Essay Example on Catherine de Medici's Role in Ballet Evolution in Feudal Society

In the Middle Ages/Renaissance, feudalism stratified society. How was dance expressed in the upper and lower classes?

In the upper classes, dance expressed in the form of entertainment whereby minstrels, musicians brought music, magic tricks, and dance to the castles, royalties, and towns while for the lower classes, dances expressed hardships like plagues, poverty, deaths among other social challenges they faced.

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What was Catherine de Medici’s role in the evolution of ballet?

Married to King Henry III, Catherine de Medici is responsible for the introduction and recognition of ballet in France specifically in the royalty dynasty during the 16th century from her origins in Italy, where choreography recognized during the 14th century.

Watch the Royal Ballet video on the evolution of ballet and describe how the technique evolved.

Ballet, a famous court dance performed for royalties in court, involved both male and female dancers accompanied by music. The female dancers wear unique costumes satin and point-shoes that help them rise on the tip of their shoes to execute the ballet movements on stage effectively. The technique has evolved whereby in the contemporary world, there is no need for specific attires to perform ballet and performed in any platform.

George Balanchine started the first formal school of American ballet with Lincoln Kirstein in 1934. Where and how did these two individuals meet? What were their roles in launching the school?

Lincoln first met Balanchine in France through Romola Nijinsky, a ballet dancer. George Balanchine, convinced to relocate to the United States, established the first of American ballet in New York City with Lincoln in 1934. Lincoln was a dance connoisseur, while Balanchine was a ballet dance choreographer.

Describe Balanchine’s neoclassical style of ballet and how does the dance Agon illustrate this style.

The Balanchine’s neoclassical style of ballet refers to 20th-century techniques of classical ballet that rebelled the over-dramatization of dances in the post-romantic modernism. Agon dance style is a simplistic staged traditional ballet dance where dancers paired in a group of trios or pairs to perform eliminating the over-dramatization.

Which Balanchine dancer was the first artistic director of the Miami City Ballet? What were some of his most notable ballets while he was working with Balanchine?

The founding artistic director of the Miami City Ballet was Edward Villella. His notable ballets performances include Oberon, Tarantella, and Rubies, all in Balanchine ballets.

Both in Alonzo King’s Writing Ground and La la la Human Steps Amelia, there is an exploration of the female in society and her emotions. In these pieces, what themes and emotions are expressed in each? This is your reflection.

Women are perceived to be emotional than men in society. The theme of emotion expressed by Alonzo King's "Writing Ground" is how emotional response can affect an individual's physical response. The rhythmical movement of dances to express how innate feelings of emotions require critical observation to understand a feature associated with feministic response. In 'La la la Human Steps Amelia," the male dancers seem to be controlling their rapid dance movements, an indication that women are prone to a quick emotional response to the environment around them. Hence there is a need for understanding and helping them to manage their emotions.

Martha Graham’s technique includes contraction/release of the spine, which became a signature of her approach. How was this connected to the expression of emotion, according to Graham?

Graham's technique, which includes contraction and release of the spine, symbolically represents the conflicting control human beings have to express their emotions, a method referred to as expressionism. Release movement represents the force behind the expression of pleasant emotions, which is relaxing, unlike the painful endeavor of withholding and controlling painful feelings.

In Mary Wigman’s Witch Dance, she portrays raw emotion. How does it reflect Germaexpressionismsm, an artistic movement that flourished during her time?

In the "Witch Dance," Mary Wigman expresses an unconventional torment to the audience covering most of her body, which reflects the "German Expressionism." Hence, protesting against the classical ballet immobility due to the existing systematic rules that positioned traditional ballet as a complicated artistic performance by going against conventional norms of female beauty in dance.

In the Moor’s Pavane, Jose Limon takes a modern look at the dances of the Renaissance. What were Limon’s creative objectives in this piece?

The traditional ballet during the early stages of civilization ballet represented different classes creating a rift between the royalties and poor-peasants. The suppression of existing generational differences between the old and modern dances is the primary concept from Limon’s “Moor’s Pavane.”

In Kurt Jooss’s iconic The Green Table, how is the anti-war message expressed in dance? What war was he referring to?

World War II. The anti-war message evident in Jooss’s "The Green Table" targets the social issues that affect humanity due to death-threatening conflicts they indulge between them. Jooss was referring to political war like the civil ills where diplomats with incompatible policy declare war and insensitively rallied people to pick up their weapons ready to indulge in the set battles. Thexpressionismsm in Jooss’s work communicate such social defects like corruption and conflicting public policies invented by politicians expose members of the public to mental, economic, and physical hurt.

