Martha Graham once said “the body is your instrument in dance, but your art is outside that creature, the body.” Before Saturday, I always assumed that the body was responsible for portraying the art. Some misconceptions of dance that I had was that it must have emotion to be captivating and if it doesn’t then it’s the fault of the dancer for not engaging the crowd. However, referring back to Graham, it isn’t the facial expression that illustrates the message but the use of space itself. Because of the various forms of choreographies and theatric methods used, Groundworks Theatre greatly broadened my perception of what contemporary dance is and how I can improve as a performer.
The first act was the main section that debunked most of the misconceptions that had influenced my negative perspective of dance. Rather than expressing a feeling, the dancing was primarily about space and contrast. It made my legs feel the ghost of movement and finally made me understand how a dancer can have a presence but not necessarily an expression. This was one of the hardest concepts to grasp in class because as a flag girl and
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For example, even with simple movements the dancers glided and moved with purpose. It wasn’t so much about where they were or what props they used, but moreso how it flowed. In class, it doesn’t matter what routine we are practicing but there still seems to be that common thread or purpose. Contemporary dance has the ability to be free and random like the first acts or it can be a narrative that is really heavy like after the intermission but the techniques of dancing don’t change. Thus I will continue to work on just dancing “as myself” while still being able to distinguish the types of dancing. Again, after seeing that dance should be portrayed in the movement rather than facial expression made me realize that it shouldn’t be seen but felt in the bones and the
Dance is an ever evolving form of art; in much the same way that one can categorize and differentiate between eras and styles of architecture one can also do so with dance. These eras at times have sharp delineations separating them from their antecedents, other times the distinction is far more subtle. Traditional forms of dance were challenged by choreographers attempting to expand the breadth and increase the depth of performance; preeminent among such visionaries was Seattle born dancer and choreographer Mark Morris. Mark Morris' began as one of the millions of hopeful individuals attempting to simply make a career in dance; he not only succeeded but managed to have a lasting effect on the entire landscape of dance.
The first act, Moon Over Jupiter, was the most challenging to interpret out of the three. This piece seemed to be about relationships, because the dancers were paired up on stage. The dancers’ facial expressions gave the impression that the dancers were experiencing intimate sentiments. The female dancers mostly did leaps, while the male partners would accompany or aid her in the air. Despite the interpretation of the dance, Dwight Rhoden, the choreographer, effectively used dynamics throughout the dance. For most of the piece the entire company was on stage, therefore Rhoden effectively used space when distributing the dancers on stage. In addition, the dancers used a lot of space vertically. In other wo...
Victoria Marks’ most recent contemporary dance pieces all were fascinating, but the two that drew me in the most were “Men” and “Mothers And Daughters”. Both of these pieces made in the spring of 2014, focus on the idea of celebrating the life you have been given, leaving your mark on the world, and getting the most out of every opportunity you have to be with someone you care about. Victoria Marks is a dance professor at UCLA, who also choreographs dances for the stage, and films. “Marks’ recent work has considered the politics of citizenship, as well as the representation of both virtuosity and disability. These themes are part of her ongoing commitment to locating dance-making within the sphere of political meaning.” Marks in both films “Men” and “Mothers And Daughters” believes that , "Your Dancing ability does not matter because we are all differently-abled", which is why she used both trained and untrained actors to create these two pieces of art.
Ramsay, B. (2000). Dance theory, sociology, and aesthetics. Dance Research Journal, 32(1), 125-131. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1478286
meaning to the role of dance in musical theatre and is well known as America’s
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.
Physical theatre practitioners have embodied Pina Bausch’s style of dance and since the 1980’s have been creating theatre that required the performer to portray raw emotions rather than any particular storyline. Is this why so many physical theatre companies within the U.K produce production that consist of hardship, struggle, love and even creating productions that are based heavily on the current political climate? When physical theatre compan...
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.
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 ...
...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.
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.
[6] Cohen, Selma Jeanne. International Encyclopedia of Dance: A Project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc. New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Print.
In dance, the tenets of embodied cognition may explain how choreographers invent ‘dancely’ movements. An example problem is to imagine what it is like to have an rope connected to your shoulder. The rope is pulled and released. To solve this problem a dancer works with a partner some distance away. That partner is notionally holding the rope and pulling it. The dancer then generates mental imagery associated with the movement of the rope. Most of this imagery will be about the somatic or kinesthetic feelings of being pulled and released. The pattern of somatic or kinesthetic priming of these images created serves to bias the next somatic or kinesthetic images in the dancer’s imagination. Batson and Wilson are of the opinion that “researching
Although the term ‘Dance Theatre’ was not introduced until the 20th century, Dance itself has been a theatrical technique used, dating back as old as ancient Greek times -often used to express emotion through ensemble and choral pieces, which Shakespeare used most commonly to convey choral movement and masquerade ball. However in modern 21st century theatre movement and choreography has become much more of a focus and key element of theatre with popularity inspiring further experimentation of body and movement. But where did this desire begin to use movement over voice to tell a story in a way that was so different to traditional dance? What does the term ‘Dance Theatre’ represent in the 21st century now that theatre has developed even further? To understand this there will be an exploration into where the term ‘Dance Theatre’ came from and what inspired this new and exciting genre that has now become so popular. An investigation will be done into how performance relates to this category, giving an understanding of the roots, inspirations and elements behind this type of theatre and understands the elements and specifics of what makes a performance of this genre.
Throughout the dance concert, I was intrigued by the way Kelly convey me to see the four main elements that compose the meaning of dance in one way or another. I was able to see the importance of movement and space through the H2O+ section of the concert. Dancers moving together from one side of the stage to the other, moving bodies simulating the way a wave moves. The way Kelly portrayed the waves in the ocean through the dancer 's movement was peaceful, elegant and graceful. When the music started and the dancers began to move together, rolled on the floor, locked with one another and crashed with it each other, created the feeling that I was by the ocean. I felt like I was seeing the waves coming and going, crashing with each other. The