...Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was born on June 17th, 1882 in Oranienbaum, Russia. He was one of four to his polish parents, Anna née Kholodovsky and Fyodor Stravinsky. Igor Stravinsky’s first exposer to music was from his father, who was a bass singer at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. His father helped him learn the love of music. His first musical education began at the age of nine with piano lessons, studying music theory, and attempting composition. By fifteen, he had mastered Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto in G Minor and finished a piano reduction of a string quartet by Glazunov. That same year, Stravinsky rebelled against the Russian Orthodox Church and abandoned it. Even though he excelled in music, his parents still wanted him to become a lawyer. In 1901, Stravinsky enrolls at the University of Saint Petersburg; however he never attends many of his classes during the four years of school. When it came time to take final examinations in 1905, the school was closed for two months because of Bloody Sunday. He then later received a half course diploma in April 1906. In 1902, Stravinsky began receiving private lessons from Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov, the leading Russian composer at that time. That very same year Stravinsky’s father dies from cancer. In 1905 Igor Stravinsky proposes to his first cousin Catherin Nossenko. Even though the Orthodox Church opposes marriage of first cousins, they got married on January 23rd, 1906. The same of his marriage, Stravinsky’s creates...
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...and when the magazine ceased publishing in 1904, he focused on organizing galleries of Russian art in St. Petersburg and Paris. In 1908, he took a production of "Boris Godunov" to Paris, with renowned singer, Feodor Chaliapin. In 1909, Diaghilev took with him to Paris a season of opera and ballet, and with the greatest dancers of the Maryinsky behind him, he had a great victory. Constant visits helped him form his own company, Ballet Russes, in 1911. This company was not connected to any opera, it was a lone company. Diaghilev directed this company until his death on August 19, 1929. The company never performed in Russia. Diaghilev didn’t have the money to keep his project up in Paris. By the time he finished his first season in Paris, he was doing this during the dancers yearly time off. Diaghilev worked with many composers, artists, and dancers like Pablo Picasso, Igor Stravinsky, and Vaslav Nijinsky. It was after the World War I, when Diaghilev was banned from Russia. After his death in 1929, the Ballet Russes disbanded. Four years later, another company got the financial support and leadership to start up the company again. The company used many of the same dancers from the Ballet Russes. Diaghilev...
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...Igor Stravinskiy The Great Ballets Firebird, Petrushka, Rite of Spring, Apollo. Igor Stravinskiy is a great composer and his career was notable for its stylistic diversity. He first became very famous with three ballets commissioned by Sergey Diaghilev: The Firebird (1910), Petrushka (1911) and the Rite of Spring (1913). They were first performed in Paris by Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and significantly transformed the way composers thought about rhythmic structure. One more wonderful ballet was composed a bit later between 1927 and 1928 and it is famous as Apollo (Apollon Musagete). In Russia everyone has heard about great ballet Firebird by Stravinskiy at least once. The music of this composition is bright and colorful and you don’t even need to see the ballet to immerse yourself in this fairy tale. When you start listening to the music full of orchestral effects and strong emotions, you only need to close your eyes and the world of imagination will give you great possibilities. Nightfall and “creeping” sound draws garden of Kashey, his dark kingdom. Afterwards, Dance of the Firebird starts and we can feel how fantastically beautiful she is. Varying colorful orchestration helps us to draw the picture of this shining bird and her greatness. We hear her fiery wings flapping and see the grace in every movement. She is gorgeous, fantastic and it is impossible to stop looking at this miracle. Listener feels the typical spirit of Russia through this wonderful composition...
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...The contemporary ballet Petrouchka, was originally composed in 1910. The ballet tells the story of the loves and jealousies of three puppets. The three puppets are brought to life by The Charlatan during St. Petersburg's 1830 Shrovetide Fair and begin to develop emotions. Petruchka a traditional Russian puppet, made of straw and with a bag of sawdust as his body is in love with the Ballerina. The Ballerina rejects Petrouchka and begins to fall for the Moor. Hurt and angry from the rejection of the Ballerina, Petrouchka challenges the Moor to a duel. Petrouchka attacks the Moor, but quickly realizes he is too small and weak. Consequently, Petrouchka runs away with the Moor chasing him from behind. The Moor, soon after kills Petrouchka with a blow of his scimitar. Petrushkas ghost rises above the puppet theatre as night falls. He shakes his fist at The Charlatan, and then collapses in a second death. The original choreographer Michael Fokine deliberately differs the Moor and Petrouchka’s choreography. The movements of the self satisfied Moor, an extrovert, are large and turned out. While the movement of the pathetic, frightened Petrouchka, an introvert, are small and turned in. Fokine had three geometric visions for the posture and the manner in which the puppets moved. The moor is a square, the Ballerina a circle, and Petrouchka a straight line. Petrouchka is often said to depict the tensions of Russia, pre Russian Revolution. The ballet depicts the bitterness between those...
