Dance History Essay

Balanchine

George Balanchine is an important figure in the history of ballet as he was a major exponent of ballet in the US. He established the first school of American ballet in NYC with Lincoln Kirstein in 1934. Balanchine’s style has been called Neoclassical and the success of his NYC Ballet has spawned many regional companies in the US, including Miami City Ballet, keeping his repertory alive. Balanchine brought a new aesthetic to ballet, stripping away its sentimentality and bringing attention to the movement rather than the spectacle. He brought quick footwork, precision and musicality to classical ballet technique. He collaborated extensively with the composer Stravinsky. His work with the Ballet Russe in the early 20th century exposed Balanchine to the most prominent musical composers and visual artists of the period (i.e. Picasso, Matisse, etc.) which influenced his experimentation with abstraction in the form.

Ballet continues to evolve today. Traditional classical ballets such as Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake are still performed today with the addition of more contemporary interpretations of the form. Some examples of contemporary ballet:

Modern Dance

Modern dance began as a departure from the restrictions of ballet and a desire to express a wider palette of the human experience. It emphasized the expression of emotion, the exploration of dynamics in the body and presented narratives in a more abstract manner. Some modern dance pioneers eventually developed their own codification and/or process for working. The postmodern dancers rejected codification of any kind as well as known methods for composition. They valued personal movement, innovative forms of performance and preferred abstraction over story telling.

Pioneers of Modern Dance

Isadora Duncan 1877-1927, believed movement should be drawn from nature and was inspired by Ancient Greece, wearing long toga-like robes in her performances. The Duncan technique was comprised of movements such as hopping, swinging, running, skipping and leaping; her desire was to free the body from the confines of ballet.

Ruth St Denis 1878-1968, was inspired by the dances of Asia, in addition to other culturally based forms. She is well known for her grand spectacles, creating a formal school/company. Her husband Ted Shawn was also a pioneer in modern dance who created an all male dance company in addition to performing with Ruth. Martha Graham was a student Ruth St. Denis and later became a member of her company.

Mary Wigman 1886-1973, was a German dancer/choreographer inspired by Expressionism, an artistic movement that emphasized raw emotions. She was a student of Rudolf Laban. In her famous Witch Dance, she went against traditional norms of female beauty in dance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtLSSuFlJ5c

Rudolf Laban 1879-1958, is sometimes referred to as the father of German modern dance; he developed a system for notating dance called Labanotation in addition to developing methodology for analyzing movement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbnSY3RVTr0

Martha Graham, 1894-1990, is well known for developing a technique based on the contraction and release of the center of the body. Inspired by Ruth St Denis, she left the company to create her own methodology, exploring raw emotion and narratives based on Greek mythology and the American experience.

Second Wave of Pioneers

Jose Limon, 1908-1972, was a Mexican American whose work was influenced by his culture. He developed a technique influenced by his teacher/mentor Doris Humphrey, based on fall and recovery in addition to principles of weight. In The Moor’s Pavane, Limon looks back at dances of the Middle Ages/Renaissance, but uses his technique, theatricality and symbolism to create his own statement.

Alvin Ailey, 1931-1990, created the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in the 1950’s, an iconic dance company to this day. He strove to make dance more inclusive, giving opportunities for African American and other dancers of color. He choreographed the well known Revelations in 1960.

Dance Theatre in Germany

Kurt Jooss-1901-1979, a German dancer/choreographer who is known as the father of Tanztheater, (dance theatre). Jooss preferred themes that addressed moral issues. His most important choreographic work, The Green Table (1932), won first prize at an international competition. Made a year before Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany, The Green Table had a strong anti-war message.

Pina Bausch, 1940-2009, a German dancer/choreographer who continued the legacy of her teacher Kurt Jooss in developing the concept of Tanztheater, which combined elements of dance and theater. Bausch’s works display both classical and contemporary techniques with an emphasis on the expression of raw emotion. Her approaches were considered experimental, pushing the boundaries of dance.

Postmodern Dance

In postmodern dance, artists are interested in challenging the established codification of dance and developing new methodologies for creating work.

Merce Cunningham, 1919-2009, in his seven decade long career he is well known for pushing the boundaries of dance performance, collaborating with music, film and visual artists, most notably his life partner, experimental composer John Cage. His works display an intense physicality, intellectual rigor and abstraction. He is known for using chance to choreograph, throwing dice, flipping coins or consulting the I Ching to structure his dances.

Steve Paxton, 1939- , is well known for creating a system of making dance called “Contact Improvisation” which uses the dynamics of the body and partnering with others to investigate new ways of moving.

Trisha Brown, 1940-2017, created intricate patterns of movement based on repetition and methodology which sought to generate the unique personal vocabulary of her dancers. In her famous work, Set and Reset, she creates a dance that has the vitality of improvisation, but is a completely set choreography.

Deborah Hay, 1941-, studied and performed with Merce Cunningham and was part of the experimental collective of dancers, Judson Dance Theater, based in NYC. She is known for working with both trained and untrained dancers, moving beyond the codification of dance and exploring new forms of dance composition. She continues to create choreography today. In working with dancers, she poses questions for them to explore in movement.

Contemporary Dance in the 21st Century

Ohad Naharin, 1952-, is an Israeli dancer/choreographer. He created “Gaga,” a methodology for exploring new pathways for movement which uses imagery and body awareness. He was artistic director for the Bathsheva Dance Company until 2018 (currently he is the head choreographer). Naharin was a member of the Martha Graham Dance Company.

Rennie Harris, 1964-, is a dancer, choreographer, artistic director and scholar of hip hop dance. His company Pure Movement, established in 1992, is notable for bringing hip hop dance to the concert stage. His touring company RHAW has performed extensively worldwide. Harris has challenged the stereotypes and expectations of hip hop in his award winning works.

Crystal Pite, 1970-, a Canadian dancer/choreographer who joined Ballet Frankfurt in 1996 under the tutelage of the innovative William Forsythe. In 2002, she formed her own company Kidd Pivot, creating her award winning own works and serving as choreographer for many prominent companies. Her process explores conflict and opposing energies in the body, creating dance that is rigorous, complex and emotionally raw.

Choose one name from above , you have a listing of prominent artists in the history of dance (their names are bolded).

For your research paper, please choose one of these artists and write a paper which includes the following, in this order, to organize your paper:

1) Personal/professional background--what are the important factors in their background that contributed to their development as artists

2) Talk about their contribution to their genre (ballet, hip hop, modern, postmodern, contemporary) in the period of time that they create/created.

3) Discuss a minimum of 3 notable works, describing them in detail (themes, choreographic approaches, scenographic elements, etc).  Include links to these works in your bibliography.

4) In your conclusion, discuss their contribution to dance history.  How did/does their work push the art form forward? 

Your paper should be 4 complete pages of text, double spaced, 12pt font, 1"margins covering the areas I requested.  Please include a separate title page with your name, course, title of your paper, etc.  Please also include a separate bibliography, in MLA style, with your sources and also the links to the works of choreography you discuss in the paper.

You may include photos in your paper, but this does not replace the required 4 pages of text.