Mikhail Baryshnikov's Famous Dancer

During the Russo-American Era, Russian choreographers, such as, Michel Fokine, Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Léonide Massine, and Bronislava Nijinska; benefited from the American audience and started to make dramatic changes to the classical ballet. Every single one of these choreographers implemented and transformed the way people view, danced and perceived ballet in the early 20th century. Several ideas for these innovations were from Michel Fokine. In 1914, he wrote a letter to the London Times, stating the five principles of ballet that befitted the 20th century ballet:

As world has changed over the last century or so, the ballet world has been changing with it. There are many people who have helped shape that change. The changes in style were mainly influenced by George Balanchine. George Balanchine, a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer, also known as the father of American ballet, was the man who was said to have changed the style of ballet forever. Along with these changes in style came changes in visual design elements, inspirational figures, and changes in what the ballets themselves tend to rely on. Many of the features given to ballet in Russia in the 15th and 16th century still remain to this day, but many features have been altered to fit . Let’s take a closer look at what features truly

In 2004, a Texas man named Cameron Todd Willingham was executed for murdering his three young daughters by setting his house on fire. This conviction was based on faulty forensic science which assumed that the fire was caused by arson. There multiple fire science experts who reviewed the case and became opposed to Willingham’s execution stating there was no evidence to prove that the fire was intentionally set. In 2010, the Texas Forensic Science Commission released a report admitting that Willingham’s conviction was based on “flawed science”. One of the witnesses during the trial who was an inmate at the same prison as Willingham testified that Willingham confessed to the killing while in jail but later on recanted his statements. Willingham’s

Which choreographer created several famous full length ballets, including Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker?

Without George Balanchine the dance world might not be what it is today. He combined the technique of classical ballet and his modern movements to shape and mold the many styles of dance. He is remembered as the foremost contemporary choreographer in the world. George Balanchine choreographed over four hundred ballets. George Balanchine, a revolutionary ballet choreographer, began his career in Russia, continued in the United States, and left a memorable legacy worldwide.

Stanislavski was born in 1863 to a wealthy family who loved amateur theatricals. In 1898 he met Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and they founded the Moscow Art Theatre. Stanislavski's work is centred on the notion that acting should be a total lifelike expression of what is being

At the age of nine he started training at the Imperial School in St. Petersburg. He rarely saw his family because they lived far away and he became the ward of Grigory Grigorevich, who was in charge of the school. There Balanchine

His company, the New York City Ballet, is the leading dance group of the United States and one of the great companies of the world. An essential part of the success of Balanchine has been the training of dancers, which he has supervised since the founding of his School of American Ballet in 1934. Balanchine chose to shape talent locally, and he has said that the basic structure of the American dancer was responsible for inspiring some of the striking lines of his compositions. Balanchine is not only gifted in creating entirely new productions, his choreography for classical works has been equally fresh and inventive. He has made American dance the most advanced and richest in choreographic development in the world today.

Dear Mortimer I am writing this paper to persuade you to rethink your position concerning the preemption of firearms regulation regarding college campuses. All over the world violence occurs when we least expect it. As the human race evolves, so does the technology we use. We have acquired the ability to kill a man without being in his general vicinity. With just the slight movement of my finger I can end someone’s life. One small confrontation could lead to a terrible travesty. In the United States alone, we have seen many shootings in educational buildings from the students themselves. When you put guns in the hands of students, you are asking for death. People may say it adds protection to people wearing guns, but what about the people without them? I strongly believe that if this bill is allowed to continue we be seeing a large number of shooting in buildings of education, which is unacceptable. One small miscommunication between two armed students could start a firefight.

