Merce Cunningham

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.

The world of contemporary dance is one that is constantly developing and pushing the boundaries of what makes dance more than just movement. However, it is questionable that it would be in this diverse state if it was not for a few revolutionary choreographers. Along with Martha Grahame is could be argued that Merce Cunningham was a pioneering, revolutionary choreographer who questioned given standards and procedures creating the diverse contemporary style that we know today. Revolutionary can be defined as something radically new or innovative; outside or beyond established procedure and principles (Dictionary.com, 2017). In order for something to be revolutionary it has to be in relation to something else, this is certainly true for Cunningham’s

The use of theatrical elements in Jiri Kylian’s dances is a defining characteristic of his style as a choreographer. He chooses to use plain, often nude coloured costumes in all his dances, for example in ‘Sarabanade’ and ‘Petite mort’, the dancers look naked. This is a personal choice and was done to reinforce his views that dance should be about ‘dancing not the costumes’. Also this nude costuming matches the

Watching a video of a dance piece called “The Moroccan Project,” choreographed by Alonzo King was quite impressive. Living in San Francisco and taking dance classes brought me to Lines Ballet which is King’s dance studio. I have seen a great deal of different types of dance at the studio waiting for my Ballet classes and there are some great dancers. It comes as no surprise that Alonzo would have such great dancers. It appears that Alonzo King is exploring different cultures in dance in Contemporary Ballet. His near-perfect choreography is articulate, passionate, and graceful- he brings diversity in dance to San Francisco and other parts of the world. This piece articulates the expression of the two dancers coming together yet dancing apart at times- it is a fusion of several different types of dances into one using video editing to create a story about the coming together of two individuals.

Every choreographer presents material in an individual manner, just as a painter paints, or a photographer snaps a picture. Alonzo King is a choreographer of collaboration, meaning he likes to collaborate with his dancers to witness their transformation of a movement and formation of it into something altogether new. Laurel Keen, a company LINES company member for nine years, until 2011, said of King’s process “after he demonstrates a phrase to us he wants to see our interpretations of it. There are nine dancers in the company so he wants to see nine completely unique versions of the same phrase. He allows us the freedom to interpret the movement in our own way and that way he can work with all the different voices and assemble them the way he wants to. It is an equal conversation between dancer and choreographer”. To develop his pieces King also gives the dancers phrases and then instructs each of them to reshape the phrases in a specific way. Laurel Keen

Mrs. Farrell’s book is quite technical when it comes to the lengthy descriptions of the dances she rehearses and performs; from a dancer’s view these varied conclusions of the types of movements she was dancing is quite astonishing. In fact, it adds a whole new level to the imagination that can come alive in a person’s thoughts when they read an expressive book. Although the technical explanations will excited, astound, and reveal how much passion and deep meaning ballet had in Suzanne Farrell’s life, but a reader, who may not be involved in the arts will be unfamiliar with the ballet and musical terms in

De Mille felt that dance should behave in relation to the world around it; that dance should not be ambiguous and abstract, but accessible and understandable (Acocella). De Mille’s choreography followed a narrative form and featured overt aspects of American culture; consequently, her work carried the potential for easy consumption by an American audience. One critic wrote of her work, “…Full of fire, even funny, and entirely free of swans!” (Acocella). De Mille’s works was refreshing in that, unlike more classical, abstract ballet, it did not perpetuate the artistic traditions of another nation’s culture; instead, it paved the way for the creation of our own artistic traditions.

The chosen elements of music, positive space in bodily contact, and stylistic dance were the aspects of this performance which contributed the most towards his narrative. After shared experiences with students who saw this performance, it seems pertinent to explore the interaction between dance narratives and innate physical somatic reactions towards them that occurred in people’s body. This sensation, will be classified as an “Autonomous sensory meridian response” (or ASMR)2 refers to the onset of tingles that travel up the spine from the back of the head due to various primary sensory triggers. Not everybody has this phenomena occur in their body, and individuals who do have

Their dancers connect with the dance tradition embodying feelings of existential human anguish and references to specific geographic places, dancing focused on surreal situations, body use and the relationships between stage and

Isadora Duncan and Mary Wigman both started with the same idea of dancing, and how they should incorporate human movement instead of ballet that was more unnatural to the body. Even though they had a similar thought about modern dance, they had one thing that made them very different, which was their choreography. Duncan pieces were lively and upbeat, and Wigmans were dark and mysterious. They both approached modern dance through a different eye. Even if they lived in two different parts of the world, “The American, as represented by Isadora Duncan, and the German, as represented by Mary Wigman,” (Cass 247), the world would then get two different choreographers that were evolving at the same time in history, which impacted the dance history.

When first assigned this final project, two choreographers immediately fled into my mind: Ohad Naharin and Roni Koresh. Since I began dancing, I have always been extremely intrigued by both the Batsheva Dance Company and Koresh Dance Company. Being raised both ethically Israeli and religiously Jewish, these two companies allowed me to feel a deeper connection that went past the movement alone. Since I was recently informed that I have been accepted to train with the Batsheva Dance Company and its founder, Ohad Naharin for a month this summer I decided to choose a different choreographer to study. I wanted to look into a choreographer’s process that I did not know much about, am interested by, and may not have the opportunity or excuse to reach out to them in the near future. I decided to study the creative process of Ronen (Roni) Koresh. I have had the pleasure of seeing multiple Koresh shows. Since I have been to numerous shows, I have begun to notice multiple similarities between his pieces; however, I am also constantly surprised by what is yet to come.

The interests of the theatrical criticism should involve telling the arts done by dancers, communicating their message, and appraising their arts. The fundamental components of the art of dance are based on the operations that the critic can perform. Some of them include the description of the dance, the feeling, interpretation of the message, as well as the contextual explanation of the dance. The transit space is one of the arts through dance that explores various themes that captures modes of culture in powerful ways. Tuesday, January 27, 2015 on the Eisenhower Auditorium I enjoyed watching Diavolo performance. This paper presents the dance performance critique of the transit space after the Diavolo concert. The paper also presents an analysis

I realized that as an artist I want to be articulate with what I do in my art, as a dancer, but especially with anything that I choreograph with the intention of showing to a larger audience. As a dancer Telford’s piece actually made me write notes in my artistic statement document, about exhaustion and its window into authenticity. Sales challenged me with the thought process within a work specifically towards your own research within context and awareness within aesthetic choices. This matinee not only exposed beautiful visceral movement, but ended up being an insightful and educational moment in time for my personal love and journey in

Post-modernist dance was shaped by Judson Dance Theatre and British New Dance in the way that they developed ideas and strategies to initiate a mini-revolution or “creative anarchy” (Mackrell 1992:7). The two groups came from different countries with different cultural backgrounds and political issues. In this essay I will be comparing and contrasting the ideas, ideologies and strategies that’s define the practices of these two groups of artists. I will also be talking about the issues they had to face and overcome to make the impact that they did within the dance world. Also, how they invited inexperienced people to classes for the first time and changed the views of many critics on post-modernist dance.

Merce Cunningham is one of the avant-gardes in the world of dance and choreography throughout his seventy year career. He had been a guide to most of the choreographers who became primary choreographers in modern times. Moreover, there are precise body movements in his dancing techniques that make him unique pioneer in choreography; also, there are various choreographic pieces by Cunningham that are still being imitated by many choreographers of our present time. Cunningham influenced by his long-term partner and artistic collaborator John Cage. The most controversial of the innovations that he and Cage introduced was undoubtedly the separation of dance from music which motivated by their belief that the both of the two arts exist in time.