Soap opera

George Balanchine is recognized worldwide for his virtuosic, neoclassical ballets. Balanchine has been claimed as the father of American ballet, due to his prominent contributions to the twentieth century ballet culture. From the almost hundred ballets he created throughout his career, I believe “Jewels”, which premiered in 1967 at the New York City Ballet, New York State Theatre, to be one of his most stunning works. Jewels is a full evening length performance, consisting of three acts. Each…

West Side Story book turned musical was written in 1957 by Arthur Laurents. West Side Story is a musical interpretation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, giving it a modern spin and a change from the original class to race rivalry. The setting of this play is based in the 1950s in the Upper West Side of New York City. The rivalry is between two gangs called the Jets, a white gang, and the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang. Comparable to Romeo and Juliet the main plot to this story is based on the…

Premiering in 1997, the musical Ragtime, written by the trio of Terrence McNally (Book/Script), Stephen Flaherty (Music), and Lynn Ahrens (Lyrics) was something along the lines of a smash hit. Featuring a star studded cast, with such luminaries as Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, and Audra McDonald, the musical won four Tony Awards and was nominated for 14, including Best Musical. The musical is based on E.L. Doctorow’s 1974 novel Ragtime, a work of historical fiction that has various…

1). Some examples of performance art, dance and theatre found in Southeast Asia include “shadow plays in Java, dramatic folk rituals in Bali, masked pantomime in Thailand, spirit dances in Burma, folk-song dramas in Laos, classic Chinese-derived opera in Vietnam, puppet plays in Sunda, and the Royal Ballet of Cambodia” (Brandon, 1967, pp. 1-2). In many countries, theatre and dance is performed for entertainment purposes, to entertain…

INTRODUCTION – Gucci Gucci is an Italian brand acquired by French company Kering in 1999. It was founded by Guccio Gucci in 1921 in the beautiful city Florence. Guccio Gucci drew inspiration from horse saddle straps and opened his first store dedicated to luxury leather goods for horseback riding. He matched contrasting colours in his collections, giving rise to the iconic green-red-green stripe. In the 1970s, the fashion house entered into the Far East market, opening boutiques in Tokyo and…

Before the late 19th century, the classical music was performed for entertainment purposes as a result of patron-controlled music. This restricted design soon dissipated with the introduction of Beethoven and his symphonies. As a result of his independent musical career, Beethoven was given the opportunity to explore unregulated music. Decades later in the late 19th century, this meaningful music would further popularize and form the musical canon, a collection of great musical compositions that…

“ Fate decides who comes into your life, your heart decides who stays.” Macbeth is a Shakespearean play about how an innocent soldier becomes a ruthless king, all because of his proposed fate. In Macbeth, fate played a huge role in how Macbeth as a character acted and why he had a tragic resolution. Fate is what drove Macbeth into having a tragic resolution. Every human believes fate is predetermined. People tend to hold onto the unknown. It moves us in many ways, whether that be hope or…

Comparison Between The Rite of Spring and Appalachian Spring The Rite of Spring (1913), composed by Igor Stravinsky, and Appalachian Spring (1944), by Aaron Copland, are ballets that center around folk culture. The Rite of Spring suggests a story of human sacrifice and has an overall a harsh and almost disturbing mood. Appalachian Spring tells the story of a new couple celebrating their new house and is lively and happy. The two ballets stem from a common base of folk culture, yet the mood of…

left a large footprint in the history of classical music. Mozart is famous for writing his first acknowledged works when he still was a child. At the age of eight he wrote his first symphony and when he was 12 years old he already created his first opera. Mozart has got musical training in piano and violin from his father. His father recognized the talent the boy had and created tours for the child to show his skills. They traveled a lot while being on tours, which later influenced health…

John Cage was an incredibly impactful and controversial American composer of the 20th century. He was the forerunner for the avant-garde, significantly developing nonstandard styles of music such as electroacoustic music and aleatoric music (chance-controlled). His musical developments were largely influenced by Indian philosophies like Buddhism, and his internal anarchy was influenced by Henry David Thoreau. This and his works with modern dance, helped to distinguish him as a very pivotal…