1.Jack Cole thought that dance wears are fantastic and the dancing itself is like a body architecture. Dancers are body architects. Then he studied how to dance from Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. Cole learned a lot of dancing styles and tried to mix them together. He was known as the father of “theatrical jazz dance”, and he influenced many other dancers afterwards. In his dance, one of the most obvious features is that there was a small group of dancers on the stage rather than a large one. Cole instructed many actors and dancers after he retired from dancing. 2.Busby Berkely served for the army after the First World War. He started to direct musical dramas when he found himself good at directing dances. He was not satisfied with the final
Then he was picked by some performances for small dances. He was successful in minstrel and vaudeville shows and then acted in Broadway. He was known at the most successful African American tap dancers and contributed significantly to the development of tap dances. 4.Bob Fosse showed great interest in dancing when he was very young because his father was a dancer and this influenced a lot to his future career. His marriage with Joan McCracken helped a lot in his shortcomings in classical dancing like ballet. He was remembered by his eight Tony Awards. In his musical works, he got inspirations from Jack Cole’s directions and made innovations of his own. The unique stage effect and dancing skills made him the most recognized musical directors of his time. 5.Agnes de Mille was born in a family where both his parents were theatre professionals. However, she walked on the path of dancing not because of her family but because of her sister’s disease. In order to prevent the same disease, she had to practice dancing. In her studying years, she showed great genius in organizing dancing. Her contribution to dancing was that she made dancing one of the necessary parts of the whole musical drama. It is her that made people realize the importance of the dancing in
The success in Pal Joey started his numerous cooperation with Stanley Donen. Kelly and Fred Astaire were considered as the brain and heart of the drama. His success in Singin’ in the Rain made him known to the world. He was remembered by his excellent dancing skills and natural humor in his performance. He received many awards from Hollywood for his contributions to the performance industry.
7.Jerome Robbins started his dancing career when he majored in chemistry in his college days. He went to American Ballet Theatre when he graduated from the university. He was always pursuing to introduce traditional ballet into Broadway. For years’ hard work, Robbins successfully produced a lot of dramas to the public and made huge success. He was featured by giving young actors pressures of producing dramas by themselves and mixed classical musicals with modern dancing. 8.Fred Astaire started his performance when his father was fired and the whole family moved to New York. Astaire tried to demonstrate his vitality in his dancing. He received the Academy Honorary Award for his contributions to the performance industry. In his works, Astaire showed his vitality and happiness. For photographing skills, full shot was his usual method of
At age twelve, he moved to Los Angeles and, on a junior high school class trip to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, fell in love with concert dance. Ailey began his formal dance training inspired by the performances of the Katherine Dunham Dance Company and the classes with Lester Horton that his friend, Carmen de Lavallade, urged him to take. Horton, the founder of the first racially integrated dance company in the US, was a catalyst for Ailey as the young dancer embarked on his professional career. After Horton's death in 1953, Ailey became the director of the Lester Horton Dance Theater and began to choreograph his own works. In New York, Ailey studied with many outstanding dance artists, including Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Hanya Holm and Karel Shook, and took acting classes with Stella Adler.
Dance is an ever evolving form of art; in much the same way that one can categorize and differentiate between eras and styles of architecture one can also do so with dance. These eras at times have sharp delineations separating them from their antecedents, other times the distinction is far more subtle. Traditional forms of dance were challenged by choreographers attempting to expand the breadth and increase the depth of performance; preeminent among such visionaries was Seattle born dancer and choreographer Mark Morris. Mark Morris' began as one of the millions of hopeful individuals attempting to simply make a career in dance; he not only succeeded but managed to have a lasting effect on the entire landscape of dance.
