The Reforms of Michel Fokine
Photography, painting, videography, and literature have all progressed over time.
New technology, and new ways of thinking have brought these arts to new levels. There seems to be a broad misconception, though, that ballet is an art form that does not progress; does not change. Many people assume that ballet’s set vocabulary of movement places limitations on how far the art can expand. Little do many people realize that this vocabulary is a mere foundation for the myriad of interpretations that the art went and will continue to go in. Michel Fokine is one revolutionary ballet choreographers, whose reforms have taken this previously monotonous art to a new level.
Fokine’s ideas were revolutionary for his time, but ironically made perfect sense.
He believed that all of the elements in a ballet should be parallel. In other words, he thought that the music, costuming, makeup, movements, and sets should all reflect the same culture and time period of the ballet. During this time in ballet there were often incongruencies. For example, there would be Russian music, and pointe shoes in a ballet that supposedly was based on a foreign medieval culture. Fokine was extremely and consciously consistent in his works. Fokine explains, “The ballet should be staged in conformity with the epoch represented.”
Fokine sets his 1911 ballet, Petrouchka, in Russia. The first scene is a street fair, which Fokine sets appropriately. He is sure to make the costumes realistic of that time and place. Rather than dressing the dancers in tutus and leotards, they wear dresses that are brightly colored and long. They are bundled up appropriately in many colorful layers, considering the chilling temperatures of Russian winters. They also do not wear pointe
Atkins 2 shoes with long laces, but instead high heel character shoes that were typical of the time period. Fokine also successfully creates personalities for the three dolls, partly by their costumes. Petrouchka, who is a forlorn rag doll, wears a thin suit that is as lifeless and limp as his personality. The costume and makeup is effective in showing his lack of motivation and sadness. The Moor doll on the other hand, who is a very bold and vain character is seen in dress that corres...
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...ure to not let the music dictate the dance, as many artists before him had done. In his Memoirs of a Ballet Master, he wrote “The choreography for [a pas de deux
I performed with Anna Pavlova] we mostly staged ourselves . . . We did whatever we felt we could do best,” (Fokine quoted in Cass). This superficial movement was completely against what Fokine believed in. Movement that did not contribute to the purpose and plot af the piece was useless. Due to his intense focus on his intent, he successfully gave the music, choreography, costumes, and sets equal importance and relevance to the entire creation. Fokine’s exceptional dedication to his art is quite obvious. It is simply seen thorough his opinion of applause, that his focus is his art, more than any recognition he may get for it. While most artists would bask in the glory of each set of applause, Fokine despised it, except at completely appropriate times. He believed that to move on from tradition, one must be thoroughly trained in that technique, which he was. His many daring reforms truly opened the world of ballet up to new possibilities, while not straying too far from traditional technique.
At the turn of the 20th and further into the 21st century, art began to drop the baggage carried from the masters of the Renaissance and began a trajectory of change. Artists began challenging the schools and galleries of art around the world in an effort to break away from the chains that were wrapped around them in an effort to control the basis of art. Strange patters, shapes, colors and spaces emerged as each one challenged every norm known to the artistic circle. Critics and viewers alike were suddenly required to think less about the topics of paintings and more about their formal aspects. As decades passed, the singularity of art began to intensify and different forms of art demanded the same recognition as others before. Liberation
Another feature in his works was simplicity. For example, in 1977, in one of his productions called ‘Curious Schools of Theatrical Dancing: Part 1.’ This is reflected in costume, props and choice of music. He did not use any props but the production was effective in the choice of costume being a simple black and white unitard with big stripes going diagonally over his body. In this p...
In the 20th century, ballet started to experiment and movement. It was due to its Russian
Ballet is one of the world's oldest and newest forms of dance. One man that created new audiences for ballet and mastered the dance to its fullest was none other than George Balanchine. He brought the standard ballet to levels no one has ever seen before. In the world of dance, there have been many wonderful and talented choreographers but Balanchine's work affected the dance world so much that he was a legend long before his death. Not only was he legendary worldwide but also his influenced American Ballet. George Balanchine's unique style of dance created the "American style" of Ballet.
Ballet is an athletic art form that utilizes muscle control, flexibility, and physical strength. It requires extreme discipline from the dancers and takes an extreme amount of mental concentration. This discipline causes dancers to have success throughout life and specifically in academic studies. There are many ways that dance can affect the success of a person’s life; however, there are two in specific that make dancers generally more successful. To begin, ballet causes dancers to be self-motivated workers; dancers cannot rely on others to push them to be better, but must have the drive within themselves.
Kelso, P. T. (2003). Behind the curtain: The body, control, and ballet. Edwardsville Journal of Sociology, 3(2). Retrieved from http://www.siue.edu/sociology/EJS/v32kelso.htm
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.
Ballet is a beautiful and romantic type of performance art. It originated in the Italian court systems in the 15th century (Jonas). Since its origination, ballet has undergone many changes and gained worldwide recognition. Filled with elaborate costumes, cheering audiences, lights, weightless movements and beauty; ballet is admired by many. On the magical stage ballerinas can become whoever they wan to be, and perform in a world of fantasy. For these reasons, children, especially little girls, all over the world dream of becoming ballerinas when they grow up. However, becoming a professional ballerina is an extremely difficult accomplishment, in which few will achieve (Kelso 1). The world of ballet may seem to be filled with glitz and glamor but, behind the curtain there is an entirely different story. There are extreme demands and pressures put on these young dancers to be very thin and nearly perfect. Some of which include body and weight demands, competition, and social pressures. These constant pressures can lead to a negative body-image and even debilitating eating disorders (Price and Pettijohn).
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.
an important factor of sports, it’s presence in Ballet is not to be ignored. These reasons all lead
When one thinks of a ballet they hear soft rhythmic notes and see elegantly dancing ballerinas softly tip-toeing around the stage. This is also what people in early 1900’s expected to see when they planned to attend a ballet. However, a couple of motivated artists in 1913 literally planned to change the design of ballet, music and dance forever. On May 29, 1913 a ballet named The Rite of Spring premiered in Paris, France. The original title as it translates from Russian to French is; Le Sacre du Printemps, meaning the rite of spring, but the literal translation from Russian to English means “Sacred Spring”. The ballet and music were composed by Igor Stravinsky, with the help of Nicholas Roerich, who proposed the general idea behind the ballet to Stravinsky. Roerich wanted to put into motion the ideas behind pagan pre-Christian rituals in Russia. Together the two created the story line behind the ballet; a sacred pagan ritual where a young female dances herself to death and is then offered to the “Gods” of spring to make them happy. The music was composed by Vaslav Nijinsky and the ballet was produced by Sergei Diaghilev for the Russian Ballet. This ballet was so different from what the spectators expected to see that it caused a riot. The Rite of Spring turned the tables of ballet in every sense: the dance, the music and the general idea of ballet was modernized by the group of artists who created and produced it.
When attending a period show, a patron would hope to see costumes that match the time period of the show. My hope was met
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
One of the causes for this desire to change was the fact that technology was rapidly re-inventing societies, with many discoveries and innovations taking place. This put pressure on culture to re-define itself in order to keep pace with modernity. Artists questioned academic art for its lack of
Ballet is one of the most popular types of dance. It is known for its grace and elegance. Ballet is a very disciplined style of dance and may take many years to develop the proper technique. Ballet is the foundation for many other types of dance.