The Work And Decision Making Relationships Amongst The Choreographer And The Dancers

‘For me, it is important that the work I make finds connection … but at the same time… calls into question our conversations of what dance is’ (Garry Stewart, 2010). Garry Stewart, the Artistic Director of Australian Dance Theatre (ADT) since 1999, began his dance training at the age of twenty, after leaving university studying social work. Through his explosive, energetic and electrifying style, his unique dance pushes drives boundaries empowering his works, which are technically demanding, frightful and exhausting, creating an intriguing performance. In his pieces ‘Birdbrain’ and ‘G’ a combination of classical ballet, contemporary dance and gymnastics is utilized throughout to create a fascinating performance. Stewart’s productions have toured

“What are you even doing here? I have never seen such flawed technique in all my years as a choreographer.” The words echoed throughout the medical college auditorium. Impelled by the admonishment in front of my peers, I persevered in my endeavor to improve upon my dancing prowess and by the final year of medical school was leading the college dance team. The above mentioned undertaking further spawned an interest for the discipline of Latin Ballroom which lead to participation at the national level. The unwavering focus and persistence even in the face of unfavorable odds is more broadly reflective of my approach towards learning, both academic and extracurricular. This has been instrumental in achieving stellar academic outcomes including being ranked nationally in the top 0.0004 percent in the premedical test and the top 0.6 percent in the common aptitude test for management training.

Essay Question: Compare and Contrast the movement styles of both Graeme Murphy and Rafael Bonachela as seen in Synergy-by-Synergy and 2 One Another. In your answer include how both choreographers have manipulated the elements of dance and used relationships to abstract movement to convey their intent.

Secondly, Martha’s another strength was revolutionary choreographing skills. Martha Graham marked her peak in the 1930s when she was creating a unique American style of dance. She wanted to “explore some of the forces that have shaped American culture, expressing through dance what is was like to be an American and what America meant to her” (75). Her first piece, Frontier, was a huge success, and she lasted choreographing to the death. Afterwards, Martha created nearly fifty new dances during the 1930s. In addition, Erick Hawkins, the introduction of male dancers, joined Martha’s company in 1938, and gave a huge impact on both Martha’s dance style and personal life. Before Erick appeared in Martha’s life, there was a limitation on her work. However, Martha was able to “explore love, jealousy, ad sexual passion in her dances” (85) such as Every Soul Is a Circus, Letter to the World, and Punch and the Judy. Overall, Martha’s choreographing skills had created a revolution in 1930s.

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

Born July 6, 1931 Donald McKayle grew up in Harlem, New York City and was raised by his parents Wilhelmina Cohen McKayle and Philip Augustus McKayle. As a young teenager, his English teacher helped spark an interest of African American history along with his neighborhood which was rich with “social dancing, culture and political awareness” (Jacinto, 2012, p. 1). This combination of interest in African American diaspora and influence of environmental surroundings would lead to inspiring and forming McKayle into a renowned dancer, teacher and choreographer. Prior to McKayle’s senior year in high school he saw a performance by Pearl Primus which made him realize he wanted to become a dancer. He went on to audition for the New Dance Group and was chosen as one of seven dancers. As a member of the New Dance Group he trained in a variety of dance genres under Sophie Maslow, Nona Shurman, Mary Anthony, Nina Golovina, and even Pearl Primus. His first choreographic work was with the New Dance Group entitled Saturday’s Child, which was a solo he performed. His time with the New Dance Group gave him a strong technical background and movement vocabulary that he would carry on with him as he joined the Contemporary Dance Group. It was then that he premiered Games, at Charles Weidman’s studio which “launched the young choreographer 's career” (Jacinto, 2012, p.1). This was the first time audiences saw him as a storyteller and social critic whose movement style played off of the human

The Repertory Dance Company Fall Dance Concert was held at the Mannoni Performing Arts Center. The dancers involved in this dance concert are part of the University of Southern Mississippi Dance Department meaning they are either pursuing a degree in dance or teach dance at a university level. Both students and faculty had the opportunity to present work during adjudication to be chosen to be presented at this concert. I particularly enjoyed this concert because, while all of the dances presented were a part of the broad genre of modern dance, each dance had such a unique aesthetic so the concert still provided a great amount of variety to keep the audience captivated. The two pieces I have chosen to review represent this variety very

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

Jerome Robbins’s incredible dance history and background is what has left him ranked so highly in the musical theater industry today. From working to dazzle his audiences, Robbins can be held responsible for the industry’s serge in popularity over a short amount of time. It can be said by many that Robbins took a fresh approach to choreography to introduce to the world with a more energetic and dynamic performance to display. Robbins creative work elevated the role of dance in musical theatre, which was claimed to be the industry’s ‘Golden Era’.

The directors endlessly drilled their individual pieces down to the very move in order to make sure that every dancer picked up the essentials. Like engine components, everybody was required to work together seamlessly and undergo maintenance in order to produce the greatest visual effect. To achieve the desired image, our directors casted us into their designed formations, deciding which part of the machine we would be. From there, it was a matter of repetition in order to ensure that the overall choreographic set kept its fluidity and would not rust over

Merce Cunningham was an American dancer and choreographer who was very dedicated to his work. In the video it states that he exercises before he starts to choreograph and dance, despite that fact that he feels pain in his body. According to a dancer, the intent of his work is a mystery and yet there is a confused familiarity. Merce was a dancer and choreographer who was interested body’s shapes and angles. He also gives precise steps.

One of Cunningham’s revolutionary ideas was the collaboration between art and dance and the blending of the two. In light of this, the first piece I will look at is the duet Paired created in 1964. Consisting of nine separate events the dancers would dip their limbs in paint and smear it on each other. This piece was revolutionary as it involved the use of paint as a prop on stage. The rolling movements covered the space in bodies and paint. Using each other’s body as a canvas the use of paint blurred the lines between dance and other art forms. This could be related to a 1950’s art movement called Action Painting. The most well-known Action painter is Jackson Pollock where his action drip paintings could almost be described as dances themselves.

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.

Emanuel Gat was born in Israel in 1969. He discovered dance at the age of 23, after a workshop for amateurs, led by choreographer Nir Ben Gal. He started working at this period with Liat Dror Nir Ben Gal Company, as well as on his own projects. He started working as an independent choreographer in 1994.Emanuel Gat has inspired a new generation of dancers to reconsider their approach and push past the limits of traditional technique. He offers an exciting and potent formula with his distinctive and simple process of choreographing “There are two ways of approaching choreography: inventing and discovering or uncovering,” said Gat in an interview. He looks at things with an acceptance that they are already there.Everything is there within the studio and dancers, Instead of designing a new vision, Gat looks at uncovering the mechanisms, the logic, and the movement that is already there.