Essay On Dancer Identity

669 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: My career as a dancer

My intention is for this essay to explore the topics of dancer identity and the transitions between career stages, mainly focusing on the retirement from dance from a theoretical and partly self-reflective angle.
To elaborate on that, my aim is to consider from the perspective of career stages from professional dance, the nature and fragility of identity and to contemplate what it might be attached to in relation to its severance. I will form this through notions of character and their relationship towards the corresponding occupation. I also intend to discuss the varying concepts of identity and its adaptation towards retirement from professional dancing.

Character and occupation fall within the psychological hypothesis of identity and it’s affiliated theories, a question that arises to me is how does the training and performance career of a dancer contribute …show more content…

Firstly, engaging in a dancer’s career develops aerobic power, muscular strength, balance, flexibility and bone and joint integrity (Koutedakis & Jamurtas, 2004) physical elements of strength within a discipline that centers on aesthetic values glorifying the body; the body being the valued medium of manifestation. Consequently, it seems reasonable to suggest that the body, meaning it’s physicality, could be one of the key factors in the formation of a dancer’s identity. Although I do not intend to separate my work into chapters as such, there will be three themes that reoccur and these will be three components of dancer identity, with physicality being one of them. If possible I will avoid using the three components as chapters because I feel their topics overlap each other and cannot always exist alone in the matter I choose to discuss. It also seems that if I chose to form chapters the specificity of the focus into the professional dancer’s career transition to retirement may be endanger of becoming faded in

Show More
Related

  • Romantic Ballet

    3140 Words  | 7 Pages

    Ballet has been an art form since the late fifteenth century, but society did not truly see the impact of ballet until the nineteenth century. Modern day thinkers possess the idea that ballet began with tutus and pointe shoes, but it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that this opinion was observed. Ballet has come a long way. It has survived the turmoil of many wars and has changed itself by accepting new ideas and impressing the audience with its unique stylistic views.

    Read More

  • Alonzo King and a New Style of Dance

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jensen, Jill Nunes. "Transcending Gender in Ballet’s LINES." When Men Dance: Choreographing Masculinities Across Borders (2009): 118.

    Read More

  • College Essay Dance

    466 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • ballet Dancers and body image

    642 Words  | 2 Pages

    Young girls and women symbolize femininity with being a ballerina. Kelso comments that in the shadows of the spotlight lurks an abusive world of eating disorders, verbal harassment, fierce competition, injuries, fatigued, and malnourished dancers (Kelso, 2003). In today’s world of ballet, dancers suffer from always being in pain, worrying their body image is not the right look they need to have to get lead roles resulting in the development of eating disorders, and male ballet dancers are stereotyped as being homosexual when most of the male dancers are in fact heterosexual.

    Read More

  • Mao's Last Dancer Essay

    789 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • American Culture During the 1950´s

    2617 Words  | 6 Pages

    This paper will be a detailed description of what dance was like in the 1950’s specifically focusing on 1954 to 1959. It will also go beyond to demonstrate how the style of dancing is a direct reflection of the society during that time period. The topic will be presented in class and a brief reflection will be included in this paper.

    Read More

  • Free Admissions Essay - The Dance of Life

    623 Words  | 2 Pages

    The best expression of dance comes from a skilled and experienced dancer. Ultimately, I want to dance the dance of medicine in a way that fully expresses the essence of the dance, which is a dance of knowledge and compassion. A dancer that can take the music and choreography and express the essence of the dance, has an indefinable quality that only those with a pure love for their calling can possess. In dance, that special quality is what separates the average dancer from Baryshnikov or Pavlova. That aspect is one that intertwines unsurpassable skill with a focused relentless devotion to the task. Although I have danced since the age of three, I know I do not have this prima ballerina quality, but as a future doctor, this same kind of quality is what drives me.

    Read More

  • Ghost Dances, by Christopher Bruce

    1611 Words  | 4 Pages

    The work ‘Ghost Dances’ by Christopher Bruce was viewed on 26th August, 2011 to the Year 12 Dance class. The individual interpretation of the social/political or world issue/ comment the piece is attempting to make. Using direct examples from the performance, the use the choreographer has made of the movement and the non-movement components have been identified. Also the effectiveness of this piece has been evaluated. After Christopher Bruce received a letter from a widow of a Chilean folk singer who had been murdered the very inspirational and symbolic ‘Ghost Dances’ work came about.

    Read More

  • The Pressures of Dancers

    3179 Words  | 7 Pages

    The typical idea of a dancer is that they are tall, slender, full of energy, and lucky because they dance with all of the “stars”. Much of this is true, however, what many people do not think of are the many hardships that a dancer goes through in order to achieve their high status in the dance world. It takes much hard work and determination along with good direction to become a dancer. However, nothing good comes without a price. Dancers often times have many pressures put on them which can lead to physical and emotional damages. These damages occur through the pressures from the media, parents, teammates, and the stereotype that society has placed on dancers.

    Read More

  • Why Ballet Should be Considered a Sport

    906 Words  | 2 Pages

    does our society fail to respect dance as a sport? Dancing as a career requires an incredible

    Read More

  • Overview of the Major Topics in Learning about Dance by Nora Ambrosio

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • La Fille Mal Gardee Dance Essay

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    Every dance that is created by a choreographer has a meaning and or purpose behind it. The dance choreographed could be used to send a political, emotional, or a social message. Regardless of the message being sent, each dance created possesses a unique cultural and human significance. This essay will examine and analyze two dance works from history and give an insight into what each dance work provided to the society of its time.

    Read More

  • Split Sides an Analysis of Modern Dance

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...re of different dance cultures within the vocabulary of their scope, then the results would be so astounding as to give that dancer an unspoken quality distinguishing them from among their peers. Movement knowledge is cultural knowledge and remembering that each culture is beautiful and different in its own way can help create a dancer that will resonate with any audience member.

    Read More

  • Body Image and Eating Disorders Among Young Ballerinas

    1808 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Just as musicians have their instruments, dancers have their bodies” (Price and Pettijohn 991). The body is the only tool in which a dancer has to create art and express themselves. For this reason, there is a constant focus on the body. This constant focus, and constant pressure, can cause the dancers to develop concerns and a negative body image. The term body image can be defined as “the way in which people see themselves in the mirror everyday: the values, judgments, and ideas that they attach to their appearance” (Kelso 1). From childhood people perceive themselves in a certain way. They learn of how to feel about their ...

    Read More

  • The impact of the French Revolution on Ballet

    2173 Words  | 5 Pages

    [6] Cohen, Selma Jeanne. International Encyclopedia of Dance: A Project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc. New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Print.

    Read More

More about Essay On Dancer Identity

Open Document