When one thinks of different dance forms, one would tend to look at the beauty of it and how it makes people feel. But understanding the origin of some of the dances should help one to appreciate the importance the art form of dance has made in history. Through both of the dance forms there would be a discussion between the origins as well as the similarities and contrast of ballet and classical Chinese dance.
Ballet was first brought to light in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th Century, where the dancing masters would teach the steps to the nobility and the royal court would partake in performances. In the 16th century an Italian noblewoman by the name of Catherine de Medici, wife of King Henry II of France began to invest in ballet
It became a dance that allows the user to have a good balance and coordination between shen, physical forms, and yun, the style, inner spirit, and emotions. When wushu, martial arts, appeared in China. Many types of performing arts were influenced by martial art movements, techniques, and flips. Also many original forms of classic Chinese dance were similar to those of martial arts. During the 5,000 years when Chinese culture was being established, classical Chinese dance was being enhanced, which what brought forth the “bearing” aspect of classical Chinese dance. Before the Qin and Han dynasties spanning at around 221 B.C.E to 220 C.E. there were street performers who performed martial arts routines that consisted of cartwheel, front flips, and back flips. During the Tang and Song dynasties (618 C.E. - 1279 C.E.), much of the dance and street performances contained early forms and techniques of classical Chinese dance. Classical Chinese dance is composed of three main parts: bearing, the form, and technical skill. Other essentials consist of training movements and postures, as well as challenging jumping and tumbling
Ballet’s many training methods usually start with footwork and strengthening of the legs and core muscles. The training to become a professional prima ballerina includes working of the hands, pointe, partnering, and ballet’s high level techniques. Classical Chinese dance training includes three main parts which is form, bearing, and technical skill. The form is a system of a number of Chinese movements and postures. But the most important part is bearing known as yun in Chinese. Yun is the inner feeling behind any movement a dancer does. It is connected to the dancer’s breathing and personality. In classical Chinese dance men have a more protonate role in the telling of the story while in ballet the men are used for their strength to help the female dancers perform at a greater theatrical
The concept that belly dance is a constantly evolving dance might surprise most people, as the static Orientalist image of the belly dancer is the one that pervades American popular culture. I and other scholars attempt to remove belly dance from the ridged framework of Orientalism and the harem fantasy. By the following how belly dance arrived in America, and how images of belly dancers and harems became part of the visual culture of the West I have attempted to demonstrate that there are aspects of power and a different reading of images of belly dance is possible. Through continued scholarly inquiry and research I look forward to the emergence of a new image of belly dance, one that represents the power and beauty of this dance, an image that is respectful of the many cultures that it represents.
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 ...
There are these two video examples representative of their respective ballet eras are twenty. A presentation of dance, Contemporary Ballet. The show still had basics skill and the traditional dances are also included. These two video still have basics move like classical ballet. The dancer begins in a Classical Ballet 5th position of the feet, but her arms, instead of a soft, rounded shape, are dangling limply at her side like we studied in this chapter;
Ballet traces back to the 15-century Italian renaissance court; Ballet is known as the mother of all dance due to its influence on any style of dance no matter how small. In the 15th century ballet was a form of entertainment for the Italian Renaissance court. These performances took place in balls and banquets. (“Ballet”) Ballet one of its first performances included aristocratic amateurs with poetry and song alongside the production. (“Ballet”) During the 15th century, France also became influence with ballet. (“A Brief History of Ballet - Illustrated by Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.”) The influenced of ballet in France was because of Catherine de Medici in 1533. (“Ballet”) She married the French King Henry II which allowed from French and
Through the combination of martial arts exercises, the practice of Daoyin and Tuna, and traditional Chinese medicine Tai Chi became a complete system of exercise in which the participant’s mental concentration, breathing, and actions are closely connected. Tai Chi paved the way for its use as an ideal form of exercise for all aspects of health care. Since then Chen style had been kept almost secretly within his village, where the clan taught Tai Chi to their daughter-in-laws, but not their daughters in assurance that the secret didn’t leave the village. Later, Chen Xin, a16th generation member of the Chen family, wrote and illustrated a book on the Chen School of Tai Chi, in which he described the correct postures and movements, and explained both the medical and philosophical background of the routines. However this book was not published until 1932, after Chen Fake, a great grandson of the famous Chen Changxing, had taught the style of Tai Chi outside of the Chen village. Yang Style is the most popular of all forms. It was created in the early 19th century by Yan Lu-chan. As a child Yang enjoyed martial arts and had the opportunity to study with various famous
Irish Step Dancing started around 1750, when the appearance of dance masters came about. Dance Masters would travel from town to town teaching their dances to people that were interested and that could pay for it. They would teach in barns, kitchens, crossroads, and hedge schools. These teachings went on in secret due to Penal Laws that were enacted in the late 17th century. The English were determined to suppress Irish culture and abolish Christianity so these laws banned the education of catholic children, which was why the Irish created hedge schools. The Dance Masters would start with dances like the Reel and the Jig. Each dance master had his own collection of dance steps and would also create their own over time, which lead to Step Dancing. 8 measures or bars or music is one step, thus the name “Step Dancing”. Often competitions were held where Dance masters would show off there steps and perform on small areas like a table top, top of a barrel, or a small stage. Dancing in these small areas showed great talent. The greater number of steps that were preformed or known the more respect a dance master received. Some Dance Masters would even compete at Feisianna, which was a combination of a trade fair, political gath...
