Diggers of 1935, Babes in Arms(1939), and his last film Take Me Out to the Ballgame(1949).
The life of this genius came to a sad ending. Throughout his life, Berkeley drank a lot. He also loved his mother more dearly than anyone else in the world. The combination of these loves almost drove him to insanity. After an accident caused by his drunk driving that resulted in the death of
Alvin Ailey was a famous choreographer/dancer also founder of his own dance company (AAADT). Inspired by many, (including Katherine Dunham and Horton) he began dancing at the age of 15 where he found his love for dancing. Ballet, jazz and Broadway were the three main dance styles Ailey loved. These styles can also be recognised in nearly all of his choreographies. As choreographic styles identify the constituent features, when it comes to Ailey’s work we can clearly recognise them, through the movement used.
Alvin Ailey’s movement style has been shaped and moulded constantly as he moved through his life. Whether it was personal experiences or key dancers he worked with, each individual story is told through his works and tells the story of Ailey’s life.
He started his career in the Cleveland Play House Curtain Pullers children's theatre program in the early 1940s and started to appear in early productions such as Grandmother Sly Boots, Jack Of Tarts, and a lead role in a winning production called On Borrowed Time. In 1966 he originated the role of the Master Of Ceremonies in the broadway musical called Cabaret which he won a tony
Cabaret was pulled from the pages of The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood and later on adapted into a twelve Tony award winning Broadway musical in 1966. Later on, after Cabaret became dormant in public eye, Bob Fosse adopted the musical and decided to put in on the big screens in 1972. Fosse made no mistake of recruiting large names for his movie, such as Liza Minnelli, Michael York and Joel Gray. The Screenplay of Cabaret would continue on to win eight academy awards, resulting in an almost near sweep of the 1973 oscars, and be named three-hundred and sixty-seven on Empire's list of greatest five-hundred movies of all time.
Amy Deryousefian Dance 1 Michele Jenkins 10 March 2017 Gene Kelly Gene Kelly was the king of the musicals in the 1940s and 1950s. He was an American film actor and director who had an artistic, classical style of ballet techniques that transformed the film of musicals. He boldly blended dance solos, mass movements and offbeat camera angels to tell a story in visual terms. Not only did Kelly direct and act in the most famous films, he also worked behind the scenes, breaking the ground with his choreography and establishment. Gene Kelly, earned money by teaching simple dance steps at his home, achieved his legendary status as a dancer, actor, choreographer, and director
Cole carved a clear space for jazz dance in theater and film. Others soon followed in his wake, famously Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse, Michael Kidd, Alvin Ailey, Gower Champion, Peter Gennaro, and Michael Bennett. Cole dancers more than two, but not a lot of became experts at creating dance patterns included Rod Alexander, Anna Austin, Nita Bieber, Ron Field, Malcolm Goddard, Carol Haney, Bob Hamilton, etc. But his followers could not copy his energy for movement invention, a fine eye for sculpting space, or ability to hold or do something for enriching dancing with production design. Beyond the dance world, Cole was a person that comes up with cool new ideas and fashions with a lasting effect on American culture. In his set and costume designs, he first discovered the use of bold first or most important
The play included all types of dancing, including Jazz, Ballet, Modern, Tap, and Lyrical. Most of the dancing, however, was a form of Jazz. At one point in the play a group of bugs perform a tap dance. This scene was comical, but the tapping was outstanding. Most of the actors are accomplished singers, actors, and dancers with a lot of previous experience. Many of them have attended performing art schools and not only rehearse their main role, but also understudy 2 to 3 other characters. The actors are all well practiced, which is evident in the quality of the show.
In “Strictly Ballroom” the beginning scenes of the film Baz established the conventional, elegant atmosphere of the ballroom dancing world. Using a combination of techniques such as graceful music, the
Dance is one of the most beautiful, expressive forms of art known to mankind. It expresses joy, love, sorrow, anger, and the list truly goes on for all the possible emotions that it can convey. Dance not only can express how one feels, but it can tell a story or even be used to praise a higher power. Dance has intricately played an important role to every culture over the course of time. Two forms of dance that have not only stood against the test of time but have influenced the development of other various styles of dance is none other than Classical Ballet and Modern Dance.
Jerome Robbins was an American choreographer, dancer, and innovator of the musical theatre dancing style within the 1900s. His best works feature famous names such as Barbra Streisand and shows like West Side Story, The King and I, and Fiddler on the Roof, with the man himself known for “displaying an inexhaustible gift for combining character, comedy, and storytelling in dance”, something never before done in American musical theatre. While highly proficient in traditional Russian ballet, performing in both Balanchine’s Ballet Theatre and many others, Robbins felt “stifled” by the style, wanting to create “dance about American subjects…[about] today, and how [Americans] are”. Teaming up with a then unknown composer of Leonard Bernstein, he created his first major hit of Fancy Free in the spring of 1944, “a jazz-infected ballet” piece that put him on Broadway’s radar for years to come. (Vaill)
Dance was not a new element in the theatre realm. It had been used for years as a way of interpretation of feelings of a character that the writer or director wanted the audience to feel visually. Through movement, expression of those feelings was portrayed and helped the audience to somewhat
Just when social dancing was at its height, World War 2 put a stop to its popularity. Lack of attendance, plus the intricate rhythmic patterns of modern jazz music, which were too complex for social dancing, led to the closing of dance halls and ballrooms. With the demise of social dance, the growth of jazz dance as a professional dance form began. During the 1940’s, jazz dance was influenced by ballet and modern dance. By blending the classical technique of ballet with the natural bodily expression of modern dance, jazz developed a sophisticated artistic quality. Unlike early jazz dance, which was performed by talented entertainers without formal training, modern jazz dance was performed by professionals trained in ballet and modern dance.
Dance is an ever evolving form of art; in much the same way that one can categorize and differentiate between eras and styles of architecture one can also do so with dance. These eras at times have sharp delineations separating them from their antecedents, other times the distinction is far more subtle. Traditional forms of dance were challenged by choreographers attempting to expand the breadth and increase the depth of performance; preeminent among such visionaries was Seattle born dancer and choreographer Mark Morris. Mark Morris' began as one of the millions of hopeful individuals attempting to simply make a career in dance; he not only succeeded but managed to have a lasting effect on the entire landscape of dance.
The movements were very specific and showed the story of the dance. The partners used many movements that contained many body
The history of choreography is also very important Any choreography that seems new, fresh and different is usually a variation of something that has been done before. As long as men and women have lived upon this earth, they have danced. The art of movement is among the oldest of the arts.