the grade only

Your task is to write a 2-3 page, typed, double-spaced paper, responding to the instructions and ideas that follow and those in the article by Ivan Hagendoorn.

In his articles, Hagendoorn describes four elements of dance that the choreographer uses in producing dance to focus and maintain the attention of the viewer. The first two that the choreographer manipulates are the saliency and the novelty of visual aspects of the dance (e.g., costuming and scenery). This is not that different from what the visual artist does with the elements of a painting to engage the viewer’s interest. However, the other two elements in a choreographer’s toolbox are different from the visual artist and include the structuring of the dance, itself, and the motion of the dancers. Structuring of the dance includes the narrative (“story”) that is being conveyed by the dance and the spatial and temporal qualities of the dancers’ movements. In this latter case, what the choreographer is attempting to do is to create for the audience the same awareness and use of space that the dancer is experiencing on stage.

Your assignment is, first, to read the article by Hagendoorn that I have given you (see “Resources” in Isidore), if you have not read it already for class. It is very readable, and should prove to be interesting. Second, produce an analysis of the performance of Sleeping Beauty, with a conclusion about its overall impact on you, the audience. In your analysis, focus on how the choreographer has caught and maintained your attention, referring to the appropriate elements that the choreographer has used, effectively or not, and how you responded to them. While watching the ballet be sure to look for examples of peak shift, symmetry, grouping, and contrast, -- among other tools that the choreographer may have used--, that not only grab your attention, but add to your emotional response to the ballet. Describe one or more of these examples, relating it to the emotions you felt. Keep in mind that this is not a paper about the Sleeping Beauty story, itself, although you can speak briefly (no more than a short paragraph) about how the ballet and its elements (e.g., dance movements, costuming, characterizations through dance) produce a novel experience of this classic story.

Third, the other, and rather critical component of this experience of dance, is you and what you bring to the occasion of these ballets that you see. So, evaluate top-down processing that includes: (a) previous experiences with dance of any kind, (b) emotions precipitated by the movements in this ballet and previous occasions where you have viewed or participated in dance, and (c) expectations—not broad, as of a ballet, in general, but from moment to moment as you viewed the ballet, Sleeping Beauty. How do all these components—produced by the choreographer and dancers, as well as what you contribute—interact to produce a particular experience—in common with others, as well as idiosyncratic to you?

Finally, please include a brief paragraph describing your personal preferences for the ballet and its performance based on the four elements of attention and your personal experiences. However, you should devote almost the entirety of your analysis to the ways in which the choreographer has used the elements of attention and their effectiveness.

Remember to present a thesis in your first paragraph. You do not need to describe the ballet to me, but do describe the examples (e.g., identifying characters, such as prima ballerina, lead male dancer, stage locations, costuming, scenery, lighting, etc.) when discussing them in your paper. You should write a clear, coherent, organized analysis of your experience, based on the parts of the assignment. For this paper, I will subtract points for poor grammar, incomplete or wordy sentences, and sentences with poor construction, spelling errors, and poor organization of the paper. Also, BE SURE to use the guidelines (rubric for grading) below and the feedback you had received on your first two written assignments. There will be NO resubmissions for this assignment, so be sure to get writing assistance (for example, at Roesch Library) if you need it, or if I have asked you to do that in the past.

The afternoon of the ballet at the pre-performance talk: Be sure to ask the speaker which aspect(s) of the ballet that we will be seeing, in her estimation, exemplify how ballet allows the dancer to create beauty and bring an audience to the peaks of emotional experience.

When you use literature (e.g., Hagendoorn, and others, such as our text) to support your statements in your paper, you must use citations in the body of the text after you say something related to an article and a References (APA style) or Works Cited (MLA or other style) page at the end of your paper. These should appear on a separate page from the text of your paper. Consequently, your list of sources should not count toward the minimum of 2 pages and maximum of 3 pages that you are writing. Also, be sure to write everything, including definitions of terms (e.g., point of entry) in your own words, not mine nor another author’s words. If you are—and you will be to some extent—using an author’s ideas (e.g., point of entry), you should cite that author. Essentially, what I am saying here is DO NOT COPY ANOTHER’S WORDS OR CLAIM ANOTHER AUTHOR’S IDEAS. If you do this, you are plagiarizing. Plagiarizing, as you read in the U.D. Honor Code and which I have discussed with you at the beginning of our course, leads to severe consequences, such as a zero grade or an entry into your university file. You may use one and only one quote for a paper this length.

Quality of Content and Ideas (Total = 18 pts.)

· Does the student define and understand terms of art, psychology and dance used in the paper?

· Does the student describe the ballet and its context in sufficient detail to support his/her thesis and conclusions?

· Does the student give examples from the ballet and its components (e.g., choreography, dancers, scenery), the article by Hagendoorn, and lecture and discussion as supporting evidence for his/her conclusions?

Organization and Style (Including college-appropriate spelling and grammar) (Total = 16 pts.)

· Is there a clear thesis statement?

· Is there a logical and clear arrangement and development of ideas that follow from the thesis?

· Is the flow from thesis to conclusion(s) logical? (e.g., are the transitions effective?) Is there an ease of readability? Are the sentence and paragraph structures mature, clear and coherent (e.g., grammatically correct, absence of run-ons, no sentence fragments, parallel construction)?

· Is the tone, style, word choice appropriate?

· Is the paper, as a whole, engaging and informative?

· Is the spelling accurate?

· Is the punctuation present and appropriate?