Joffrey Dance Essay

Mary Wigman rejected ballet technique in her dance style, perceiving classical ballet technique as artificial and confining. Wigman believed that the emphasis should be on the transcendent nature and spiritual purpose of the dance, while embodying essentialism (pg. 6, Newhall). She knew she was not the best dancer in the room, but she knew how to be in touch with her emotions while dancing. She drew upon sources from what was going on in the world during the early 1900’s from war to the rebellion against the authoritarian tradition of the church, monarchy, and feudalism (pg. 73, Newhall). Wigman freed dance from its slave like overtone with music and reestablished its independence of an absolute language (pg. 7, Newhall). Wigman choose to look within and present the mind, spirit, and imagination to the audience through essentialism (16).

Dance is a major part of culture; in all culture dance can be found. For the longest time, ballet was considered a Russian specialty. The highly qualified and sought after dance companies would tour the world performing in front of those who had never experienced ballet before. By exposing ballet to the United States of America, the Russians inspired and sparked a demand for legitimate ballet in America. This event took place in the 20th century. It is currently known as the Russo-American Era.

The vision for the performance was to take modern dance “pioneers” and highlighting their work and contributions.

The birth and evolution of ballet is indeed a fascinating study. Since its early origins in fifteenth century Italian court, ballet has undergone a succession of changes and been influenced by gifted artists and choreographers alike, whose unique styles and innovative techniques left their indelible mark on the classic art form. Beginning with the Renaissance and continuing through the Romantic Era, ballet evolved as each political and social movement ushered in changes that impacted and shaped the dance, over time transforming it into the cherished art that it is today. Costumes, gender roles, themes, styles, audiences, and content are among the many features of ballet that were impacted throughout this time period, the end result being costumes, shoes and choreography that closely resemble those of contemporary ballet.

Ballet “Cry” simply showed to us real life of all African women. Every single American people know what kind of life they went through. Therefore it touched their heard. Alvin Ailey’s “Cry” presented wonderfully combined movements, technique and emotion. Ms. Donna Wood uses tragic face, a mask of sorrow. It is a face born to cry, but when she smiles it is with an innocent radiance, joyfulness that simple and lovely. She never tries consciously to please an audience. He was not only concentrating in movements and physical performance, but also using flowing white gown

The new dance from the Ballets Russes has swept through Europe, and the dance group is on their sixteenth tour of the United States now. Their newest act is revolting against all known styles of dancing and combines modern music with new forms of dancing. Since there first performance seven years ago in Paris, there popularity has only increased exponentially. Many people love the new form and others despise it thinking it is too outrageous.

Despite the common belief that any individual can achieve any goal as long as they possess a strong work ethic, women still face structural barriers to career advancement.  In his article, “Breaking the Glass Slipper: Where Are the Female Choreographers?,” Michael Cooper (2016) highlights the lack of female choreographers in ballet companies around the world, a surprising reality given the predominance of female performers in this art form. Cooper (2016) hints at ways of understanding the problem, including the 19th-century traditions of classical ballet’s male-dominated canon, corporate structural impediments of large ballet companies, and a failure to capitalize on the gains of 20th- century female choreographers, which demonstrates the fallacy of a post-gender era initiated by Agnes de Mille, Bronislava Najinska, and Twyla Tharp. Additionally, Cooper (2016) points to a disjunction between the overwhelming preponderance of female instructors and students at ballet schools and the small number of recruits in major choreographic training programs such as New York Choreographic Institute, where males outnumber females four to one. While Cooper raises compelling points, his inquiry falls short of revealing the essential causes underlying the lack of female leadership in ballet.  The problem is amplified by the dearth of scholarly research on gender inequalities in dance leadership. Hence, it is difficult to determine why there have not been female leaders in classical ballet

Dance therapy is a type of psychotherapy that uses movement to further the social, cognitive, emotional, and physical development of the individual. Dance therapists work with people who have many kinds of emotional problems, intellectual deficits, and life-threatening illnesses. They are employed in psychiatric hospitals, day care centers, mental health centers, prisons, special schools, and private practice. They work with people of all ages in both group and individual therapy. Some also engage in research.

My classmates and I saw a New Adventures production of The Red Shoes at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It was an evening performance on the 10th of October. This was the first time I watched a live dance performance. I was afraid I would not understand the plot because there was no dialogue, however I did not struggle as much as I thought I would. I enjoyed the performance thoroughly. My favorite dances most were “Ballon de Plage,” sections of The Ballet of THE RED SHOES, and Cheap Digs.

When I first thought of technique, the first thing that came to my mind was ballet and jazz technique. Ever since I started dancing, ballet and jazz were the main styles that I trained in. In my younger years, I attended studios and was around teachers who stressed clean technique in jazz. While I learned more about moving and picking up combinations in other styles like tap and contemporary, ballet and jazz always consisted of straight forward barre work, across the floor sequences of turns and leaps, and center floor combinations practicing variations and tricks. Every move had a specific placement and every step had a precise count. This is what I always used to think of as technique. As I grew up and became exposed to other styles of dance, however, I realized that technique is more diverse than what I have learned all those years in ballet shoes. Technique includes more than ballet and is versatile, showing that technique has more than one meaning. Technique varies.

A series of set of movements to music, either alone or with a partner. That is the definition of dancing. Dancing is a way to express one's feeling and to get active.

According to our book it is assumed that dancing had its earliest appearances since the Stone Age times with tribal dancing (Cass, 1993). Fast-forward to the 1300's, Renaissance, where “Ballet was born” and we see the immense progression of dance. Technique was finessed and its beauty is adored by audiences everywhere (Cass, p.50). Through the years dance has always took steps towards progression and in turn creating different styles and techniques throughout the world. Taking another jump into the twentieth century where Modern Dance is born, we see progressive views wanting to have “…freedom to be different from one another” (p.225). Across the years new expressions of dance

Many people in Houston may not have known, but Arizona hard dance dj & producer Mrotek came to town right before the New Year. However, for an event with little promotion and little public knowledge, it turned out to be an energetic night with underground warehouse vibes and killer music.

Dance is a major part of culture, which is why in all cultures dance can be found. For the longest time, ballet was considered a Russian specialty. The highly qualified and sought after dance companies would tour the world performing in front of those who had never experienced ballet before. By exposing ballet to the United States of America, the Russians inspired and sparked a demand for legitimate ballet in America. This event took place in throughout the 20th century. It is currently known as the Russo-American Era.

Ballet, an expression of artistry, strength, and powerful messages, was a source of entertainment and an outlet for political leaders in the 20th century. Ballet has changed greatly throughout centuries, molding to the political system and shaping the way ballet is portrayed and used today. Much of the change that was made to ballet was during the Cold War in the Soviet regime. This paper researches based on the question: How was ballet greatly affected in Russia during the Cold War and the Soviet regime? The book “Like a Bomb Going Off” by Janice Ross is a very valuable source in researching on this question, relating the career of an artist and choreographer that had a very large impact on ballet during the Soviet era. With this biography, there was evidence to show how ballet was impacted during that time. This topic is relevant and important because the effect that the Cold War had on ballet changed the way ballet is used and interpreted today. The significant role classical ballet played within the Russian society during the Cold War contributed in changing its image and shatter some of its stereotypes. Previously viewed as an innocent, delicate and mostly feminine art form with mainly entertainment values, it became more militant during that period and established a stronger, more influential presence within the country’s political and cultural lives. Through this research I want to prove how this was done and how the world of the arts and the artists was impacted and