Gypsy Rose Lee 's Era

In the movie “hair spray” the choreographer and director do a great job explaining not only the history of dance but also a main historic fact. With the classic musical- style story the director is able to introduce a part of history in a fun exciting way through dance and music. The story tells us many different things as well as shows us how dance can bring people from different ethnicities and color together. We can deeply connect with the story if we can understand and experience with story line. The story begins with a girl by the name of “Tracy” who is crazy about singing and dancing the, “new groove”. She is different then the rest in many ways but pursues her dream as a dancer without allowing anything to stop her. She shows her enthusiasm for dancing and singing from the beginning of the movie to the end. The story shows us a part of the 60s when segregation was in place. Whites and people of color where not often seen together. They were unable to live in the same neighborhoods or share the same friends, stores, and buses. At this time in history dance was very

Betty Marie saw herself as just a “typical normal Indian girl”. Born in 1925, she grew up at an Osage reservation in Oklahoma. She was a shy introvert, but something helped her get out of her shell. When she was four, she started to take Ballet lessons from a local instructor. She became a local hit, and preformed at various events, such as fairs and rodeos. Later, she realized that despite her talent, she could still improve.

When she was younger, it wasn’t hard for her to learn the new choreography.She was a natural dancer,but no matter how well of a dancer she was she knew that she could always improve her skills. She also became a local dancer and she performed at rodeos and county fair. One of instructor said “She didn't know learn the basics.” She needed to be taught the basics.

“Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, an excerpt from Moving History/Dancing Cultures: A Dance History Reader, was written by Brenda Dixon Gottschild. Gottschild is a well-known author, dance historian, performer, and choreographer as well as a professor of dance studies at Temple University. She has also written multiple books including The Black Dancer Body, Waltzing in the Dark, and Digging. In her article “Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, Gottschild explores the similarities and differences in the characteristics of Africanist and European technique, and how they draw from each other.

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

Sally Banes is an American writer and dance historian and critic. She is also a professor of theater history and dance studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Banes has written multiple books and contributed to many documentaries and films. The book Moving History / Dancing Cultures, which Banes contributed to, includes the article “Choreographic Methods of the Judson Dance Theater”. This book was published in 2001.

Carole King is a musical icon in the world of 20th century popular music, and her longevity and success as an artist have cemented her as one of the influential musicians out of every genre of music. In this essay, I will examine how her musical style and female identity each played roles her incredibly successful musical career.

“Go within everyday and find the inner strength so that the world will not blow your candle out” (A Quote by Katherine Dunham 1). Once one of the most successful dancers in both American and European theater, Katherine Dunham, a dancer, anthropologist,social activist,and educator, continues to inspire people throughout the world. Named America’s irreplaceable Dance Treasure in 2000. Dunham remains a name heard regularly in dance schools across the world (“Katherine Dunham Biography” 4). She is known for always trying to make a difference and in the process she has become of the world’s greatest humanitarians (Osumare 5). Katherine Dunham’s work in African American rights in the dance world and her creation of new styles of dance makes her an important figure in American dance History.

We chose our topic because it had tons of factual information, interesting points, and lots of evidence. During our lifetimes, we both danced and thought a project including that type of information would really be interesting to dig into. Based on our strengths and weaknesses, we thought doing a performance would be the best and this topic really incorporated a play. This topic took place during the Roaring 20’s and thought the flappers topic about the lifestyles of women would be captivating. One of us has a family member in the dance industry that pushed us to dig deeper into dancing history. This made us want to explore origins of the flappers history.

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

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”.

Josephine Baker reached the height of her fame during the 1920s, however, she still was not able to speak about her work and explain what her performances were trying to convey. This left the audience to decipher the performances for themselves, while doing so this highlighted the racism that was still apparent in France. In Phyllis Rose’s book ‘Jazz Cleopatra: Josephine Baker in Her Time’ She shows quotes from the tabloids saying, “We can’t find a way to tie the scenes together, but everything we’ve ever read flashes across our enchanted minds...glimpses of enormous steamboats swallowing clusters of Negros who carry rich burdens”. (Rose, 1991) The Parisians visiting Bakers show at the Revue Negre interpreted her show based on what they understood Africa to be. Baker was able to make a lasting impact with her unique look and style and was able to entertain crowds with her “rubber legs” (Rose, 1991) and “crossed eyes” (Rose, 1991) during a time in which racism was the norm. While “she did not exercise complete control over her own image” (Jules-Rosette 2007) she used the stage as a way of expressing herself which she could not do with her voice. In doing so Baker has influenced many performers today. Most notably she inspired Beyoncé Knowles.

“Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, and excerpt from Moving History/Dancing Cultures: A Dance History Reader, was written by Brenda Dixon Gottschild. Gottschild is a well-known author, dance historian, performer, and choreographer as well as a professor of dance studies at Temple University. She has also written multiple books including The Black Dancer Body, Waltzing in the Dark, and Digging. In her article “Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, Gottschild explores the similarities and differences in the characteristics of Africanist and European technique, and how they draw from each other.

Throughout this course we discussed the Jazz Age, cultural appropriation, racial and gender differences, and African Americans and Parisians during the interwar years. We looked at many African American performers and performances that had a huge impact on France’s cultural identity. After learning about all of this in class, I wanted to take my research further. I decided to research female foreign performers who have had a major influence on the Jazz Age in Paris. I decided to focus specifically on three foreign females, and they are: singer and dancer Josephine Baker, dancer Molly Spotted Elk, and dancer Ada “Bricktop” Smith. Each of these female performers had a large impact on taking the Jazz Age in Paris to another level.

In 1937, New York’s mayor, Fiorello La Guardia, outlawed the popular theater pastime, due to what he saw as “glorifying filth”, eighteen years later in 1955; State Supreme Court lifted the ban by court order, claiming illegal pre-censorship. The burlesque world never quite recovered from the ban, and coupled with the rise of nudity found in film and magazines, it lost its popularity. However, in the mid 1990s, a number of burlesque performers initiated a rebirth, fusing the earlier styles of stripteases with present day influences to what is known as the neo-burlesque movement (Mannino).. Since its 1990s revival, burlesque has gradually shifted focuses from social satire to simple stripping, a demographic form of objectification welcoming any women regardless of age or dress size (Penny). In Margaret Atwood’s poem “ Helen of Troy does Countertop dancing”, we are introduced to a strong female character called Helen of Troy, who