My main role during my work placement with the English National Ballet was to follow and observe the chief electrician, David Richardson, and his team. My placement fell during the company’s technical rehearsal week at the New Wimbledon Theatre for their new production She Said, a triple bill of three new works by three female choreographers. This gave me the opportunity to observe how a large, respected company approaches the creation and presentation of new work and the many different roles needed within such a substantial team of people.
One of my aims for this project was to gain an understanding of how a technical team operate on a large scale production and learn more about the lighting, set, and costume elements of a production. I
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I was able to sit in the auditorium for the technical runs with the chief technician, stage manager, conductor, projectionist, choreographer and the company directors. During this time I was witness to some of the discussions had by the choreographers and the other company members. For instance during the rehearsal of Yabin Wang’s M-Dao I was able to observe the artistic director, Tamara Rojo, as she gave feedback and suggestions on the choreography. One suggestion was that the ‘husband’ should be more obvious about noticing and watching the ‘young wife’ as she enters. This was to ensure the audience made the connection that this new woman is the reason behind his rejection of ‘Medea’. Moreover at the end of the piece silks are used to represent Medea’s dead children. Initially the dancer playing Medea draped the silks over her head and around her neck but this confused the imagery of the silks. Rojo suggested changing this to a more specific way to hold a child, such as cradling the silk to her chest, to resonate more with the audience. As someone who is interested in pursuing choreography I found observing these conversations really informative. I was intrigued by Rojo’s understanding of what a prospective audience would understand from these scenes and how she wanted to make sure they were able …show more content…
This was actually quite an issue as the costume played quite a large role in Aszure Barton’s Fantastic Beings. For this the dancer’s costumes are covered in long black hair. The movement was created specifically for these costumes, using movement such as shaking, turning and bouncing to bring the costumes to life. During the rehearsal only two dancers were wearing the full costume, instead of the full cast. This meant it was very hard to see the effects of the lighting on these costumes and you couldn’t really understand what it would appear like with the whole group. This meant the lighting could not be finalised on the tech week but had to wait until the dress run on the same week of the performances. This was not the only piece with this issue. The second cast of M-Dao were also not in costume. The dancers wear masks in this work and needed to get used to wearing them with the lights. I was very shocked to see that this happened in a professional company, especially when I understand that the costume team had been given more than two months to make the costumes. This made me aware of how important it is to meet deadlines and how for myself as a choreographer in the future, who may need to organise the costumes for my own work, I will need to make sure everything is
That is not to say, however, that simple staging prevented an effective presentation of a play. Basic staging could be made productive, and in some cases actually more striking and powerful. Essentially, the lack of an elaborate stage merely shifts the focus elsewhere, the focus being on the actors - their actions, dialogue and how the dialogue is delivered, how they perform, costume. In El Médico de su Honra, Calderón, therefore had to structure the `actions, text and spectacle' very carefully since there are many different settings ...
The theatre is full of young men and women. The gas lanterns dimly light the room and the silhouette of a figure can be seen in the shadows of the stage. As she emerges, she is like a dream: a tall, elegant body with a form fitting bodice and tutu. She is entrancing on her tiny pointe shoes as she floats across the stage. Love and passion fill the air as she moves in such a way that is almost magical. The Romantic Ballet Period introduced the aspects of theme, costume, and new technique to the dance world and its influences are still seen in contemporary works in ballet.
What happens when a ballet company’s classic Christmas tradition is unwrapped, discarded, and replaced with a glitzy and glamorous moneymaking expenditure? Many dance enthusiasts are left with this lingering question as The Boston Ballet struggles with a recent announcement from the Wang Theatre, its lifelong performance home, that next year’s production of the Nutcracker is being replaced by a touring show of the infamous Radio City Rockettes.
The specialization and individualized professions in the field of Technical Theatre are relatively new to the stage in comparison to the period of time in which the art of Theatre has grown. Aiding in the development of concentrated professions such as scenic design has been a plethora of talented, skillful, intelligent and highly driven individuals. Among these influential fountains of creativity have been John Lee Beatty, Eugene Lee, Boris Aronson, Ming Cho Lee, Jo Mielziner, Tony Walton, Robin Wager, John Napier, Santo Loquasto, Heidi Landesman, and Julie Taymor along with many more.
