Dirty Dancing, A 1987 romantic-based story movie, depicted the love story between Frances “Baby” Houseman, performed by Kaleigh Courts, and her dance instructor Johnny Castle, performed by Aaron Patrick Craven. It has been well-loved for generations world-widely. Eleanor Bergstein, the writer of this film responded that the plot of this film was partially based on her childhood. Eleanor had a nickname “Baby” which is as same as the name of the female protagonist in her film. Dirty Dancing, The Classic Story On Stage is a live musical performance form of the original film. To me, what made it more engaging than the movie is that it combines real-life story and dance movements together to express that idea that dances come from life, and life flows like a musical performance. There are beginnings, climax and ending, ups and downs, peace and vitality. Due to the fact that Dirty Dancing was in a narrative form, it was more of a challenge to the dancers to not only present themselves as dancers but also to put themselves into the characters’ shoes, acting out the personalities which might be completely opposite of their own. The opening scene of the performance caught my attention immediately. It was set up in two parts. One of which was having the protagonist, Baby, sitting in the corner in the front stage, packing up her suitcase and preparing to go on a vacation with her family. There were three pairs of performers dancing behind a screen which projected the shadow of their
always been known for the risky and powerful movements which are often why dancers retire from the company. The dancer’s movements were often very intense and emotive, such as the “throws” across the stage in which the dancers would, almost violently, launch themselves across the stage in different forms (leaps, falls and flips to name a few). Another section where the movements were emotive is where the dancers were thrusting their hips in different positions to perhaps show sexuality in “self”.
“Tonight I gotta cut loose, footloose, kick off my sunday shoes. Jack, get back, come on before we crack.” (Footloose, Kenny Loggins) For this essay, I chose to watch Footloose made in 1984 and directed by Herbert Ross and Footloose made in 2011 directed by Craig Brewer. Both movies centered around the town of Bomont, a secluded town with out of the ordinary beliefs. In this town, dancing and partying of any sort was strictly against the law and teenagers were seemingly miserable. There was little to no self expression and even listening to provocative music or any music too loud, could get you a ticket with a hefty fine. The reason behind the strict rules is that several years back, five teens from Bomont High School died in a car wreck after they were drinking and dancing too much. Each of these movies have some things in common, but have more differences than anything. Some of the main differences are the opening credits of each movie, how and who Ren arrives to Bomont at the beginning of the movie, the “chicken” races between Ren and Jeff, and the book burning in town square.
While the speaker has succeeded in providing an enhanced image of the performer, the act of assigning meaning to the performance and the representation used holds the capacity to limit the experience. As the speaker continues to reconfigure her strip tease into a “[graceful] and calm” artistic dance, he makes a simultaneous attempt to distance himself from the crowd, making no mention of his gender or race directly (5). However, the speaker’s attempt to portray the dancer from objective eyes falters as his
When the show actually began, it started with a digital green timer on the wall counting by the second, accompanied by Mr. Jones sitting at a desk with a desk lamp. He began to read a story as a single dancer in a pink long sleeved top danced beside him. This dancer was definitely the most memorable mover of the company due to her exquisite fluidity within her movement, as well as the desirable synchronization between her movements and the words of Mr. Jones’s voice throughout the piece. As the performance carried on, the other dancers performed various solos, duets, and quartets, of modern movement while Mr. Jones’s stories carried on.
“Cold, shiny, hard, plastic.”, one of the most popular quotes from the movie, Mean Girls. Mean Girls is a teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and screenplay by Tina Fey. This film is loosely based on a book called “Queen Bees and Wannabees” by Rosalind Wiseman which is a self-help book that describes all of the cliques in high school and how they can have a huge effect on girls. But the movie itself is about the sociopolitical climate of the average American “high school”. The movie was made in 2004 and set in Evanston, Illinois, but the film was shot in Toronto, Canada. The film stars Lindsey Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and many more comedic actors and actresses. I chose to do an analysis on the movie, Mean Girls, because I wanted to see if people would agree with my perspective, which is that this movie does correctly show the real life mean girl situations and how girls can overcome the popularity contests.
The movie Mean Girls is set in a high school setting. The movie starts with a new girl coming to the school as a first time public school student. Cady, the new student, is immediately accepted into a group of friends, but later invited to another. The first clique she joins pushes her to become friends with the second group. This subsequently led to a typical high school drama scene. The ways these high school students go about their normal life seem very alike to the “typical” high school. Even though the movie Mean Girls by Mark Waters, uses humor to portray some questionable realism, it effectively depicts characteristics of ordinary high school life and uses realistic characters.
In the novel The Outsiders, Ponyboy learns many lessons throughout the story. He learns that Socs are not that different than greasers. He thinks that Darry hates him, but realizes that Darry actually loves him. Ponyboy learns fighting is useless. Throughout the novel, Ponyboy learns that Socs are not that different than greasers, that Darry truly loves him, and that fighting is useless.
