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Isadora Duncan, 2002.
Biography of the dancer, Isadora Duncan.
1,572 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 4 sources, MLA, $ 51.95
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Abstract
This paper presents a brief biography of the dancer, Isadora Duncan, as well as a description of her philosophy of the dance form. The paper also discusses her influence on and contribution to modern dance.
From the Paper
"Duncan?s personal success as a dancer should not diminish what is perhaps her greater contribution, her success as a teacher and a creator of her own tradition. She began her first school in Grunewald, Germany in 1904, selecting children from the poorer classes and providing completely for all their physical and materials need from her own pocket. Later, she established schools in both Russia and Paris. Interestingly enough, these schools are proudly proclaimed as providing an unbroken legacy of tradition with their founders. ?The existence of Isadora's dances lies in the transmission of the choreographies from one dancer to another in an unbroken line of generations of Duncan dancers,? writes Lori Belivoe in the periodical and press release of the foundation that bears Isadora?s name. (Belivoe, Isadora Duncan Foundation for Contemporary Dance, ?Isadora Duncan Legacy and Schools?) Duncan?s indefinable, inexact balance between classicism and personal, inner artistic poetic expression manifested in dance thus became a ?tradition? in and of itself."
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The Pas de Deux in Balanchine's ?Agon?, 2002.
This paper discusses the pas de deux section in Balanchine?s ballet ?Agon? as an example of the virtual gesture.
1,025 words (approx. 4.1 pages), 3 sources, MLA, $ 36.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that the pas de deux section in Balanchine?s ballet ?Agon? is a sculptural representation of a relationship, expressing only aspects of reality in the dance. The author believes through absurdity and grandeur the pas de deux of Balanchine's ?Agon? creates the virtual emotions of a conflicted relationship.The author describes and interprets each part of the pas de deux.
From the Paper
"The pas de deux begins with a series of relatively quick steps performed by both dancers, with the female being one full count ahead of the male. This creates the strong impression that the female is leading the male, and establishes her dominance in the dance from the opening. This is unusual in ballet, where the classical pas de deux is performed with the male leading and the female following. The slightly frenetic opening ends in a pose that is repeated later, with the man above the woman, her leg up in an extreme, attitude arabesque that wraps about his head. This pose is remarkable for the extremity of the movement, and its visual illusion of the woman trapping the man with her bent leg. This pose is one exemplification of the comments of Lincoln Kirstein about the pas de deux, with its "naked strength, bare authority, and self-discipline in constructs of stressed extreme movement" "
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Isadora Duncan, 2002.
A biography of the life and career of the American dancer, Isadora Duncan.
1,572 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 4 sources, MLA, $ 51.95
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Abstract
This paper reviews the life of the artist, dancer and teacher Isadora Duncan born in 1878 and discusses her contribution to American dance. It examines how Isadora Duncan is largely credited with establishing what we now know as modern dance and how she infused the accepted dance modalities of her day with ideas old and new. It analyzes how Duncan?s attitudes and approaches came from her native America and how these ideas involved a stress upon unfettered athleticism for both men and women. Duncan wished to develop the body?s capacity for jumping, stretching and expressing emotions rather than pure excellence and form in isolation.
From the Paper
"Thus, although she lived and traveled extensively in Europe, it is important to remember Duncan?s origins in the United States and subsequent influence upon American dance?s cavalier attitude towards formulaic traditions. ?Born in 1878 in San Francisco, Isadora Duncan grew up in a childhood filled with imagination and art. Her mother introduced her four children (Isadora was youngest) to classical music, as well as Shakespeare, poetry, literature and art. Isadora spent many hours playing and dancing upon the beach, and even taught dance classes to younger children as a way to earn a little extra money for the struggling family. In her teenage years, Isadora traveled to Chicago and New York with some of her family members, working and performing in various productions such as Mme. Pygmalion, Midsummer's Night Dream or vaudeville shows with limited success."
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Isadora Duncan:A Pioneer of Dance, 2002.
Examining the life and work of Isadora Duncan and how her dance style developed over the years.
