Welcome Page

Hello my name is Michelle Hughes, welcome to my Dance Blog. I’m sure everyone is familiar with dance, but I will be introducing you to specific types such as, Choreography, Formalized Movement, Line, Form, and Repetition as well as Rhythm. First, I will give you a brief synopsis on dance.  Dance is the art form that involves movement of the body. "It becomes the medium for sensing, understanding, and communicating ideas, feelings, and experiences"(the elements of dance). Dance may range from functional movement such as, folk dance to virtuoso techniques which include ballet. Dance also has a variety of styles and genres, such as, classical dance, step dance, street dance and street. Dance is universal because it is enjoyed by most everyone.

   

Angelina Ballerina's New Ballet Teacher

www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1Z7fNsAYK4

Choreography

Choreography

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUiTn4ybaQE

 

Choreography is the art of arranging dance performances. "Primarily it employs the human body as a moving composition of line, form and three-dimensional space" (Sporre pg.180). "The practice of choreography is ancient; the word itself comes from the Ancient Greek, and it literally means “dance writing, “a reference to the notation used to record choreography"(wisegeek.com). "Over time, people came to use the word “dance notation” to describe the specific style of language used to create a written record of a choreographed composition, and “choreography” to describe the process of developing and directing that composition in performance"(wisegeek.com). Dance utilizes many other elements of art; such as, the setting, line, and form of the human body. Dance also involves many compositional elements such as, picture, sculpture and theatre. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Formalized Movement

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      According to Sporre, "The most obvious repository of formalized movement in dance is ballet. All movement in ballet stems from five basic leg, foot, and arm positions"(Sporre-181). These positions are designed to allow dancers to move with the greatest possible agility, control, speed, lightness, and grace. Classical-ballet technique are based on the turned-out position of the legs, which increases the range of movement through added mobility in the hip joint and also gives a more pleasing line to the extended leg. "Many variations can be made upon the five basic positions; such as, the grande seconde, which varies second position with one leg elevated to full height. One leg also elevates in the demi-hauteuror "half height." Full height requires extension of the leg at a 90-degree angle to the ground; half height requires a 45-degree extension” (Sporre-181).

 

 

 

Line, Form, and Repetition

Jazz Movements

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     According to Sporre, "the compositional elements of line, form and repetition apply to the use of the human body in exactly the same sense that they apply to painting and sculpture the latter especially" (Sporre-182). A dancer’s body becomes a sculpture in motion moving from pose to pose. Dancers move continuous through time while basic repetition becomes an important part of how choreographers combine dances (prenhall.com). "The relationship of the movements to each other as the dance progresses shows us a reputational pattern that is very similar to theme and variation in music"(Sporre-183). "Choreographers plan these patterns using individual dancers' bodies as well as combinations of dancers in duets, trios, or the entire corps de ballet"(Sporre-183).

 

Postmodern Ballet Dancers

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Rhythm

    

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     When thinking of Rhythm most people usually think of movement.  Sporre defines rhythm as "steps that relate coherently" (Sporre-184).  "Dance phrases are held together by their rhythm in the same sense as in musical rhythm" (Sporre-184).  "Sequences of long and short motions occur that are highlighted by accents" (Sporre-184).  "To the human eye dance rhythms take place in spatial arrangements, up and down, back and forth, curved and linear, large and small" (Sporre-184).  In the performance arts rhythm is considered the timing of events on a human scale; of sounds and silences, steps of a dance, or the meter of spoken language and poetry.

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Conclusion

     

    

     It would be unheard of if any human society were denied the excitement and pleasure of dancing.  Dancing is universal and most everyone is familiar with it.  I hope you have enjoyed viewing my blog as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it.  Hopefully, it was informative and it provided you with new knowledge on Choreography, Formalized Movement, Line, Form, Repetition, and Rhythm.


 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQcTqGiNacU

 

 

Bibliography

Sporre, Dennis J. Dance Chapter 8

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-choreography.htm

http://www.prenhall.com/divisions/hss/app/humanitiesvideoscd/final_content/starterkit/dance.pdf