She incorporated fine arts education into her physical education curriculum and worked towards a scheme that satisfied a woman’s total personality. It was important that the concept of beauty to a woman was all encompassing, inclusive of physical makeup, athletic activity, mental, and physical health. All of these aspects became vital to the central function of the department as a whole. In her time at Howard University she created a platform for her students and dancers, presenting things like lecture demonstrations, master classes, and even festivals and workshops to expose a wide range of people to dance. The Howard University Modern Dance Group gave Ms. Reeves Allen the medium to express the idea of dance as self-realization through fine movement, and created a presence for dance as a fine art on campus.
Robert “Bob” Fosse was a man of many talents, skills, and before passing on in 1987; made a tremendous impact on dance, especially the mixing of dance styles for other choreographers to come. The performances he created for Broadway along with his reach in the movie industry formed a “Fosse” image that others hoped to reach on their journey through the dance industry. His own life lived up to the style, level of dance he required his dancers to perform at, demanding and physically exhausting, yet powerfully enough to capture an audience all around the world. His personality may have been a bit too aggressive for some, but this personality is behind works such as, Redhead, Sweet Charity, and Chicago. If the man came off strong, it was for good
So as the idiom goes “ one hand washes the other,” Janet’s mother created and sewed the costumes for the students dance recitals. Later on in life Collins majored in art at Los Angeles City College. She later transferred to the Los Angeles Art Center School where she continued her studies in dance rather than in art.
Her choreography continues to stay relevant in the contemporary dance scene and performed on stages across the country. “In 2004, 5 companies performed Ms. Tharp’s works, but the number has grown; 15 dances were licensed in 2005, and more than 20 so far this year (2006)...” (Kourlas 2006) Since 2006, Tharp’s works continue to be an essential part of many ballet company repertoires. While continuing to choreograph, Twyla Tharp wrote two books, including an autobiography entitled Push Comes to Shove in 1992 and The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life in 2003.
His choreography was like nothing the world has seen as it has popularized multicultural modern dance for the world. His most famous piece is called revelations and is being performed to this day by his school of young students and it has been performed for people globally. Since his theatre was founded his students has performed for more than 20 million people not counting tv viewers. Last, ailey’s achievements has earn him the number 4 spot on the list for best choreographers in
Frankie Manning was a huge role model when it came to swing dancing during the jazz age. In the 1980s, renewal interests in swing dance brought Manning out again to choreography and teach. Today he continues to teach dance still continuing to keep jazz alive. He choreographed many well-known pieces that are
Jose Limon is vastly known in the world of dance for being someone who accomplished many first’s in his career. He has made quite a name for himself in the modern dance community for his professional dancing, teaching and choreography skills, and his vastly appreciated techniques that he cultivated with the help of his mentors and his learnings. Jose Arcadio Limon was born in 1908 in Culiacan, Mexico. He was the oldest of eleven brothers and son of Francisca Translavina and Florencio Limon. Jose Limon was born during the Mexican Revolution which of course was a struggle in its own for everyone who was a part of it.
“Where are you now, Gene Kelly?” asked poet Jeremy Bass, “The show’s still going, and we’ve forgotten how to dance” (Bass 76). A Pittsburgher in Hollywood, as he was known, Gene Kelly was an inimitable figure in the history of dance. Known for revolutionizing the world of movie musicals, Gene Kelly’s aura of commonality and ease within his art contributed to the assumption that he would be opposed to the structure of nineteenth century classical ballet. However, due to the nature of his artistic upbringing, his “Excalibur Ideology” and his staged opposition and appreciation of the nineteenth century dance conventions, one can deduce that Kelly, while having respect for classical ballet, believed in the progressing evolution of dance toward
Kidd established movement that was attainable, satisfying and closely tied to the story and character, by using movements from everyday life. He thought that the dance should tell the story and that the movements should be over
The Alvin Ailey modern dance company is known internationally for their works and dancers but how they began is a very interesting story. The company formed in 1958 and just two years later one of the most memorable and notable performances of the company was created, “.Revelations”. Although Alvin Ailey was the creator and director of this company, Ailey’s style and the technique he used and that the company still uses stems from Lester Horton. Horton was a pivotal teacher for Ailey and inspired him to create a company and carry on this technique from Horton. This paper will illustrate the beginning influence Horton had on Ailey and how the company has grown overtime.
Second, she argues that movement needs more attention "as a primary, not a secondary, social text, one of immense importance and tremendous challenge" (49). She argued that because we tend to only rely on texts, art, sometimes music to learn about a culture. Desmond states that "we should not ignore the ways in which dance signals and enacts social identities in all their continually changing
“Artworks have ‘aboutness’ and demand interpretation” (Barrett 71). This statement creates a foundation for writing, specifically about dance, as each dance piece is always about something, no matter how simple it appears to be. As I began to write about dance I knew not only to provide a description of the piece, but utilize the description as evidence as I develop a possible meaning. Additionally he explains, “There can be different, competing, and contradictory interpretations of the same artwork” (Barrett 73). When I would begin to develop an explanation from the description I provided, I had to remind myself that my interpretation was only one view of the dance and I should not try to provide one comprehensive interpretation for the
“Dance,” George Balanchine defines, “is music made visible.” Having studied piano since the age of five and ballet since nine , he was able to create and understand the profound relationship between dance and music. Having studied at the Conservatory of Music he was able to create choreography that visualized the music, rather than the story. He strongly believed that music should be the primary influence of choreography not the story.
Dancers must have ideas, and it is up to the choreographer to take those ideas deeper. A dancer that has wonderful technique is merely not enough; Alfonzo is looking for the entire package. As a choreographer, Alfonzo realizes
