Catherine Pawlick
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813036977
- eISBN:
- 9780813043982
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813036977.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
Agrippina Vaganova (1879–1951) is revered as the visionary who first codified the Russian system of classical ballet training. The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, founded on impeccable technique ...
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Agrippina Vaganova (1879–1951) is revered as the visionary who first codified the Russian system of classical ballet training. The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, founded on impeccable technique and centuries of tradition, has a reputation for elite standards, and its graduates include Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev, Yuri Soloviev, Natalia Makarova, and Diana Vishneva. Yet the “Vaganova method” has come under criticism in recent years. In this absorbing volume, Catherine Pawlick traces Vaganova's story from her early years as a ballet student in tsarist Russia to her career as a dancer with the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet and on to her work as a pedagogue and choreographer. Pawlick then goes beyond biography to address Vaganova's legacy today, offering the first-ever English translations of primary source materials and intriguing interviews with pedagogues and dancers from the Academy and the Mariinsky Ballet, including some who studied with Vaganova herself.Less
Agrippina Vaganova (1879–1951) is revered as the visionary who first codified the Russian system of classical ballet training. The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, founded on impeccable technique and centuries of tradition, has a reputation for elite standards, and its graduates include Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolf Nureyev, Yuri Soloviev, Natalia Makarova, and Diana Vishneva. Yet the “Vaganova method” has come under criticism in recent years. In this absorbing volume, Catherine Pawlick traces Vaganova's story from her early years as a ballet student in tsarist Russia to her career as a dancer with the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet and on to her work as a pedagogue and choreographer. Pawlick then goes beyond biography to address Vaganova's legacy today, offering the first-ever English translations of primary source materials and intriguing interviews with pedagogues and dancers from the Academy and the Mariinsky Ballet, including some who studied with Vaganova herself.
Dean Speer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813034386
- eISBN:
- 9780813046280
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813034386.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
This book provides a look into the careers and teaching philosophies of eighteen of the world's most respected ballet masters, principals, and artistic directors. The author sat down with prominent ...
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This book provides a look into the careers and teaching philosophies of eighteen of the world's most respected ballet masters, principals, and artistic directors. The author sat down with prominent ballet pedagogues and asked each a standard set of questions, including “What do we mean when we say someone has beautiful technique?” and “How did you become a dancer?” Featuring such artists as Peter Boal (Artistic Director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet) and Bene Arnold (first Ballet Mistress of the San Francisco Ballet), this volume offers insights into the nature of both performance and artistic instruction. The author's approach reveals convergences among these world-class talents, despite their varying pedagogical backgrounds and divisions.Less
This book provides a look into the careers and teaching philosophies of eighteen of the world's most respected ballet masters, principals, and artistic directors. The author sat down with prominent ballet pedagogues and asked each a standard set of questions, including “What do we mean when we say someone has beautiful technique?” and “How did you become a dancer?” Featuring such artists as Peter Boal (Artistic Director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet) and Bene Arnold (first Ballet Mistress of the San Francisco Ballet), this volume offers insights into the nature of both performance and artistic instruction. The author's approach reveals convergences among these world-class talents, despite their varying pedagogical backgrounds and divisions.
Jill Nunes Jensen
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195386691
- eISBN:
- 9780199863600
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195386691.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
Through dance and gender analysis, with reference to dance reviews and dancer interviews, Jill Nunes Jensen proposes that the choreography of San Francisco‐based Alonzo King encourages men and women ...
