Australian Dance Theatre Analysis

Ailey being an American choreographer shows how he was able to become a household name in the dance world. Ailey choreographed over 80 ballets which easily illustrates how Ailey became an acknowledged figure in his community. Ailey’s most popular show Revelations is being performed till this day which shows how Ailey was able to leave a historical footprint on the dance world. Ailey's choreographic masterpiece Revelations is believed to be the best known and most often seen modern dance performance in history.

Her choreography continues to stay relevant in the contemporary dance scene and performed on stages across the country. “In 2004, 5 companies performed Ms. Tharp’s works, but the number has grown; 15 dances were licensed in 2005, and more than 20 so far this year (2006)...” (Kourlas 2006) Since 2006, Tharp’s works continue to be an essential part of many ballet company repertoires. While continuing to choreograph, Twyla Tharp wrote two books, including an autobiography entitled Push Comes to Shove in 1992 and The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life in 2003.

Harrison’s production is an empathetic insight into the sustained impact of the “Stolen Generation” on its victims. Harrison’s stage directions allow performers to powerfully use sets and props to represent the experience of each character. This was demonstrated while viewing different scenes of “Stolen” workshopped in class. The actors started off each holding a suitcase conveying the absence of home, stability and security.

The Alvin Ailey modern dance company is known internationally for their works and dancers but how they began is a very interesting story. The company formed in 1958 and just two years later one of the most memorable and notable performances of the company was created, “.Revelations”. Although Alvin Ailey was the creator and director of this company, Ailey’s style and the technique he used and that the company still uses stems from Lester Horton. Horton was a pivotal teacher for Ailey and inspired him to create a company and carry on this technique from Horton. This paper will illustrate the beginning influence Horton had on Ailey and how the company has grown overtime.

In 1958 at the age of 27 Ailey opened the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre. The opening of the theatre is known to be ailey’s greatest achievement as a dancer/choreographer. The theatre was ailey’s ticket to success because not to long after the opening of the theatre ailey and his dancers performed for the first time on March,30,1958 at a theatre in New York. The theatre was not always successful because in 1970 due to lack of funds the theatre almost dissolved.

Tg beneath the surface” (Weakland). Jerome Robbins fully integrated all of the elements of musical theater including music, lyrics, book, and dance to produce something entirely unique. Jerome Robbins was changing the face of musical theater entirely. West Side Story also broke the rules in a thematic way. West Side Story was the first show to portray that musicals could be based on painful stories.

Bangarra Dance Theatre is one of the youngest and most exciting dance companies in Australia. Bangarra grants audiences access to the Australian indigenous world and culture whilst creating an enriching and thought provoking experience through storytelling and theatrical presentation. Their performances contribute to a better understanding and acceptance of aboriginal values. Bangarra was established by Carole Johnson in 1989, the company quickly grew and in 1991 Stephen Page was appointed as the Artistic Director.

In her article, Embodying Difference, Jane Desmond argues that dance offers important insights into the ways moving bodies articulate cultural meanings and social identities. In other words, she explains the importance of studying the body’s movement as a way of understanding culture and society. She has two main arguments. First, she argues for the importance of the continually changing relational constitutions of cultural forms. Desmond further explains that the key to shedding light on the unequal distribution of power and goods that shape social relations are the concepts of cultural resistance, appropriation, and cultural imperialism (49).

‘Analyse and reflect upon how the dance work, Mathinna, makes a powerful political and/or social statement regarding the Indigenous stolen generation in Australia.’ The contemporary dance work, ‘Mathinna’ by Bangarra Dance Company was inspired by a portrait of the same name by Thomas Bock depicting an Aboriginal girl in a red dress. The dance tells the true story of the short, confusing and tragic life of a young Aboriginal girl during the early days of Australia’s colonisation. Born on Flinders Island in 1835, Mathinna was taken from her family, alienated from her indigenous culture and placed in the home of a prominent white family, Governor Sir John and Lady Franklin.

Mambo Girl (1957), a movie musical, follows Kailing, a talented young woman widely admired for her singing and dancing capabilities, as she searches for acceptance after learning the truth about her background. Shall We Dansu? (1996) follows Mr. Sugiyama, a Japanese accountant who goes on a secretive and intimate journey into the world of ballroom dance. Both Mambo Girl and Shall We Dansu? emphasize the close relationship between intimacy and Latin dance by linking Kailing and Mr. Sugiyama’s manners of dancing Latin to the emotional connection each has with other characters.

“What is going on in these pictures in my mind?” (Didion 2). Joan Didion’s “Why I Write” provides an explanation to her perspective om writing and why she writes. Later on, she states that she writes as a way to discover the meaning behind what she is seeing. During this past semester as we wrote about dance, a heavy focus was on description and interpretation rather than contextualization and evaluation.

Lester Iradell Horton was born in Indianapolis, India on January 23,1906. Not very much was known about his early life. Horton studied ballet for two years with a local teacher in Indianapolis. He was also taking classes at Herron Art Institute and worked with the Indianapolis Theater. Not very long after he began to work for sculptress Kathleen Stuberg.

This role has diminished through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, but the need to be masculine remains in countless men. Makeup, tights, and ballet shoes are not considered manly. Therefore, a subsequent stereotype has become prevalent. Persistently, people erroneously believe all danseurs to be gay, weak, and feminine. Frequently, male dancers are left to feel inadequate and are discouraged from their art because their manliness is questioned.

(Fig. 5) The still above (Fig.5) from Alex’s audition scene, is a still of one of the most memorable sequences throughout the film, the editing used is almost perfectly synched to the music. While the use of dance and movement that Alex portrays is sensual and very intimate but equally expresses her joy and passion for dance, it could therefore be argued that the use of editing, light, costume etc. are what advances the romantic plot forward in the narrative and that the dance sequences are merely a device used to fill space within the

The word “ballet” brings to mind words such as “grace” or “beauty” when heard by many people. The definition itself states that it is a form of dance that uses precise steps and light, graceful motions. This definition was in the minds of those who attended the Théâtre des Champs-Élysèes in May 1913, but rather they were greeted with the complete opposite. When Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Rite of Spring opened, the audience was greeted with swift, chaotic music that quickly became a whirlwind of sound. The music softened and the curtains opened to a primitive dance, causing mass hysteria throughout the theatre.