Dance History

We study ___________ to love and appreciate it and to understand cultures and times

dance history

Fleeting and perishable

ephemeral

What makes dance difficult to study?

Dance being ephemeral

What are the tools of dance historians?

1. written accounts of observers
2. written accounts of participants
3. descriptive artwork of paintings, vases etc
4. oral history
5. dance notation

Feuillet did notations of ballroom dances

dance notation`

Who translated Feuillet's dance notation?

Weaver in 1700/1706

Russian Ballet notation from Vladimir Stepanova

Sergeyev Collection

Recording and analyzing human movements that was derived from the work of Rudolf Laban who described it in Shrifttanz (written in dance) in 1928

Laban/Labanotation

Can also understand past dances and movement through _______ and __________ tradition

art and oral (people would write about it also)

Written study of dancing

orchesography

before written documentation

primeval

Purposes of dance?

- to please the gods: religious, spiritual
- to please ourselves: social
- to please others: theatrical, entertainment

Usually associated with religion and spirituality, contemplative in character

asian dance

Hindus believed the world was created by dancing god Shiva

India

created complex dances using many body parts, spiritual in nature

india

blend dance with other art forms like singing (composite theatrical form)

japan

restrained

noh

kabuki

lively

combine dance, acting, singing, jugging, acrobatics

china

order of western civilization

egypt --> crete --> athens --> rome

all women dancing in first pic

greece

_______ create gods to be symbols of elements of their lives

greeks

Dance is important in ___________, ______________, and _________________

religion
education
theatre

Greek dance was most influential to the __________________ which was divinely inspired

western world

Movements of dance and movements of universe reflected in choreography from __________

Plato

muse of dance/the arts is terpsichore

muses

- none of nine muses
- protects the arts
- muse of dance

Terpsichore

- author of Theogony, an explanation of the gods
- praises muses who "dance on soft feet about the deep blue spring" on "the great and holy mount of Helicon

Heisod

Examples of muses

- dance on mount helicon with 3 graces and himerus (spirit of desire)
- Heisod: auhor of theogony, explanation of the gods-praises muses who dance on soft feet of helicon

who was the chief god?

apollo (light, day intellect)

art known for serene majesty and formal balance

Apollonian

god of fertility and wine and dance

Dionysus

has power induced merriment and wildness

dionysus

art known for unrestrained emotion and ecstasy

Dionysian

all part of religious ceremonies as cultivated amateurs and well-rounded citizens

music, poetry and dance (greece)

professional dance was ___________

discouraged

Combined dance music and poetry like hip hop (all people expected to do it)

chironomia

in chironomia movement is connected to ________

words

religious and social dance

Crete

Made up of male war dances with weapons and shouting, harvest and cult dances, and mycinea

crete

greeks conquered crete, stole dances

mycinea

Greeks concerned about people on hills breaking out into made dance-greeks didnt like that so they all got invited to do circles in the town

Mycinea

effort to control wild Dionysus dances

Dithyramb

Incorporated into ritual festivals as choric song and dance, accompanied by flute (type of dance)

Dithyramb

Dithyramb leader who assigned a role to a dancer (first "actor")

Thespis

Had contests

Dithyramb

Fights based on movements of soldier

Pyrrhic

Developed over time to become less martial

Pyrrhic

Types of ancient greek dance?

martial, tragedy, comedy, symposium

Grabbed culture and religion from all the places they were conquering

Rome

Program introduced by a plot summary

Pantomime

accompanied by singers and musicians and sometimes became lewd and violent

pantomime

christian church sought to limit dance in response to the wildness
- dance is, to this day, less prevalent in christianity than most other religions

pantomime

What is considered the middle age?

476 CE-14th century
between fall of roman empire and renaissance

what started in the middle ages?

bubonic plague across europe and dance of death

skeleton leads mortals to grave
death comes for everyone

allegorical subject of artists

____________ danced for entertainment at festivals: were grouped based on occupation

guilds

___________ danced in the castles (Bal des Ardents)

Nobles

12th- 14th century, later became morris dance in England

Moresca dance

low dance" not very energetic

basse dance

princes of squabbling states host court life with elaborate dances

Italian court dance

first dancing masters appear and dinner ballets with mythological themes

italian court dance

ballet from italian "ballare" to dance

italian court dance

Catherine de Medici brings ballet from ___________ to ___________

Italy to France

Who helped catherine?

balthasar de Beaujoyeulx- also italian- the dance master (choreographer)

What ballet does catherine and balthasar bring?

ballet comique de la reine (comedy-happy ending)