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Through dance and gender analysis, with reference to dance reviews and dancer interviews, Jill Nunes Jensen proposes that the choreography of San Francisco‐based Alonzo King encourages men and women to reevaluate concepts that have historically determined their relationships in traditional ballet pas de deux. Men in King's LINES Ballet company, for instance, escape many of the limitations of a “prince” and supporter identity by showing frailty and emotion, changing their physical relationship to female partners, and dancing with male partners. Although King's dancers may sometimes use traditional partnering protocols (women on pointe, men supporting them), they also often depart from them by exploring “qualities” not attached to fixed roles in conventional narratives and by sharing dance vocabulary, especially in terms of focus, strength, and use of space. Calling on dance theorists such as Ramsay Burt and Michael Gard, and referencing the work of William Forsythe, the author concludes that King's strategies and artistic output complicate gender in the ballet world in a unique way, offering more choice than is usual to both male and female dancers.Less
Through dance and gender analysis, with reference to dance reviews and dancer interviews, Jill Nunes Jensen proposes that the choreography of San Francisco‐based Alonzo King encourages men and women to reevaluate concepts that have historically determined their relationships in traditional ballet pas de deux. Men in King's LINES Ballet company, for instance, escape many of the limitations of a “prince” and supporter identity by showing frailty and emotion, changing their physical relationship to female partners, and dancing with male partners. Although King's dancers may sometimes use traditional partnering protocols (women on pointe, men supporting them), they also often depart from them by exploring “qualities” not attached to fixed roles in conventional narratives and by sharing dance vocabulary, especially in terms of focus, strength, and use of space. Calling on dance theorists such as Ramsay Burt and Michael Gard, and referencing the work of William Forsythe, the author concludes that King's strategies and artistic output complicate gender in the ballet world in a unique way, offering more choice than is usual to both male and female dancers.
Dean Speer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813034386
- eISBN:
- 9780813046280
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813034386.003.0010
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
This chapter describes the career and teaching philosophy of Roni Mahler, who has been a principal with the National Ballet of Washington, D.C., and a soloist with the American Ballet Theatre. She is ...
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This chapter describes the career and teaching philosophy of Roni Mahler, who has been a principal with the National Ballet of Washington, D.C., and a soloist with the American Ballet Theatre. She is on the faculty of the Juilliard School, and defines technique as the vehicle which moves you around the stage so that you can communicate with the audience. Mahler also says that a true teacher knows how to guide every different body—to stand up, not fall down—and to make people care about what you are doing onstage.Less
This chapter describes the career and teaching philosophy of Roni Mahler, who has been a principal with the National Ballet of Washington, D.C., and a soloist with the American Ballet Theatre. She is on the faculty of the Juilliard School, and defines technique as the vehicle which moves you around the stage so that you can communicate with the audience. Mahler also says that a true teacher knows how to guide every different body—to stand up, not fall down—and to make people care about what you are doing onstage.
Dean Speer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813034386
- eISBN:
- 9780813046280
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813034386.003.0003
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
This chapter describes the career and teaching philosophy of Damara Bennett, Director of the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre. Bennett, who was formerly with San Francisco Ballet, defines technique as ...
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This chapter describes the career and teaching philosophy of Damara Bennett, Director of the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre. Bennett, who was formerly with San Francisco Ballet, defines technique as what you need in order to express the art form, whether for an abstract or a story ballet. It is also how the steps relate to other steps—what steps are connector steps. Technique is also support; it is your partner.Less
This chapter describes the career and teaching philosophy of Damara Bennett, Director of the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre. Bennett, who was formerly with San Francisco Ballet, defines technique as what you need in order to express the art form, whether for an abstract or a story ballet. It is also how the steps relate to other steps—what steps are connector steps. Technique is also support; it is your partner.
Barbara Walczak and Una Kai
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813032528
- eISBN:
- 9780813046310
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813032528.003.0015
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
This chapter describes the author's experiences as a student at the School of American Ballet when Balanchine needed dancers to form his company. In order to shape his dancers to perform his ...
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This chapter describes the author's experiences as a student at the School of American Ballet when Balanchine needed dancers to form his company. In order to shape his dancers to perform his choreography in the way he desired, Balanchine started to train them in his style. He gave two-hour classes that were designed to help his dancers achieve “perfection,” as the advanced classes at the Kirov school were called. Balanchine's intention was to speed up our development because he needed an instant company.Less
This chapter describes the author's experiences as a student at the School of American Ballet when Balanchine needed dancers to form his company. In order to shape his dancers to perform his choreography in the way he desired, Balanchine started to train them in his style. He gave two-hour classes that were designed to help his dancers achieve “perfection,” as the advanced classes at the Kirov school were called. Balanchine's intention was to speed up our development because he needed an instant company.
Simon Morrison
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195181678
- eISBN:
- 9780199870806
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195181678.003.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
This introductory chapter describes Prokofiev's aesthetic outlook, notably the influence of Christian Science on his creativity. There ensues a discussion of his work with the Ballets Russes ...