Bob Fosse was born June 23, 1927, and died September 23, 1987. Born in Chicago USA. (Wikipedia, 2016, para.1) He grew up he had six siblings and had Norwegian and Irish parents. He was an American choreographer in musical theatre as well as a director, film director, screen writer, and actor. He has won the most Tonys ever for his choreography with eight Tony awards. Fosse's choreography changed how society saw dancing on film and stage with his style being nothing like anything anyone had ever seen before. His style was unique and edgy with unusual arm movements, poses, and gesture. "I thank god that I wasn't born perfect." Said Fosse. (Brainy Quote,
An example was through the performance when he had two people from the audience to join on the stage doing Corroboree dances.
Katherine Dunham led a rich and full life not only as a dancer, but as someone who studied the people she loved, wrote extensively, and stood for causes that meant so much to her. Her legacy lives on not only in the great anthropological studies she did or the important political and social stances she took, but in the modern dance of today. Modern dance, or dance in general for that matter, wouldn’t be what it is today without her studies and influence.
Alvin was born during the Great Depression to two working class parents in Rogers, Texas. His father abandoned the family when Alvin was a mere six months old, leaving him and his mother with the struggle of fending for themselves. The inability for Alvin’s mother to find work led to their move to California in 1942, where Alvin was introduced by a classmate to the most influential person that would be the foundation for his future successful career in modern dance, Lester Horton (DeFrantz 1). Alvin was captivated by Lester’s work, which focuses on building a strong body, and made the executive decision to start his dance training in 1949 when he was eighteen years old. Because Lester Horton’s dance company embraced diversity, and accepted dancers of all ethnicities and backgrounds, Alvin was given the opportunity to do something great with his
Not great at sports, Alvin excelled in the less common athletics of gymnastics, especially the floor exercise (36). Being an African-American male, this was hard for Ailey and he struggled fitting in with his peers. Alvin Ailey had little experience with dance or the theater and it wasn’t until he moved to Los Angeles that his eyes were opened to the world of theatrics by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carolos and the performance of Katherine Dunham’s black dance company (DeFrantz 43). Ailey pursued 1940s dancing styles such as tap, but experimented and settled on modern dance when a school friend, Carmen de Lavallade, convinced him to join Lester Horton’s lively theatrical, Hollywood Studio in 1949 (43). As Ailey’s mentor, Horton proved to be a major role model and helped mold Alvin’s technique and
Her lasting career was not given to her easily, therefore, creating an inspiring story full of hardships and success. Ever since she was a little girl, her dream was to become a successful and famous dancer. In New York City, when she was trying to fulfill her dream, she was unable to find a job in the theatre department. Instead of being discouraged, she decided to make something good come from it. She choreographed her own routines, created her own costumes, and organized solo recitals for audiences to enjoy. This event led her to the biggest adventure in her life that would later impact the world. She was invited to return back to London to pursue her education in the performing arts, so that she could further improve her talents that would make up her entire career.
Ballet is one of the world's oldest and newest forms of dance. One man that created new audiences for ballet and mastered the dance to its fullest was none other than George Balanchine. He brought the standard ballet to levels no one has ever seen before. In the world of dance, there have been many wonderful and talented choreographers but Balanchine's work affected the dance world so much that he was a legend long before his death. Not only was he legendary worldwide but also his influenced American Ballet. George Balanchine's unique style of dance created the "American style" of Ballet.
Ballet is an athletic art form that utilizes muscle control, flexibility, and physical strength. It requires extreme discipline from the dancers and takes an extreme amount of mental concentration. This discipline causes dancers to have success throughout life and specifically in academic studies. There are many ways that dance can affect the success of a person’s life; however, there are two in specific that make dancers generally more successful. To begin, ballet causes dancers to be self-motivated workers; dancers cannot rely on others to push them to be better, but must have the drive within themselves.
