Ch. 7: Dance
I. Origins.
A. Dance is innate.
1. The heartbeat(s).
2. Natural rhythms.
B. Sympathetic Magic.
1. Masks: how/why do they “work?”
2. Movement and gesture: the more the merrier!
3. Primary illusion: virtual power.
C. Socialization.
1. Courtship and sexual identity.
2. A social requirement? (How did you learn?)
II Genres of Dance.
A. Three Primary Forms (addressed in our text).
1. Folk.
2. Ballet.
3. Modern.
B. Contemporary dance studios: Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Tap.
C. Jazz and Tap may, in the broad sense, be categorized under “Folk,” as these forms are grounded regionally and ethnically in both African-American and, in some cases, Appalachian cultural identity (e.g., “clogging;” line dancing). Not unlike the dynamics of jazz musicians, it can become quite competitive in spirit, especially tap dance.
III. Folk Dance.
A. Any form of “social” dance is “folk” dance (even your own contemporary dance forms, i.e., hip- hop, club dancing etc.).
B. Often intertwined with a strong sense of historical/cultural identity.
C. More about participation than performance.
IV. Ballet.
A. Most commonly-held conception of dance overall, but also the most unnatural form of all.
B. Originated in the Italian and French royal courts in the 16th - 17th centuries.
1. “Ballet” is French, from the Italianballetto (“dance;” compare also the English word “ball,” referring to a formal dance-party).
2. An idealized escape from the bonds of the mundane and the ordinary.
C. Louis XIV of France (1638-1715).
1. Under Louis, ballet becomes a disciplined standard of movement (Louis himself was a very accomplished dancer).
2. Ballet becomes the identifying hallmark of a “courtier.” Recall the dance scene in “The Man in the Iron Mask.”
D. Classical Ballet: compare to classical music (18th c.).
1. Extremely formalized, its foundation is “The Five Basic Positions.”
a. The spine is like an armature: everything begins and ends there.
2. Just as classical style in music is about the intellectual appreciation of the aural form itself, so also is classical ballet about the visual form itself.
3. Very horizontal in movement (danse basse).
a. Extension and line (recall sculpture).
b. Pointe (Marie Taglioni, 1804-1884).
c. Pantomime (as narrative story through gesture).
E. Romantic Ballet: compare to romantic music (19th c.).
1. “Felt” more than “formed,” although the formal elements remain the standard.
2. Emotional, larger-than-life, fairytale ambience. Narrative story.
3. Very vertical in movement (danse haute).
4. Our modern/contemporary conception of ballet is essentially romantic: Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, etc.
F. Symbolist Ballet: compare to symbolist music (late 19th-early 20th c.).
1. First step in the development of Modern Dance.
2. Focus not on narrative story, but impressions of emotional quality.
3. The changing role of the male dancer (Vaslav Nijinsky 1888-1950).
V. Modern Dance.
A. A rebellion against the rigid formality of ballet.
B. Mime (as emotional quality of movement).
C. Isadora Duncan ((1878-1927): the “creator” of modern dance.
1. Center moved from spine to abdomen.
2. Danced barefooted!
D. Francois Delsarte (1811-1871): French movement theorist whose work profoundly influenced the development of modern dance choreography.
1. The psycho-physical components of the human body (mental, emotional, physical).
E. Martha Graham (1894-1991): primary 20th c. figure in modern dance.
1. The “Graham Technique” (irony?).
F. Modern is, in a sense, a return to the roots of “folk” experience.
1. This-worldly, not other-worldly.
2. Religious, ethnic, cultural repertoire.
VI. Each dance form is a responsive link to the one that came before it. This is the pervasive principle of all artistic expression: it is the subtextual expression of a textual response to a cultural context.