Review Notes on Dance Exam - Dance Appreciation | DANC 101, Study notes of Dance

Download Review Notes on Dance Exam - Dance Appreciation | DANC 101 and more Study notes Dance in PDF only on Docsity! Dance Exam 10/01/2009 Primitive Period – 3000 B.C.  Used to communicate with gods, often imitating animals  Commemorative dances to mark an even with a community  Medicine dances to restore health by warding off spirits  Dances of spiritual connection were used for a connection with the gods and were used to help with a good harvest  Very basic moves/music. Dances were passed down the generations  Ancient Period – 3000 B.C. To 400 A.D.  Begin to see a conscious element of the aesthetic  Dance was seen as a form of art and entertainment, not ritual  Bharata Natyam was created in India around 500-300 B.C. It was a temple dance that was graceful and required skill. Required hand, eye, feet, and other body movements and bells and other instruments helped the dance. Still practiced today  Medieval Period – 400 To 1400 A.D.  Dance was not celebrated as entertainment, it was considered frivolity  The emphasis at the time was purity of the soul  Danse Macabre (Dance of Death) became an obsession of the era due to the Black Plaque sweeping all of Europe.  Grim Reaper with an hour glass to remind of finite time and a scythe to remind of nearness of death  Colloquial dance continued such as the Maypole dance. The pole was decorated with ribbons and people would dance and weave the streamers around the pole  Renaissance/Louis XIV  Renaissance Period 1400 To 1700 A.D.  Period of “rebirth” was a direct response to the dark/middle ages  Court ballets were developed here. Noblemen hired “Dance Masters” to train them in dance steps  Elaborate dress; heavy long gowns, wigs, and dresses. Involved much posing and gliding because of the extra weight from the robes  Divided into 2 categories o Basse Danse (Low Dance) feet stayed close to the floor o Haute Danse (High Dance) higher movements such as jumps  Seven major dances o Pavane – (BD) Women swept trains like peacock. Slow steps o Galliard – (HD) Lively involved leaping. Fast paced, followed the Pavane usually o Allemande – (BD) Required people to keep hands joined o Courante – “Running Dance” but slowly evolved into a slower dance o Gigue – (HD) What we now call the “Jig”. Done to the fiddle o Minuet – French for “Small Steps”. Sweeping movements and bows  Early Ballet  Catherine de Medici (1519-1589) – “Mother of all Dance”  From prominent family in Florence, France  Married into royal family of Henri, Duc d’Orleans of France  She brought from Italy Balthasar de Beaujoyeux, her dance master. He created the first court ballet, the Ballet Comique de La Reine. Dance lasted about 5 hours, was very elaborate. Included stories from the Old Testament and Greek and Roman mythology. Incorporated Dance, poetry, and music.  Louis XIV  Ruled from 1643-1715, one of the greatest patrons of dance  Took daily lessons from his master Pierre Beauchamps  Received the name “Sun King” from his role in the Ballet Royal de la Nuit and was considered one of the first “stars” in the Ballet world  Lead dancer in Louvre, Versailles, and Fountainbleau  Established the Royal Academy of Dance in 1661 under the Italian born Jean-Baptiste Lully.  Beauchamps codified the five positions of the foot and encouraged the “turned out” position.  Saw a shift in nobility to actual professional dancers and from ballrooms to theater setting  Proscenium stage, stage at one end of a hall or theatre. Now audience was only faces the front and made the “turned out” position important  Jean George Noverre 