http://www.danzaballet.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3996
http://revistaelbosco.blogspot.com/2011/07/giselle-por-mats-ek.html
Costume is very different to the first Giselle. Giselle wears a pink jumper and skirt in Act1. However in Act 2 in the mental institution she wears white along with all the other women. This suggests purity and cleansiness.
The royals wear blacks and dark reds, frills, the girls hair is neatly tied back, this shows their rich and can afford expensive clothes. Their higher up on the social hierachy.
The villagers wear black, have sticks and wear hats. This shows they work on the countryside, in rural areas, their like farmers, suggesting their poor.
The costume clearly shows whos who, you can tell what character everyone is.
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Friday, 3 February 2012
More on Mats Ek
The young Mats Ek did not particularly want to be a dancer. Instead, he took drama classes at Marieborg College in Norrkoping, Sweden, in 1965. He went on to produce plays and even worked with the legendary film and theatre director Ingmar Bergman during this time. However, his childhood ballet classes weren't completely lost on him.
Ek was born in Malmo, Sweden. As the son of acclaimed choreographer Birgit Cullberg, dance was part of his life from the beginning. In his youth, Ek trained with Russian émigré Lilian Karina and later with Donya Feuer. After his foray into theatre, he joined the Cullberg Ballet in 1973 as a dancer, where he learned choreography from Maurice Béjart and Jirí Kylián.
Ek has choreographed close to thirty ballets. Be they narrative or abstract, Ek’s dances are marked by profound humanity, subtle humour and theatricality. The characters in his works are strong and original; his language remains classical incorporating modern techniques, especially that of Martha Graham, erupting in madness, violence, brutality and sexuality. The characters are naïve and intuitive as well as strong, comical and dreamy.
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
steve paxton
steve Paxton the inventor of contact improvisation (or “contact improv”), a form of dance characterized by two or more people moving together in almost constant and spontaneous contact. Since his initial experimentation with the form, Paxton has also investigated solo improvisations and has created set choreography.
As a founding member of the Judson Dance Theater, he performed works by Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown. He was a founding member of the experimental, Grand Union, and in 1972 named and began to develop the dance form known as Contact Improvisation, a form of dance that utilizes the physical laws of friction, momentum, gravity, and inertia to explore the relationship between dancers.
Paxton was influenced by the experimental arts and performance scene in New York in the 1960s and 1970s, and he was interested in how the body could create a physical playground. Contact Improvisation developed out of an exploration of the human body and under the supervision of Paxton. Its roots trace back to 1972. Contact Improvisation, usually done in duets, pulls elements from martial arts, social dance, sports, and child’s play.[1] Upon entering a Contact Improv structure, two bodies must come together to create a point of contact (i.e., back to wrist, shoulder to thigh, head to foot, back to back, the options are endless), give weight equally to each other, and then create a movement dialog that can last for an undetermined amount of time, as long as both participants are fully engaged
Paxton believed that even an untrained dancer could contribute to his experimental dance form. From his work with Merce Cunningham and José Limón, and later his contribution to the formation of theJudson Dance Theater and Grand Union, Paxton was fascinated with the exploration of the human body. His approach to a movement vocabulary included the pedestrian world around him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Paxton
As a founding member of the Judson Dance Theater, he performed works by Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown. He was a founding member of the experimental, Grand Union, and in 1972 named and began to develop the dance form known as Contact Improvisation, a form of dance that utilizes the physical laws of friction, momentum, gravity, and inertia to explore the relationship between dancers.
Paxton was influenced by the experimental arts and performance scene in New York in the 1960s and 1970s, and he was interested in how the body could create a physical playground. Contact Improvisation developed out of an exploration of the human body and under the supervision of Paxton. Its roots trace back to 1972. Contact Improvisation, usually done in duets, pulls elements from martial arts, social dance, sports, and child’s play.[1] Upon entering a Contact Improv structure, two bodies must come together to create a point of contact (i.e., back to wrist, shoulder to thigh, head to foot, back to back, the options are endless), give weight equally to each other, and then create a movement dialog that can last for an undetermined amount of time, as long as both participants are fully engaged
Paxton believed that even an untrained dancer could contribute to his experimental dance form. From his work with Merce Cunningham and José Limón, and later his contribution to the formation of theJudson Dance Theater and Grand Union, Paxton was fascinated with the exploration of the human body. His approach to a movement vocabulary included the pedestrian world around him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Paxton
Yvonne Rainer
(born November 24, 1934, San Francisco) is an American dancer, choreographer and filmmaker, whose work in these disciplines is frequently challenging and experimental. Her work is classified as minimalist art.
