Agnes De Mille Research Paper

The corps de ballet should be used for plot development and as a means of expression.

Dance can show us a variation of things whether it is a story plot or retelling history events. Dance becomes an art when done with passion and enthusiasm. The audience can connect and respond with the dancer if done properly. When we use dancing in a story line musical we are attempting to give the audience a deeper understanding. As every story every musical has a “moral to the story” or main idea.

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.

Listening to Music class has taught me a new way to listen and enjoy music. I have learned how to differentiate the melodies, rhythms, and instruments in a song. It has also introduced me to different genres in the music world, aside from what is usually played on the radio. I can now attend any concert, listen to any genre, or watch any ballet and easily recognize the many specific aspects the music being played has. Ballets are very interesting to me. The audience is able to enjoy the music being played as it is telling a story, and being acted out through the performer’s body language. In the two ballets, The Rite of Spring and The Nutcracker, a great story is told in both referencing the many great dynamics music has. These two specific ballets are written by different composers, and each one of them have certain conditions they were written under. As well as different receptions, popularity, and development. The Rite of Spring and The Nutcracker’s differences has made some sort of an impact in the performing world back then as well as now.

Ballet is a formalized and elegant form of dance with a fitting origin that traces back to Italian Renaissance courts during the 15th and 16th centuries. This style of dance quickly spread from Italy to France with the assistance of the aristocratic influence that came from Catherine de' Medici, who succeeded in helping ballet develop even further. For example, Catherine helped develop ballet further by having her own piece of work, 'Le Paradis d' Amour', be presented at her daughters wedding, where Marguerite de Valois was wedded to Henry of Navarre. Naturally, with ballet having an aristocratic background, aristocratic money was responsible for the dance styles initial stages of development in court ballet. Royalty was what dictated the literature, music, and ideas that was incorporated into ballet at the time.

Coming from a country with a rich, diverse culture, Mexican-born ballet dancer and choreographer José Limón contributed to the American modern artworks of dance through his own perception of movement styles and using the human body as an emotional guide. José Limón’s early years began in Mexico, which

It is difficult to define what it means to be an American considering the constant reformation of American society due to the wide range of values amongst each other. Many artists, choreographers and musicians contributed to the evolution and dance and musical theater in America. American modern dance was created to produce unique expression to the society of America during the 19th century. A famous figure comes to mind when thinking of the evolution of American dance. Martha Graham was known as the "Mother of Modern Dance" because of her affiliations with the choreography of dance. It is said that she created a dance with a "new level of popularity…she created a new language of movement that expressed powerful emotions"(Ember). Many artists'

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

Whether we look at a romantic ballet like La Sylphide or a classical ballet such as Sleeping Beauty, audiences are constantly mesmerized by the gracefulness and weightlessness of the ballet dancers. They seem to defy the laws of physics, which is greatly possible due to the use of the pointe shoe. However, many masterworks that were created in the Romantic era did not solely rely on the pointe shoe to help convey messages. Instead, the choreography, dancers, scenic elements, subject matter, and music all helped shaped masterworks such as La Sylphide, Napoli, and Giselle. Similarly, in the Classical era, these elements all played a role in shaping famous ballets like La Bayadere, Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake. But once we take a closer look at these ballets from the Classical era, we can see how much ballet evolved. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the Romantic era was the stepping stone for this pure art form that we have been able to preserve for more than 160 years.

The 18th century was an age of brilliant dancers, and both dancers and choreographer felt that dance should convey some meaning to the viewer, which inspired the evolution ballet d'action, which unfolded a story purely in terms of movement.

The history of modern dance has seen many great dancers and pioneers alike, as well as changes that continues to shape the art of dance form that is seen today. From being an art form of spectacle that focused more on the dancers’ clothing rather than the dance itself, to going through a time where narrative was emphasized, and to incredible athleticism achieved both by men and women, dance has evolved into something that is so much more powerful and diverse than centuries ago. As dance continued to be more prominent, some great choreographers utilized it to achieve greater goals that related to the issues of that current time. The pioneer Martha Graham created dances that contained uncommon

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

French Ballet began in the 17th century. It was a flamboyant entertainment presented in front of the aristocracy and royalty in the courts. French Ballet was also performed when they were celebrating marriages and showing off the wealth and power of the ruler. Besides, Ballet was called “la belle danse”, and it means “the beautiful dance.” In order to help the audience to recognize the characters in the story, dancers usually wore extravagant costumes. Moreover, the idea of different ballet movements was based on the social dance of royal courts, like beautiful arm and upper body movements and floor patterns were included. Also, in the beginning, only men were allowed to dance ballet, and women played the first ballet with parts until 1681.

Dance began as a form of communication and storytelling. Thousands of years ago dancing served as a way for people to tell a story and helped distract themselves of the hardships they faced. Furthermore, dance was a form of storytelling through communication, which then turned into using storytelling through dance as entertainment. According to the History World, many dancers during the BC time danced in front of only a few people to get a story across. That later turned into hundreds of thousands of people as dance was used by many. Today, dance is also a form of entertainment and storytelling, but in a modern sense. However, today perfection and technique are stressed more than they were in the past. Yet, the passion for dance has not changed. Many dancers who share this passion also have many of the same qualities. Among a discourse community of trained dancers, one expects to find individuals who are healthy and active athletes, expect perfection from themselves through competition, and religiously attend dance performances.

The piece was trying to convey the idea of freedom. Liberating the soul by expressing what it feels in a form of dance, which is something that can be seen. The movements were free, the performers moved around the stage depicting natural dance movements.