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This introductory chapter describes Prokofiev's aesthetic outlook, notably the influence of Christian Science on his creativity. There ensues a discussion of his work with the Ballets Russes organization in Paris, commentary on the reception of his ballet Le Pas d'Acier in Moscow, and a chronology of his encounters with Soviet artists (Aleksandr Afinogenov and Ilya Ehrenburg) and cultural officials (Levon Atovmyan and Boris Gusman), who sought, using different creative and financial incentives, to convince him to relocate to Moscow. The case of Atovmyan is particularly significant: a cellist by training, he ascended through the bureaucratic ranks to become the head of Muzfund, the financial division of the Union of Soviet Composers. He was recruited by Narkomindel (the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs) to lure Prokofiev to Moscow.Less
This introductory chapter describes Prokofiev's aesthetic outlook, notably the influence of Christian Science on his creativity. There ensues a discussion of his work with the Ballets Russes organization in Paris, commentary on the reception of his ballet Le Pas d'Acier in Moscow, and a chronology of his encounters with Soviet artists (Aleksandr Afinogenov and Ilya Ehrenburg) and cultural officials (Levon Atovmyan and Boris Gusman), who sought, using different creative and financial incentives, to convince him to relocate to Moscow. The case of Atovmyan is particularly significant: a cellist by training, he ascended through the bureaucratic ranks to become the head of Muzfund, the financial division of the Union of Soviet Composers. He was recruited by Narkomindel (the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs) to lure Prokofiev to Moscow.
David Brown
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199231829
- eISBN:
- 9780191716218
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231829.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter discusses how dance was once so central to worship. It argues that the complexity of movement that the dancer seeks to achieve, not least in lifts and leaps from the ground, hints at a ...
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This chapter discusses how dance was once so central to worship. It argues that the complexity of movement that the dancer seeks to achieve, not least in lifts and leaps from the ground, hints at a world entered that is otherwise than our present flawed reality, and is thus symbolic of the possibility of a quite different form of joyful and ordered existence. The discussion proceeds in two stages. The first half of the chapter offers a largely historical examination of dance as it has functioned in various religiously sanctioned roles. The second part explores how, despite its avowedly ‘secular’ context, the religious dimension does often still emerge in ballet and modern dance, though almost invariably without any hint of worship.Less
This chapter discusses how dance was once so central to worship. It argues that the complexity of movement that the dancer seeks to achieve, not least in lifts and leaps from the ground, hints at a world entered that is otherwise than our present flawed reality, and is thus symbolic of the possibility of a quite different form of joyful and ordered existence. The discussion proceeds in two stages. The first half of the chapter offers a largely historical examination of dance as it has functioned in various religiously sanctioned roles. The second part explores how, despite its avowedly ‘secular’ context, the religious dimension does often still emerge in ballet and modern dance, though almost invariably without any hint of worship.
TESSA MURDOCH
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197265055
- eISBN:
- 9780191754166
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265055.003.0016
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
Following her abdication, Queen Christina of Sweden took up residence in the Palazzo Farnese, Rome from 1655. She had already developed a keen interest in music, gained from tuition from a French ...
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Following her abdication, Queen Christina of Sweden took up residence in the Palazzo Farnese, Rome from 1655. She had already developed a keen interest in music, gained from tuition from a French dancing master, and playing the star role in the ballet The Captured Cupid in honour of her mother's birthday in 1649. Christina's arrival in Rome was marked by performances in her honour in the Palazzo Barberini and Palazzo Pamphili of specially commissioned works by contemporary composers Marco Marazzoli and A.F. Tenaglia, and by her favourite Giacomo Carissimi. Inspired by the chamber music proportions of the cappella of the Collegio Germanico, many of Carissimi's secular arias were composed for his royal Swedish patron. After two years in France, Christina returned to Rome, where she took up residence in the Palazzo Riario on the Janiculum. Inventories record her musical instruments and describe the contents of the Great Hall in which concerts were held.Less
Following her abdication, Queen Christina of Sweden took up residence in the Palazzo Farnese, Rome from 1655. She had already developed a keen interest in music, gained from tuition from a French dancing master, and playing the star role in the ballet The Captured Cupid in honour of her mother's birthday in 1649. Christina's arrival in Rome was marked by performances in her honour in the Palazzo Barberini and Palazzo Pamphili of specially commissioned works by contemporary composers Marco Marazzoli and A.F. Tenaglia, and by her favourite Giacomo Carissimi. Inspired by the chamber music proportions of the cappella of the Collegio Germanico, many of Carissimi's secular arias were composed for his royal Swedish patron. After two years in France, Christina returned to Rome, where she took up residence in the Palazzo Riario on the Janiculum. Inventories record her musical instruments and describe the contents of the Great Hall in which concerts were held.
