Gene Kelly was and American actor, singer, film director, producer, dancer and choreographer who was born August 23, 1912 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States where he grew up and began his dancing career. He is the best dancer of all time as his moves are outstanding and can make the littlest dance moves into big and mouth dropping. Gene Kelly excelled at numerous things over the course of his extended career. It was obvious to see that since the age of eight, when Gene began to take dancing classes, that he has come a long way in life. His performance skills began to strengthen from his Golden Age musicals such as "Cover Girl", "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", "On the Town", "An American in Paris" and most known "Singin' in the Rain". …show more content…
In the late 1950’s, Gene Kelly decided to switch genres and began to become an actor, which of course succeeded him to an exceptional dramatic actor an example of this is his film "Inherit the Wind". Gene Kelly’s achievements through both his entire life and career are exceptional. He won at least eight awards within a short period time of his career, many include like three different kinds of Golden Globe Awards to National Medal of Arts awards. Kelly achieved high standard performance in his acting, singing and of course dancing. At mid-40’s Kelly was nominated for an Oscar for “An American in Paris” and of course, he won. He was able to receive other astonishing awards throughout his life. Perhaps his greatest and most famous achievement was his performance in “Singin’ in the rain”.
Kelly pulled together a masterpiece that blew everyone off their feet, with just an umbrella the rain and the talent Gene, this was sure to be a performance never forgotten. Kelly moves effortlessly and gracefully across the stage. He articulates clearly and makes every movement look so easy in a way that only Gene Kelly can. “Singin’ in the Rain” is set in a street. He uses props such as an umbrella, gutter, pole and puddles etc. You can hear a numerous of different noises and things in this dance piece. Things like tapping tap shoes against the concreted ground which mimic the sound of the rain. The sound of umbrella spinning and twirling on both the air and ground. You can also hear the sound of rain beating down on the street and puddles splashing. As this involves singing you can hear vocals from Gene Kelly. He brings the performance to life and encourages the viewers into feeling like they are a part of the enactment. Gene Kelly is a triple threat, meaning he can sing, act and dance, this makes the performance good. This act is also good as he uses more than one prop. He uses not just his feet but he uses the umbrella, the gutter, the pole, the puddles and the shops along the
street. Overall, Gene Kelly is an all-rounder highly qualified performer, whether it involves dancing, singing or acting. However he is most well-known for his outstanding tap dancing. Although Gene Kelly has sadly passed away, he will always be known for his accomplishments in choreography, creativity and enthusiasm he would place into his dancing. His is and always will be the best tap dancer of all time.
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 (York). He was born in the small town of Cairo, Georgia, on that day in January. His parents were Jerry and Mallie Robinson, the two of them didn’t have the best of marriage but they made out ok (Allen). Later in 1919, Jerry left Mallie to go farm some land somewhere else, but it was later found out that he had run off with another woman.
University of Northern Iowa Dance Marathon is an organization that raises money for the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Miracle Network. The organization aims to provide emotional and financial support for families with children facing life threatening illnesses by raising money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and organizing events that increase student and community awareness. This money then is put towards things like research, education, equipment and pediatric ward enhancements so the children and families can feel a little more comfortable during their stay at the hospital. The big event was on March 1, 2014, but the organization completes events throughout the year to fundraise as much money as possible for the Miracle Network kiddos, like a 5k color run on campus, trick-or-treating for kids who can’t, and selling grilled cheese at midnight during homecoming celebrations.
The year was 1966 Frank Sinatra was at the peak of his career. There he stood on the stage in the Copa Room at the Sands Hotel and Casino in front of Count Basie and his Orchestra recording what is considered the best album of his career. The album “Sinatra at the Sands” would be his first album recorded live to be released and the album would achieve gold in sales. Sinatra was in his environment, a cozy salon style venue with an enthusiastic crowd in Las Vegas. The album was recorded by Reprise and the label engineer was Lowell Frank and produced by Sonny Burke. Reprise had formerly recorded two other albums: “Sinatra-Basie” and “It Might As Well Be Swing” with Sinatra and Count Basie, but it was their performance at the Sands Hotel that would promote both performers carriers beyond what either one of them were able to do on the own.
Martha Graham following Mary Wigman choreographed to the “essentialized” body through using the breath, contractions, human emotion, and so on. Martha Graham believed the pulsation of life came from the breath (6). This breath represented the soul. Graham’s breath is controlled by the contraction and release upon which her choreography was based. Graham also went on to state, “Art is eternal for it reveals the inner landscape of a man” (4). Dancing from the inside of your soul out is what Graham wanted her dancers to do. In own opinion e access our soul through surrendering to the divine power of God, which starts by connecting to our breath. Isadora Duncan danced with a connectedness of her body and soul completely inspired by nature. Graham
It was a great time of despair for the Native American people as the defeat of their nations by the ever westward expanding United States and subsequent placement onto reservations disrupted their culture and way of life as it had existed for hundreds of years. The decade leading up to 1890, which was a main focal point in the history of Native Americans, saw the passing of the 1887 Dawes Severalty Act which called for the breaking up of reservations and offering the Indians an opportunity to become citizens and giving them an allotment of land to farm or graze livestock on (Murrin 628). This breaking up of the different tribes’ social structure was just one of the many causes which led to the spiritual movement known as the Ghost Dance (or Lakota Ghost Dance) that swept across what remained of the Native American people in their various reservations. Other reasons for the Indian’s dysphoria at this time in their history included: lack of hunting, decease of the buffalo, forced abandonment of their religion, nearly forced conversion to Christianity, westernization, and having to farm for the very first time.