In the acclaimed 2001 film, Legally Blonde, the main character, Elle Woods, is a fantastic feminine icon for females. The film represents the struggle of women to prove their ability. Remarkably, Elle never succumbs to those who so strongly see her as being stupid. While others put down her abilities and intelligence, Elle hardly ever doubts herself. She moves through the world with pure confidence. As Callahan, a law professor at Harvard who later selects Elle Woods for his internship quips, “it’s as if she just woke up one day and said, ‘I’m going to law school.” She decides on a goal and knows she can attain it, even if others only respond with incredulity or mockery. Legally Blonde has many positive depictions of women and femininity for a 2001 film.
At the beginning of the film/movie, it started with the ant colony picking and providing food for the grasshoppers. They operate by traditional agricultural labor. This film/movie shows an illustration of an economy that relies on the workers to do the labor because there is a scarcity of resources so they need to maintain the amount of food for the colony. This economy is based on a traditionalist economy. They stick to the way things have been for quite some time. There was never any thought of doing anything new because that could cause a huge amount of risk when it comes disrupting the way things have been smoothly running. The ants in the movie run/work off a rank system. Depending on their rank depends on what they do. There is the queen
In “Strictly Ballroom” the beginning scenes of the film Baz established the conventional, elegant atmosphere of the ballroom dancing world. Using a combination of techniques such as graceful music, the
Dance was not a new element in the theatre realm. It had been used for years as a way of interpretation of feelings of a character that the writer or director wanted the audience to feel visually. Through movement, expression of those feelings was portrayed and helped the audience to somewhat
When thinking of a specific type of dance, the vast majorities of the time people generally relate and direct the art form to a certain type of culture or race. As times develop and cultures start to merge, people tend to try and get to understand other diversities. This happens especially when we look at various forms of dance, where the people of origin are no longer the only ones who strictly perform it. Shown in the movies “Save the Last Dance” and “Take the Lead” both show a great deal of racial status and stereotypes involving dance, where the minorities try their best to fit in. Proving themselves by showing how they can adapt to other cultures by the flow and movement of their bodies. Both show a great understanding on how people of different races can be brought together by something most people can relate to, dance. To what extent does race inform the dancing as portrayed in the films “Save the Last Dance” (2001) and “Take the Lead” (2006)? To support the following argument stated above, there are several sources that will be implemented throughout the essay found within the dance community (journals, articles and books).
The film, American Gangster, directed and produced by Ridley Scott is a drama based on the biography of Frank Lucas. In the movie, Frank Lucas constructs his own business of illegal work after his boss, Bumpy Johnson, passes away. Frank builds a heroin business, following in the footsteps of Bumpy, and becomes the most powerful crime boss in Manhattan. Furthermore, because of Frank’s immoral ways, he gets caught by the police and is sentenced to 15 years in prison. As the movie progresses I form a couple assumptions of what could happen in the short term and long term. First off, when Frank Lucas attains his heroin I believe that in the short term he will succeed. Frank has established a vast amount of insights into the drug business from Bumpy, and from what he has learned he will take in and apply it to his situation. However, all immoral acts will have to be put to an end, so in the long term, Frank’s heroin business will be caught. If Frank’s business is the biggest thing in Manhattan then the police are bound to question where are all the illegal drugs coming from, how, why, and who. The police were already hunting him down so it was inevitable for him to get out of his illegal mess.
Grinding has taken over our dances. In case you’re not familiar with this current style of dancing at Hanover High school, it’s a practice where a male comes behind a female and presses his genitals into her buttocks repeatedly, while she limply bends over. Sounds disgusting, right? Unfortunately, more than 3/4 of the female student population at Hanover High have been subjected to this vile form of dancing. Older males are pressuring girls as young as freshmen to partake in their hump-fest. As one teacher observed at the last dance, the only thing separating the two from having intercourse is a thin layer of clothing.
Fight Club is a unique film that has many different interpretations consisting of consumerist culture, social norms, and gender roles. However, this film goes deeper and expresses a Marxist ideology throughout; challenging the ruling upper-class and a materialist society. The unnamed narrator, played by Ed Norton, represents the materialist society; whereas Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt, represents the person challenging the controlling upper-class. Karl Marx believed that the capitalist system took advantage of workers, arguing that the interests of the upper-class class conflicted with that of the common worker. Marx and Durden share the same views about the upper-class oppressing the materialist, common worker. By interpreting Fight Club through a Marist lens, the viewer is able to realize the negative effects a capitalist society has on the common worker by seeing the unnamed narrator’s unfulfilled and material driven life in contrast to the fulfilling life of Durden who challenges the upper-class. The unnamed narrator initially fuels the upper-class dominated society through his materialistic and consumeristic tendencies; however, through the formation of his alter ego—Durden—the unnamed narrator realizes the detriment he is causing to himself and society. He then follows the guide of Durden’s and Marx’s views and rectifies his lifestyle by no longer being reliant on materials. Also by forming fight club, which provides an outlet, for himself and the common worker,