Barbara Walczak and Una Kai
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813032528
- eISBN:
- 9780813046310
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813032528.003.0004
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
This chapter describes the experiences of the author as a dancer in the early 1950s. Specifically, she gives an account of an average workday by describing a day on her company's first tour in Europe ...
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This chapter describes the experiences of the author as a dancer in the early 1950s. Specifically, she gives an account of an average workday by describing a day on her company's first tour in Europe in 1952, as well as an idea of what the logistics of their lives were like, as members of a poor company.Less
This chapter describes the experiences of the author as a dancer in the early 1950s. Specifically, she gives an account of an average workday by describing a day on her company's first tour in Europe in 1952, as well as an idea of what the logistics of their lives were like, as members of a poor company.
Edith Hall and Rosie Wyles (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book studies the most important form of theatre in the entire Roman empire—pantomime, the ancient equivalent of ballet dancing. Performed for more than five centuries in hundreds of theatres ...
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This book studies the most important form of theatre in the entire Roman empire—pantomime, the ancient equivalent of ballet dancing. Performed for more than five centuries in hundreds of theatres from Portugal in the West to the Euphrates, Gaul to North Africa, solo male dancing stars—the ancient forerunners of Nijinsky, Nureyev and Baryshnikov—stunned their intercultural and cross‐class audiences with their erotic costumes, gestural delicacy, and dazzling athleticism. In sixteen specially commissioned and complementary studies, the leading world specialists explore the all aspects of the ancient pantomime dancer's performance skills, popularity, and social impact, while paying special attention to the texts that formed the basis of this distinctive art form. The book argues that the core elements that underlay pantomime performances were the presence of a solo male dancer, masked, who used his body rather than speech in an evocation of a mythical story, accompanied by music; however, the venues in which pantomime performances took place, their scale, tone, and selection of additional personnel, could vary enormously. The book pays particular attention to the texts or ‘libretti’ of pantomime, which were sung by accompanying choirs, to the impact of pantomime on ancient aesthetics and rhetoric, and the importance of the medium at the time when modern ballet was invented in the Early Modern period. An appendix of key sources in translation, from Xenophon to Macrobius, assists the reader to identify the most important evidential documents, and includes a translation of A Syriac text on pantomime by Jacob of Sarugh.Less
This book studies the most important form of theatre in the entire Roman empire—pantomime, the ancient equivalent of ballet dancing. Performed for more than five centuries in hundreds of theatres from Portugal in the West to the Euphrates, Gaul to North Africa, solo male dancing stars—the ancient forerunners of Nijinsky, Nureyev and Baryshnikov—stunned their intercultural and cross‐class audiences with their erotic costumes, gestural delicacy, and dazzling athleticism. In sixteen specially commissioned and complementary studies, the leading world specialists explore the all aspects of the ancient pantomime dancer's performance skills, popularity, and social impact, while paying special attention to the texts that formed the basis of this distinctive art form. The book argues that the core elements that underlay pantomime performances were the presence of a solo male dancer, masked, who used his body rather than speech in an evocation of a mythical story, accompanied by music; however, the venues in which pantomime performances took place, their scale, tone, and selection of additional personnel, could vary enormously. The book pays particular attention to the texts or ‘libretti’ of pantomime, which were sung by accompanying choirs, to the impact of pantomime on ancient aesthetics and rhetoric, and the importance of the medium at the time when modern ballet was invented in the Early Modern period. An appendix of key sources in translation, from Xenophon to Macrobius, assists the reader to identify the most important evidential documents, and includes a translation of A Syriac text on pantomime by Jacob of Sarugh.
Jennifer Fisher and Anthony Shay (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195386691
- eISBN:
- 9780199863600
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195386691.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
When Men Dance explores the intersection of dance and perceptions of male gender and sexuality across history and in different cultural contexts. In many societies, the public ...
