dancelegaciesblog-blog

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ROMANTICISM

The Romantic Ballet period of the 1830’s – 1850’s, was one of exploration between “realism and fantasy” and highlights “the gulf between aspiration and actuality (Anderson 1986,61.).” The romantic period also had a large focus on the creators “passion and emotion” and they utilized pathos to portray sorrow and the idea of emotion to the audience (Debney 1993, Section 2:  2). Themes which were focused during this period were usually concentrated on the “admiration for the wildest aspects of nature, for example, mountains and storms at sea, and the fascination of the supernatural regime and creating a mysterious atmosphere (Debney 1993, Section 2: 3). Through focusing on the ‘preoccupation with the mystical and irrational,’ feminine creatures were centralized and portrayed through “water nymphs, fire spirits, peris, demons (Au 1988, 45) and the “deserted habitats” of these creatures created the atmosphere (Debney 1993, Section 2:  5).”  

Costuming represented what was seemingly fashionable during the time, with women wearing the long bell-shaped skirts with cap sleeves and low-cut bodice (Victoria and Albert Museum, 2016).

This period also introduced the interest of “pointe work.” This type of exploration was intriguing as the women began to produce work on the tips of the toes, however during this time were not reassured by the harden protection of “pointe shoes,” rather relied on the additional support of their slippers (Victoria and Albert Museum, 2016). The idea of pointe work emphasised the idea of supernatural as this movement created an impression of “floating” across the surface and created a sense of weightlessness.

Through the inspirational change in theme and setting, it was also a period which allowed for main roles to be played by women, rather than men (Victoria and Albert Museum, 2016). A well-known example of this included the romantic ballet of “Giselle.” The main character of Giselle is played by a female, and she falls in love with a man, who plays a secondary role as he assists with partnering work, rather than being the central role of the ballet. This influential change allowed for the dominance of female ratios within ballet and impacted the femininity of ballet today (Dancehistoryblog, 2012).

Movement qualities of the romantic era included, the women performing with soft rounded arms, and a forward tilt in the upper body creating the sense of floating, like an unearthly creature (Dancehistoryblog, 2012). Proficiency of technique was improved within this era as well, as through the change in weight and length in costumes, women were able to perform elaborate and more difficult movements including, jete’s, arabesque, balance´, shenae’s, pique turns and bourree’s (Dancehistoryblog, 2012).

As shown in the video, I perform a 30 second sequence executing many of these movement qualities. In the video, I portray arm movements, similar to a breath position, relaxed curved crossed arms and soft third arabesque arms contributing to the theme and movement qualities of the romantic era by portraying softness and with a flowing execution. The movements I chose to perform were inspired by Robert le Diable Ghislaine Thesmar (The ballet of the Nuns), which is famously similar to one of the first romantic ballets produced ‘La Sylphide’ (Kabaiivansko2, 2014). In the sequence I begin with walking forward with turned out feet which is the technical placement of the feet across the floor, followed by two pas de bourree pique steps with soft curled arms, the floating of the fifth position on the tips of the toe, two changements, a arabesque with soft third arms, three shenae’s and finalized with two balance´ steps and ending in a kneeled position. These executed steps express the characteristics of a romantic ballet as the movements I choreographed were similar to that of The ballet of the Nuns with contribution of soft and flowing arm movements.

Bibliography

Anderson, J. 1986. Ballet and modern dance: A concise history. Princeton: Princeton Book Company

[Accessed 12 October 2018].

Au, S. 1988. Ballet and modern dance. London: Thames and Hudson

[Accessed 12 October 2018].

BalletHub, 2018. Ballet Terms Dictionary. [Online] Available at: https://ballethub.com/ballet-terms-dictionary/ [Accessed 14 October 2018].

Dancehistoryblog, 2012. Ballet Is Woman – The Emergence of Ballet As We Know It. [Online] Available at: https://dancehistoryblog.wordpress.com/category/romantic-ballet/ [Accessed 12 October 2018].

Kabaiivansko2, 2014. Robert le Diable Ghislaine Thesmar Yosu Zabala. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF_vla3q6eU [Accessed 12 October 2018].

