In his ballet “Ghost Dances” Christopher Bruce uses movement to convey the deep rooted resentment and fear that the Chilean citizens have for their government. He does this by controlling the way his audience views the dancers and therefore the message they receive. He establishes the motif of the Chilean government killing their people unnecessarily through the movements the dancers make, in addition to the movement though, the lighting contributes to the idea of needless murder, pain, and suffering of the common people.
The movement of the dancers is crucial to establishing the idea of struggle and suffering for the people and the scariness of the government. The ballet starts off with three men facing a murky green light. They start to slowly move around giving off an ominous feeling as they support each other moving slowly and in unison; in addition the movements they make give the audience the feeling that the body they
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represent is corrupted entirely. The government being portrayed is a secretive uniform body that will stop at nothing to achieve their own goals. As the ballet progresses dancers come out dressed as citizens, they begin to dance while being bathed in bright light: this make the audience view the “citizens” as innocent, merry, and undeserving of the government’s wrath.
Then the lights darken as the three dancers representing the Chilean government come out of the darkness moving slowly and each time they pass some of the “citizens” they appear to wither and die. This makes the audience cringe; these characters that they were made to feel underserving of such terrible things are being slaughtered by their bloodthirsty government. As the dancers pretend to die they slowly collapse and end up on the floor not moving. This continues for as long as the dancers portraying the citizens dance; the audience is continually rocked by the devastating repeated murders of the Chilean commoners. Each time the “citizens” appear to be having fun the “government” comes by and they appear to die. The repeated deaths drive the fact that the Chilean government is a tyranny amidst a bloody
rebellion. In a sort of retaliation at about the middle of the ballet the dancers portraying the Chilean citizens make solid, rigid motions as though defying the overwhelming control of their government. For example the girl in the red dress repeatedly makes a sort of squatting motion with her arms bent at ninety degree angles in a rigid form. These motions show strength and resilience, the dancers are trying to convey that despite the pain and fear the citizens felt during the times while their government slaughtered them during a bloody revolution they will fight and not be crushed by their government. Another example of this behavior is when the people dance while the “government” walks between the dancers “killing” them the “citizens” continue to dance, defying their terrifying tyrannous government in one of the only way they can. These movements convey Christopher Bruce’s ideas of how the Chilean government was incredibly wrong in killing, torturing, and imprisoning their citizens. He conveyed his message about the cruelty of the Chilean government through his uses of movement and lighting. Christopher controls the messages sent by the dancer’s movements by using his skill in choreography to manipulate the audience’s view of the ballet. Through Christopher’s skill “Ghost Dances” allows the world to see the cruelty of the Chilean government and the needless and horrific murders during the Chilean revolution.
The dancers did not seem defeated, but slightly emotionally disconnected. I felt like this signified the exhaustion that comes while waiting for the rain. There were several positions that were held in the first part of the dance. I also noticed that flicking motions were a motif in the dance, whether that be from their wrists or their ankles. Morgan Moore first showed this motif as she held her leg up in a tilted position and stared down at the sheet below her. She began to flick her wrists which not only reminded me of one who is flicking the rain off their fingertips, but it looked like a begging
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.
The sadness and seriousness of the dance is expressed by the color tones in the costumes and lighting. The whole scheme is dark and neutral; there is no color throughout the whole piece. The lighting the entire time is very dim. The background is completely black and a very dim light is shined on the dancers when they are dancing. This makes the tone very somber, and when paired with the music and costumes, really makes the entire mood of the dance come together. The costumes are very plain and simple. They are sleeveless tank tops and gaucho pants for the men, and a plain long brown dress for the girls. It should also be noted that they are barefoot, and have no accessories on. The choice of these costumes sets a realistic backdrop. Additionally, these costumes demonstrate their lack of individuality and freedom since they are all wearing identical
The story explores many vital concepts accompanied by beautiful illustrations. I felt a strong sense of cultural understanding, spirituality and connection to family and land as though I was on this journey too. I could sense an underlying meaning in each dance, holding great importance to Bertie’s family and a strong connection to their culture. Pryor has attempted to fuse the then and now, by speaking of changes in the land, from a once spiritual gathering place, to a now busy town street where through food, they keep the culture alive (Pryor, 2010).