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When Men Dance explores the intersection of dance and perceptions of male gender and sexuality across history and in different cultural contexts. In many societies, the public performance of dance is regarded as a feminine activity, so that men who dance often operate in a sea of stereotypes. This volume's scholarly essays tackle the history and dilemmas that revolve around dance and notions of masculinity from a variety of dance studies perspectives. Accompanying the essays is a group of engaging oral histories that complement their themes. The dancing male body emerges in its many contexts, from the ballet, modern, and popular dance worlds to stages in Georgian and Victorian England, Weimar Germany, India, and the Middle East. The men who dance and those who analyze them tell stories that will be both familiar and surprising for insiders and outsiders alike.Less
When Men Dance explores the intersection of dance and perceptions of male gender and sexuality across history and in different cultural contexts. In many societies, the public performance of dance is regarded as a feminine activity, so that men who dance often operate in a sea of stereotypes. This volume's scholarly essays tackle the history and dilemmas that revolve around dance and notions of masculinity from a variety of dance studies perspectives. Accompanying the essays is a group of engaging oral histories that complement their themes. The dancing male body emerges in its many contexts, from the ballet, modern, and popular dance worlds to stages in Georgian and Victorian England, Weimar Germany, India, and the Middle East. The men who dance and those who analyze them tell stories that will be both familiar and surprising for insiders and outsiders alike.
Barbara Walczak and Una Kai
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813032528
- eISBN:
- 9780813046310
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813032528.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
Widely regarded as the foremost choreographer of contemporary ballet, George Balanchine was, and continues to be, an institution and major inspiration in the world of dance. This book provides a ...
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Widely regarded as the foremost choreographer of contemporary ballet, George Balanchine was, and continues to be, an institution and major inspiration in the world of dance. This book provides a technical explanation of the stylistic approaches that he taught in New York City between 1940 and 1960, as recorded by two prominent dancers who studied with him at that time. It replicates moments in the studio with the influential teacher, describing his instructions and corrections for twenty-four classes. These lessons not only introduce Balanchine's methods for executing steps, but also discuss the organization and development of his classes, shedding light on the aesthetics of his unique and celebrated style of movement.Less
Widely regarded as the foremost choreographer of contemporary ballet, George Balanchine was, and continues to be, an institution and major inspiration in the world of dance. This book provides a technical explanation of the stylistic approaches that he taught in New York City between 1940 and 1960, as recorded by two prominent dancers who studied with him at that time. It replicates moments in the studio with the influential teacher, describing his instructions and corrections for twenty-four classes. These lessons not only introduce Balanchine's methods for executing steps, but also discuss the organization and development of his classes, shedding light on the aesthetics of his unique and celebrated style of movement.
Jennifer Fisher
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195386691
- eISBN:
- 9780199863600
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195386691.003.0002
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
Jennifer Fisher provides a history of the “making it macho” strategy for men often employed in the dance world, which has been a response to the prejudices against ballet men throughout the 20th ...
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Jennifer Fisher provides a history of the “making it macho” strategy for men often employed in the dance world, which has been a response to the prejudices against ballet men throughout the 20th century and beyond. By looking at various rhetorical strategies in dance biography (Shawn, Nureyev, Bruhn), movies (Shall We Dance? The Turning Point), and television (So You Think You Can Dance), it foregrounds the frequency and futility of binary thinking in relation to masculinity as well as femininity when it comes to ballet performance. It references analysis of modern masculinity by Michael Kimmel and George Mosse, as well as dance analysis by Julia Foulkes and Ramsay Burt. It is suggested that, given the challenges for men in the feminized world of ballet, they trade the “macho” moniker for that of “maverick.”Less
Jennifer Fisher provides a history of the “making it macho” strategy for men often employed in the dance world, which has been a response to the prejudices against ballet men throughout the 20th century and beyond. By looking at various rhetorical strategies in dance biography (Shawn, Nureyev, Bruhn), movies (Shall We Dance? The Turning Point), and television (So You Think You Can Dance), it foregrounds the frequency and futility of binary thinking in relation to masculinity as well as femininity when it comes to ballet performance. It references analysis of modern masculinity by Michael Kimmel and George Mosse, as well as dance analysis by Julia Foulkes and Ramsay Burt. It is suggested that, given the challenges for men in the feminized world of ballet, they trade the “macho” moniker for that of “maverick.”