Pedro, R., 2018. KDB123: Dance Legacies Lectorial 3. [Online] Available at: https://blackboard.qut.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-7548561-dt-content-rid-17330549_1/courses/KDB123_18se2/3%20Lectorial%20Three%20KDB123%202018.pdf [Accessed 12 October 2018].

Victoria and Albert Museum, 2016. Romantic Ballet. [Online] Available at: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/r/romantic-ballet/ [Accessed 12 October 2018].

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CLASSICISM 

The classical ballet period of the late 1800’s, is a period of formality and structure, and a generous focus on the meaning of movement itself; movement for movements sake (Adshead1991; Au 1988, 64). Through this formality of the classical period, a focus on hierarchy contributed to the structural philosophy of the era, through importance of different steps and members of the ballet company (Adshead,1991). The members can be divided into categories according to rank for example, principal dancer, soloist, corps de ballet, etc (Adshead,1991). Other motivations of the classical period included valuing the past and learning from it by accumulating the wisdom of generations, revering it, preserving it and spreading it (Adshead,1991). Within the classical ballet structure, the choreography was geometric, creating a sequence of three or four steps followed by a repeat on the other side; From right to left, or vice - versa. This type of assembly emphasised the strict structure and definition of the women’s pointe work and technique with relation to the classical era of formality.

Marius Petipa (1818-1910), is a French influencer of the classical ballet era who is thought to be ‘the Father’ of this period. With his relocation to Russia, Petipa studied ballet technique and began to produce works of the newly formed classical ballet regime. Through Petipa’s exploration into choreographing large pieces of classical ballet, he founded the idea of pas de deux, a term defining a dance for two (cennarium_prod, 2016). Maintaining the habited structure of the period, the dance for two, usually a female and male, was performed typically side by side, and followed a strict structure from start to finish. “The strictly classical balletic pas de deux followed a fixed pattern: a supported adagio, a solo variation for the male dancer, a solo variation for the female dancer, and a coda in which both participants displayed their virtuosity (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica , 1998).” Costuming within this period changed as the focus was now largely on showing the women’s pointe work, technique, allowing for larger and higher jete’s, multiple piroutte’s and easier visibility of partner work lifts and saute’s. Women wore knee – length tutus, and always performed with pointe shoes, whether she was portraying an Egyptian slave or Royal Princess (Étoile, 2018).

For the choreography of classical ballet, I took inspiration from Don Quixote grand pas de deux performance, utilising the idea of repetitiveness of three to four sets of a sequence on each side followed by a break step to complete (Golub, 2013). In the video I performed two sissones, pas de bourree, pas de chat trio sequence, followed by a chasse´, Grande jete to finish. Through the analysation of these steps it can be understood they align with the classical ballet structure as through the repetitive sequencing, focus on strict technique and a gradual utilisation of Grande jete’s and saute’s.

  Bibliography

Adshead, J. 1991. Lectorial on ‘classicism’ (December) presented at the University of Surrey, for a Master of Arts in Dance Studies unit.   [Accessed 13 October 2018].

Adshead, J. 1991-2. Lectorials presented at the University of Surrey, England, for a Master of Arts unit titled Dance analysis and criticism.       [Accessed 13 October 2018].

cennarium_prod, 2016. The Distinct Periods of Ballet History. [Online] Available at: https://www.cennarium.com/blog/distinct-ballet-periods/ [Accessed 13 October 2018].

Étoile, T., 2018. Ballet Costume History. [Online] Available at: http://tutuetoile.com/ballet-costume-history/ [Accessed 13 October 2018].

Golub, T., 2013. Don Quixote grand pas de deux. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT8Zk41TulU [Accessed 13 October 2018].

Pedro, R., 2018. KDB123: Dance Legacies Lectorial Four. [Online] Available at: https://blackboard.qut.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-7559321-dt-content-rid-17472527_1/courses/KDB123_18se2/4%20Lectorial%20Four%20KDB123%202018.pdf [Accessed 14 October 2018].

