|
Character Dance
Character dance is a specific subdivision of classical dance. It is the stylized representation of a traditional folk or national dance, mostly from European countries, and uses movements and music which have been adapted for the theater. Character dance is integral to much of the classical ballet repertoire. A good example of character dance within ballet is the series of national dances which take place at the beginning of Act II of ''Swan Lake''. The ballet ''Don Quixote'' also features many character variations based on traditional Spanish dances. Popular character dance adaptations for ballet also include the national dances of Hungary , Russia, Poland, Italy and Spain: csárdás, mazurka, tarantella, flamenco, etc. One of the best known schools that incorporate character dance to teaching syllabus is Vaganova Ballet Academy. Outside of Russia and the former republics of the late Soviet Union, there is little training in the art of character dance. However, it is still ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Igor Moiseev
Igor Alexandrovich Moiseyev (russian: Игорь Александрович Моисеев; – 2 November 2007) was a Soviet choreographer. Moiseyev was widely acclaimed as the greatest 20th-century choreographer of character dance, a dance style similar to folk dance but with more professionalism and theatrics. Life and career Born in Kiev, Russian Empire, he was the only child of a Russian lawyer and a French-Romanian seamstress. His family lived in Paris until he was 8, and throughout his life he spoke to Western journalists in fluent French. Moiseyev graduated from the Bolshoi Theatre ballet school in 1924 and danced in the theatre until 1939. His first choreography in the Bolshoi was ''Footballer'' in 1930 and the last was ''Spartacus'' in 1954. Since the early 1930s, he staged acrobatic parades on Red Square and finally came up with the idea of establishing the Theatre of Folk Art. In 1936, Vyacheslav Molotov put him in charge of the new dance company, which has sinc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of dance with its own vocabulary. Ballet has been influential globally and has defined the foundational techniques which are used in many other dance genres and cultures. Various schools around the world have incorporated their own cultures. As a result, ballet has evolved in distinct ways. A ''ballet'' as a unified work comprises the choreography and music for a ballet production. Ballets are choreographed and performed by trained ballet dancers. Traditional classical ballets are usually performed with classical music accompaniment and use elaborate costumes and staging, whereas modern ballets are often performed in simple costumes and without elaborate sets or scenery. Etymology Ballet is a French word which had its origin in I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classical Ballet
Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as pointe work, turnout of the legs, and high extensions), its flowing, precise movements, and its ethereal qualities. There are stylistic variations related to an area or origin, which are denoted by classifications such as Russian ballet, French ballet, British ballet and Italian ballet. For example, Russian ballet features high extensions and dynamic turns, whereas Italian ballet tends to be more grounded, with a focus on fast, intricate footwork. Many of the stylistic variations are associated with specific training methods that have been named after their originators. Despite these variations, the performance and vocabulary of classical ballet are largely consistent throughout the world. History Ballet originated in the Italian Renaissance courts and was brought to France by Catherine d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swan Lake
''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failure, it is now one of the most popular ballets of all time. The scenario, initially in two acts, was fashioned from Russian and German folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger (Václav Reisinger). The ballet was premiered by the Bolshoi Ballet on at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Although it is presented in many different versions, most ballet companies base their stagings both choreographically and musically on the 1895 revival of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, first staged for the Imperial Ballet on 15 January 1895, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. For this revival, Tchaikovsky's score was revis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Quixote (ballet)
''Don Quixote'' is a ballet in three acts, based on episodes taken from the famous novel '' Don Quixote de la Mancha'' by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus and first presented by Moscow's Bolshoi Ballet on . Petipa and Minkus revised the ballet into a more elaborate and expansive version in five acts and eleven scenes for the Mariinsky Ballet, first presented on at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre of St. Petersburg. All modern productions of the Petipa/Minkus ballet are derived from the version staged by Alexander Gorsky for the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow in 1900, a production the ballet master staged for the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg in 1902. History Earlier versions The two chapters of the novel that the ballet is mostly based on were first adapted for the ballet in 1740 by Franz Hilverding in Vienna, Austria. In 1768, Jean Georges Noverre mounted a new version of ''Don Quixote'' in V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Csárdás
Csárdás (, ; ), often seen as Czárdás, is a traditional Hungarian folk dance, the name derived from ' (old Hungarian term for roadside tavern and restaurant). It originated in Hungary and was popularized by bands in Hungary and neighboring lands of Slovenia, Burgenland, Croatia, Transylvania, Slovakia and Moravia, as well as among the Banat Bulgarians, including those in Bulgaria. History The origin of the csárdás can be traced back to the 18th century Hungarian music genre the '' verbunkos'', where the 'verbunk' was used as a recruiting dance by the Austrian army. The csárdás is characterized by a variation in tempo: it starts out slowly ('' lassú'') and ends in a very fast tempo ('' friss'', literally "fresh"). There are other tempo variations, called ''ritka csárdás'', ''sűrű csárdás'' and ''szökős csárdás''. The music is in or time. The dancers are both male and female, with the women dressed in traditional wide skirts, which form a distinctive shap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mazurka
