Classical Dance: From Ballet to Broadway - PowerPoint Presentation

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Classical Dance: From Ballet to BroadwaySlide2

Ballet

-Ballet is a refined style of classical dance that emphasizes the verticality of the body, an outward rotation of the legs with fluid foot and leg work, and virtuosic turns and jumps.-Because ballet is physically strenuous, dance solos or duets (

pas de

deux

)

normally last between two to four minutes.

-Dancers needs constant breaks to catch their breath, so dance stories must be told in many scenes.

-Music for ballet is often rhythmic, colorful, and full of rapidly changing, clearly delineated moods.

Ballet Basics – use the back of your chair for balance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3bawTEPLtASlide3

Ballet has roots in European court dances, which were basically refined social dances of common people.

-Court dancers would display their grace in upright postures and in controlled coordinated movements of arms, hands, and head.

-During the reign of Louis XIV in France, the basics of ballet became established through state supported dance academies.

-Dancers trained in these schools developed skills well beyond average.

-They were so accomplished the created a new occupation – professional dancers.

-Flourished throughout Europe in the 19

th

century (especially Russia)

-Famous Russian ballets:

-Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and the NutcrackerSlide4

-The Nutcracker – most frequently performed Christmas ballet

-based on story from E. T. A. Hoffmann. -depicts the dreams of Clara, a young girl who is given a nutcracker for Christmas

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K65lcuHQn-E

Dance of the

Merlitonshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBDODIWeKbE

Pytor

TchaikovskySlide5

-One of the most scandalous ballets is

Rite of Spring written by Igor Stravinsky. - the choreography was by

Vaslav

Nijinsky

-

On opening night of Rite of Spring in Paris of 1913, the audience was so upset by the music and the dancing that a riot broke out. The police had to be called that evening because the audience was so angry. -Why??? – because it broke the rules of classical ballet

-dancers legs were bent and turned in

-heavy movements

-revolutionary new sounds

-pagan story line

-

Rite of Spring

is now considered to be a very famous Modernist work.

Rite of Spring – more modern ballet by Stravinsky – notice it’s not graceful (on purpose)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF1OQkHybEQ

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Theatrical Dance

-In 19th century minstrel shows, dances were commonplace.-Operettas in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s contained ample dancing.

-

Vaudville

shows in the early 20

th century had a lot of dancing.-Dance is a standard part of many Broadway musicals today. Minstrel show advertisement Early American Operetta Early

Vaudville advertisementSlide7

In

West Side Story , composed by Leonard Bernstein, the dances and the music are memorable because they are a part of the story.

-Opened on Broadway in 1957.

-It’s a modern-day version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet -Portrays conflict between two street gangs – Jets and the Sharks -Love story between Tony and Maria – caught in the middle of the conflict

Opening Scenes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxoC5Oyf_ss

-

West Side Story

has a blend of different musical styles:

-Jazz represents the Jets -Latin American dance rhythms represents the Sharks (Puerto Rican)

Mambo

https

://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kokbJvSEMUY

Cool

https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wugWGhItaQA

-This music was so popular that Bernstein made an arrangement of all of the dance numbers for orchestra called

Symphonic Dances from “West Side Story”.