“Ghost Dances has a tremendous impact and audiences in many countries have delighted in its distinctive rhythmic movement performed to haunting South American tunes. However, it is the representation of the oppression of ordinary people, symbolised by sinister ghost figures, which give the work much of its resonance.” (NSW Department of Education and Training)
The Ballet dance, which also incorporates movements of contemporary and South American folk dance, entitled “Ghost Dancers” sends a message to the viewer that the oppression of everyday people (based on the Chilean Coup) is well represented throughout the dance, mostly due to the movement, costumes, sets, lighting, music and overall mood of the dance. Choreographed by Christopher Bruce
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“Ghost Dancers” fuses many styles of dance including the primary style of ballet, contemporary and traditional Chilean folk dance. Ballet is the base of the dance as Bruce is primarily a Ballet choreographer. Contemporary is evident as flexed feet and bent arms and legs are seen throughout the performance. And Chilean folk dance can be seen in many sections of the dance with the civilians, as there are many quick movements of the feet and, as shown in the fourth section with the women, they do a movement throughout their section, which consists of change of direction with their arms out. The costumes that the dancers wear are also significant. The costume that the 'ghost dancers' wear is based on the Native American legend of the Ghost Dance or Natdia. This spiritual dance was performed during the late 1880's, when things were bad and the Native Americans needed something to give them hope. The dance reached its high point just before the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890, where US soldiers opened fire and killed over 200 hundred Native Americans. They believed that performing the ghost dance would later reunite them with their ancestors along the line. The civilians' costumes represented that of everyday people. They all had different clothes on and of the three different classes of people, lower, middle and upper class. This gives a representation that during the coup that no specific class was targeted and that anyone could be a
When the traditional Chilean music starts, we notice the ghosts immediately look USR (Up Stage Right) which is where the villagers enter from at a later time of the dance and every 10-15 seconds, they look back, in hope of finding the villagers arriving. Whilst the ghosts are dancing to the traditional music, they go against the timing of the music, to show ignorance towards the Chilean culture and no respect for the villagers, for they will be killed soon. Also, the lighting that was used for the performance was dark at the beginning, to represent a dark cave, and as the ghosts are alone, the atmosphere is nothing but darkness and despair. But when the ghosts realised that the villagers were coming, the stage lit up, as if
Ghost Dance: A ritual dance by the Indians to become one with the spirits of the dead and unity between natives throughout the whole region. It’s to also bring peace and prosperity to the Indians. Wounded Knee Massacre happen because White settlers felt threaten when they heard it and thought it was some sort of sign of war between the Indians and the settlers because of how long they did the ritual.
The Wounded Knee massacre of 1890 was a battle fought between the Sioux (a Native American tribe), and the U.S. government. The U.S. government was worried about the “Ghost Dance,” a dance that Natives performed in a hope that their Gods would create a new world without Indians or non-believers, because it
“Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, an excerpt from Moving History/Dancing Cultures: A Dance History Reader, was written by Brenda Dixon Gottschild. Gottschild is a well-known author, dance historian, performer, and choreographer as well as a professor of dance studies at Temple University. She has also written multiple books including The Black Dancer Body, Waltzing in the Dark, and Digging. In her article “Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, Gottschild explores the similarities and differences in the characteristics of Africanist and European technique, and how they draw from each other.
Mauro Bigonzetti choreographed the first performance, Deep. This contemporary piece infused African influences that focused on togetherness of the human community. As the dancers brought their arms and legs together in a crossing shape towards their hearts, they expressed love and togetherness. Also, the angular movements with a contrast between sharp and smooth complimented the effortless lifts and breathtaking moments that made the audience wonder how they execute such strength and grace. Also, the choreographer’s use of modern music with a twist of African influences was a great mesh between tradition and modern day.
Sally Banes is an American writer and dance historian and critic. She is also a professor of theater history and dance studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Banes has written multiple books and contributed to many documentaries and films. The book Moving History / Dancing Cultures, which Banes contributed to, includes the article “Choreographic Methods of the Judson Dance Theater”. This book was published in 2001.
As we all may know slaves underwent a time when their humanity was taken from them when they came to the Americas. But even though their humanity was taken from them they still managed to carry on a tradition that still lives on. This tradition is dance. Over the years dance has developed and become more modern but it is still has the influence from African dance.
