Reflection Paper On Ballet

The first experience of watching a ballet, for me or any little girl, can be fascinating and exhilarating. Wondering how a dancer can be so steady on her toes as she spins in circles and leaps through the air. Watching a ballet, there is a feeling of wanting to be graceful, as well as the warm sensation felt by a little girl as she slips into dream land. My mom had taken me to my first ballet when I was 11 years old. When we returned home home, she signed me up for classes at the local dance center. The expectations to become a prima ballerina would involve much hard work and concentration. I knew when I started it would take years of steady practice and commitment. Learning the history of ballet and the famous

Ballet is one of the most beautiful, graceful dances known to the dancing world. From the tutu to the pointe shoes the need to see the expression of the steps given. Being able to see how the illusion of a flying princess is one of the most mysteries that come with a ballet show. The history of Ballet has evolved into one of the most well-known type of dances in the world this is from only the men having roles in the ballet to women being able to express emotion.

To prove everyone wrong, an interest was sparked in supporting ballet to show the world that American artists are just as competence as its foreign competitors. Unlike the Russians who have already established their mark in the ballet world, Americans were not commonly associated as talented ballet dancers. Thus, in 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower set aside $2,250,00 to fund dance, theatre, music, and sports tours to showcase American talents around the world. One of the funded dance tours was a ballet tour by New York City Ballet’s in Western Europe and the Soviet Union in 1962 (Croft, p. 425). New York City Ballet was a company founded by Balanchine and Kristen so their ballet performances reflected the innovation style of American ballet while maintaining its classical grace. Before their tour in the Soviet Union, the dancers were prepared for criticism and even booing during the performance due to the tensions between the two countries. However, all political differences were pushed aside, as “three thousand Soviet ballet fans rose to their feet to celebrate

The first dance performance I will be analyzing is “Don’t Fall Asleep”. There were dark red lights coming from the top before the dance began. Overall, there were fifteen dancers. There were many different props such as a bed with blankets on top that were rolling around on stage. Also, there was an acorn head that one of the dancers wore on top of his head. The music in the background was “Sweet dreams (Are Made of This)”. When watching this performance and the movement from the dancers, the story line in my opinion was there was a girl who was trying to sleep but she kept being awaken by these dreams. Her body language, jumping in and out of bed, running around basically made you aware that she was looking or running from something. The surrounding

Everyone knows ballet has been around for many years, but not everyone knows that people rebelled against ballets structure. Ballet is a very strict type of dance unlike modern which is more free. The strictness of ballet is very different from modern because ballet watches your every move like a hawk. It needs to be straight and precise, but in modern, there is no strictness to it. The moves come naturally to you as well as they can be whatever you want them to be. Most of them are just made up off the top of your head. There are many differences, but there are also similarities. They involve emotion and costumes, but they still relate. Modern is a very free type of dance, so is ballet, but the two have many things that are not the same.

When all the drills, techniques and mechanics become a part of your system, you'll be performing a lot more consistently compared to your performance if you don't practice often enough.

Walking into ballet this semester I felt confident and I also felt like a much stronger dancer then the past two semesters. Last year in ballet I had a lot of struggles and felt as though I was having to retrain myself. Dealing with the consistent rollercoaster that I felt I was on during ballet I lost the love and passion I had for ballet. One thing that I started doing last semester was after each class I would write down positive things I did that class. This has helped me not be as hard on myself as I used to be. Going to Italy and having ballet class with Sarah Hillmer I found my love for ballet once again. During Sara class I was able to find release with in my movements and I felt that I was only suing muscles that were needed. Last year I was using more muscles then I needed, so this was a huge accomplishment for me. Also during my experience I found that I was not holding tension in my neck and shoulders. I was ready to take on this semester so I could keep moving forward in my dance training.

Summer is a time in which children are able to forget the demands of school and do as they please. Students do a variety of things over the summer, whether they spend it at the pool, get a summer job, or simply enjoy time at home. I plan to do none of those things, though. When was little I dreamed of attending the Joffrey Ballet School in New York to study dance. In January, I auditioned for the program and was accepted. So, though I am from Georgia, I will be spending the summer in New York City to study dance with the Joffrey Ballet School and could not be more excited to fulfil a childhood dream. I will not only dance from nine to five, but also see Broadway shows, such as Mean Girls and Anastasia as well as ballets from American Ballet

After seeing examples of both classical ballet and contemporary ballet, I enjoy watching classical ballet more because I take pleasure in watching fairytales come to life. Classical ballet does just that and much more. Classical ballet is generally structured on a narrative pretext. It is important that the audience has an understanding of the basic storyline so as to fully understand the complex combination of movement, music and storytelling that makes up a performance. Some ballets, like the Nutcracker or Sleeping Beauty, are based on traditional stories that are familiar even today; others are more obscure and require a greater effort on the part of the dancers and the audience to fully

Frilly tutus. The color pink. Little highly energetic six year old girls. Spins. These subjects often come to mind when a person says the word “ballet”. Unfortunately, young men under twenty years of age limit their perception of ballet to little girls spinning in pink sparkly costumes. Many do not realize how challenging and mind stretching this art is, especially when playing simple games such as charades: All that is acted out is a wimpy spin. Compared to other sports such as soccer, football, and basketball, it is just as and sometimes more difficult. Ballet is not merely an activity for girls; it is an art form that, by stretching the body's mental and physical capacities, teaches discipline.

As a classical dancer, the word "dance" has meant many different things to me. I grew up as an artist and started ballet at a late age. After I finished training I danced with multiple companies across the US. My experience on stage, and as a dancer has given me a unique view on dance and the dance community. Because of this I do not think a single definition of dance is appropriate. Instead, classical dance is better described as a combination of, art, technique, performance, and community.

Ballet aesthetic includes a slim, extend, unbroken body line from top to toes. I started my ballet life since I was 4. Body figure is always the key for a dancer to show the beauty of body movement. As a dancer, I started my path to lose weight when I was 15 years old. I tried many extreme ways.

Ballet Is for Me Ballet is for me You know who I want to be I will dance until my legs feel numb So then my body will dance like a drum

Even when ballet was so hard, I tried my best and I eventually became one of the top students in the class. I was amazed of how I got to the top. I was also the oldest one in the class which kind of felt awkward

On December 1, 2017, in the University Theatre at California State University, Dominguez Hills, I observed the fall dance concert Rise. It was choreographed by Amy Michelle Allen, Marco A, Carreon, Sarah Cashmore, Jeff Hendrix, Erin Landry, Doris Ressl Acosta, and Kenneth Walker, with the long cast of dancers. The production was pleasing, and would not have been believable without the work from production designers, Frederick Depontee and Cheryl Sheldon. Rise is played out in eight different dance routines, which were Xtra Xtra, Scar Tissue, Hart Broken, Things Are A Stirrin’, and the rest are intermissions such as Female Energy, Women, Exotica, Strength In Numbers, and Makina.