Li’s passion for ballet shows on and off stage through his arabesques, flexibility, fouettés, grande jeté and pirouettes that were nothing less than perfection. I understood that becoming a dancer requires commitment, passion and having a great memory as there’s many moves, routines and ballet terms that you need to learn. When I was performing on stage, I felt free and that I could own the stage as it felt like it was my second home. I also felt complete within myself just as Li felt. To perform on stage, you need to be light and graceful along with connecting to the music using precise steps, poses and formal gestures. The film used dance, music, scenery, and costumes to portray a story characterised by Li’s dance. Classical ballet dancers require the utmost grace and I’ve found that you also need a tremendous level of concentration and memory. This portrays when his choreographer Ben Stevenson asked Li Cunxin to replace the main male role due to an injury on the day of the performance to memorise new dances and perform them in front of an enormous crowd. Many of my performances have been in a group where we all need to be in sync and work together. This film highlighted that in order to become a professional ballet dancer, you have to prepare to work extremely hard no matter how gruelling the schedule is in order to
According to Katherine, “A creative person has to create. It doesn’t really matter what they create. If such a dance wanted to go out and build the cactus gardens where he could, in Mexico, let him do that, but something that is creative has to go on. (Katherine, Dunham, Dancing a life, 2002)”. It has been said that an idol is someone whom everyone looks up to because of the great things they accomplished throughout their life span. Acknowledged as an African American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, civil activist and writer. Katherine Dunham, not only normally known for the generous acts of kindness but also for the huge impact she had in incorporating different dance styles and creating them into her very own ballet pieces. An influential woman who supported African American culture and believed there shouldn’t be any divisions between people. Not completely another mother of modern dance but a women who greatly influenced modern dance to enhance it in many ways. Katherine is and was famous for her anthropology movement in the world of dance, her creativity and dedication.
Learning about Dance: Dance as an Art Form and Entertainment provides visions into the many features of dance and inspires scholars to keep an open mind and think critically about the stimulating, bold, ever-changing and active world of dance. Learning about Dance is particularly useful for those who do not have a wide and diverse dance contextual, such as students in a preliminary level or survey dance course. This book consists of twelve chapters. Chapter one dance as an art form focuses on the basic structures of dance. Dance is displayed through the human body, it has the control to communicate and induce reactions. Dance can be found in many different places, it enables the participants and seekers to touch and knowledge the joy of movement. Dance is discovered as being one of the oldest art forms worldwide. Dance existed in early cultures was recognized in a sequence of rock paintings portrayed dance. Since this discovery of rock paintings, several other forms of art have been found that depict dance. People used rituals in order to worship the gods and believed that the rituals held magical and spiritual powers. During the ancient period civilizations sentient decisions began to be made with regard to dance. Other periods that had an impact on dance were the medieval period, the renaissance period, and the contemporary period. Chapter two the choreographer, the choreographer is a person who comes up with the movements created into a dance routine. The choreographer expresses themselves through choreography because this is their way of communicating with the audience. In order to be a choreographer you must have a passion for dance. Each choreographer has their own approaches and ways of making up a routine. Choreographers ...
“He’d look out from under his eyebrows, his cigarette a smoke screen between him and the rest of the world, and nobody knew what he was thinking” (Beddow xi). This is how Margery Beddow describes Bob Fosse in her book, Bob Fosse's Broadway. There is no question about whether or not Fosse was extremely innovative in the world of theatrical dance. His technique, style, personality, and achievements throughout his career speak for themselves. You may have seen him in movies such as Kiss Me Kate, My Sister Eileen, Damn Yankees, The Little Prince, and Thieves, however, he also helped direct and choreograph several of other films such as Sweet Charity, Lenny, All That Jazz, Star 80, and more. Although Fosse did contribute a lot to the film industry,
The fine art of modern dance is like many other fields in that it is based on the actions and deeds of those who were pioneers in the field. These pioneers helped to mold modern dance into what it is today. Of the many people who are partially responsible for this accomplishment is Isadora Duncan. Duncan, often referred to as the “mother of modern dance,” inspired many other dancers to the extent that the art of dance would not be the same today without her many contributions.