Mourner's Bench Analysis

always been known for the risky and powerful movements which are often why dancers retire from the company. The dancer’s movements were often very intense and emotive, such as the “throws” across the stage in which the dancers would, almost violently, launch themselves across the stage in different forms (leaps, falls and flips to name a few). Another section where the movements were emotive is where the dancers were thrusting their hips in different positions to perhaps show sexuality in “self”.

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

In the second section it represents the women fighting for their freedom. The movements are a lot more circular in this section. It uses more contractions, releasing & vibratory movements. In the first two sections, the dancer shows the struggle being not only physical but emotional also. She does this by the powerful expressions she uses on her face. She even imitates a couple of screams that play in the song ‘Been On A Train’. This gives the audience a clear understanding of the how she is feeling.

There are many different “worlds” on this planet we live on called Earth. Everyone alive lives in some kind of little “world” of their own. There is the celebrity world, the “Disney” World, “Wally-world”, lots of different sports worlds, scholastic worlds, and so many others. There is a particular world that some live in, and that is the World of Dance. When you are a part of that world, you literally live and breathe it. Every aspect of the dance culture is wrapped up in that world. To those looking in from the outside it is beautiful, filled with lights, lovely costumes, mesmerizing music, and graceful movements.

Alvin Ailey was an accomplished dancer and choreographer whose African-American heritage influenced his works in the 20th century. His successful dance career has gained international recognition and acclaim thus rendering a significant legacy. Ailey’s background as a dancer and choreographer had many strong influences from social, cultural, economic and political aspects during his early life. His African-American heritage has greatly influenced his works. Alvin was the founder of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (1958-), galvanized and stabilized an African American presence in theatrical dance. An outstanding performer, choreographer, company director, and mentor to scores of dance artists, Ailey oversaw the growth of his small, pick-up group of seven dancers into a large, carefully managed, internationally-renowned enterprise including several ensembles of dancers and a thriving school in New York City housed in the largest building devoted to dance in the United States. Along the way, Ailey changed the landscape of modern dance by developing new audiences for its performance through a consistent combination of exceptional artistry and wellcoordinated community outreach programs. In all, Ailey invigorated the art of dance with his distinctive creative imagination, his “blood memories” of cultural formations he witnessed as a child-- including the jook joint and the black church --and the strong survivalist ethic he learned as an African American man born in the

In conclusion, “Dancer”, by Vikie Sears, utilizes the devices in literature to enhance the effectiveness of the story through symbolism, dialogue, and

By swaying in the delicate phrases and jerking with the harsh ones, the performers became the dancers in the ballet. They expressed different levels of emotion when required which reflected their playing.

While the speaker has succeeded in providing an enhanced image of the performer, the act of assigning meaning to the performance and the representation used holds the capacity to limit the experience. As the speaker continues to reconfigure her strip tease into a “[graceful] and calm” artistic dance, he makes a simultaneous attempt to distance himself from the crowd, making no mention of his gender or race directly (5). However, the speaker’s attempt to portray the dancer from objective eyes falters as his

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.

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

The movements were very specific and showed the story of the dance. The partners used many movements that contained many body

My purpose for writing this research paper is to explain how dancers at West Side Dance Studio use body movements as language to express

Each performance was a contemporary dance piece showing the strength of each dancer’s movements with different props to help express the meaning of each piece. The pieces were independent from each other and had their own flow to them as well as story behind them. The dancers for each piece showed discipline in their performance as well as physical strength; as modern dance is all about having clean-cut movement in order to fully express the story.

Dance combined with film is a very interesting combination. When a dancer is being recorded on film, it is viewed a little differently than watching someone dance live. Dancing on film is recorded and it is not personally experienced, there are different emotions and messages that are sent in dance through film. This screening provides an arrangement of films presenting multiple ways of expressing feelings and thoughts through emotions. The list begins with works in which human bodies are shown in their beautiful state while dancing and conquering a variety of emotions in the older films, and transferring to more

Near the end of the piece the dancers repeat a move that slightly resembles a plank or push up with shaky arms. The movement is heavy, bound, and trapped, trying to resist giving into gravity. The quality is sharp and sudden, displaying a sense of urgency or panic. At first the tension is soon relieved when another dancer comes by, giving the person a hug and laying them down, providing a short moment of active stillness. The hug does not always work however, and some of the characters are left unsteady.