In her early dances, Rainer focused on sounds and movements, and often juxtaposed the two in arbitrary combinations. Somewhat inspired by the chance tactics favored by Cunningham, Rainer’s choreography was a combination of classical dance steps contrasted with everyday, pedestrian movement. She used a great deal of repetition, and employed narrative and verbal noises (including wails, grunts, mumbles and shrieks, etc.) within the body of her dances.
Trio A (1966), initially part of a larger work entitled The Mind Is a Muscle. Something of a paradigmatic statement that questioned the aesthetic goals of postmodern dance, Trio A was a short dance that consisted of one long phrase. In Trio A, Rainer intended to remove objects from the dance while simultaneously retaining a workmanlike approach of task-based performance. Not simple but certainly not fancy, it was a demanding piece of work, both to watch and to perform. She explored such dynamics as repetition, the distribution of energy, and phrasing. The movement consisted of task-oriented actions, emphasizing neutral performance and featuring no interaction with the audience. The dancer was to never make eye contact with her observers, and in the case that the movement required the dancer to face the audience, the eyes were to be averted from the audience or the head was to be involved in movement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvonne_Rainer
In her early dances, Rainer focused on sounds and movements, and often juxtaposed the two in arbitrary combinations. Somewhat inspired by the chance tactics favored by Cunningham, Rainer’s choreography was a combination of classical dance steps contrasted with everyday, pedestrian movement. She used a great deal of repetition, and employed narrative and verbal noises (including wails, grunts, mumbles and shrieks, etc.) within the body of her dances.
Trio A (1966), initially part of a larger work entitled The Mind Is a Muscle. Something of a paradigmatic statement that questioned the aesthetic goals of postmodern dance, Trio A was a short dance that consisted of one long phrase. In Trio A, Rainer intended to remove objects from the dance while simultaneously retaining a workmanlike approach of task-based performance. Not simple but certainly not fancy, it was a demanding piece of work, both to watch and to perform. She explored such dynamics as repetition, the distribution of energy, and phrasing. The movement consisted of task-oriented actions, emphasizing neutral performance and featuring no interaction with the audience. The dancer was to never make eye contact with her observers, and in the case that the movement required the dancer to face the audience, the eyes were to be averted from the audience or the head was to be involved in movement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvonne_Rainer
Trisha Brown
 Trisha Brown in Set and Reset, 1996 Photo by Chris Callis | Trisha Brown, the most widely acclaimed choreographer to emerge from the postmodern era, first came to public notice when she began showing her work with the Judson Dance Theater in the 1960s. Along with like-minded artists including Yvonne Rainer, Steve Paxton, and Simone Forte, she pushed the limits of what could be considered appropriate movement for choreography thereby changing modern dance forever. This “hot-bed of dance revolution,” was imbued with a maverick spirit and blessed with total disrespect for assumption, qualities that Ms. Brown still exhibits even as she brings her work to the great opera houses of the world today Her Man Walking Down the Side of a Building (1970) foreshadowed not only her own innovative use of flying in her 1998 production of Monteverdi’sOrfeo, but also much of the work of choreographers and theatrical directors who still seek unusual and startling contexts for the human body. http://www.trishabrowncompany.org/ |
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Mats Ek - Giselle
The Swedish choreographer, Mats Ek, made dance history in 1982 with his highly successful, essentially non-romantic re-interpretation of Giselle performed by the Ballet Cullberg. While many choreographers had revisited ballet classics, no one had yet dared to stage such a radically different interpretation, particularly of Giselle, the most famous of all Romantic ballets, created in Paris one and a half century ago. The setting has been up-dated to a claustrophobic rural community on some distant island, and his Giselle is a solitary young girl who longs for true love and children of her own. Extremely vulnerable, she breaks down when the man of her dreams betrays her.
