When I dance contemporary style I feel more relaxed when moving even if it is hard work, fast etc, I have recognised that this is a more natural way of moving. However when I dance ballet I feel like I am going against what my body wants to do, e.g. try and have the spine straight. Contemporary choreographers want their dancers to look like regular people all different shapes and sizes. Mark Morris wanted his dancers to look " sturdy, solid, with weight held low and the feet flat on the ground" Bremser. M (1993) "fifty contemporary choreographers" published by Routledge. Yvonne Rainer was one of the main initiators for post-modern dance and also the Judson Dance Theatre wanting to move away from ballet, Rainer wanted to take the drama and theatrical side of dance out of it and strip it back to just being about the movement, she wanted the movement to become something of an object rather than something 'fake' be true to the movement that you are dancing. Feel the movement that you are dancing if you feel this personally and deep down then this should be portrayed to the audience there is no need to over-exaggerate the movement. Rainer wanted her dances to present the human body and the natural movements and refused to create a persona or a narrative behind the dance, let the movement speak for itself. From this she created a piece called "no manifesto"
No Manifesto:
No to spectacle.
No to virtuosity.
No to transformations and magic and make-believe.
No to the glamour and transcendency of the star image.
No to the heroic.
No to the anti-heroic.
No to trash imagery.
No to involvement of performer or spectator.
No to style.
No to camp.
No to seduction of spectator by the wiles of the performer.
No to eccentricity.
No to moving or being moved.
No to virtuosity.
No to transformations and magic and make-believe.
No to the glamour and transcendency of the star image.
No to the heroic.
No to the anti-heroic.
No to trash imagery.
No to involvement of performer or spectator.
No to style.
No to camp.
No to seduction of spectator by the wiles of the performer.
No to eccentricity.
No to moving or being moved.
Above is a link of Yvonne Rainer's 'trio a" a piece choreographed on the basis of the "no manifesto"
My personal view on this is that yes it is interesting to watch. Contemporary dance is very much more commercial now and people will go see it in theatres and it will get good reviews however when this was created I think that it was very brave and would have been quite a shock to watch, no music? no story? no gestures? maybe people were offended by this being called dance? I think for people to see this for the first time they might have found it quite lethargic to watch as although it has movement in it, the dance is one long phrase which consisted of workmanlike movements and task based choreography. This post modern movement of dance has put the dance world where it is now.
Ballet goes against contemporary dance completely, in fact it could almost be near enough the opposite. The Ballet technique needs their dancers to be thin, strong, tall but not tall enough that they couldn't be lifted and for me long legs, good arches in their feet, flexible ankles and strong ankles for pointe work, shoulders slightly wider than your hips. This is the typical classical ballerina that people look for our in time whereas George Balanchine preferred his dancers to have longer legs, a little taller than usual and long arms and also a small head. You can see that from this description and that the description that Mark Morris gave, they are completely the opposite to one another. Ballerinas are told to be light on their feet, pull up out of their waist, free their legs again this is the opposite to Morris' description.
Ballet is very typically theatrical with a lot of gestures and story telling behind the movement, this makes it easy for the audience to watch to be able to just enjoy it and not think about the movement where as contemporary dance challenges the audience members mind, what do they think of when they see the movement? do they make their own relationship between the movement and a story. Overall I think this is why ballet has being seen by more people even in the times we live in now. Before I studied contemporary dance I loved watching ballet it was satisfying to watch I could just relax and enjoy the quality of the movement and the story being told. Contemporary was mystifying to me in comarison, now I have studied contemporary style I realise that movement can have it's own interpretation and challenges the audience to think and make their own interpretation.
This is a link to the classical ballet "the nutcracker" you can see the story telling and gestures made, adaptations have being made of this where the costumes are more elaborate and comedy being added but the principle of the story telling and gestures have being the same principals. The movement has kept the basic shape but with a bit more "quirkiness" you can see not only has contemporary dance developed through the years but so has ballet, pushing the boundaries more. Is this still classical ballet?
Above is a link to Mathew Bournes adaptation of the nutcracker.
When I myself dance ballet I feel very rigid and feel like I have to stand like I am standing against a brick wall so that nothing moves. One of my main weaknesses in ballet is that I don't lift out of my waist to enable me to free my legs this is one thing that I really struggle this. I also need to learn to lift my legs from underneath my thigh rather than from my hip or quadriceps. This will allow me to have more control over my legs and also allow my legs to go higher.`
And another go at it!!!
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| Position that I need to hit in the centre in the adage exercise. Make sure the weight is central and turn out is to my own maximum. |
Just a practice but from watching this little bit, I can tell that I'm not holding my leg from underneath the thigh and from the hip, I also need to present more and use my upper body to make every exercise like a performance.
Practicing pirouettes, I think I have a good turn and spot well, my problem is landing neatly this requires me to have less force or just a single turn and use my core to stop myself. Also from watching this video and being picky I'm not always closing in a good 5th position this is not just for neatness but it allows your brain to know exactly which foot is in front so therefore which foot to use and stops you getting confused
Although I go wrong on this clip I have put it on to show an exercise for the co-ordination of the arm in the pirouette and how it helps you to turn, the first pirouette on this clip is the best and I think this is because the co-ordination between the arm, head and the actual turn is correct.
This exercise is a combination of some of the steps we did throughout the class. From this I need to have my arabesque line out, this will also make it easier to balance because all my weight will be forward and scooped up and over my core. I also need to decide before I set off for my pirouettes just how many turns I am going to do because if I'm unsure or decide to go for an extra one while mid-turn, I know I wont make it. Its mind over matter, If I tell myself I'm going for a triple I will probably make a triple.
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