1,412 words (approx. 5.6 pages), 5 sources, MLA, $ 47.95
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Abstract
This paper looks at the life of Isadora Duncan, a pioneer in modern dance. It discusses her early life, personal life and education. The paper then addresses how her dance style was influenced by various elements such as Greek influence and American culture. It looks at Duncan's education and how this impacted her art. The paper concludes with the status of Duncan's dance style today and the existance of the Isadora Duncan Dance Ensemble.
From the Paper
"Isadora Duncan is recognized as one of the pioneers of modern dance as it is known today. Since childhood she had loved poetry, beauty and rhythm. She had a large amount of practical common sense juxtaposed with a dreaming quality, inherited from her father. As her childhood was marked by poverty, Duncan hated reality, and was a rebel (Dickson, 2001). This was all worsened by her parents? divorce and her mother?s insistence that her father was practically subhuman. Furthermore Isadora?s mother disavowed their faith and accepted atheism. The child?s confusion was heightened by the fact that when she met her father, he was a charming, lovable man. This resulted in the fact that Isadora never lost her contempt for the institution of marriage as she had grown up with it."
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Serge Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 2002.
A history of Serge Diaghilev and his ballet company, Ballets Russes, and its influence on the world of ballet.
1,080 words (approx. 4.3 pages), 5 sources, MLA, $ 37.95
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Abstract
The paper gives a history of Russian-born Serge Diaghilev and explains how his unconventional ideas of ballet led to the creation of the Ballets Russes in France. The paper lists the people associated with the company and explains the factors that contributed to the success of the Ballets Russes. The author describes the incredible impact that the Ballets Russes had on the world of ballet.
From the Paper
"Serge Diaghilev was born of Russian nobility in Perm, Russia, on March 19, 1872. In 1890 his family moved to Saint Petersburg, and at the university there, Diaghilev was supposed to study law, but he soon became enamored with the arts and realized that was where his future lay."
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History of Social Dancing in the Twentieth Century, 2002.
A concise study on the history of social dancing in 20th century.
655 words (approx. 2.6 pages), 8 sources, MLA, $ 23.95
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Abstract
This paper examines historically social dancing in the 20th century, also called couple dancing. The paper describes the five different types: Modern Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Slow Foxtrot, and Quickstep, all of which are presently danced the world over both socially as well as in dance sport competitions.
From the Paper
"Social dancing was derived from the concept of dancing by a couple, usually a man and a lady, in a closed hand. Coming from the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, these dances gained popularity from the standard ballroom dances with diverse rhythms, tempos, and aesthetics. Although all these aspects changed with the change in the social attitudes, the one thing, which remained common through out the history of dancing, is that of the couple dance or the social dances. (Evans 2001)"
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August Bournonville, 2002.
This paper takes a look at the life and achievements of August Bournonville, the most celebrated Danish choreographer in history.
1,180 words (approx. 4.7 pages), 0 sources, $ 40.95
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Abstract
The following paper discusses August Bournonville?s family life, the way in which he got to be the principal for the Copenhagen Royal Theatre, as well as their ballet-master and dance teacher. It examines the way in which Bournonville took a very contrasting humanistic approach to dance ? he tended to focus on the beauty found in the ordinary things.
From the Paper
?His third daughter, Mathilde, was a teacher; his fourth daughter, Therese was a homemaker, and his son Edmond was a doctor with a successful practice in both Sweden and Denmark. Wilhelmine was the Bournonville?s adopted daughter, who seemed to perhaps ease his guilt about his daughter whom he had abandoned so many years earlier in France. It is important to interject that Bournonville did keep in correspondence with the adoptive parents of his first-born daughter, and he even corresponded with her after she was on her own. He never revealed to her that he was her father, but he aided her economically at any chance that he had.?
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Vernon and Irene Castle, 2008.
The paper is a description of the career of Vernon and Irene Castle preceding World War One.
1,590 words (approx. 6.4 pages), 5 sources, MLA, $ 52.95
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Abstract
Vernon and Irene Castle were America's 'golden' couple--as well as the toast of Europe in the years immediately preceding World War I. Their innovative dance steps: Texas Tommy, Foxtrot, and Grizzly Bear, set to the syncopation of ragtime swept America, Britain and France. In the age of silent movies, film shorts of their dance routines were followed as avidly by teenagers in 1911 as are the television doings of pop stars today. The paper briefly describes the backgrounds of the couple and then examines their career as innovative dancers and choreographers in the years preceding the First World War and up to the death of Vernon Castle in a flying accident in February 1918.
