Personal Narrative: My Trip To The Mariinsky Dancers

For the past six years, I have been dancing at Shirley Matta Dance Academy. I have been taught many dances of different variety such as jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, etc. The studio has recently begun offering Pointe classes, which I also attend. In addition to attending the studio, I also assist in teaching dance and gymnastics classes there. This has been an experience that I will never forget, especially since I spend most of my time at the dance studio. It has helped me in so many ways. Not only have I improved immensely as a dancer, my communication and leadership skills have skyrocketed as well. In fact, every Tuesday, I currently teach ballet to a group of about fifteen girls between the ages of 7-10 year all by myself. In

As world has changed over the last century or so, the ballet world has been changing with it. There are many people who have helped shape that change. The changes in style were mainly influenced by George Balanchine. George Balanchine, a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer, also known as the father of American ballet, was the man who was said to have changed the style of ballet forever. Along with these changes in style came changes in visual design elements, inspirational figures, and changes in what the ballets themselves tend to rely on. Many of the features given to ballet in Russia in the 15th and 16th century still remain to this day, but many features have been altered to fit . Let’s take a closer look at what features truly

Petipa’s production of Swan Lake is a beautiful example of the structure movements that dancers must perform; in the clip titled Odile entrance & Black Swan pas de deux, you see “The Black Swan” perfect posture and balance, dancing on en Pointe all the while managing to gracefully seduce the prince through her seductive movements and entrancing expressions. In contrast Modern dance focus is on the dancer expressing their inner most emotions and feelings through free flowing movements. The modern dancer uses their whole body more naturally and fluidly to convey what their current emotional state is, unlike classical ballet where the ballerina at all times keeps an upright posture, and performs with structured, angular lines. Martha Graham’s “Frontier” is a great example of the free movements of Modern dance; In this performance Martha Graham uses her whole body to move to the rhythmic sounds of the drums and music, you can clearly see that there is no confined structure in this performance, she is completely moving organically to how she is feeling and what she is trying to convey through her movements.

The year is 1923. There is this very small, quiet, and amazing town in Ohio called Otway. In this town there is a small white two story house with a beautiful garden as a backyard. In this house lives a 12 year old brunette haired girl named Myronetta June.

On the Saturday morning that the team was announced, I was wracked with fear. I was participating in a rehearsal for a dance competition with another team during the hours leading up to the time that the list was going to be posted. Trying to get through that rehearsal was nearly impossible as my attention was more focused on what color nail polish would best match my new Chiefettes shirt that I would be wearing to school on Monday. Once my mother and sister arrived to pick me up from the studio, I shook nervously in the back seat, sending messages to my other friends, waiting to find out the news. Both my mother and my sister remained silent, but I knew that they were praying just like I was that I would see my number on that list. As we

Dani Raznikov DANCE 1310 – Chapter 5: Ballet Mikhail Baryshnikov • Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov was born in 1948 in Riga, Latvia (USSR). He started practicing in the Riga Opera & Ballet School when he was 12. Few years later he moved to St. Petersburg (then Leningrad), the home of many prestigious ballet schools and theaters. He was accepted into the Vagarova Academy of Russian Ballet - one of the most respected ballet schools in the world. • Baryshnikov received his first major award in 1966, winning a gold medal in Varna dance competition.

The phone rings. My mom steps up from her worn office chair and grabs her cell phone.

Although their styles of dance are notable to mention of these adept dancers it is also imperative to mention their contributions to the ever expanding dance world. It all commenced with them defecting to other countries. If they would have remained in Russia, their contributions would be non-existent. However, the process of defecting was not an easy task. It did not have the fun of sipping coffee while reading the newspaper on an airplane waiting patiently to reach your vacation spot. Defecting was a life and death situation for them.

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.

