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Greek influence in western dance forms today
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Le Ballet Comique de la Reine Royalty's Attempt to Bring Harmony to Their Country On Sunday, October 15, 1581, in the Louvre's Great Salle, Le Ballet Comique de la Reine was performed to celebrate the marriage of Queen Louise's sister, Marguerite de Lorraine to King Henry's beloved Anne, the Duke of Joyeuse. This five-hour spectacle was the creation of Balthazar Beaujoyeulx, who was employed for the occasion by Catherine de' Medici. This performance will most likely change the form of ballet, as we know it. Beaujoyeulx's Le Ballet Comique de la Reine combined dance, verse, music, and scenography in one unified performance for the first time to the delight of an impressed audience of nearly 1000 people. The ballet was an interpretation of the Circe fable from Homer's Odyssey. In this story, the evil enchantress Circe has the performers in a spell. As the ballet progresses, the gods Jupiter, Minerva, and Mercury are called upon to defeat Circe and release the performers from her spell. Actual peace and order is not restored until the King of France gets involved. Supposedly the dances in the production were inspired by the ancient Greeks. Pythagorean and Platonic concepts related to universal harmony and order is demonstrated in Beaujoyeulx's rhythm and choreographed spatial patterns. The actual steps however do not show any connection with the ancient Greeks. The steps of the actual ballet are the same as those of Renaissance social dances. What Beaujoyleux did was develop and elaborate on theses steps in order to give them a new and exciting look. The dance was divided up into three different choreographed parts. The plot of the ballet was revealed through the different stages. In the first stage, there were tw... ... middle of paper ... ...Comique de la Reine and France's political reality. For instance, when in the production, the performers call upon the King to rid the kingdom of the treachery of Circe and bring peace and order back to the land, it is the same as the people of France asking King Henri III to reinstate concord in France and end the religious strife. Similarly, at the end of the ballet when the spectators are invited to join the performers on the floor to dance, they are metaphorically being asked to join the attempts to regain harmony in France. Balthazar Beaujoyeulx should be commended for his brilliant choreography of Le Ballet Comique de la Reine, but greater applause should be given to the monarch for its attempt bring peace to their kingdom. May the genius of this production be a testament to the capability of man to achieve harmony and accord in both dance and in life.
“We are never more truly and profoundly human than when we dance.” Jose Arcadio Limon was a dancer and choreographer born and raised in Mexico. He was inspired to begin his studies in modern dance when he saw a performance of Harald Krutzberg and Yvone Georgi. Limon enrolled at the dance school of Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. He continued to work with Humphrey until 1946, when he founded the José Limón Dance Company. His most successful work is called The Moor's Pavane and it is based on Shakespeare's Othello. The Limón Dance Company still exists and is part of the Jose Limon Dance Foundation, an institution dedicated to preserve and disseminate his artistic dance work and technique. Jose Limon is important in the American Dance History
The next work of the program, Courtly Airs and Dances, is a multi-movement work composed by Ron Nelson. The piece is split into six movements: Intrada, Basse Danse, Pavane, Saltarello, Sarabande, and Allemande. Each of these present distinct characteristics that separate it from each other movement, yet all are united by being a style of dance. The first movement, Intrada, presents a fanfare-like opening to the multi-movement work. The trumpets and brass section as a whole lead this, as they create a sense of nobility. The key is major and the tempo is one that could be described as allegretto—it is not a fast tempo, yet more brisk than an andante pace. The texture is homophonic, as there are different parts being performed by different
As the play opens, there is much merrymaking and festivity in preparation for the play. The sheer happiness of all of the colorful characters is transferred to the reader almost instantly. The mood is portrayed very well as being light and bubbly, an overall good feeling. The next major shift comes when Cyrano enters and, after riding himself of Montfleury, puts on the spectacle wherein he demonstrates not only his impeccable verbal dexterity, but also his fencing abilities - and both at the same time. This whole scene causes a strong reaction from the audience, and in turn, the re...
He may even have been the first to sing the tragic love of Tristan and Isolde. One of Chretein de Troyes’ works, Chevalier de la Charette (The Knight of the Cart) expresses the doctrines of courtly love in its most developed form. The plot of this story is believed to have been given to him by Marie of Champagne and has been called “the perfect romance” for its portrayal of Queen Guinevere’s affair with Lancelot of the Lake.1
The 2nd movement: A Ball. This movement is representative of the gala ball where he once again sees his beloved. This section is a dance movement in three parts. The Idea fixe reappears in Waltz time. The 3rd movement: Scene in the Fields.
