Choreography

In “A Dance through the Ages,” a practicum performance focusing on various social and courtly dances throughout many generations, two distinct sections of the dance are evident: a montage of more formal, courtly dances and a montage of more fun, racy social dances. These two distinct categories are meant to represent a chronologically accurate record while also providing the audience with a glimpse at the evolution of formality in dance. Beginning with the Pavane, the dance progresses to the…

Though initially attracted due to its elaborate costumes, I have grown to admire ballet as an art form. When I see dancers onstage, I don’t see fragile dolls or frilly princesses. I see impressive athletes, even warriors who are battling to attain unattainable perfection. Furthermore, I believe they are the epitome of resilient spirits. I am not a ballerina myself, but I know the truth about their world. And it is nothing like the effortless, ethereal image painted onstage. I first started…

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting the exhibit Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes, 1909-1929: When Art Danced with Music at the National Gallery of Art. But this was not my first experience with this exhibit, no for I had the opportunity to perform in honor of this exhibit this past summer where I performed right outside the entrance the to the showcase. I performed the roles of the Faun in Vaslav Nijinsky’s Afternoon of a Faun, and Prince Ivan in The Firebird. The two performances…

People are shaped by their surroundings. These influences come in the form of anything from elementary school teachers to religious awakenings, from mission trips to news articles. For me, these influences come in the form of dance, God, and opportunity. Unexpectedly, dance has made a major impact on who I am. Though I started at age three, I've been dancing at a Vaganova-style ballet academy for seven years. Apart from the physical technique, dance has developed my identity and given me some…

The way this dance was, you had to enter the ballroom floor with a specific way of stepping to the beat using your heels, but also like ice skating in a way. Dancing wasn’t as easy as it is now, well for some people. Some other types of dances were Jigs and reels, which as I mentioned before enslaved people and lower class white people would use these methods of dancing, but so did the Virginians. When you would dance “Jigs” it required to only dance with one person and partner, for the “Reels”…

Who is Martha Graham and why was she significant to modern dance? Modern dance was developed in the early twentieth century in the state of America. It was established by both Ruth St Denis and Isadora Duncan. In the early 1900 many changes occurred in relation to theoretical dance. Martha Graham was one of the early pioneers who made a significant change to the way people dance by creating a new style/language of dance. Martha graham was born in 1984 on the 11th of May in Pittsburgh. Graham has…

“Perfection is not attainable but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” (Vince Lombardi) A great example of this is Jan Martens The Dog Days Are Over, a dance that features eight dancers who focus on one physical action: jumping. These eight dancers push themselves to the limit in order to achieve perfection, an impossible feat, performing a continuous and tireless movement as they create an physically intense piece. In a black box theater, the dancers begin standing, shoulder to…

Ballet Did you know that in 1672 all parts in ballet were performed by male dancers in wigs and masks to make them look like female so they could play both roles? Very few women were allowed to perform because the males thought they weren’t good enough now, most men have lost interest in ballet and it’s mostly girls performing. Point shoes are the main part of the ballerinas outfit. Female ballerinas wear knee length tutus to show of points and curves. They also wear leotards, and usually…

On October 22nd, 2016 I attended the Celebrate Forsythe Dance performance at The Music Center and downtown. This performance consisted of three major ballet companies all performing pieces choreographed by William Forsythe. The first dance, Pas/Parts 2016 performed by the San Francisco Ballet struck me immediately as unique as all the women were wearing what appeared to be normal colored leotards in the front, had striking jewel-toned colors on the back. The men were dressed in black and other…

Hi, I'm Moria (pronounced Mo-ri-ah, like Mariah Carey, or like "They Call the Wind Mariah" from Paint Your Wagon Red. Pick your genre.) This is my Cultural Diversity Blog for my cultural diversity health course at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. A couple of things about me: I'm Irish. Very Irish. I did Irish dancing for 9 years & my 5-year-old is in her 2nd year of Irish dance. I started dancing again with her this past fall. We'll be walking in Milwaukee's St. Patrick's Day Parade &…