While watching the video “Ballet, Sweat, and Tears,” I noticed that the Ballet teachers in Russia are more strict and severe than the ones in America. The teachers at the Russia academy yelled a lot and physically touched the students, while here I America that is not allowed. In my opinion a difference that I saw was that the students over at the Vaganova Ballet were not lazy at all. The students from the Russian academy were more focused and traditional. Russian ballet also focuses on moving the body as a “whole,” their moves are more controlled and precise. They also tend to focus on flexibility and endurance as well as the positions of the arms. I also noticed that the students attending the Vaganova academy were more willing to make sacrifices. And example, would be the little girl that stated that she has not been able to watch television for over two months now. Now, the typical student here in the United States tends to be lazy and usually has a careless attitude. I know the students over here in America would not wake up at six in the morning just to keep practicing, especially in today’s generation. While, I also watched some ballet videos from the school of American Ballet I saw that the diet is not as firm as the one from the Vaganova Ballet Academy. Many people have also stated that compared to the Vaganova Ballet Academy the school of American ballet is a breeze. A major difference that I saw was the performance while the Russian ballet performance was precise

Ballet, a word that many people find un amusing or even easy to do may get you wrong. Although this may seem true to much of the population to the naked eye, what you are actually experiencing is much, much different. Too the audience, today many people are not big watchers of graceful ballerinas leap into the air watch them do the many turns flawlessly, and for some reason, this seems easy to them.

On May 21, I visited the Boston Opera House to see the Boston Ballet perform “Swan Lake,” with my mom and my sister. The music was by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, conducted by Jonathan McPhee, and played by the Boston Ballet Orchestra. It’s no surprise that after more than 100 years, “Swan Lake” is still considered one of the most beloved of all classical ballets. It was set to a dramatic, tunefully memorable score by Tchaikovsky and was based on a fanciful folktale full of love, magic, betrayal, and promises of salvation. Last night’s performance was one I will never forget. The music was graceful, elegant, and breathtaking. My favorite scene was when Prince Siegfried fell in love with Odette, the Swan Queen, as she appeared from mist of the

Mikhail Baryshnikov early teens, he lost his mother to suicide. He felt so much pressure and depress that he choose to start studying ballet. Mikhail mother was a big fan of ballet , and the boy quickly made up for lost time. In 1964 , he joined the leading international ballet school . In 1967 , he entered the world most famous classical ballet company also known as “ The Kirov “ now known as the “ Mariinsky”. In reality, the ten years spent in his homeland were the most frustrating of his life, as the artist in him chafed against the rigidness of the Soviet state. His Russian parents , Baryshnikov ostensibly began his life in exile. His mother, who introduced him to ballet at the age of 9, committed suicide when he was 12, causing him to fall back completely on himself to develop the singular focus of the committed dancer. The purity of his ballet technique, his talent , the virtuosity of his split leaps and cyclonic pirouettes that did not compromise it and the fullness of his ambition combined to make Baryshnikov the preeminent dancer in the 20th Century. His appearances in movies and his high-profile romances heightened his allure and turned him into the first electronic-media ballet star, his fame surpassing that of the groundbreaking Rudolph Nureyev, who had preceded him. Dance had made him get fit and actually try to achieve his dream. At age 12 , he would find dance as his entertainment , sport, fun

An extracurricular activity that I have had the pleasure to take part in for the past five years is the Greenwood College School dance team. Starting off as a new and young member of the team, I often faded in the background and followed the instruction of senior students, showing up to practice and doing the dances as told. During my first two years, in addition to being in various senior choreographed routines, I choreographed a dance alongside girls in my grade, an experience that gave me a basis of teamwork skills including compromise, commitment, open mindedness, reliability and creativity. After I became an experienced member of the team, the coach offered me a position as the team coordinator which I happily accepted. For the past two

In literature, the relationships between characters are crucial to fully understanding the tone and meaning as a whole. It is through the the contrast of healthy relationships and those which seem to be toxic that a story can explore characterization. In the short stories “Ballet” by Pete Fromm and “A Wanderer” by Josip Novakovich, the relationship between characters were on the brink of destruction, which adds immense amounts of conflict to the plot and leads to their characterization and development. For example, in “Ballet”, the young narrator attempts to mend his parents strained relationship, due to his father’s infidelity, causing their family dynamics to be originally deemed doomed. Likewise, in “A Wanderer”, fourteen-year-old Neda