Name an important work by Pina Bausch and why it’s historically significant

"Café Muller" is one of the significant ballet works by Pina Bausch. Artists rely on events from their social environment to express their ideas to the audience. "Café Muller" is the narration of Bausch's childhood experiences in her parent's restaurant in German. The dance is simplistic but expressive, relaying multiple messages to the audience without the performer's mechanical use of props. It is significantly important due to its balletic expression of personal life events recorded over time. Hence, it gives a different perspective in the field of ballet recording history in an entertaining manner. Therefore, traditional events are the foundation of modernism, especially in ballet, among other artistic ventures that choreographers to express themselves.

Describe the contribution of Merce Cunningham to thpostmodernrn dance movement? Why are his works/approaches significant to dance history?

Merce Cunningham laid a foundation for the survival and embellishment of postmodern dance. Historically, the ballet inhibited by traditional constraints to ballet, such as center stage and a specific pattern movement refuted by the postmodern dance movement, relates to Cunningham innovations. Cunningham's change of abstract dance movement that independently expressed his ideas without the ancient ballet's regulations inspires modern dance movements. Contemporary choreographers can borrow the independence relayed by Cunningham to develop their work, an element that brings a lot of creativity to improve choreography globally. Therefore, dance artists can utilize any space available to create modern dance movements rather than being fixed by the traditional reliance on stage and specific patterns.

Describe Trisha Brown’s choreographic objective and methodology in her piece Set/Reset?

Trisha Brown's choreographic objective in her piece Set/Reset was to achieve a geometric presentation of modern dance movements. The movements are unpredictable, presenting a conflicting them in performance, for instance, the visual and non-visual dancers’ costumes.

Define Steve Paxton’s contact improvisation method and how it reflected his aesthetic

Steve Paxton's contact improvisation involves a dancer's awareness of their partner's weight other movement kinematics to prevent any problem that may result from misappropriation of the dancing space. It reflected a continuous flow of movement without physical or space prohibition.

Deborah Hay is postmodernrn dance artist working today. In her work, Figure a Sea, what are some of the tools she uses to help dancers generate movement?

She used various images, an arch-like projection at the center of the dance floor, as well as a picture depicting ocean and sky, helping dancers to organize dance movements based on this imagery patterns presented.

What are the objectives of Ohad Naharin’s Gaga method?

The objective Gaga method is to help dancers realize the physical potential of their bodies to create dance movements based on their body's rhythm and the accompanying pleasures as well as strains.

Rennie Harris and Crystal Pite work in completely different genres. Compare/contrast their approaches to choreography. What are their similarities and differences?

Both Harris and Pite work in the field of music performance but in different genres. They are both dancers and choreographers, with notable companies to put their work on global recognition. A striking similarity between Harris and Pite is that they both created dance movements that contradict the existing prejudices surrounding their specific genre, which are both award-winning pieces. For instance, Harris's work challenges the stereotypes and expectations of hip hop while Pite creates a rigorous ballet movement, emotionally-raw, and complex conflicting the free body movement expected. The only different genre where Harris specializes in hip hop while Pite in ballet but their ideologies are similar.

Select the video you liked the most and describe how it illustrates your definition of dance

The video I liked most is “La la la Human Steps Amelia," choreographed by Edouard Lock, which simplistically presents a definition of dance. My description of dance relies on its expressionism element to entertain and inform the audience. The message communicated should not be overt to understand but indulge the audience in critical thinking to make out the concepts relayed by the various dance movements performed. Lock presents dancers in the video in a symbolic manner communicating different ideas communicated to the audience. For instance, the binary gender issue in the dance can make varied meaning-making the art pass various messages to the audience.

What was Jack Cole’s contribution to Jazz dance?

Jack Cole invented theatrical jazz dance where dancers inoculate both jazz and ballet in their performance movements to create a unique style called "jazz-ethnic-ballet." The form is popular with the modern jazz dance.

In the video Hellzapoppin, what is the commentary being made on race/class?

In the video, Hellzapoppin portrays a racial element that could be interpreted differently in contemporary and ancient musical times. Hellzapoppin invented by African Americans was a form of entertainment to the ideal white audience. Still, today interpreted as an extraordinary display of talent by the whites who perform the same movements.

Describe Bob Fosse’s style of jazz dance?

Fosse's jazz dance style is uniquely detailed movements that feature stifling hip rolls with accompanying finger snaps engaged by dancers.

Master Juba, Bojangles and Savion Glover are important figures in tap dance. Please summarize their contributions to the genre.

Historically, Master Juba is known as the founder of tap dance in the United States. He is the first African American to acquire recognition in terms of exemplary performance over the whites. Juba invented several tap dance movements that contributed to the evolution of the genre.