Since we are going to go see Fall for Dance soon as a class, I figured I would look in the dance section of the New York Times to freshen up my knowledge in that area a bit. I came across an article about a famous ballet dancer, Jose Manuel Carreno, who will be retiring in August 2011. Jose joined the American Ballet Theater in 1995 and has danced many important roles. The article was short but I was intrigued so I figured I would look on YouTube to see if there were any videos of him dancing and there are plenty. I can’t imagine the discipline and all the years of practice that have gotten him to where he is at now. His talent is amazing so I figured I would share with you guys a short clip of him dancing solo. If you want to see more, just type his name in the search box on youtube.com and you will get many results. Enjoy!
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Professor: Edward Smaldone
Edward.Smaldone@qc.cuny.eduITF: Maggie Dickinson
Email: maggie.dickinson@gmail.com
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Wow, this was really cool! I wish I could dance like that!
It is important for us to get come context for the dance world. This is an example of classical dance, which is derived from a finite series of postures, positions, and gestures. The specific language of classical dance is the defining feature of it. It is like music that is specifically limited to a series of scales and chords. The limits imposed by the genre, become a particular aspect of the genre. Many dance companies incorporate some aspects of classical dance into their vocabulary, others decisively avoid ANY reference to classical style or technique. Sometimes these “modern” companies substitute references to other traditions (dance of India, or China or another non-western culture), sometimes they just avoid anything that could be referenced anywhere (this can be more of a challenge than conforming to a particular language!) It is crucial for understanding the dance world to understand the relationship between the language of the medium’s tradition, and the expression of the particular artist in question! Ask me about the five basic ballet positions for the feet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkLig3QWtOE
to say nothing of jete, pirouette, en pointe, fouette, rond de jambe, plie, degage, tendu, echappe, etc.