1. What are the innovations of Isadora Duncan, Denishawn, Martha Graham, and
Cunningham. Discuss these in relation to style, technique and theory.
Many Historians say that Isadora Duncan was the first dancer to present “modern dancing” to the public. Duncan felt that the pointe shoes and costumes that ballerinas wore were to restrictive. She began to dance in a way that seemed to be more natural to her. Her inspirations came from the movements of the tress, the ocean and other forms from nature. Her techniques included hopping, swaying, skipping and running. She felt these type of movements were natural and expressive. Also, the history of the Greeks inspired her to dance barefoot and wear tunics similar to
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She would use themes relating to American life, Greek Mythology, American Pioneers and American Indians. Learning About Dance pg.63&71
Merce Cunningham was the first choreographer to not use “traditional” choreographic methods. He developed a new style of choreography. He did not believe dance had to have a certain storyline or theme. His theory of dance revolved around the idea of “movement for movements sake.” He felt that any part of the body can be used and the music, costumes design, lighting and the movements all have their own identity. He thought a dance can be about anything , just as long the main idea is about the human body moving.. In his dances he uses “chance” and “indeterminacy” methods. He uses these methods because he feels it helps him to break old habits and create exciting and new movements in dances. By using these methods what a dance is one night might be something else by the next night. Learnig About Dance pg.65-66
2. In depth discuss one of these artistic personas (one of four). Include the art themes, and society of the time, as well as the particular contribution to dance history.
Modern dance began in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. It came directly as a revolt,what was understood as the “restrictions” of ballet. Isadora Duncan, (1877-1927), is given the credit of being the first dancer to present “modern dancing”. Other dancers, such
The history of ballet dates back to the 18th century starting with Baroque dance. Fabritio Caroso da Sermoneta was a famous Italian Renaissance dancing master. He was born around 1526-1535 and died around 1605-1620. His dance manual "Ballarino" was published in 1581, with a subsequent edition, significantly different, Nobiltà de dame, printed in 1600 and again after his death in 1630. In the 19th century there was the pre-romantic, romantic and the classical ballets. Anthony Tudor deserves an honorable mention for his choreography and teaching. Pre-romantic ballet occurred sometime circa ?? up to 1831. The romantic period covered the early to mid 1800's. This era also introduced the calf-length dress. A few of the great Romantic dancers were Marie Taglioni, Fanny Elssler and Carlotta Grisi. The tequnique became more developed, but the role
At the end of the 19th century, ballet was the most prominent form of dance. However, to Isadora Duncan, "ballet was the old order that needed to be overthrown, an embodied symbol of all that was wrong with oversymbolized 19th century living" (Daly 26). Duncan believed that the over-technical, over-standardization of ballet was not what dance should be about. Her vision of dance was one of emotions, ideas, social betterment, and the complete involvement of the body, mind, and soul (26). With these ideas in mind, she began to create a new form of dance; what she referred to as the "new dance" (23), and what is now known as modern dance. In creating this new dance, she was inspired by composers such as
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.
In the third section Ms. Donna Wood looks like an African goddess and her body has an unexpected gracefulness. Even stage color was bright reddish, warm atmosphere around the dancer, like a sunrise in the morning. Stage would fill with colors. Music and performer are singing together. A sound of music tempo gets faster. She has the happiest face ever, no pain and no slavery. She jumps, she swings her leg and arms, and even she pulls her dress up and shows her leg an entire dance. Sound and lightening create the environment and good mood. She uses high level of dance than in previous two sections. She moves in between melody. I liked how she uses
As ballets were about telling stories or formulating movements, modern dance broke the rules and started to focus more on individual expressions. Loie Fuller (1862 – 1928), Doris Humphrey (1895-1958), and Ruth St. Denis (1877-1968) were pioneering women who took a stand and used their dance performance to speak up for women’s rights. Using dance, they significantly contributed to the Feminist movement in which they embraced self-expression and creativity so that women could be acknowledged in the dance field and in the society as a whole. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, they found for women’s rights by “taking dance to a new form, and creating dances to speak directly and intimately to the viewer” (Au 89). Loie Fuller, Doris Humphrey, and Ruth St. Denis demonstrated the transformation of dance with their innovation of costumes and stage lighting, incorporation of foreign cultures into performance, and creation of natural movements and individual expression that rejected the formal structures of ballet to deform a woman’s body, allowing women to be free from stereotype of a traditional woman.