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica , 1998. Pas de Deux. [Online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/pas-de-deux-dance [Accessed 13 October 2018]

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MODERNISM

The modernistic era of twentieth century, was a period of rebellious interpretation and exploration of movement with a reaction to the formalistic structure of classical ballet. Choreographers challenged the idea of preserving the past and began to experiment with the natural way of embodied movement (Collins Paperback Dictionary 1995, 272). Artists began to focus on present day issues and concerns within the world, producing realistic concepts, rather than focusing on the ideology of fantasy and the supernatural regime. The concept of freedom created the idea of expressionism, and improvisational exploration of movement with relation to the body and the body’s freedom of flow (Adshead 1992a).

“The modern dance choreographers had “no universally accepted system of movement” (Kraus & Chapman 1981, 122). Each choreographer was working on trying to reach the essence of the movement that was “significant” to him or her (Cohen in Kraus & Chapman 1981, 112). It therefore resulted that “each of the leading choreographers…sought to explore and develop his or her own vocabulary of dance” (Kraus & Chapman 1981, 122).” Major influencers of this period included Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey, who founded the well-known movement of contraction and release and fall and recovery. Born in 1894 in America, Martha Graham had an interest for breath, and the relationship it had with the fall and the rise of the chest. Martha Graham based her movement vocabulary on “the basic breathing of the body and the changes wrought in it by the inhalation and exhalation of breath" (McDonagh 1976, 48). Through Graham’s exploration of breath, she founded her idea of contraction and release, and began to produce movement qualities around this concept (Kraus and Chapman 1981, 122). Similar to Graham, Doris Humphrey experimented with similar ideologies of the body’s natural way of movement and founded the idea of fall and recovery. These influential movement qualities of creating a sense of freedom and natural flow, can still be seen in modern and contemporary dance choreography today.

As shown in the video, I perform similar movement qualities of contraction and release and fall and recovery in differing dynamical ways, expressing a freedom of movement which feels natural and free to the body. It can also be seen in the video my eyes are closed at times, furthering my own exploration of expressionism and commitment to independence of movement. I took inspiration for my own choreography from the following video, “A New Dance for America: The Choreography, Teachings, and Legacy of Doris Humphrey,” as it explored Doris Humphrey’s concept, and it was intriguing to witness her interpretation of fall and recovery on her own self and choreography on large groups of dancers (Alexander Street, 2011).

Lineage of the Western art form of Modern dance began through Isadora Duncan and Ruth St Denis, throughout major states across USA and central Europe in the early 1900’s. The choreography of modern dance predominantly was produced in the late 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s (Kraus & Chapman 1981, 121). In the 1950s dance experienced a transitional phase in which modern dance was falling from predominance to make way for the emerging postmodern dance of the 1960s onwards. Merce Cunningham is are another influencer of the time whose work spans across the genres of both modern dance and postmodern dance (Pedro, 2018).  

Bibliography

Adshead, J. 1992a. Lecture on ‘Modernism’ presented at the University of Surrey, England for the Master of Arts in Dance Studies.  [Accessed 14 October 2018].

Alexander Street, a. P. C., 2011. A New Dance for America: The Choreography, Teachings, and Legacy of Doris Humprhey. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeBCGC6uWTU [Accessed 14 October 2018].

BalletHub, 2018. Ballet Terms Dictionary. [Online] Available at: https://ballethub.com/ballet-terms-dictionary/ [Accessed 14 October 2018].

Collins Paperback Dictionary. 1995. Great Britain: HarperCollins. [Accessed 14 October 2018]

Kraus, R. and S.A. Chapman. 1981. History of the dance in art and education.  2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. [Accessed 14 October 2018]

Pedro, R., 2018. KDB123: Dance Legacies Lectorial 5. [Online] Available at: https://blackboard.qut.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-7565453-dt-content-rid-17616071_1/courses/KDB123_18se2/5%20Lectorial%20Five%20KDB123%202018.pdf [Accessed 14 October 2018].