In addition to developing his kinesthetic proficiency, he had retained his musical gift and Vera Kostrovitskaya, a fellow student, said that "He could never pass with indifference any musical instrument. The minute he came down to our floor of the school the sounds of a piano would be heard...Sometimes, in the evening, we would secretly climb the stairs to listen to Balanchivadze playing Liszt, Chopin or Beethoven in the boy's quarters..." In 1919 Balanchivadze applied to the Conservatory of Music and was accepted, but as an undernourished dancer (this was during the Bolshevik revolution and everyone was hungry, especially those involved in the arts, which were considered to be counter-revolutionary) he could not work simultaneously at the school and the conservatory, and never completed his music course. There can be little doubt that his concentration on both dance and music was the foundation of his later excellence in choreography.

Although a legend in the United States, George Balanchine did not begin life here until age twenty-nine. He was born in Russia on January 22 of 1904¹. Balanchine’s father was a composer¹, so music was no mystery to him growing up. In fact, he began his music career at the age of five when he began to play the piano.³ Not long after, George started his studies of dance at the age of nine¹. He made his dancing debut at the age of ten in the Maryinsky Theatre Ballet company production of The Sleeping Beauty with the role of a cupid. ³He would also dance the role of the Prince in The Nutcracker at the age of fifteen. ⁵Balanchine graduated from the Maryinsky Theatre Ballet School in 1921¹.

About three years later, Balanchine formed a group of four dancers, "Soviet State Dancers," that toured outside of the Soviet Union. His choreography for his dancers upset the traditional minded audiences during his tour, so his tour was not of the greatest success. On the tour, he met a man named Diaghilev, who immediately offered him a job that gave him a great deal of exposure. After three years of amazing experience, Diaghilev promoted Balanchine as a choreographer and made him master for his company. Balanchine was only at the age of 25. His unique style of dance was too advanced for the Soviets to handle. So Balanchine moved to Europe to start his own ballet company. He was not there long, Lincoln Kirstein, one of his fans who encouraged Balanchine to go to the United States to help establish a school of Ballet equivalent to those found in Europe and Russia. Little did Lincoln know that those words of wisdom were the start to a whole in Ballet world in the U.S.

have you ever wondered about ballet? me neither! but deal with it! ballet was a very popular dance in the early 1900s. people liked ballet for what it did in movies and how it was entertaining.

While watching the video “Ballet, Sweat, and Tears,” I noticed that the Ballet teachers in Russia are more strict and severe than the ones in America. The teachers at the Russia academy yelled a lot and physically touched the students, while here I America that is not allowed. In my opinion a difference that I saw was that the students over at the Vaganova Ballet were not lazy at all. The students from the Russian academy were more focused and traditional. Russian ballet also focuses on moving the body as a “whole,” their moves are more controlled and precise. They also tend to focus on flexibility and endurance as well as the positions of the arms. I also noticed that the students attending the Vaganova academy were more willing to make sacrifices. And example, would be the little girl that stated that she has not been able to watch television for over two months now. Now, the typical student here in the United States tends to be lazy and usually has a careless attitude. I know the students over here in America would not wake up at six in the morning just to keep practicing, especially in today’s generation. While, I also watched some ballet videos from the school of American Ballet I saw that the diet is not as firm as the one from the Vaganova Ballet Academy. Many people have also stated that compared to the Vaganova Ballet Academy the school of American ballet is a breeze. A major difference that I saw was the performance while the Russian ballet performance was precise

Instead, he created something, which possibly is greater than the Ballet Russe was, the New York City Ballet and the America School of Ballet. At the time we covered this information I did not see a possible connection that had with my life. It was just a simply fact of life, he left the Ballet Russe and created his own world renowned ballet company, but looking back in a way all of the students in this class along with thousands of others are Balanchine in a way. After all, we all left what we were accustomed to, our homes, families, friends, and high school. To come to a university. No one know what the outcome will be, but if we all have the vision and innovation that Balanchine had there is not a doubt in my mind that we too, all the freshman on campus, will be able to achieve success. Of course, our form of success will probably fade with the years, unlike Balanchine’s, but we can all enjoy the accomplishment like Balanchine had to feel with the New York City Ballet. Like mentioned earlier, Balanchine’s name will forever be tied to ballet, even the contemporary styles that we studied later in the semester.