Ballet started in the late 1400s during the Renaissance. When Catherine de Medici who married King Henry the second of France know for throwing large parties. These parties would last for 8 hours straight of music, food, dancing and other entrainment. These
Discuss the influences which affected the development of the movement style of a practitioner from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. You should refer to appropriate examples from Revelations to support your answer.
On April 24, 1903, one of the founders of American modern dance was born to parents who emigrated from Russia. Helen Tamiris, originally Helen Becker, grew up in New York, New York on the Lower East Side. In her lifetime, she danced, choreographed, and helped initiate modern dance. Later in her life, she moved to the “Great White Way,” otherwise known as Broadway, to choreograph many shows.
important foundation in understanding the broader scope of how dance can be seen as a
Something I found interesting is that Ballet was actually FIRST introduced during the Renaissance time and Modern dance history in Europe actually started with Renaissance (http://www.ducksters.com). There were also several new dances that were invented at the time (http://www.dancefacts.net). Music and dance were actually the main forms of entertainment (http://www.ducksters.com). However, dance quickly rose to importance among art and science (https://socialdance.stanford.edu). Unfortunately, no choreographic descriptions of the dances survived from the 14th century, the Renaissance time (https://socialdance.stanford.edu).Most dances were actually a passionate form of flirting. The actual true purpose of the dance steps were flirtations (http://dance.lovetoknow.com). Dance was considered as much a part of education as reading or eating with a knife or fork (http://dance.lovetoknow.com). Dance was mainly to socialise (http://www.streetswing.com). These are some interesting facts I learned about the past of Renaissance
Dancing is a recreational activity that has been enjoyed by millions of people for centuries. There have been countless styles of dance and thousands of memorized steps that have been performed in front of people or even just simply enjoyed alone without and audience. When a handful those thousands of steps come together, it creates a routine. Even though there are countless dancers that are breathtaking when they perform the routine in front of and audience, most dancers cannot be proficient without someone to assemble those countless steps together to create something awe inspiring, beautiful, and entertaining to watch. Dance is a world of constant change due to the want of awe, the need to produce something unique, and the necessity to catch the audience’s attention. Although many people believe some dance styles have not changed for centuries, innovative choreographers flip dance styles upside down with their unique approaches.
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.
The movements were very specific and showed the story of the dance. The partners used many movements that contained many body
These dances eventually evolved to include praise songs and myths that were enacted by trained dancers and actors. By the end of the 5th century BC, these dance dramas were part of entertainment and provided social and political commentary on the times. Amongst the Romans, dance waxed and waned in acceptance by the powers that ruled. Until 200 BC, dance brought life to Roman processions, festivals and celebrations. However, in 150 BC all of the dancing schools were closed as Roman nobility considered dance as suspicious and even dangerous activity of the masses. Dancing has come a long way since ancient times. But there are still some similarities. When people thought up these dances they were trying to express themselves, their emotions, their problems and beliefs. Today we do the same thing. We make up dances according to our attitudes, beliefs, thoughts and feelings. The future will also contain dances that will reflect that society. There are many different kinds of dances. There is ballet, line dancing, slow dancing, the list goes on and on. Some of these dances are slow. Some of them are fast. They all use different type of instruments. Each dance representing a time, an event, an expression or feeling. Each dance expressing something different. Dances will never die. They are too interconnected in the
The first reason why teachers should integrate dance into education is that dance increases students’ attention and reaches students of different learning types. One study was done to determine whether lessons that incorporate movement were effective at generating student’s situational interest. They compared the outcomes of movement and non movement lessons in second and third grade reading and math classes. The teachers provided one week of lessons that included movement and one week of lessons that did not. Students were asked to use their bodies to illustrate specific concepts they were taught. At the end of the study, the teachers rated students’ interest levels, and they found that students were more excited by and engaged in the lessons that integrated movement than those that did not. Surprisingly, they also found that the dancing did not hinder the amount of content learned during the lesson (Lindt and Miller). Dance could be a