Created by Balthasar
almost all french gods as the characters
queen mentioned in story
king of france was in it

ballet comique de la reine

setting of the performance: gallery of the louvre

ballet comique de la reine

independent scenes linked by a broad theme

ballet a entree (ballet comique de la reine)

nobles begin to perform ballroom dances in a ________ context (the dancing master)

theatrical

- intracacy and polish of steps increased
- first barre begins to be used
- set standards of etiquette and deportment

the dancing master

need dance lessons for good manners and courtship now that he has a law degree (means nothing if you dont have the etiquette and skills)

thoinot arbeau days

study of late 1500s French Renaissance social dance

Orchesographie

who brought comedic dance from italy to france? (Commedia dell'arte)

Jean Baptiste Lully

More of a theatrical type dance presentation (opera ballet), composer

jean Baptiste Lully

- Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme comedy still performed today
- combined dialogue with dance interludes
- early form musical comedy
- Playwright, tightly tied to Louis XIV

Moliere

Portrayed the sun king in ballet de la nuit (apollo)

Louis XIV

Who was Louis XIV dance master?

Pierre Beauchamp

Stressed five positions and turnout (fencer's stance)

Pierre Beauchamps

Founded by Louis

Academie Royale de Danse

- Originally had 13 dancing masters
- survives today as Paris Opera Ballet
- Oldest dance academy
- development of dance professionals

Academie Royale de Danse

Independent scenes linked by a broad general theme

Ballet a entree

- wide array of talents
- required more training
- early professional dancers hired around 1630s

Ballet a entree

- introduced in 17th century
- more emphasis on individual dancers form
- separated dancers from audience
- leads to greater professionalization of dancer

proscenium arch

completely choreographed dances, etiquette

Fabritio Caroso (Italian)

First prima ballerina, In Lully's Le Triophe de I'Amour

Mademoiselle de la Fontaine

Beauchamp-Feuillet notation

Raoul Auger Feuillet

A page of Beauchamps-Feuillet notation from Reuilet's work

Choreographie

Collection of ballroom and theatrical dances

Beuachamp-Feuillet notation

Written in Beauchamps-Feuillet notation

Choreographie, ou l'art de decrire la danse (Paris, 1700)

Which queen loved to dance?

Queen Elizabeth 1

- performances stressed literary content more than dance
- masques grew from pageants, head allegorical and classical themes, politically topical

English Renaissance Court Dance

Les Indes Galantes and the opera ballet

Jean Pilippe Rameau

This ballet explored foreign people and ideas

Les Indes Galantes and the opera ballet

Three dance styles

1. Danse Noble
2. Demi-caractere
3. Comique (grotesque)

highest and most noble form of dance
- serious and dignified
- involved gods and mythology

danse noble

more lively dance style, extroverted
- involved everyday people (but not poor) or lesser gods

Demi-caractere

comic or rustic roles (dance style)
- could be charming as well as rough in manner

Comique (grotesque)

Demi-caractere dancer
- did a lot to make noble dance obsolete

auguste vestris

female choreographer
- choreographed Les Caracteres de la Danse
- taught Marie Camargo and Marie Salle

Francoise Prevost

Worldly, on stage and off
- strong technical abilities
- prevost was threated by her
- shortened skirt to show off jumps
- emphasized outward form

Camargo

Strongly opposite to Camargo, reserved and quiet
- emphasized drama on stage
- tried to portray characters as convincingly as possible
- emphasized inward feeling

Salle

Successor to Salle and Camargo
- excellent turns and entrechats
- mistress to Frederick the Great of Berlin

Barberini Campanini

Paris Opera dance master
- one of the leading choreographers of the eighteenth century

Guillaume-Louis Pecour

Paris opera dance master
- showcased ideas of French Revolution

Pierre Gardel

Opposite of ballet a entree
- emphasized dramatic coherence and concision
- Loves of Mars and Venus: love affair between Venus and Mars and the revenge of Venus's husband Vulcan (by John Weaver)

Ballet d'action

Vienna opera choreographer and musician
- support ballet d'action
- first of european ballet masters at Russian Imperial Ballet
- Believed dance could tell a story without narration

Gaspero Angiolini

- Supported balled d'action
- letters of dancing and ballets
- four precepts on ballet

Jean Georges Noverre

What are the four precepts of ballet

- balletic movements should be technically brilliant and move audience emotionally
- plots should be unified and logical and contribute to a central theme (eliminate things that do not contribute)
- scenery, music, and plot should be unified; costumes and

Student of Noverre

Marie Antoinette

Dancing master
- student of Angiolini
- Choreographed The Whims of Cupid ad the Ballet Master

Vincenzo Galeottie

`- Oldest standing full ballet
- Cupid mixes up the pairs of people as a joke

The Whims of Cupid and the Ballet Master

Choreographed by Jean Dauberval

La Fille Mal Gardee

- Two young lovers try to overcome girl's mother trying to marry her off to a wealthy fool
- original choreo lost, redone by many well-known later choreographers

La Fille Mal Gardee