Alvin Ailey played a large role in the diversification and cultural storytelling that can be seen in modern dance today. With the founding of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, his dance company stands strong as one of the most respected and prosperous dance companies because of its artistic representation of the beauty that is otherwise known as the African culture. His work absolutely changed the atmosphere of modern dance because he was able to provide the modern dance community with a wider variety of content that had otherwise not been popularized before. Not only did he draw his inspiration from the African culture, but he also amalgamated this with his personal experience growing up as a black child during times of segregation.
Water Study is an elegant piece of art created in 1928 by the fascinating choreographer Doris Humphrey. This was a controversial dance as this was a point in history where women were not aloud to wear trousers or it was a very rare occurrence to see a woman wearing them. The dancers within this piece wear nude or grey unitard which makes them look naked with no light shone on them which created a stir in society. The opening section for this piece starts with a dimly lit stage only lit from three spotlights above representing the moonlight reflecting onto the water's surface. All 14 dancers are placed in a confined ball on the floor sat staggered across the stage facing audience stage left. The dancers then perform a series of seven cannons
“Momma! Daddy! It’s time for the Grand Ole Opry!” In the early twenties, during the Great Depression, it was a time when the family would gather around the radio to listen to music of all types. It was a small piece of happiness brought into the lives of people who were living thru hard times. There was gospel music, rock and roll, jazz, and yes, country music being played on a simple radio.
In the early 1930’s, Holiday sang for tips in clubs in New York and it was around that time she took on her stage name. “Billie” was inspired by the actress Billie Dove, and Holiday from her father. In the autobiographical book “Lady Sings the Blues”, Holiday claims her big singing break came in 1933, when she looked for work as a dancer at a Harlem speakeasy. When there wasn’t an opening for a dancer, she auditioned as a singer. (Holiday, Lady Sings the Blues) Holiday wowed the owner and began singing in Harlem jazz clubs and impressed jazz writer and producer John Hammond. He heard her fil...
The hit musical "Singin' in the Rain" may possibly be one of if not the greatest musicals of all time. With it's tale of the film world of the mid 1920's and its creative underlining love story between Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), it provokes the interest of someone who would not generally be attracted to a musical. It is a classic masterpiece that set the standards that musical films of today will be judged by. It is a classic performance by the great Gene Kelly and displays outstanding performances by Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor. As well as starring in this brilliant movie, Gene Kelly teams up with Stanley Donen to make their mark in film history.
Dance, like any other art form, is constantly evolving. Its roots are planted in every place in the world. America can thank several countries for creating what the dance industry is today. Since America is a melting pot, it has blended movements from all over the world. This country accepts all cultures and invites new art. Textbooks do not expand on the importance of dance, but it not only played a role in early American society, but todays as well.
Swing Dance Group 2: Brandon Wong, Robin Massowd, Meredith Seamon, Savannah McEntire, Johannah Robert, Renee Wilson, Kelcie Melino, Kara Shifflett, Natalie Perez, Gabrielle Slais, Arian Shahbazi, Katie Parker. Page Break History: The.. Swing dance, as it is called today, originated in the 1920's when the African American community in Harlem, New York developed the Charleston and Lindy Hop while dancing to contemporary jazz music. In comparison to previous dance styles, swing dance, which is usually done to jazz music, had great and large movements. The Savoy Ballroom, which opened its doors in New York City during 1926, was one of the first places where swing dance came alive to the sounds of swinging jazz music played by the best black bands in Harlem (Heikkila).
At four years old, my mom signed me up for my first dance class, and ever since then I haven’t stopped. Dancing has become more then a hobby for me, it has become something I am interested in doing the rest of my life. Dancing interests me because I love being active, working with others, and simply having fun while getting the job done, all of which dancing provides. Already, I know where to look for colleges that have solid dance programs because I have grown up watching dancers from my studio go to college to major in dance and they have given me advice on where to look. This is very helpful information however I would also like to know specifics about the day in the life of a dance major and how many dancers actually get jobs after college and are able to make a career dancing.
“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.”
Every society has social dances that are interconnected into each culture. However, each culture has a different way of portraying these social dances. In America, as well as other countries, social dances incorporate traditions, power, milestone events, etc. I observed dance in a non-traditional performing environment during a musical festival in urban downtown Austin, Texas. The atmosphere was filled with joy and happiness despite the gloomy morning. This particular day of the music festival, which is South by Southwest, was geared more towards the middle and upper age groups. As I observed my surroundings, the individuals primarily dancing were close to the stage and interacting with the bands. I noticed that these dancers were mixed with