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Essay about the history of dance
History of ballet
Essay about the history of dance
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay about the history of dance
History of ballet
Essay about the history of dance
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater was created after a famous performance, led by Alvin Ailey and a group of African-American dancers in March 1958, dramatically changed how individuals viewed American dance. The theater’s goal was to celebrate the African-American culture and preserve the legacy of modern dance, which has since, been achieved through performances, “for an estimated 25 million people at theaters in 28 states and 71 countries on six continents[...] (by) more than 235 works by over 90 choreographers,” (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater). Alvin Ailey, born in Texas, grew up knowing that his experiences living in the South would have some influence on his works later on his life. In Los Angeles, Ailey began to dance when he discovered the beauty of dance by the performances of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and the Katherine Dunham Dance Company. Soon after, his friend persuaded Ailey to join a class in one of the first racially-integrated dance studios which existed in the United States, led by Leston Horton.
According to Dictonary.com adversity is “an adverse or unfortunate event or circumstance”. In two short stories the main characters have to deal with Adversity and they both have too uses there smarts to conquer it. The the Short Story “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell both of the main characters have to think of a way to outsmart their enemies. In “The Sniper” A Republican Sniper was laying watch on a roof. A cross the way there is another sniper wanting him dead.
After a trip to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Ailey got great interests in concert dance. Inspired by watching the performances of Katherine Dunham Company and having classes with Lester Horton, Alvin Ailey then started his dance training formally with Lester Horton, the founder of the first racially integrated Dance Company in this country, and began his professional dance career at age of 18. During this period, Ailey learned many different styles of dances and adopted many of Horton’s dancing techniques. After Horton died in 1953, Ailey took charge of the company, but his nontraditional education influenced him to choreograph his own works with his own dance style. At first, Ailey was not sure about being a dancer so he went to attend UCLA and San Francisco State College to study languages after graduation from high school.
She would watch every meet that was on television and even recorded it so she could pause and rewind to learn the routines. She was only interested in the floor routines, so she decided to try out for the middle school drill squad. She made captain of all sixty girls who made the squad. Her coach, Elizabeth, Cantine, was amazed by her ability and suggested she try ballet at the local Boys and Girls Club. Her instructor there, Cindy Bradley, was also amazed.
Kelly could have passed off his exposure to ballet as mere dance training. But within his mission to revolutionize the Hollywood musical, he crafted the first American all-dance movie feature Invitation to Dance with a cast consisting solely of ballet dancers. Referring back to Kisselgoff’s New York Times article Gene Kelly: Ballet Influenced His View of Dance, Kelly often referred to his “Excalibur Ideology.” Born from his uphill battle with the medium, particularly his time as the first American-born choreographer for the Paris Opera Ballet, Pas de Dieux, Kelly metaphorically references King Arthur’s sword in the stone.
Ailey also had the opportunity to travel around the world to promote his dance and learn many different exotic cultures. In 1969 Ailey also formed the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, known today as the Ailey School. Alvin Ailey was honored for all his contributions to the American dance culture. In 1988, Alvin Ailey was honored by the Kennedy Center for his contributions to the arts. During his long career, Ailey choreographed close to 80 ballets
Actually, Arthur Mitchell continues his educational vocation: he coaches the roles created for him by Balanchine in ballet companies all over and with funds of the Ford Foundation he assists the School of American Ballet in their diversity project. The Dance Theatre of Harlem is led today by the artistic director Virginia Johnson, another founding member and former principal dancer of the company, famous for her performance as the Creole Giselle, the first full-length ballet broadcasted on NBC. During the meeting with Virginia Johnson this year in February she
Having these opportunities led to Katherine being invited to the Rosenwald Foundation where they agreed to finance any study contributing towards her dance career, thus where she then spent two years in the Caribbean studying all aspects of dance. Within the 1930’s Katherine Dunham transformed
However, throughout the school’s prosperous years, The Juilliard School of Music has had 6 presidents, created additional divisions with superb instructors and the school altered its name and relocated to a lively center in New York. An article published by The Juilliard School’s dance division, “History,” states, “The Juilliard School’s Dance Division was established in 1951 during William Schuman’s tenure as the School’s president. Its first director was Martha Hill” (Par. 1). Martha Hill was an inspiring dance instructor who taught at The Juilliard School of Music when the dance division was established in 1945. Hill and Schuman transformed The Juilliard School of Music’s identity from a school solely for musicians to one of the greatest teaching institutions to offer education in multiple dance genres.
Over the next several years, Balanchine spent time teaching, choreographing, and directing. His teaching style involved him teaching the dancers to develop a strong technique and style that would correspond to his choreography. Balanchine and Kirstein reunited to found the Ballet Society in 1946. Two years later (1948), after much recognition and impressed audiences, it became known as the “New York City Ballet”, which is currently a very famous and prestigious company. From this time until Balanchine’s death, he served as the artistic director of the New York City Ballet and choreographed the majority of the company’s performances.
Many companies like The American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, English National Ballet, Houston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Kirov Ballet, Miami City Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, National Ballet of Spain, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet. Even Prince watched her and asked her to dance with him on his tours, Copeland said yes and started dancing with him and managed to keep up in the company as well. When Prince went on a tour to Europe he offered for Copeland to be a part of some of the shows and she could kick it off with a solo. Copeland went and loved the experience from it. She gained a lot of publicity for
“[My dance instructor] Cindy believed that ballet was richer when it embraced diverse shapes and cultures. There would be times in my career when I would struggle to remember that, but I would eventually come back to that conviction, that the stage on which I performed was brighter for having me, even if some in the audience or dancing beside didn 't always agree” (“Misty Copeland
The word “ballet” brings to mind words such as “grace” or “beauty” when heard by many people. The definition itself states that it is a form of dance that uses precise steps and light, graceful motions. This definition was in the minds of those who attended the Théâtre des Champs-Élysèes in May 1913, but rather they were greeted with the complete opposite. When Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Rite of Spring opened, the audience was greeted with swift, chaotic music that quickly became a whirlwind of sound. The music softened and the curtains opened to a primitive dance, causing mass hysteria throughout the theatre.
Pierre Beauchamp, the head dancing-master, improved ballet technique by inventing the five position of ballet which remained as the foundation of ballet until today. During the lesson, females are wearing light pink or flesh colored tights and leotard, and ,ales are wearing dark colored tights and close-fitting shirt. Some students are wearing unitard, a wear which consists of tights and leotard to see their outline. All dancers wear soft shoes called flats. Most of the female dancers wear pink or beige shoes and male dancer wear black or white shoes.
Ever since i was young i fell in love with the art of dance. When i finally joined i felt like i was a little behind hence everyone was in my class was dancing since they were toddlers. My first day of dance was pretty nerve racking. My teacher would say to do something and i wouldn't know what to do because i didn't know any dance vocabulary. I would have to look around and try to fit in as much as possible so my teacher wouldn't think i wasn't fit for the class.