preview

Christopher Bruce Ghost Dance

Decent Essays

“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 …show more content…

“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

Get Access