The element that stood out the most to me was how effectively the music and the footwork corresponded. The best examples of this are seen through the dancers solos. Especially Albrecht's solo, his feet glide on the stage at the same tempo as the music. Similarly, Giselle's graceful footwork is truly amazing. I really like the similarities between the choreographed footwork and the music, it makes Giselle seem much more elegant and beautiful. This also seems to make the work look more put together and in sync because the dancers are dancing in harmony with the orchestra. The choreography by itself is amazing. The footwork is rapid and intricate, however, at the same time it is delicate and graceful. The ballerina (Giselle) made it look very easy to do the choreography, when it rea...
In dance, contrast is the side by side comparison of space, time and energy, in order to identify differences. This contrast was best exemplified by the stark difference in tempo which was alternated from allegro to adagio in each sequential Part. The tempo changes enabled the dancers’ to vary their use of space and energy. Throughout the allegro movements, space and energy were maximized. In contrast, as the tempo slowed to adagio, the utilization of space and output of energy decreased. Taylor expanded contrast in Esplanade to include the costumes. The female apparel consisted of pastel flowing short skirts, which differed from the male’s neutral tight fitting costumes. Although the free flowing costume complimented the allegro tempo, it contradicted the slow, confined movements throughout the adagio tempos. Repetition or the duplication of movement created a cohesiveness of the mass dancers and established the individual as an outsider. Whether in the slow paced repeated walking movements in Parts 2 and 4 or the sequential lifts and leaps in Parts 1, 3, and 5, repetition established unity. The isolation of the woman was also established by her repeated unsuccessful efforts to interact with the mass dancers by running and circling each dancer in Part 1. The repetition of walking steps throughout the dance created continuity,
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.
During the performance, the principle of spacing was demonstrated when the dancers scattered themselves across the stage and used excellent spacing. As each scene approached, they respectfully stationed themselves in their allotted positions. Never was the stage oddly spaced or bare. Also, the core principle of dance was demonstrated by using rhythm/time. This referred to the speed of moment of the dancers. Throughout the play, the time of the dancers fluctuated. There were times of excitement when the dancers expressed feelings of joy and therefore they had a fast speed but there are other times when the dancers were confused and uncertain and as a result, their speed were much slower and calmer.
Ballet, a form of dance has been around for many years and did not start in America. Ballet has made its mark around the globe and many have and still are enjoying the art and entertainment that the ballet brings. Ballet is known as being the “core” of the other forms of dance as in modern, contemporary and even hip hop. People enjoy the form of dance on an everyday basis at family functions, parties and even just being home alone and many do not know that the dances they particularly like all originated from ballet. The history of ballet has been put into nine well defined sections the Renaissance Period, the Baroque Period, the Classical Period, the Pre-Romantic Period, Romantic Era, the Russian Classics, the Ballet Ruses, Ballet in Europe
Feste, the fool character in Twelfth Night, in many ways represents a playwright figure, and embodies the reach and tools of the theater. He criticizes, manipulates and entertains the other characters while causing them to reflect on their life situations, which is similar to the way a playwright such as Shakespeare interacts with his audience. Furthermore, more so than the other characters in the play he accomplishes this in a highly performative way, involving song and clever wordplay that must be decoded, and is thus particularly reflective of the mechanisms at the command of the playwright. Feste is a representation of the medieval fool figure, who is empowered by his low status and able to speak the truth of the kingdom. A playwright speaks the truth by using actors and fictional characters, who are in a parallel low status in comparison to the audience, as they lack the dimensionality of real people. Thus, the role Feste plays in the lives of the characters in the play resembles the role the play itself plays in the lives of the audience watching the performance. This essay will explore this comparison first by analyzing similarities between the way in which Feste interacts with other characters and the way the playwright interact with the audience, and then focus on the similarities between the aims and content of these interactions.
Vaslov Nijinsky was the choreographer for this ballet. He was considered the greatest male dancer of the 20th century and his works were known for their controversy. In this ballet Nijinsky’s choreography far exceeded the limits of traditional ballet. And for the first time the audience was experiencing th...
'It seems to me, my dear friend, that the music of this ballet will be one of my best creations. The subject is so poetic, so grateful for music, that 1 have worked on it with enthusiasm and written it with the warmth and enthusiasm upon which the worth of a composition always depends." - Tchaikovsky, to Nadia von Meck.
---. “Structure in Beckett’s theatre.” Yale French Studies. Vol. 46. Yale University Press, 1971. 17-27. JSTOR. 20 Mar. 2004.
However, in this ballet concert, the choreographer had designed the scenes to be more like a comedy. The movement of the sisters are more amusing than cruel. For example, when they pulled each other for being eager to dance with the prince, or when they tried to hurt and bully the Cinderella, these movements are not that cruel but amusing. Even the stepmother was drunk and danced comically in the prom scene. Moreover, the movements of all the girls who wanted their feet to fit in to the ballet shoe which Cinderella had dropped in the prom are also very funny. These kinds of design successfully made the audience laugh out loud and without hurting the hearts of the little girls who went to see the performance with their