Ballet shoes

Anna Pavlova was born on February 12, 1881, in St. Petersburg, Russia. She joined the Imperial Ballet School, were she made her company debut in 1899 and rapidly became a prima ballerina. Her way forward was performing in The Dying Swan in 1905, which became her mark role. She then joined the Ballet Russe in 1909 and formed her own company in 1911. Pavlova died in 1931, after contracting double pneumonia while on tour. Because Anna graduated as a coryphée, she was able to bypass the typical…

Of the countless artists throughout history, most pale in comparison to the great Pablo Picasso. Few have created revolutionary new styles of art, and not many have the comprehensive knowledge of their domain to freely adapt from one form to another. However, these artistic gifts did not fall freely into Picasso’s lap, rather, his life progressed through stages of grief and loss. Picasso sacrificed significant personal relationships and sanity for creativity’s sake, solidifying his own…

When comparing different ballet performances, you look at more than just the way the performers dance. You look at the location, use of the stage, force and speed behind each movement, costumes, and the props used. The performance that seemed very different from Firebird in almost all aspects was the first performance of the night, La Source. The ballets of La Source, Komoreibu, and Firebird were performed at the Koger Center on November 10 and 11, 2016. La Source is choreographed by George…

Sacre du Printemps, in English, The Rite of Spring, a ballet set on the dancers of the critically-acclaimed Russian company, Ballets Russes. Ever since its inception in French courts in the 15th century, ballet has remained a pastime reserved for those with class. When one envisions a ballet, they imagine an evening of grace—an art form that gives off an air of elegance. However, as these highly civilized theatergoers soon found out, Nijinsky’s ballet strayed quite far from the virtues of grace…

Taken from his book which outlines the history of gay men’s dress in the twentieth century, Shaun Cole’s ‘Clubbing at the Blitz, the Batcave and Beyond’ focuses on establishing a connection between the fashion choices of the New Romantic subculture and the early eighties LGBTQ+ community. This discussion on their intertextuality differs to other writings about the period, which very much look to the politics or the fashion of the era. His perspective on the movement celebrates the freedom that…

In chapter 4 of Daniel Coyle’s The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. Its Grown. Here’s How, Coyle articulates a conversation he had with a teenager, John Crawford, about the concept of deep practice. Crawford described the moment that he truly began deep practicing as “clicking in.” (87). This explanation of the feeling of deep practice resonated with me because I felt that same “clicking in” feeling around mid-term of this semester. In my last paper, one of my goals was to be more conscious in…

Have you ever been beaten, bruised, and chained to something in a dark basement? If you answered “yes” to the previous question, then congratulations! If you answered “no”, then you need to get out more. Today, I am here to discuss music for the eighty-three billionth time. So let’s get on with it. Let me introduce our two composers. First, we have Claude Debussy. And next, there is Igor Stravinsky. Now, you might be thinking, “Why did our history lesson start off with a question about chains?”…

The Music of Patterns In Proust Was a Neuroscientist, Jonah Lehrer describes how artists of the past foretold the neuroscience discoveries of the future. The composer Igor Stravinsky deconstructed classical music, introducing dissonance with his ballet The Rite of Spring. Stravinsky was a modernist before his time; and, like its creator, The Rite did not conform to the audiences’ expectations, rather it pushed the boundaries of music. He realized music had never been a creation of nature, it…

I saw the Moscow Ballet 's Great Russian Nutcracker at the Miller Auditorium in Kalamazoo, MI. The Moscow Ballet was on their 2016 National Tour. The choreographer Stanislav Vlasov, former soloist with the Bolshoi Ballet. Stanislav Vlasov reimagined the ballet and showcased his own view of the Great Russian Nutcracker. It was practically special because Western Michigan University symphony orchestra had the opportunity to play along side of the dancers. Throughout the ballet, I loved the…

Petersburg, Russia. After she attended the Imperial Ballet School she made her own company debut in 1899 and she quickly became the prima ballerina. Her breakthrough performance was in The Dying Swan in 1905 which became her signature role. Contracting double pneumonia while she was on tour Pavlova died in 1931. Anna’s active imagination and love of fantasy drew her to the world of ballet. Looking back to her childhood she described her budding passion for ballet accordingly: “ I always wanted…