Doug Risner
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195386691
- eISBN:
- 9780199863600
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195386691.003.0003
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
From a sociological perspective, Doug Risner explores the many biases and challenges boys and men in ballet face in the classroom and beyond. Themes revealed in case studies and analysis include ...
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From a sociological perspective, Doug Risner explores the many biases and challenges boys and men in ballet face in the classroom and beyond. Themes revealed in case studies and analysis include gender norms, heterocentric biases, isolation, peer pressure, lack of positive male role models and parental support, sexual harassment, and the lack of support systems for boys in dance education. The chapter concludes with suggestions for parents and dance educators that would increase support for boys and men in ballet.Less
From a sociological perspective, Doug Risner explores the many biases and challenges boys and men in ballet face in the classroom and beyond. Themes revealed in case studies and analysis include gender norms, heterocentric biases, isolation, peer pressure, lack of positive male role models and parental support, sexual harassment, and the lack of support systems for boys in dance education. The chapter concludes with suggestions for parents and dance educators that would increase support for boys and men in ballet.
Edith Hall
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
In a broad contextualization of ancient pantomime within cultural history, the reasons for the importance of research into ancient pantomime are explored: it represents a lost aesthetic of profound ...
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In a broad contextualization of ancient pantomime within cultural history, the reasons for the importance of research into ancient pantomime are explored: it represents a lost aesthetic of profound and widespread influence in ancient imperial culture; it played, quantitatively speaking, a more important role in educating the majority of inhabitants of the Roman empire in mythology than, for example, recitations of poetry; it was the main medium in which the prestigious tradition of classical tragedy was kept alive in the theatres of the Roman empire; it played a seminal role in the emergence of classical ballet, and subsequently, in the twentieth century, of avant‐garde Tanztheater (dance theatre). The theatrical spaces and the musical accompaniments (provided by the chorus and the hydraulis), of pantomime are given detailed attention. The hostile response that aspects of the perfomance: the dancer, his mask and the music, evoked from the Church Fathers and the place of pantomime in their rhetoric of anti‐theatricalism is also briefly explored.Less
In a broad contextualization of ancient pantomime within cultural history, the reasons for the importance of research into ancient pantomime are explored: it represents a lost aesthetic of profound and widespread influence in ancient imperial culture; it played, quantitatively speaking, a more important role in educating the majority of inhabitants of the Roman empire in mythology than, for example, recitations of poetry; it was the main medium in which the prestigious tradition of classical tragedy was kept alive in the theatres of the Roman empire; it played a seminal role in the emergence of classical ballet, and subsequently, in the twentieth century, of avant‐garde Tanztheater (dance theatre). The theatrical spaces and the musical accompaniments (provided by the chorus and the hydraulis), of pantomime are given detailed attention. The hostile response that aspects of the perfomance: the dancer, his mask and the music, evoked from the Church Fathers and the place of pantomime in their rhetoric of anti‐theatricalism is also briefly explored.
Ruth Webb
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter explores the art form of pantomime through the perspective of the performer and attempts to get ‘behind the mask’ and discover the dancers themselves as living, breathing, embodied ...
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This chapter explores the art form of pantomime through the perspective of the performer and attempts to get ‘behind the mask’ and discover the dancers themselves as living, breathing, embodied beings with their own perspective. The chapter reconstructs the experience of the pantomime dancer through examining the ancient evidence for the dance and the training undertaken by its performers; particular attention is given to the demands that this performance art made on the body. The ancient evidence is supplemented in the discussion by some testimony about similar mimetic dance forms today, such as North Indian Kathak dance, Balinese dance and Ballet. This modern testimony enables the author to explore the question of the interiority of the dancer, his relationship to his art and to the characters he embodied.Less
This chapter explores the art form of pantomime through the perspective of the performer and attempts to get ‘behind the mask’ and discover the dancers themselves as living, breathing, embodied beings with their own perspective. The chapter reconstructs the experience of the pantomime dancer through examining the ancient evidence for the dance and the training undertaken by its performers; particular attention is given to the demands that this performance art made on the body. The ancient evidence is supplemented in the discussion by some testimony about similar mimetic dance forms today, such as North Indian Kathak dance, Balinese dance and Ballet. This modern testimony enables the author to explore the question of the interiority of the dancer, his relationship to his art and to the characters he embodied.