While Adam's score remains untouched, Ek has invented new sequences of steps and totally original movements in this strictly contemporary work, as modern today as when it was created. His free approach to movement is ideally suited to Gillot whose large, ample gestures, rapid high jumps and fast spins reflect her love of life. Bewildered by disaster, her arms droop limply down, and her feet rub along the floor. She is pure, spontaneous and natural, revealing inner worlds to Albrecht, superb Nicolas Le Riche, the young man about town, who is fascinated by the richness of her imagination and her sweetness. His white suit reflects his innocence and inability to assume his love for her. When she is finally led to the lunatic asylum, he follows.
Act two takes place in the surrealistic setting of a mental hospital, where pieces of the human body decorate the walls. Myrtha, the Queen of the Wilis, admirably interpreted by the authoritative Stéphanie Romberg, has become the forbidding sister of the ward Giselle is led to after a lobotomy. The nurse serves as a defence against sexual attraction in this self-contained world where the inmates are condemned to frustration. The corps de ballet, and in particular, Caroline Bance, Geraldine Wiart, Muriel Zusperreguy and Laure Muret were outstanding throughout, especially in their straightjackets as they sank into their own world of madness.
Hilarion is one of José Martinez' favourite roles, and he revelled in the powerful leaps and vigorous spins, making the rough country yokel into a figure of compassion as he visits Giselle, hoping it is not too late to bring her to see sense. But, as in the traditional version, she is already in another world.
This is no mere fairy-tale; it's a story of real people. Love, betrayal, madness are all there, softened at the end by a reconciliation between Albrecht and Hilarion, who both love her, but both lose her.
While Adam's score remains untouched, Ek has invented new sequences of steps and totally original movements in this strictly contemporary work, as modern today as when it was created. His free approach to movement is ideally suited to Gillot whose large, ample gestures, rapid high jumps and fast spins reflect her love of life. Bewildered by disaster, her arms droop limply down, and her feet rub along the floor. She is pure, spontaneous and natural, revealing inner worlds to Albrecht, superb Nicolas Le Riche, the young man about town, who is fascinated by the richness of her imagination and her sweetness. His white suit reflects his innocence and inability to assume his love for her. When she is finally led to the lunatic asylum, he follows.
Act two takes place in the surrealistic setting of a mental hospital, where pieces of the human body decorate the walls. Myrtha, the Queen of the Wilis, admirably interpreted by the authoritative Stéphanie Romberg, has become the forbidding sister of the ward Giselle is led to after a lobotomy. The nurse serves as a defence against sexual attraction in this self-contained world where the inmates are condemned to frustration. The corps de ballet, and in particular, Caroline Bance, Geraldine Wiart, Muriel Zusperreguy and Laure Muret were outstanding throughout, especially in their straightjackets as they sank into their own world of madness.
Hilarion is one of José Martinez' favourite roles, and he revelled in the powerful leaps and vigorous spins, making the rough country yokel into a figure of compassion as he visits Giselle, hoping it is not too late to bring her to see sense. But, as in the traditional version, she is already in another world.
This is no mere fairy-tale; it's a story of real people. Love, betrayal, madness are all there, softened at the end by a reconciliation between Albrecht and Hilarion, who both love her, but both lose her.
Kurt Jooss- The green table
Kurt Jooss
choreography / Folkwang Tanztheater / The Green Table
(1901-1979)
Kurt Jooss was an important German modern dancer and choreographer. He began his career in the 1920s, dancing lead roles in the choreography of Rudolf von Laban. Jooss is noted for establishing several dance companies
Jooss disliked plot-less dances and preferred themes that addressed moral issues. His most important choreographic work, The Green Table (1932), won first prize at an international competition for new choreography in Paris in 1932. It was a powerful anti-war statement, made just a year before Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany. It is still performed by dance companies around the world. Another work, Pandora (1944), contained disturbing images of human disaster and tragedy, and was later interpreted as foretelling the dropping of the atom bombs on Japan a year later.
The Green Table was created in 1932 .Lasting about 30 minutes and subtitled "A dance of death in eight scenes", The Green Table is a commentary on the futility of war and the horrors it causes.