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POSTMODERNISM

The postmodern dance era of the late 1900’s, was pursued by the well-known choreographer, Yvonne Rainer, who at age twenty-eight, shifted the ideologies of dance once again (Walsh, 2018). The postmodern movement can be defined as generalized pedestrian movements creating claiming that any movement is dance. Postmodern and modern dance share a similar technical structure, creating freedom of movement that is natural to the body, with no set posture, alignment, technique or placement across the floor (Grieve, 2011 ). In comparison to other genres already mentioned, choreographers of the postmodern dance era were not drawn together by the similarities of the genre, however combined by the clear differential movement qualities they were exploring and pursuing. “The “post-modern choreographers of the sixties were not united in terms of their aesthetic” (Banes 1987, xiv).  They were united only by the fact that they were creating something radically different from modern dance (Banes 1987, xiv).” Through the influence of postmodern dance, came many other styles which are studied frequently today; contemporary dance, dance improvisation, contact improvisation, dance for camera, the concept of all movement as dance and the postmodern choreographic process.

Early postmodern dance choreographers were against modern dance, through its contextualised themes of realistic storytelling and sense of emotion (Banes 1987, xvi). Choreographers instead founded a way to produce dance itself the subject matter of their works and therefore created “playful” choreography through questioning and experimenting dance with expression of “new uses of time, space, and the body (Banes 1987, xvi) (Banes 1987, xvii).” Elaine Summers, For Carola (1963), is an example of choreographed dance which focuses on time, as she explores the process of lying down slowly (Banes 1987, xvii). For the focus of space, it concentrated on the location of a performance rather than the body’s relationship across space. Examples of this would be using an art gallery, church, loft, roof top, parking lot, a wall of a building as floor, roller-skating rink, or the natural outdoors as a venue (Banes 1987, xvii-xviii). Through the exploration of the body, postmodern dance pioneers directly addressed in their work the “powerful social meanings” that the body carries (Banes 1987, xviii). “The body itself became the subject of the dance, rather than serving as an instrument for expressive metaphors” as was the case in modern dance (Banes 1987, xviii). These involved ideas of, the use of very relaxed movement, “choreographers deliberately using untrained performers in their search for the ‘natural’ body”, “The release of pure energy”, ‘The use of nudity” and “Eating onstage” (Banes 1987: xviii) (Banes 1987, xviii-xix).

As shown in the video, I use pedestrianised movement qualities such as walking, sitting, leaning, bending, swinging of the body and the utilisation of the relaxed natural body. To create this piece, I improvised rather than choreographing a thirty second sequence, to also explore and express further into the natural state of the body and not being concerned with time, inspiring from Elaine Summers exploration of time. I also took inspiration from Michael Blackwood’s documentary, Making dances: 7 Postmodern Choreographers, as it can be seen in the beginning of the documentary the dancer’s improvising naturally in a space, and utilising similar pedestrianised movement qualities which are shown in my choreographic exploration (Blackwood, 2005). It can be reflected that through my explored movement qualities, I have utilised philosophies of the postmodern dance era to choreograph a piece showing my comprehension of late 1900’s regime.

Bibliography

Banes, S. 1987. Terpsichore in sneakers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin [Accessed 14 October 2018].

Blackwood, M., 2005. Making dances: 7 postmodern choreographers. [Online] Available at: https://qut.kanopy.com/video/making-dances-7-postmodern-choreographers [Accessed 14 October 2018].

Grieve, R., 2011 . Postmodern Dance. [Online] Available at: https://prezi.com/b-8oyqs6qp9x/postmodern-dance/ [Accessed 14 October 2018].

Pedro, R., 2018. KDB123: Dance Legacies Lectorial Nine. [Online] Available at: https://blackboard.qut.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-7583270-dt-content-rid-18686290_1/courses/KDB123_18se2/9%20Lectorial%20Nine%20KDB123%202018.pdf [Accessed 14 October 2018].

Walsh, J., 2018. Yvonne Rainer. [Online] Available at: http://www.feelingsarefacts.com/ [Accessed 14 October 2018].

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adshead, J. 1991. Lectorial on ‘classicism’ (December) presented at the University of Surrey, for a Master of Arts in Dance Studies unit.   [Accessed 13 October 2018].