Edith Hall
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0017
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
It was ancient pantomime's destiny to play a seminal role in the emergence of classical ballet, and subsequently, in the twentieth century, of avant‐garde Tanztheater. It is well known that the ...
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It was ancient pantomime's destiny to play a seminal role in the emergence of classical ballet, and subsequently, in the twentieth century, of avant‐garde Tanztheater. It is well known that the founding fathers of opera in the Florentine Camerata looked to ancient myth, and above all what they believed to have been the all‐sung form taken by ancient theatrical tragic performances, as the model for their new medium. But considerably less exposure has been given to the genealogy traced by the inventors of ballet in Enlightenment Italy, Spain, France and England, to the dancers described in the ancient texts on pantomime. The ancient dances, brought to such a high level of artistry and skill by the ancient star performers named Pylades or Bathyllus, Hylas, or Paris, fundamentally informed, many centuries later, the nature of modern dance theatre in Early Modern culture. The final chapter in this volume therefore briefly outlines some of the uses to which some late seventeenth‐ and eighteenth‐century dance theorists, such as Weaver and Noverre, put their knowledge of ancient pantomime in their treatises on dance.Less
It was ancient pantomime's destiny to play a seminal role in the emergence of classical ballet, and subsequently, in the twentieth century, of avant‐garde Tanztheater. It is well known that the founding fathers of opera in the Florentine Camerata looked to ancient myth, and above all what they believed to have been the all‐sung form taken by ancient theatrical tragic performances, as the model for their new medium. But considerably less exposure has been given to the genealogy traced by the inventors of ballet in Enlightenment Italy, Spain, France and England, to the dancers described in the ancient texts on pantomime. The ancient dances, brought to such a high level of artistry and skill by the ancient star performers named Pylades or Bathyllus, Hylas, or Paris, fundamentally informed, many centuries later, the nature of modern dance theatre in Early Modern culture. The final chapter in this volume therefore briefly outlines some of the uses to which some late seventeenth‐ and eighteenth‐century dance theorists, such as Weaver and Noverre, put their knowledge of ancient pantomime in their treatises on dance.
Barbara Walczak and Una Kai
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813032528
- eISBN:
- 9780813046310
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813032528.003.0002
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
This chapter presents some suggestions for ballet teachers. Teachers who depend on students attending their classes for their livelihood, or who have a following of less than totally dedicated ...
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This chapter presents some suggestions for ballet teachers. Teachers who depend on students attending their classes for their livelihood, or who have a following of less than totally dedicated serious advanced dancers, should not give classes as Balanchine gave them. They are more for professionals who want to discover the basic purity of each movement and step. They are hard on the body. One must approach them as explorations of the numerous forms of a given theme. What Balanchine's steps give the dancer is an awareness of exactly how a movement should be done musically and physically. Consequently, these combinations are of great value to teachers and to dancers who may be performing Balanchine's ballets.Less
This chapter presents some suggestions for ballet teachers. Teachers who depend on students attending their classes for their livelihood, or who have a following of less than totally dedicated serious advanced dancers, should not give classes as Balanchine gave them. They are more for professionals who want to discover the basic purity of each movement and step. They are hard on the body. One must approach them as explorations of the numerous forms of a given theme. What Balanchine's steps give the dancer is an awareness of exactly how a movement should be done musically and physically. Consequently, these combinations are of great value to teachers and to dancers who may be performing Balanchine's ballets.
Barbara Walczak and Una Kai
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780813032528
- eISBN:
- 9780813046310
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813032528.003.0003
- Subject:
- Music, Dance
This chapter focuses on the unique teachers chosen by Balanchine, who provided the technique on which he could build his company. Their classes were demanding, and although they were trained in the ...
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This chapter focuses on the unique teachers chosen by Balanchine, who provided the technique on which he could build his company. Their classes were demanding, and although they were trained in the same tradition, their classes and strengths were very different from each other. Two special teachers were Anatole Oboukhoff and Pierre Vladimiroff.Less
This chapter focuses on the unique teachers chosen by Balanchine, who provided the technique on which he could build his company. Their classes were demanding, and although they were trained in the same tradition, their classes and strengths were very different from each other. Two special teachers were Anatole Oboukhoff and Pierre Vladimiroff.