It opens with a group of diplomats (the Gentlemen in Black) having a discussion around a rectangular table covered with a green cloth. They end up pulling guns from their pockets and shooting in the air, thus symbolizing the declaration of war.
The next six scenes portray different aspects of wartime: the separation from loved ones in The Farewells, war itself in The Battle and The Partisan, loneliness and misery in The Refugees, the emotional void and the atmosphere of forced entertainment in The Brothel, and, finally, the psychologically beaten and wounded survivors in The Aftermath. The ballet then ends as it began, with the "Gentlemen in Black" around the green table.
The next six scenes portray different aspects of wartime: the separation from loved ones in The Farewells, war itself in The Battle and The Partisan, loneliness and misery in The Refugees, the emotional void and the atmosphere of forced entertainment in The Brothel, and, finally, the psychologically beaten and wounded survivors in The Aftermath. The ballet then ends as it began, with the "Gentlemen in Black" around the green table.
Throughout these episodes the figure of Death is triumphant, portrayed as a skeleton moving in a forceful and robot-like way, relentlessly claiming its victims.
The dance ends with a repeat of the opening scene, a device the choreographer uses to show his mistrust in the talks of the diplomats; completely indifferent to the ravages of war, they continue their hypocritical negotiations.
The dance ends with a repeat of the opening scene, a device the choreographer uses to show his mistrust in the talks of the diplomats; completely indifferent to the ravages of war, they continue their hypocritical negotiations.
The Green Table reflects a concern for social issues and the problems of that era (shared by many artists contemporary with Jooss) such as political corruption and militaristic policies.
Its style, with its cutting irony, caricature, and boldness of language, has much in common with Expressionism, which flourished in the first decade of the 20th century. The cynical structure of the dance, for example, is a formal expression of this dry humour: the diplomats repeat their routine with total indifference to the real consequences of their decisions. The seriousness of their discussion is negated by the music that Jooss chose to accompany this scene: a playful tango. He also dressed the characters in masks, which gave them a grotesque look, and created movements that are exaggerations of naturalistic movement, such as gesticulating while talking, or nervously pacing up and down while thinking.
Its style, with its cutting irony, caricature, and boldness of language, has much in common with Expressionism, which flourished in the first decade of the 20th century. The cynical structure of the dance, for example, is a formal expression of this dry humour: the diplomats repeat their routine with total indifference to the real consequences of their decisions. The seriousness of their discussion is negated by the music that Jooss chose to accompany this scene: a playful tango. He also dressed the characters in masks, which gave them a grotesque look, and created movements that are exaggerations of naturalistic movement, such as gesticulating while talking, or nervously pacing up and down while thinking.
The costumes and props were chosen for their symbolic qualities: a flag for the hopeful soldier, a red dress coupled with a white scarf for the partisan, or the skeleton-like costume of Death.
Jooss mastered the visual outlook of his compositions with great skill; again the scene of The Gentlemen in Black provides an example of how the choreographer directed the audience to focus on a particular point of interest, which may be a dancer located on a higher plane than the rest of the group, or someone keeping still while everybody else is moving (or vice versa), or simply a convergence of the compositional lines.
Jooss mastered the visual outlook of his compositions with great skill; again the scene of The Gentlemen in Black provides an example of how the choreographer directed the audience to focus on a particular point of interest, which may be a dancer located on a higher plane than the rest of the group, or someone keeping still while everybody else is moving (or vice versa), or simply a convergence of the compositional lines.
His use of space for expressive purposes, as well as the foundation of his technique, stemmed from his formative training as Rudolf Laban's student and assistant. Together they explored the interrelation between space and the body, with its various movement qualities reflecting different mental states and feelings. Jooss integrated Laban's findings and his free-style approach to dancing with the discipline of classical ballet training. The result was a new technique that emphasizes the use of the body as an expressive whole.
This technique was to be absorbed and further developed by Jooss' students, among whom were Birgit Cullberg and Pina Bausch.
The Green Table is a mature example of this technique. It uses elements of classical ballet, such as turn-out, demi-pointe, extensions, turns, arabesques, and other ballet steps. However, there is no pointe work or any other feature that could suggest virtuoso display. The gracefulness, elegance, ethereal quality, and other affectations of classical ballet are eliminated.
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