[6] Cohen, Selma Jeanne. International Encyclopedia of Dance: A Project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc. New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Print.
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.
What do you see when you hear the word “ballet”? Most likely women on a stage wearing tutus and pointe shoes. But it wasn’t like that the whole time, well not until the Romantic Era in 1832. Without Louis XIV, the ballet world would be completely different than it is today. We could still be on the line of actually allowing women to be a part of a ballet. Aspiring choreographers should look up to Jean Georges Noverre because he started tying dancing with story, also known as “Shakespeare of Ballet”. After his debut of the first story ballet, other choreographers started getting the idea of pleasing the audience with a story .The Romantic Era influenced romantic ballets, which of course, needed female lead roles. This was the first appearance
Indeed, I found something useful in an article which introduces Chinese Kong Fu history. “During Shang and Zhou Dynasties (17th Century BC- 221 BC), martial arts evolved to be a kind of dancing. Usually the dancing of martial arts is utilized to train soldiers and inspire their morale” (Kelly). Initially, Kong Fu was only known as a social activity in Zhou Dynasties. At that era, people only played Kong Fu as a ceremony which could make soldiers become more confident to win the war. In the ancient of China, the war between two countries was different to the one nowadays. Before opening hostilities, two armies shew morale first and two generals fought with each other solely next. The contest of morale was an essential part in a war, which meant that soldiers might behave badly in a low morale. That was why every country should have a just cause to back a
Chinese music is described as a unique form of art. Even today, the Modern Chinese music has a Western Modern Music style. The music has it's own characteristics and is very much distinct.
It is a fact that emotion stimulates the body into movement. It has been said that “dancing is older than anything except eating, drinking and love”. Civilization and conditioning has taught people to suppress this natural response but the primitive desire still remains. Prehistoric man expressed his emotions by movement. When speech was just developing, even primitive cave drawings depict men dancing. As time went on and language was developed, the expressive movements of early man continued but transformed from spontaneous, formal and lastly traditional aspects. These dances were adapted as parts a social custom. This became the foundation of folk dances.
Dancing has been around for centuries. It all started with ritualistic, symbolic dances in the early tribal societies. Early tribes used these dancers to tell stories, old folks tales, and were used to worship or communicate to their gods. An example of these types of dances is called a rain dance to worship a certain. “ The dance designed to excite the emotions, such as the war dance; the dance purporting to communicate with the gods, such as the rain dance.” (Fegurson1). Many would gather to worship and dance to their rain god, believing this would bring water and prosperity to their land. These types of dancing later evolve into dancing in the renaissance era in the 17th and century and modern day era. Ballet, another form of dance, was originally created in Italy and France in the 15th centuries. Dance during this time was used for celebration. Therefore early Italian ballet choreographers combined many dif...
Unlike western music which focus on beats, rhyme and melody, Chinese music ,as part of six art of Confucianism, pursues balances, the beauty of nature and become the part of nature. Chinese music is based on the ancient Chinese pentatonic, five-tone musical system which are classified as Keng, Shang, Chueh, Chih, and Yue. According to the Chinese musical theory, the five-tone musical system are connected to five elements that construct the world and inner working of man, which are metal, wood, water, fire and...
“Dance, the art of precise, expressive, and graceful human movement, traditionally, but not necessarily, performed in accord with musical accompaniment. Dancing developed as a natural expression of united feeling and action.”