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 ...
On May 29, 1913 when Diaghilev’s masterpiece debuted at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees, the response of the audience was overwhelming in their shock at the erotic and unconventional nature of the dance. What made this performance different then what anyone in Western Europe had ever seen before was its jarring and sexual nature. Rather than the music and choreography be one, flowing, coherent unit, it was instead rather choppy and dissonant which most likely caught the naive audience off guard. The nature of this ballet is described many times t...
She demonstrates the meaning of Silent Dancing through perspective, imagery, and repetition which depicts how her culture goes through discrimination. Her thoughts become based off on the “typical” immigrant Puerto Rican decor. Furthermore, she includes the history of a girl–Niña– mocked by people in her hometown. She wanted to change who she was, not accepting who she was and the culture she was born in. Initially, the repetition of “la gringa” would overwhelm her mind. Niña becomes traumatized daily by the repetition of “la gringa” which means white female because she wanted to become more Americanized than being Puerto Rican. There is irony in this piece since she never ended up in the U.S., but isolated in the village far away from communities
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.
It is interpreted solely by the choreographer Christopher Bruce who incorporated meaningful and powerful movement to portray the intended story. It is a magnificent work dedicated to the Chilean Human Rights Committee, may they all rest in peace. Works Cited www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/dance7.../ghostdances/.../...
Christopher Bruce’s Ghost Dances, is a piece performed by the Houston ballet in 1981. The dancework explores the plight of innocent people in South America caught up in the persecution brought by Pinochet and the oppression due to the lack of adequate human rights. Bruce’s inspiration for this astounding dance piece was provoked by a letter sent to him from the widow of a Chilean folk singer who was murdered. Bruce was given a lot of Chilean folk music which he fell in love with. He was moved by the letter and when asked to do a production for the Chilean rights committee he devoted himself to it (Queensland Ballet, 2017).
Jonas, Gerald. Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement. New York: Abrams, 1992. Print.
In “The Old Acrobat,” the flanuer is lured by the naturalistic and crude appearances of the street performers caused by society’s need for abstract stimulation. The acrobat is physically and mentally drained from performing straining and exhausting tasks for the gratification of others. The dominant scent at the carnival is “a frying odor”2 which hints that the performers are sacrificing themselves and literally “frying” their souls away to satisfy their hungry audiences. Even the acrobat is described as being “illuminated all too well by two burned-down candles”3 which are “dripping and smoking.”4 There is a sense of...
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...
After I began to learn to dance ballet, I found out that these elegant movements actually require a lot of strength, flexibility of the bodies and brain’s participation to make it looked elegant. The dancers’ movements in the performance were so fluent and elegant and it is not hard to imagine how hard they had practiced, stretched and use the strengths to do all the ballet poses with their bodies look longer and longer. Their expressions also impressed me a lot. By looking at their expressions, the audience can easily understand the scenes and blend into the story. The performers actually not only are required to have good dancing skills but also are required to have some talents to be actors. Moreover, they also have to be good at expressing their feelings on the
Also, the performers are constituted with same number of men and women. They imply the importance of equality through the performance. The female and male dancers use the same movements to show that they are equal. The message being conveyed here is important, on the grounds of its social influence and giving the whole performance a deeper meaning. The thing makes dancing different and odd to other occupations is the fact that most famous and well known dancers are mostly females, since on other social circumstances males tend to dominate more realms. Here, besides all the female masters, the male dancers appear as much as the female artists do and they also showcase what they are capable of. As I watched more of the performance, the interactions between dancers and the LED lights became more appealing to me. Dancers use their bodies to interpret the connections between human beings and technology. Moreover, the background music also plays a vital role in the production of this whole piece of art. The tempo of the music, the dance movements, as well as the frequency of the lights going on and off together appeared to the audience as a desirable combination. I love how the dancers do every movements according to the rhythm of the music and how they two fit perfectly. All of those things together made a great show to watch and