The mazurka ( Polish: ''mazur'' Polish ball dance, one of the five Polish national dances and ''mazurek'' Polish folk dance') is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character defined mostly by the prominent mazur's "strong accents unsystematically placed on the second or third beat". The mazurka, alongside the polka dance, became popular at the ballrooms and salons of Europe in the 19th century, particularly through the notable works by Frédéric Chopin. The mazurka (in Polish ''mazur'', the same word as the mazur) and mazurek (rural dance based on the mazur) are often confused in Western literature as the same musical form. History The folk origins of the ''mazurka'' are three Polish folk dances which are: * '' mazur'', most characteristic due to its inconsistent rhythmic accents, * slow and melancholic ''kujawiak'', * fast '' oberek''. The ''mazurka'' is always found to have either a triplet, trill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tarantella
() is a group of various southern Italian folk dances originating in the regions of Calabria, Campania and Puglia. It is characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in time (sometimes or ), accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized forms of traditional southern Italian music. The specific dance-name varies with every region, for instance ''Sonu a ballu'' in Calabria, '' tammurriata'' in Campania, and '' pizzica'' in Salento. Tarantella is popular in Southern Italy and Argentina. The term may appear as in a linguistically masculine construction. History In the Italian province of Taranto, Apulia, the bite of a locally common type of wolf spider, named "tarantula" after the region, was popularly believed to be highly venomous and to lead to a hysterical condition known as tarantism. This became known as the "tarantella". R. Lowe Thompson proposed that the dance is a survival from a "Dianic or Dionysiac cult", driven underground. John Compton lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flamenco
Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Murcia. In a wider sense, it is a portmanteau term used to refer to a variety of both contemporary and traditional musical styles typical of southern Spain. Flamenco is closely associated to the gitanos of the Romani ethnicity who have contributed significantly to its origination and professionalization. However, its style is uniquely Andalusian and flamenco artists have historically included Spaniards of both gitano and non-gitano heritage. The oldest record of flamenco music dates to 1774 in the book ''Las Cartas Marruecas'' by José Cadalso. The development of flamenco over the past two centuries is well documented: "the theatre movement of sainetes (one-act plays) and tonadillas, popular song books and song sheets, customs, stu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaganova Ballet Academy
The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet is a school of classical ballet in St Petersburg, Russia. Established in 1738 during the reign of Empress Anna, the academy was known as the Imperial Ballet School until the Soviet era, when, after a brief hiatus, the school was re-established as the Leningrad State Choreographic Institute. In 1957, the school was renamed in honor of the pedagogue Agrippina Vaganova, who cultivated the method of classical ballet training that has been taught there since the late 1920s. Many of the world's leading ballet schools have adopted elements of the Vaganova method into their own training. The Vaganova Academy is the associate school of the Mariinsky Ballet, one of the world's leading ballet companies. Students of the school have found employment with ballet and contemporary companies worldwide, such as the Bolshoi Ballet, The Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and the Mikhailovsky Ballet. History The school was established as the Imperial Theatri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Ballet School
The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially for the Royal Ballet (based at the Royal Opera House in London) and the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Admission to the school is based purely on dancing talent and potential, regardless of academic ability or personal circumstances, and 90% of current students rely on financial support to attend the school. The school is based at two sites, White Lodge, Richmond Park (for students aged 11–16) and Covent Garden (for students from 16 to 19 years old) based in purpose-built studios on Floral Street, adjacent to the Royal Opera House. The Royal Ballet School has produced dancers and choreographers of international renown, including Dame Margot Fonteyn, Dame Beryl Grey, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Dame Darcey Bussell, Alessandra Ferri, Viviana ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Ballet School
The Australian Ballet School is the premier ballet training facility in Australia, located in Melbourne. History The Australian Ballet School was founded in 1964 as the primary training facility for The Australian Ballet by Dame Margaret Scott. Location It is part of the Australian Ballet Centre, which is located in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, Southbank in Melbourne, Victoria. Governance and funding The school is a registered charity, with about a third of its income provided by the Australian Government, about a third by tuition fees (33%), and the rest via philanthropy, corporate support and box office. It is one of eight "national elite training organisations" funded by the Office for the Arts as part of its or ARTS8 (Australian Roundtable for Arts Training Excellence) group of colleges. Education The Australian Ballet School is a registered training organisation. The Australian Ballet Company draws 95% of its dancers from the school, and many graduates dance as princi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
