Dance and Culture
What is Dance- is all movement Dance?
Dance is movement with a purpose, often rhythmic, can be to music or not- not just functional movement
When and Where did Ballet start?
late 1500s in France, originating from Italy (brought over by Catherine de Medici)
When and Where did Modern start?
late 1800s/early 1900s w Isadora Duncan- considered American art form, however Mary Wigman was working at same time in Germany
What is Post-Modern movement?
Rejection of Modern, changing thoughts about what art even is
Who is Rudolph Laban?
The creator a Labanotation- a way of annotating movement in order for choreographers to copyright their work
Some ways dance is used culturally
Ritual, ceremony, performance, group/participatory (ie folk dance)
What is the language of Ballet?
French
1. Modern was developed as a rejection of the rules and rigidity of Ballet
2. Characteristics: not storytelling, more personal to the dancer, always evolving
Characteristics of Post Modern
Absolutely no story, rejecting ideas of what dance should be
Dance reacting to current events- recent example
The global water dance- worldwide event raising awareness of the need for clean drinking water for everyone
What is Cultural Appropriation + example
Cultural appropriation is taking an aspect of culture without educating oneself or actively harming the culture you are taking from. Example: Blackface, some commercial Hula practices
How did the Codification of Ballet affect its development?
Codifying the movements of ballet allowed for not just royals to learn, opening up opportunities for 'common' people to perform in the courts and gain more status in society
Major Figures of Modern IN ORDER
1. Isadora Duncan- mother of Modern Dance
2. Mary Wigman: same time as Duncan, but in Germany
3. Denishawn: Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, made school- split and Ted made Jacobs Pillow
4. Katherine Dunham: Brought her anthropology knowledge to dance, without appropriation
5. Martha Graham: very iconic- developed her own technique and school
Manifesto of Post Modern
the NO manifesto: no to story, no to moving or being moved, no to tradition, basically no to everything
What affects our view of History?
Our bias in our perception of history is influenced by our culture, what we've been taught, and our personal experience
What is folk dance + examples
Folk dance is participatory, it is something unique to a culture and is designed for the whole community to do. An example includes square dancing in Western American culture
How did Ballet's major movements come about?
The positions of ballet were developed by Pierre Beauchamp- turn out however was started by King Louis XIV to show off his heels
How did segregation affect some early Black dancers' technique in 20th century?
The often were only able to formally train with other Black choreographers, but the dance community found ways to work around and 'informally' train across races until segregation was outlawed in the 60s
Difference between ritual dance and folk dance
ritual dance: changes something through the performance of ritual
folk dance: social/participatory dance specific to culture
How can we do Dance Appreciation rather than Appropriation?
Learning from someone certified and trained in the style, educating ourselves about the culture the dance originates from, and remaining respectful in our actions regarding the dance
Ballet's major figures in ORDER
1. Catherine de Medici: brought ballet to France
2. King Louis XIV: brought ballet to courts, danced himself, started turnout
3. Pierre Beauchamp: created the positions
4. Marie Taglioni: started dancing en pointe
5. Marius Petipa: Choreographed Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake
6. Cecchetti: Created method of teaching
7. Diaghilev/Nijinsky: Directed Ballet Russes/Choreographed Rite of Spring
8. Vaganova: Created Vaganova method
9. George Balanchine: founded School of American Ballet
10. Robert Joffrey: Joffrey ballet
11. Mikhail Baryshnikov: influential dancer/actor
12. Misty Copeland: outspoken dancer about the roles of race and body image in the ballet world
How do you annotate Dance?
Labanotation- using a graph to draw out and record timing, quality, direction, etc. of movement