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...To many, ballet is discerned as the first style to combine social dance and choreographed display. Ballet was the favoured art form to entertain during Renaissance France thus fundamental for aristocratic banquets and was identified for their strict code of movement and visual detail. Ballet became more centred on performance rather than participation and began to incorporate narrative elements and music (Ted-Ed, 2016). In the early 20th century, the Ballet Russes became anchored as pioneers in a new era of modern ballet. Remembered for their amalgamation of art, music and choreography, they were a revolutionary creative force. Central to this innovation was Michel Fokine, the earliest choreographer, produced The Firebird in 1910; a story of...
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...Imperial Ballet School, where I learned the precise and athletic Russian dancing style of ballet. In 1921 I entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music to study piano while I continued to work in ballet at the State Academy of Opera and Ballet. From there I used a group of dancers from the school to present my earliest choreographed works. One of the students was Tamara Gevergeyeva, she was a doll, I later married Tamara in 1922. She was the first of four wives I had, all of whom were dancers. My big break came when the manager of the Ballets Russes, Sergei Diaghilev, discovered me in 1925, in Paris, France. At the age of 21, I became the main choreographer of the most famous ballet company in the world. I worked on ten ballets for Diaghilev, and it was Diaghilev who actually changed the my name to Balanchine. When Diaghilev died and the company broke up in 1929, I moved from one company to another until I formed my own company, Les Ballets in 1933. In that same year, after a Les Ballets performance, I met Lincoln Kirstein, a young, rich American, who invited me to head a new School of American Ballet in New York City. With the School of American Ballet and later with the New York City Ballet, I had established myself as one of the world's leading classical choreographers. I brought standards of excellence and quality performance to the American ballet culture. I had a school, a company, and a permanent theater. I also had developed the New York City Ballet into the...
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...On Thursday, February 2nd I attended the Charlotte Ballet for a tour of the company as well as watching their weekend performance at 1: 00p.m of Innovative Works at the Bonnefoux Center for Dance. The Charlotte Ballet is a Charlotte-based, world class repertory dance ensemble who is artistically directed by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. The Charlotte Ballet has been in existence for over twenty-five years where the company has been in four different locations. The company holds over 700 academy students ranging in ages from three and up. They currently have sixteen full time teachers where they teach classes with the curriculum of Russian trained. Innovative Works was a collection of shorter works where we saw five different dances choreographed by different artists. The first dance that was performed was called “Utopia” choreographed by Sasha Janes. This dance was choreographed based on what was going in the Americas in the 1950s. There were four dancers in this piece including the Husband, Wife, Secretary, and Psychiatrist. The husband wearing a black tux and a white button down with suspenders. The wife was wearing a black and white floral dress that came to her knees where she wore an...
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...Classical ballet is a traditional, formal style of ballet formed in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th to 16th century. It is known for its accurate and scrupulous technique including of pointe work, turnout of the legs, and high extensions. It requires graceful and precise movements as well as having elegant qualities. Classical ballet has since become a highly technical form of dance with its own vocabulary. It is an extremely influential form of dance which has spread all around the world. After its formation in the 15th century, classical ballet quickly travelled to France where it soon developed into an art form. However, during the beginning, court ballets were performed by amateur dancers rather than professionals. Most of ballet's early movements had evolved from the social court dances and featured stage patterns rather than formal ballet technique that we have today. The current ballet technique includes of the 5 arm and feet positions produced by Pierre Beauchamp in. These positions are a fundamental part of classical ballet and are very important because every basic move in ballet begins and ends in one of the five positions. In first position, the balls of the feet are turned out completely. The heels touch each other and the feet face outward. In second position, the balls of both feet are turned out completely. The heels are separated, standing around shoulder width apart. Second position is very similar to first position, but the feet are spread apart...
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...Ballet has entertained and enchanted audiences for over 400 years. Within these centuries of grace and elegance, ballet has branched out into several techniques and styles. Along the way, George Balanchine, accredited for “developing the neo-classical style distinct to the 20th century,” has placed a significant mark on the face of ballet (George). Even after his death in the late 20th century, his disciples, such as Suki Schorer, have preserved and continued disseminating his work. Schorer’s ongoing instruction of his technique at the School of American Ballet, and her book, Suki Schorer on Balanchine Technique, have kept the works and teaching methods of Balanchine alive. Being a great performer does not necessarily equate to being a great...
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...drawer Balanchine; however, it is still an attractive and moving ballet. It should not be surprising that the De Luz-Fairchild performance earlier in the week was more touching. Nevertheless, the ballet on Sunday with Tiler Peck and Anthony Huxley was delightful. Towards its conclusion, an abrupt change in tenor occurs in the piece: it afforded Ms. Peck another opportunity to imprint—through her poignant change in expression—a hauntingly beautiful image in my mind....