Outline:
Introduction
Background
The Castles, Daring Dance, and Social Innovation in Pre-War America (and Europe, as well)
The Price of War
Epilogue
Works Consulted in the Preparation of this Report
From the Paper
"The Castles appeared together in The Hen-Pecks, a Broadway musical comedy in which their dance routines, set to "the music of young songwriter Irving Berlin's Alexander's Ragtime Band, [Notable Biographies]" were a regular component sketches. The caught the eye of a French theatrical agent who, in 1912, booked them for a six-month gig at the Cafe de Paris, in the city of that name. While their comedy routines received top billing, it was their dancing that caught the crowd's attention. Simply stated, the Castles appropriated black America's ragtime rhythm and social dance steps, performing them in a seemingly 'passionless and well-mannered' fashion. Susan Cook describes the Castles' approach. "Throughout their careers, the Castles responded to the discourse of dance pathology [specifically, white fears of black influence on the social attitudes of American youth] with their own carefully crafted one of propriety in which their dancing, self-described as 'modern,' was so identified by its calculated 'refinement' in opposition to the 'roughness' associated with its working-class and ethnic predecessors. They came to mark out a kind of middle ground between the informality of the working-class dance halls the constrained rigidity of the Dancing Masters [141]." (They Castles had a major impact on American middle-class acceptance of the tango. In Argentina the dance was overtly erotic. The Castles performed it in a more 'stately' manner, although of course the erotic element shimmered just beneath the surface--suitable, one might think, for a happily married couple.)"
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The Sundance Ritual, 2001.
An analysis of the Sundance ritual as mystical experience and cultural metaphor.
1,259 words (approx. 5.0 pages), 3 sources, MLA, $ 42.95
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Abstract
This paper looks at how the Sundance ritual is an ancient and primitive pain ritual, designed to test men's bravery and ability to withstand piercing and dancing in the sun for four days without food, water, or rest in exchange for the protection of the Great Spirit and how it is an individual ordeal of sacrifice, discipline, and spiritual awareness. In particular, the paper examines how the dance has become more spiritual and even political due to the current circumstances of its practitioners, namely a very marginalized group of indigenous people living in conditions of poverty and suffering from a number of problems such as alcoholism and loss of group identity due to assimilation pressures and political oppression.
From the Paper
"The Sun Dance itself is four days long and takes place in early summer, but is prepared for throughout the year. The sacred tree that forms the central pole is selected as soon as the prior Sun Dance ends, and is continually prepared until the ritual. The entire community takes part in various aspects of the ritual, including women and children, although only men are pierced. On each of the four days, chants to the four directions are performed, healings are performed, and those who have pledged are pierced and tied to the central pole until their flesh gives way. Although they do retain the practice of flesh offerings, they no longer fast the entire time, but only from midnight to noon. "
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Christianity, Culture and Dance, 2007.
This paper looks at dance and culture from the standpoint of Christianity.
4,314 words (approx. 17.3 pages), 28 sources, APA, $ 114.95
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Abstract
In this paper, the writer briefly traces Christianity's struggles on the subject of dance. The writer considers historical and Biblical interpretation and cultural developments and notes that the question of how Christians should engage culture in regards to this rather bodily activity is not easily or permanently answered. The writer also expresses her point of view than an appreciation of the physical body, along with its creative expressions is paramount in living out our faith in the Creator and in engaging our culture.
Outline:
Historically and Biblically
Various Church Responses
Where Christians Dance and Why
Conclusion - The Parable of the Lord of the Dance
References
Appendix 1 - The Shim Sham
Appendix 2 - Websites of Interest
Appendix 3 - Lord of the Dance
Appendix 4 - The Ark Brought to Jerusalem
From the Paper
"In the Hebrew tradition, dance was an integral part of celebrations. It was used both in worship, in ordinary life and on occasions of victory and festivity. Dance functioned as a medium of prayer and praise, as an expression of joy and reverence, and as a mediator between God and humanity. This understanding of dance permeated the faith of the early Christian church.
"However, by the time of the Reformation the church, both Catholic and Protestant, had eliminated dance from worship, forcing dance back into the secular realm, where it flourished."
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