Nijinsky Western Dance

All six dances in the ‘black and white’ ballets are based on sexuality. The male

Dance is found in all cultures. It is considered a way to communicate without talking. During the Renaissance period, ballet was considered a Russian specialty. The highly qualified and sought after dance companies would tour the world performing in front of those who had never experienced ballet before. By exposing ballet to the United States of America, the Russians inspired and sparked a demand for legitimate ballet in America. It took place throughout the 20th century, currently known as the Russo-American Era.

Unlike traditional ballet The Rite of Spring featured sharply bent arms and legs that focused on barbarian depictions of life rather than the elegant, graceful representations used in conventional ballet. The violent dance steps depicted fertility rites, which is what provoked the earliest interruptions during the ballet. While Nijinsky was creating the dance for the ballet, Roerich was creating the setting and costumes to accurately portray this sacrificial rite. The use of such primitive pagan images were something that the people were not accustomed to. It was a topic that the world was not yet ready to deal with. But the visuals of the ballet were not the only historic part; the music had an even greater impact.

The main topic of my research paper is comparing and contrasting the difference between Chinese Classical dance and European Classical ballet. The questions I will develop in the paper included as follows.

Whether we look at a romantic ballet like La Sylphide or a classical ballet such as Sleeping Beauty, audiences are constantly mesmerized by the gracefulness and weightlessness of the ballet dancers. They seem to defy the laws of physics, which is greatly possible due to the use of the pointe shoe. However, many masterworks that were created in the Romantic era did not solely rely on the pointe shoe to help convey messages. Instead, the choreography, dancers, scenic elements, subject matter, and music all helped shaped masterworks such as La Sylphide, Napoli, and Giselle. Similarly, in the Classical era, these elements all played a role in shaping famous ballets like La Bayadere, Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake. But once we take a closer look at these ballets from the Classical era, we can see how much ballet evolved. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the Romantic era was the stepping stone for this pure art form that we have been able to preserve for more than 160 years.

In “Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, Gottschild begins by introducing unique aspects of the Africanist aesthetic including how it embraces differences and instead of the traditional European idea of resolving conflict, Africanist aesthetic presents a question and demonstrates the beauty in accepting conflict. One way in which the Africanist aesthetic differs from European ballet is how they utilize polycentrism, having multiple centers of movement, and polyrhythm, when different body parts keep multiple rhythms. Other ways include the high-affect juxtaposition, changes in mood, movement, or tempo, to the drastically contrasting sharpness and intensity in the movements. Gottschild’s main point in her article is to describe how the Africanist aesthetic is much less strict

Listening to Music class has taught me a new way to listen and enjoy music. I have learned how to differentiate the melodies, rhythms, and instruments in a song. It has also introduced me to different genres in the music world, aside from what is usually played on the radio. I can now attend any concert, listen to any genre, or watch any ballet and easily recognize the many specific aspects the music being played has. Ballets are very interesting to me. The audience is able to enjoy the music being played as it is telling a story, and being acted out through the performer’s body language. In the two ballets, The Rite of Spring and The Nutcracker, a great story is told in both referencing the many great dynamics music has. These two specific ballets are written by different composers, and each one of them have certain conditions they were written under. As well as different receptions, popularity, and development. The Rite of Spring and The Nutcracker’s differences has made some sort of an impact in the performing world back then as well as now.

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

Dance critic Théophile Gautier states, “Nothing resembles a dream more than a ballet...” (Anderson 77). The effortless technique of the ballerina paints most ballets as exactly this. Consequently, there is more to a ballet than technique and dancing. Different types of ballets and their structural components separate one ballet from the next. It is important to understand the difference between the two main types of ballets: Romantic Ballet and Classical Ballet. Romantic ballet in the 19th century differs from Classical ballet in the 20th century structurally, technically, and socially. The two dance forms also vary in costumes and narrative. However, with all of those differences, they both use ballet technique for a specific purpose.

The history of ballet is rich, complex and full of powerful meanings depending on the time period. Ballet in the 15th century was seen as something that only select individuals could do, whereas, the 20th century ballet can be preformed by anyone. By thinking about how ballet performers have changed, a question may be thought is, have the people attending these ballet performances changed as well as the performers themselves? Today, children from ages two and up start taking ballet and family members come and watch their final recitals. National ballet companies are also an event and often draw attention to the higher-class individuals who have a taste for ballet. The ballet world could be seen as to having a quite array of attendees, events and functions, but that might not have always been the

The music of Stravinsky has always been “ahead of time” in the way of using new and different ways of presenting music. His early ballets such as Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring being a great example of his modernism and will to compose music which is both innovative and shocking. For this essay I have chosen to write about The Firebird (1910) and The Rite of Spring (1913). Firebird was Stravinsky’s first Ballet and his first composition that reached many people because of its modernism and exoticism. The Rite of Spring is still renowned for its portrayal of primitivism, a concept that was accentuated by the riot that happened at its premiere.

The production of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring was made, to recreate the performance of the Paris premiere. Although, many people did liked the premiere, about half of the people did not like it. At the beginning of the ballet many people did not like the severe, and rigid music aspect of the ballet. They were used to the original ballets, with the smooth, peaceful music and the clean lines. Even with the disagreement about the ballet, it didn’t hinder it, they continued doing the performances overtime and many of the people who originally didn’t like it came to actually really enjoy it. My first reaction to this ballet was that the music, which was very dark, was very interesting/weird considering that all the other ballets that I knew of

Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring is a representative work of avant-garde music. Consisting of 16 dances, the work features primitive, pagan rituals celebrating the arrival of spring, where a young girl is sacrificed by dancing herself to death. Most dances have an abrupt and violent ending, emphasising the unpredictable, primal character. The stomping cluster chord, based on a bi-tonal combination of E♭ superimposed on an E major chord is the focal point of the whole work. Stravinsky’s experimental character is highlighted by the use of cross rhythms, the sheer force of dissonance, constant changes of accents and metres, and the exploration of various orchestral colours and sonorities.

“The Rite of Spring” first premiered as a ballet set in Pagan Russia. In its first version, by Vaslav Nijinsky, the ballet caused rioting and controversy in the theater when it premiered in Paris in 1913. The music, by Igor Stravinsky, is intense and uncommonly powerful. The audience was so shocked by the discordant melodies and the pounding, turned-in choreography that was performed on stage that they began to shout during the performance (Hensher, “The Rite of Spring- a rude awakening). The ballet’s main theme is the sacrifice of a young woman to the gods of spring.

To begin the first chapter, Kant gives an introduction to the history of German modern dance during the early 20th century. She briefly discusses major figures who revived and influenced modern dance in terms of technique, expression, or social elements. Kant goes into depth on the Era of Labanism. Not only did figures including Rudolf von Laban, Mary Wigman have an impact on dance, but Russia greatly influenced dance in Germany mainly from the many Russian refugees fleeing as a result of WWI. The multiple new ideas developing in German dance created a sort of “new dance”. As dance continued to progress, Labanists, followers of Laban who supported the reinventing of dance, strayed further from strict Classical ballet and began exploring new forms. After reviewing the current state of dance in the early 19th