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...artistic achievement in ballet and modern dance. In 1948, George Balanchivadze (known as George Balanchine in the United States), founded the New York City Ballet. He choreographed eighteen Broadway shows and many Hollywood films. He felt he had been given a new opportunity to experiment with ballet and dance. The Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire dance movies inspired Balanchine. He had a vision of creating a new American tradition of dancing. He “Americanized” ballet in the United States (Hirschman, 2013). Balanchine was drawn to America for the opportunities to create new cultural forms. Several other award-winning choreographers were children of Russian immigrants. Michael Kidd, Helen Tamiris, and Jerome Robbins...
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...bringing up children. Dr Bryan Caplan claims that activities such as music lessons, organized sports and educational games are a waste of time as they do not make the slightest difference to children when they mature. Parents should relax and give the children more slack and take a backseat role in the children's lives. Although he does subtly state that parents should make an effort to interact with their children until the age of 12 where after "it has no effect" The third and last text is a general policy statement from the Summerhill School. The schools policy is that "Learning should come after play" They state that learning is less important than playing. They give the example of Nijinsky, a famous ballet dancer, who failed to get the grade he needed to attend the ballet school he wished. They say that other schools have too narrow out-look due to classroom walls and the National Curriculum. They believe that children...
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...Contemporary dance company in Australia The ease of movement promoted by contemporary dance technique means that is it accessible for beginners as well as allowing experienced dancers to push new boundaries of body movement. Partners can improvise using the natural movement of the body, characterized by weight exchange, fluid movement and touch . 'Contemporary dance' has different meanings in different places. Different terms are used: modern dance, post-modern dance, 'new' dance, experimental dance, dance improvisation and contact improvisation as well as other terms in different languages. It is not contemporary artists and companies working in the fields of classical ballet, modern ballet, jazz dance, show dance or other forms of popular dance. Contempraroy is one of the most biggest dance company and it included lots of people that work for them some of them are : Desire Choreography Lisa Wilson Music by Matt Cornell and Paul Charlier Music edited by Matt Cornell Cast Emily Amisano, Juliette Barton, Lachlan Bell, Thomas Bradley, Richard Cilli, Janessa Dufty, Bernhard Knauer Fanatic Concept Sam Haren, Steve Mayhew, Larissa McGowan Choreography Larissa McGowan Dramaturg Sam Haren Sound Construction Steve Mayhew Cast Natalie Allen, Bernhard Knauer/Chris Aubrey, Thomas Bradley Yield Choreography by Emily Amisano Music by Fourtet, Seekae, Gold Panda Music mixed by Grayson James Cast Lachlan Bell, Juliette Barton, Richard Cilli, Janessa Dufty Dream Lucid ...
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...von Laban’s systematization of “quality in movement”: Space: indirect, direct Time: sustained, quick Weight: strong, light Flow: free, bound Acc. to Laban, all human movement exhibits constellations of these factors that form identifiable textures or qualities of movement. 1 2. The characteristic use of the parts of the body with their symbolic associations. Solar plexus (Duncan), lower abdomen and pelvis as an isolable area (Graham), fixed/vertical torso (ballet). Pelvis: sexual, primitive instincts and desires Chest: emotions and feelings Head: intellect, rationality, process of thinking 3. Characteristic use of “performance space”. (a three dimensional spatial grid symbolically defines the space) i.e. movements that occur in the air (jumps & lifts) or gestures towards upper space – mostly associated with the pure, heavenly, etc. movements on the flor –associations with more earthly existence. 2 THEATRE DANCE From Aristocratic Entertainments (1300-1600) to Court Spectacles (1530s-1640s) to French Court Ballet – “The Sun King” Dancing (1650-1700s) French nobility “dancing” in the entertainments and spectacles to show off their power and dignity. Spectacles organized by courts, dukedoms, etc. quickly became competitive, one court trying to display greater power and wealth than another. Idealisation of aristocratic power became the new impetus for dance. Court entertainments were prepared with great care. They were 4-5 hours elaborate programs consisting of unconnected...
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...As a child we always have these big dreams that we can save the world by becoming doctors or lawyers. Some of us even think that being a firefighter or police officer can save the society we live in today as well. But what would the world be without the entertainers we see and admire on television? In the present day the people in media are influencing us more than the teachers and elders in our neighborhoods. One entertainer that I look up to is Zoe Saldana. Although, her career in entertainment has just recently begun she has impacted film and society in a positive manner through her ability to play strong female lead roles that challenge how we view female sexuality and which helps transcend Hollywood’s perspective of race and ethnicity. Her career started quite spontaneously. She was born in New Jersey but moved to the Dominican Republic at the age of nine after the death of her father. There she took interest in dance and was enrolled in a prestigious dance academy. She came back to the United States at the age of seventeen, where she was discovered by a talent agency after performing around town with Faces Theater Troupe, a theater troupe which focused on keeping teens out of the streets and trouble. Her dance ability and acting experience expedited her to land her first role in the movie Center Stage. Since Center Stage her career has taken off. In a 2003 interview Saldana was asked why she passed over the topic of race in her past interviews. She replied, “Because ethnic...
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