For the purpose of this project, I have chosen the Puerto Rican Bomba Dancing as my artifact. This artifact is not something you can physically hold in your hands or go to a store and purchase, it is intangible and yet pure. It represents a culture and embodies the idea of freedom. Unlike most dances where the person follows the rhythm, in Bomba dancing, the dancer leads the drummer with the tap of their feet and movement of the hips and shoulders. The parties involved mostly dress in white with the females wearing plantation style outfits and head scarves. The lyrics sung normally evoke a sense of freedom and an escape from the hardships of slavery. (Bomba, n.d.). The most important elements of Bomba Dancing are the lyrics, the drums and the traditional outfits. The combination of these 3 elements truly enhance the experience. Moreover, Bomba dancing is one of those things that the medium of experience should be in person. This is due to it having the potential to take you back in time to the 17th century where you
It is clear, that the Ghost Dance doctrines were all about peace and trying to cooperate with white settlers, it still ended with the Wounded Knee Massacre. Antecedents started in September of 1890, when the Ghost Dance interfered in the reservation daily routine: the dancers did not obey the Indian police or their agents (Andersson 46). It was shocking for the whites and agents alike that all of the authority collapsed, the agents words flouted and armed Indian police were not able to execute their orders (Maddra 46). The excitement grew in Sitting Bull’s camp, despite Sitting Bull was sceptical about the dance because he held to traditional beliefs and could not embrace a faith based on the teachings of Christianity (Maddra 34). By October
Given that this “visit” was more like a virtual experience, I was still able to access a couple of my senses, just as if I was at the actual exhibition. Through the use of anecdotes and detailed images, I am able to see all of the personal experiences an individual had while practicing a particular dance and what it meant to them. In this exhibition, there are ten different dances displayed, including the: Yup´ik Yurapiaq and the Quyana (Thank You) Song Dance, Yakama Girl’s Fancy Shawl Dance, Cubeo Óyne Dance, Yoreme Pajko’ora Dance, Mapuche Mütrüm Purun, Tlingit Ku.éex ' Entrance Dance, Lakota Men’s Northern Traditional Dance, Seminole Stomp Dance, Hopi Butterfly Dance, and finally, Quechua Danza de Tijeras (Scissor Dance). All parts of the exhibit were insightful, but the two that sparked my interest the most were the Yup´ik Yurapiaq and the Quyana (Thank You) Song Dance and the Quechua Danza de Tijeras (Scissor Dance).
In the first section, Desmond focuses on “movement style and meaning” (pg. 31). She explains how movement is learned through our communities. In some locations, some dances may be seen as proper because that is what they learned in their community, but if performed in another community, those people may see their dance as “improper.” Desmond provides the example of how in the nineteenth century the waltz was seen as “too sexually dangerous” when introduced in North America and Europe. Their reasoning
All Indians must dance, everywhere, keep on dancing. Pretty soon in next spring Great Spirit come. He bring back all game of every kind…all dead Indians come back and live again. They all be strong just like young men, be young again. Old blind Indian see again and get young and have fine time. When Great Spirit comes this way, than all the Indians go to mountains, high up away from whites. Whites can't hurt Indians then. Then while Indians way up high, big flood like water and all white people die, get drowned! After that, water go way and then nobody but Indians everywhere and game all kinds thick… (Wovoka, The Paiute Messiah qtd. In Brown 416).
Reed argues that as gender is performative, performance studies highlights the gender issues visible in dance (1998: 516). The unconnected cross cultural examples of the rituals of Cuban Santeria, Greek Wedding, and the Weimer performer Anita Berber illustrates how dance can used to analyse how performance challenges, as well as enforces gender relations and power structures.
The Paiute's had a special dance that they would do to honor someone. The dance was called the ghost dance. The dancers would wear a ghost shirt and they would make them selfs look like a
Moving History/Dancing Cultures is a collection of dance related essays and articles by various authors. The book was published in 2001. The article “Searching for Nijinsky’s Sacre” was written by Millicent Hodson. Hodson is a well-known choreographer and lecturer. She has also reconstructed multiple ballets; her most famous being Le Sacre du Printemps, originally choreographed by Nijinsky. As the title suggests, Hodson’s article is about her extensive research of Nijinsky’s Sacre, and the importance of remembering, preserving, and recreating such revolutionary ballets.