Throughout the years, America has pursued the performing arts in a large variety of ways. Theatre plays a dramatic and major role in the arts of our society today, and it takes great effort in all aspects. Musical Theatre, specifically, involves a concentration and strength in dance, acting, and singing. This is the base that Musical Theatre is built upon. For my Senior Project, I helped choreograph multiple scenes in a community musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie”. Choreography is a way of expressing oneself, but it has not always been thought of for that purpose. Agnes de Mille’s expressive talent has drastically affected how people see choreography today. Agnes de Mille’s influence in the world of dance has left a lasting impact in the Performing Arts Department, and her revolutionary works are still known today for their wit, lyricism, emotion, and charm.
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
The stage that hosted the creation of illusion for those attending ballet after 1827 in its “golden age” (Guest, 1) introduced a new world, but one that could not be reached. These illusions were expressed through performance as “moods of Romanticism.” (5) The Romantic period of the early 19th century emphasized the alienation of an individual, the spectacle of that isolation, and the Romantic ideal that perfection remains mysterious and unattainable, as opposed to the late 18th century’s Enlightenment ideals that held rationality and tangible beings most profound. The spectacle of an estranged, supernatural being embodies these elements of Romanticism, as was represented in Romantic ballet. Coralli and Perrot’s 1841 ballet, Giselle, incorporated these Romantic elements into “each one of (the ballet’s) component parts - scenic design…choreography and dance style” (7), as well as with innovations in narrative. These narratives began to project women as powerful representations of the ethereal, supernatural being, as is specifically shown in the character of Giselle in Coralli and Perrot’s ballet. Through the novelties of Romantic visual presentation in scenery, movement, and narrative, the golden age of ballet was able to effectively “(reveal) the unattainable” (7) and supernatural.
The costumes which are used for this particular production are also essential in dramatizing the on-stage action.
I had the pleasure of being in Western Kentucky University Dance Department’s concert, An Evening of Dance. The performance took place on April 29th through May 2nd in Russel Miller Theatre. It consisted of many works from faculty and guest artists. I felt like the concert was a success and that the choreography was all unique in its own way. I enjoyed the pieces that I performed, and the ones that my fellow company members were in. Through the analysis of “Petrichor”, I found that each production and chorographic element plays a large part in the successful outcome of a dance and emotional responses can be evoked by the simplest ideas.
In today’s society, we are flustered with a variety of artistic performances, which are both praised and rejected by others. In a recent 2011 article by Bert Cardullo, he explains the two main types of persons whose main jobs are to look over these artistic performances and give their personal feedback. “It is certainly true that the critics—those persons whom the dictionary describes as “skilled in judging the qualities or merits of some class of things, especially of literary or artistic work”—have long harbored murderous thoughts about the condition of our drama, but their ineffectuality as public executioners is legendary. The reviewers, by contrast, come close to being the most loyal and effective allies the commercial theater could possibly desire” (Cardullo, 2011). Looking into this quote, it demonstrates that critics take their job to the extent where they aren’t afraid to strike hard at a particular piece. As for a reviewer, they will be more “sugar coating” about performances and offer helpful suggestions for the piece (they are praised more than critics). This research will focus on the lenses of theatrical critics and reviewers with their similarities and differences (as well as emphasize on some important Theatrical Critics and Reviewers). Then, based on this research, it will be put to the test as a playwright takes his previously produced play and use criticisms and reviews as a guide to recreating a play and bringing it back onto the stage. Once doing that, a survey will be conducted to see if the help of criticisms and/or reviews aided in the success of the newly revised play.
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.
In the context of this essay I will be thinking from the perspective of the director in order to explore a breadth of design choices the director of a company has the privilege of making. This would be a primarily text-free interpretation of Angels in America and a highly physical-theatre driven work. The title of t...
Today I had the pleasure of sitting in the Bowen Theatre at the Drake Performance Center for what is called Tech Week. The play being rehearsed was Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Tech week is the designated time to work the bugs out of the systems being used in the production. This is also the time to don the headphones and listen to the Stage Manager and crew during their craft work. The director was very busy observing the actors, the lights and the sound.
Ross, Janice. “Judson Dance Theatre: Performative Traces.” TDR: The Drama Review 53, no. 2 (2009): 161-164
With a major production on the line, much is expected of a techie. Time commitment is one of the major things needed, because being a techie takes numerous hours of the week. Productions and rehearsals can range from a few months to many years, and they must be available for most rehearsa...