Adshead, J. 1991-2. Lectorials presented at the University of Surrey, England, for a Master of Arts unit titled Dance analysis and criticism.       [Accessed 13 October 2018].

Adshead, J. 1992a. Lecture on ‘Modernism’ presented at the University of Surrey, England for the Master of Arts in Dance Studies.  [Accessed 14 October 2018].

Anderson, J. 1986. Ballet and modern dance: A concise history. Princeton: Princeton Book Company

[Accessed 12 October 2018].

Au, S. 1988. Ballet and modern dance. London: Thames and Hudson [Accessed 12 October 2018].

Alexander Street, a. P. C., 2011. A New Dance for  America: The Choreography, Teachings, and Legacy of Doris Humprhey. [Online]    Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeBCGC6uWTU  [Accessed 14 October 2018].

BalletHub,  2018. Ballet Terms Dictionary. [Online]  Available at: https://ballethub.com/ballet-terms-dictionary/  [Accessed 14 October 2018].

Banes, S. 1987. Terpsichore in sneakers. Boston: Houghton  Mifflin [Accessed 14 October 2018].

Blackwood, M., 2005. Making  dances: 7 postmodern choreographers. [Online]  Available at: https://qut.kanopy.com/video/making-dances-7-postmodern-choreographers  [Accessed 14 October 2018].

cennarium_prod,  2016. The Distinct Periods of Ballet History. [Online]  Available at: https://www.cennarium.com/blog/distinct-ballet-periods/  [Accessed 13 October 2018].

Dancehistoryblog,  2012. Ballet Is Woman – The Emergence of Ballet As We Know It. [Online]    Available at: https://dancehistoryblog.wordpress.com/category/romantic-ballet/  [Accessed 12 October 2018].

Étoile, T.,  2018. Ballet Costume History. [Online]  Available at: http://tutuetoile.com/ballet-costume-history/  [Accessed 13 October 2018].

Golub, T.,  2013. Don Quixote grand pas de deux. [Online]  Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT8Zk41TulU  [Accessed 13 October 2018].

Grieve, R.,  2011 . Postmodern Dance. [Online]  Available at: https://prezi.com/b-8oyqs6qp9x/postmodern-dance/  [Accessed 14 October 2018].

Kabaiivansko2,  2014. Robert le Diable Ghislaine Thesmar Yosu Zabala. [Online]  Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF_vla3q6eU  [Accessed 12 October 2018].

Pedro, R.,  2018. KDB123: Dance Legacies Lectorial 5. [Online]  Available at: https://blackboard.qut.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-7565453-dt-content-rid-17616071_1/courses/KDB123_18se2/5%20Lectorial%20Five%20KDB123%202018.pdf  [Accessed 14 October 2018].

Pedro, R.,  2018. KDB123: Dance Legacies Lectorial 3. [Online]  Available at: https://blackboard.qut.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-7548561-dt-content-rid-17330549_1/courses/KDB123_18se2/3%20Lectorial%20Three%20KDB123%202018.pdf  [Accessed 12 October 2018].

Pedro, R.,  2018. KDB123: Dance Legacies Lectorial Four. [Online]  Available at: https://blackboard.qut.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-7559321-dt-content-rid-17472527_1/courses/KDB123_18se2/4%20Lectorial%20Four%20KDB123%202018.pdf  [Accessed 14 October 2018].

Pedro, R.,  2018. KDB123: Dance Legacies Lectorial Nine. [Online]  Available at: https://blackboard.qut.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-7583270-dt-content-rid-18686290_1/courses/KDB123_18se2/9%20Lectorial%20Nine%20KDB123%202018.pdf  [Accessed 14 October 2018].

The Editors  of Encyclopaedia Britannica , 1998. Pas de Deux. [Online]  Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/pas-de-deux-dance  [Accessed 13 October 2018].

Victoria and  Albert Museum, 2016. Romantic Ballet. [Online]  Available at: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/r/romantic-ballet/  [Accessed 12 October 2018].

Walsh, J.,  2018. Yvonne Rainer. [Online]  Available at: http://www.feelingsarefacts.com/  [Accessed 14 October 2018].