Throughout the history of dance, there has been an extensive list of collaborations that we can look back on today and use as a model of ingenuity and inspiration. The relationships that are established through these collaborations are important because it allows two or more individuals to work together to share their unique ideas and skills with one another to achieve a common goal and make something more extraordinary that cannot generally be attained just with one’s own abilities. In my opinion, one of the most significant collaborations of all time, in the dance world, has been the partnership of George Balanchine and Igor Stravinsky.
George Balanchine, Russian born dancer and choreographer, is without a doubt one of the most influential individuals of the dance world. He had started dabbling in choreographing when he was still a young student, but his choreographic career really started to take off when Sergei Diaghilev took Balanchine under his wing and made him chief choreographer of Ballet Russes in 1924. In the earlier part of his career, Balanchine’s ballet consisted mostly of acrobatics, angular movements, dangling bodies, and suggestive poses. However, in the late 1920s his style and vision changed drastically.
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In 1909, Sergei Diaghilev attended a concert in which Stravinsky had composed a brilliant orchestral piece which Diaghilev was wildly impressed with. He could see Stravinsky potential as a composer and asked him to work with Ballet Russes for their summer season. When the 1910 season came around for Ballet Russes, Stravinsky was asked to work for them again, but this time he took on a much bigger role which was commissioning a score for a full-length ballet. From then on, Stravinsky regularly created new compositions for the ballets created by choreographers of the Ballet
(Tallchief and Kaplan 33). Maria also influenced choreographers into making new danced, many of which were made to show off her talent (Gridley 47). According to Mindy Aloff Maria was one of Balanchine’s, a famous choreographer of the time, most important ballerina; her dancing of the Firebird brought fame to her and the company. With great powers comes great responsibility, same goes for Maria. With her talented dancing being broadcasted the expectations for a gorgeous performance were high and so was her stress (Gridley 49).
The ballet included elements to enhance the ballet. These elements included sound, video, and props. The Bonnie and Clyde ballet was great because it stayed with the time period. The set design, music, video, and lighting fit in the time period.
Born in Fairfax, Oklahoma, Maria Tallchief was one of the America’s most known ballerinas from the mid 1900s. She was considered to be “America’s first prima ballerina.” Something very notable about this women was she was from an Osage tribe and she was the first Native American to start a dance career. Maria Tallcheif showed her passion through dance through her performances, her marriages to people of the dance world, and through her persistent teaching to other dancers. Maria Tallchief danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in the 1940s and then became professionally known.
Ailey being an American choreographer shows how he was able to become a household name in the dance world. Ailey choreographed over 80 ballets which easily illustrates how Ailey became an acknowledged figure in his community. Ailey’s most popular show Revelations is being performed till this day which shows how Ailey was able to leave a historical footprint on the dance world. Ailey's choreographic masterpiece Revelations is believed to be the best known and most often seen modern dance performance in history.
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.
The dance movements such as turning, jumping across large distances, muscle contraction and relaxation, and expressive hand movements all indicated the passion he has for dance. The Moreover, the way he staged the theater was proficient and beautiful that caught the eyes of audiences. The animal quality of movements in Blue Suite drew an instant success in Ailey’s
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
His pieces are branded by “the intensity and compactness of their expression and wide variety of mood” ranging from reflective and emotional to upbeat and comical. “He had the ability to make the most complex movement appear effortless, and totally reflective of the musical score, as if it were created spontaneously for that exact moment in time” (New York City Ballet). One of Jerome Robbins biggest impacts on the world of musical theater was that he redefined theater dance “as an integrated, dramatic element of musicals, setting out to demonstrate that artists like himself need not divide their artistic works from their commercial works, but could create at their highest level for the Broadway stage” (Smith). Robbins had a curious mind and wanted to “explore new influences and ideas”
I would never denigrate their talent. I respect the difficulties of ballet and the profession too much for that; however, whether the NYCB dancers of today fit Balanchine 's vision is another question. I consider Pierre Lacotte one of the top choreographers today by far -- better than some who are getting all kinds of publicity today. If such a choreographer is not sufficiently experienced to comment on how well a dancer is dancing Balanchine, then the ballet world is in trouble.
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
No other choreographer of African-American decent in his time could be even slightly comparable to Ailey’s success. The style of ballet and modern dance were predominately domain to white choreographers and performers. Even today, to some extent, they still are. Ailey was one of the first to modify the norm by inspiring multiethnic dance opportunities.(11) Ailey’s goal as a choreographer was not only to place emphasis on black culture, but moreover to completely remove the idea of colour itself.
The Life and Work of the Divine Dancer, Ruth St. Denis The mother of modern dance paved the way for future generations of American modern dancers. Exotic and spiritual solos are the trademark of nearly all of Ruth St. Denis’s choreographic works. Greatly influenced by the Delsarte Method, Denis’s solos often had a focus on emotional intention behind the movements. Denis’s interesting style was a combination between the Delsarte Method and spirituality, both stemmed from childhood experiences.
He would soon begin to take private music lessons with Rimsky-Korsakov. Whom became like a second father to Igor Stravinsky. Teaching him all about composing and teaching him new different sounds. They would do these private lessons twice weekly, but soon also the man who he became very close with would also pass away in the year of 1908. Not all things were bad for Igor Stravinsky, he has did something that would be extremely unusual now, but what is quite common back in the day.
The Rite was composed during the Russian Period and it is here that we start so see a change in compositions throughout Europe as it set in motion towards Serialism. Rhythm, folk melodies, harmonies and form are all central points, it was through his innovative use of rhythms that Stravinsky came to be recognised by Sergi Diaghilev. The founder of Ballet Russes, Diaghilev discovered Stravinsky in Russia and invited him to compose for his ballets. It was here that Stravinsky developed his own style, which we see looming by his irregular rhythms in Firebird and Petrushka. Petrushka composed in 1911, is based on a story of
• Music: • Music was composed by Igor Stravinsky • The composer contributed to the libretto. • Violinist was Marcel Darrieux • The score of Apollon Musagète is written for strings only and is consistently classical in style: dry harmonies, an abundance of perfect chords, rare polytonal superimposition. Those are borrowed from the past (from Lully and Delibes), but divested of all historical reference to achieve an abstract purity. • Stravinsky began Apollo on 16 July 1927, and completed the score on 9 January 1928.