Ballet and Modern Dance - Coursework Example

BALLET AND MODERN DANCE Part History and development of the style Ballet of a form of dance that traces its origin in Italy within Italian Renaissance courts in the 15th century. The performances later spread to other countries such as France and Russia. The form of dance has now spread further to other countries of the world but the main terms and methods still retain their original state in French. Ballet is currently being taught in many schools as part of the normal curriculum so as to equip the students with creative abilities owing to the fact that the dance requires long period of training and practice in order to become more perfect. Several cultures around the world have also been introduced into the dance in an attempt to make it more understandable in their own context. The dance style was introduced in France by Catherine de Medici when she got married to the king of France and it was mainly performed in the royal courts. Some of the initial costumes for the dance included masks, pantaloons, various ornaments, headdresses as well as other designed outfits (Anderson, 2008). The dance steps were composed of slides, slight hops, curtsies, gentle moves and promenades. The shoes commonly used for the dance in the early times were made up of small heels to increase ease of movement. Currently, there exist three main styles of ballet namely contemporary ballet, classical ballet and neoclassical ballet. Classical ballet is a form that is deeply entrenched on the ancient ballet techniques and vocabularies. The neoclassical version deviates from the classical ballet in the sense that it has non-traditional feats as well as unusually fast moving tempos. The contemporary style is composed of the classical ballet techniques and the modern dance methods. The modern dance began in the 19th century and extended to the early 20th century in the U.S.A and Germany. This dance style was established as a means of responding directly to ballet performances through the refusal of its codified motions and the narrative forms. The modern dance consists of a wide range of styles which were defined by the various artists who took part in it. The use of line, form, repetition, and rhythm in ballet and modern dance In ballet, the movements commonly known as line take various forms which include diagonal, horizontal and vertical. The vertical lines in which the dances make slight sequential jumps indicate elegance, grandeur as well as strength while the diagonal lines are signs of movements. In modern dance the lines normally adopted by the dances is horizontal line which indicates calm, placidity as well as repose. Repetition which is common phenomena in all dancing styles is evident by constant repeating of the same movements which serve in stressing a particular theme or moral lesson that the choreographer aimed at conveying to the audience. The same applies in both ballet and modern dance. Rhythm is what relates the music on the background and the dancers. The dance rhythms may manifest itself in the form of spatial arrangements as in the case of ballet or in a more dynamic state as witnessed in the modern dance (Au, 1988). The inspiration for the work in terms of story, theme, and image The main source of inspiration in a music as well as dance is the theme that is addressed in it. Ballets are made up of several actions that display a given story line known as libretto in its written form. The story line is usually presented to the audience owing to the fact that there is no singing during the performance so that they can follow closely as the dancers perform their acts. The solo dancers usually provide an opportunity for the key dancers to showcase their fine art as well as communicating well with audience due to increased level of concentration (Greskovic, 2005). Modern dance is marked with demonstration of the current trends in the world of fashion and latest happenings in the current generation. They mainly carry themes that people in the present generation can easily identify themselves with. The movements of both styles communicate to you in terms of mood In both dance styles, mood is demonstrated by how the pace at which the dancers move as well as their facial expressions. Quick movements are an indication of a happy mood while slow movement may indicate sad mood as manifested by the facial expressions (Mitchell, 1967). Description of what influences each dancer, or the choreographer, in the performance of each style or creation of a new dance performance The dancers and the choreographer are generally influenced by several factors such as technological advancements, changes in fashion and design in terms of dressing and costumes and tastes and preferences of the audience. Creation of new dancing styles has been necessitated by the emergence new forms of music which require different forms of dancing. Part 2 Paying tribute to Prince Prince is an American singer, instrumentalist as well as an actor who was born in Minneapolis in the state of Minnesota in the year 1958. His love for music began at an early age and on his seventh birthday; he was able to write his first song. He was inspired by his father who was a well known pianist and a songwriter and mother was a jazz singer. His parents motivated him to pursue a career in music so that he could be like them. He was joined by his sister known as Tika Evene who also had great interest in music upon motivation by their father. He released his first debut album in the year 1978 known as for you after being involved in his cousin’s band for a long period of time. He later released several albums among them prince, dirty mind and controversy. His international success and fame emerged in the year 1982 when he released a new album and 1999 saw his first venture into film making as well as the release of his album known as Purple Rain in the year 1984. As a result he emerged as one of the most celebrated pop artists in the entire America. He however went silent for some time in his music career and only emerged in the year 2004 when he took on the stage to perform with the renowned pop singer of all times Beyonce Knowles during the Grammy Awards. He later wrote another album in the same year known as Musicology through which he was able to win two Grammy awards. The music and dance to be included in a performance of their life story The musician, who is known to be a perfectionist, writes most of his songs alone and plays most of the instruments so as to ensure high quality in his music. The music of Prince is mostly influenced by a wide range of genres such as rock, hip hop, jazz, soul, and blues among others. He has influenced several artists since his pioneering of the Minneapolis sound which incorporated several music genres. Elements of the Princes story worth highlighting and the rationale for the selected music and dance Among all the genres that he has perfected, hip hop emerges as the most outstanding. He is mostly associated with pop dance which is closely tied with pop music. This form of dance is associated with fast body movements and strong beats and is mainly influenced by the producer of the song who initiated the best moves for the song. The element of music in Prince that is of great interest is his great contributions towards modern dance. He is not associated with ballet but pop dance which is a form of modern dance. References Anderson, Jack. (2008). Ballet & Modern Dance: A Concise History. Paw Prints. Au, S. (1988). Ballet & modern dance. New York, N.Y: Thames and Hudson. Greskovic, R. (2005). Ballet 101: A complete guide to learning and loving the ballet. Pompton Plains, N.J: Limelight Editions. Mitchell, J., & Barnes, C. (1967). Dance scene: U.S.A. : Americas greatest ballet and modern dance companies in photographs. Cleveland: World Pub. Read More