Due Session #3

Examine carefully the exquisite Barbara Morgan photographs on display.

Choose one photograph. Imagine the dance that this photograph represents.

Write a one-page text in which you describe the imaginary dance that surrounds this single moment.

Be sure to describe the setting, the lighting, the number of dancers involved in the performance, the story or narrative of the dance (if it has one), and the overall feeling of the work.

Be prepared to read your paper and illustrate how the moment of the photograph is reached in class one day after Session #4.

Due Session #7

View 1962 Version of Dance.

View the half-hour dance Revelations, and write a paper of 8-10 pages length which addresses this question:

How does the dance Revelations (Ailey, 1960) convey concepts of religion and social order?

The dance has four distinct sections. You may write in depth about one or two sections, or attempt to treat the entire dance as a whole. You might write about the use of basic compositional techniques (weight, spacing of dancers, focus, effort) or you might write about the overall effect of viewing the dance. You may wish to check some source material for information about the dance; you may consult my entry in the Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History available in the Humanities Library, under "Alvin Ailey and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater." The videotape is on reserve in the reserve book room: "An evening with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater" GV1786.A42.A48 1986.

Your paper must be typewritten, double-spaced, and thoroughly edited for spelling and grammar. Composition counts! Try to make your writing lively and informative. Be sure each paragraph has a central idea, and that each sentence has a subject and verb. Each student will present a brief summary of ideas from the paper in class two days before Session #5.

Due 2 days after Session #11

View the half-hour dance Fall River Legend and write a paper of 7-10 pages length that addresses this question:

How does the dance Fall River Legend (De Mille, 1950) convey concepts of cultural mores and cultural identity?

The dance has terse narrative structure. You should not retell the dramatic plot of the dance; you should not provide a biography of the choreographer.

You should attempt to create a critique of how specific gestures in the dance define characters,
and how those characters define the society depicted in the dance and its mores.

You should write about the theatrical elements the choreographer uses to strengthen her depiction of the story.

You should also write about how the dance suggests cultural identity and cultural structure in its inventions: its choreographic techniques, its design, its overall impact.

Be sure to write about specific details in the dance, and the meaning that those details suggest to you.

You may wish to check some source material for information about the choreographer. You may consult her entry in the International Encyclopedia of Dance at GV1585.I586 1998 in the Humanities Library.

The videotape containing this dance is on reserve in the Humanities Library: "Dance Theatre of Harlem" GV1786.H28.D36 1989.

Your paper must be typewritten, double-spaced, and thoroughly edited for spelling and grammar.
Composition counts! Try to make your writing lively and informative. Be sure each paragraph has a central idea, and that each sentence has a subject and verb.

Due Session #19.

View the hour-long dance The Catherine Wheel and write a paper of 7-10 pages length which addresses this question:

How does the "gold section" of The Catherine Wheel (Tharp, 1981) describe issues of gender and individuality?

Focus your essay on the gold section, which is the last 15 minutes of the work.
(It begins about an hour into the video. The gold section begins with a flashing golden sparkler effect which flashes across the screen.)

How does the choreographer depict gender?

What kinds of movements does she allow men and women?

How does she describe social order?

What does the dance suggest about the culture in which these men and women exist?

You may base your observations and interpretations on the gold section only; you needn't try to extrapolate from the first hour of the work.

What particular dance gestures (movements) support your thesis?

Be sure to write about particular dance gestures to support your thesis.

You must try to describe movement in exact terms, and then build upon your description to support your interpretation of the dance.

You should not retell the dramatic plot of the dance. You should not provide a
biography of the choreographer, although you may wish to discuss her movement aesthetic as you understand it from this work and others viewed in class. You may wish to check some source material for information about the choreographer; you may consult her entry in the International Encyclopedia of Dance at GV1585.I586 1998 in the Humanities Library.

The videotape containing this dance is on reserve in the reserve book room:
The Catherine Wheel by Twyla Tharp.

Your paper must be typewritten, double-spaced, and thoroughly edited for spelling and grammar. Composition counts! Try to make your writing lively and informative. Be sure each paragraph has a central idea, and that each sentence has a subject and verb.

For your final presentation:

View repeatedly, and with great care, the Balanchine ballet or excerpt you have chosen. Prepare a curatorial overview of the dance to share with us in class. Your presentation must include the following information:

HISTORY

• Year of creation for the work
• Date and place of its premiere
• Creators of roles in the original production of the work
• Names, interesting information about these dancers and their relationship to Balanchine
• Background to the creation of the work
• Collaborators - costume, composer, set and lighting designers interesting information about the collaborative process

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

• How did professional critics respond to this work?
• Did opinions of the dance change over time?
   

INTERPRETATION

• Overview of the work's construction - how many sections, how many dancers, what musical format?
• Descriptive analysis - what happens in the dance; what sorts of recurring movement gestures define the work distinctively?
• Interpretive analysis - what is this dance  'about?' How does it achieve meaning?
• Summation - how is this dance successful? What do you think is its importance to the legacy of American ballet?
• Your presentation can have more information than this, but it must have at least these elements.

For background information, you may consult the various Encylopedias of Dance and Ballet in the Humanities Library. For critical reviews, try The New York Times; Arlene Croce's many books of reviews of Balanchine's work; and the several Balanchine biographies in the Humanities library.* A lot of information about Balanchine is available on the web. *None of these sources are on closed reserve, so please be considerate of your classmates, and do your work in the library. There will be no extensions for this assignment, so allow yourself enough time to do the research necessary. If you have questions or concerns about this assignment, do not hesitate to contact me by e-mail.  Your presentation should include a screening of the most important sections of the work, as you see fit to curate it.

TIME CONSTRAINT - Your presentation must last no more than 10 minutes total!

Good luck!

Ballets for Presentations:

Tzigane
Andante
Emeralds
Four Temperments Part One
Four Temperments Part Two
Union Jack
Chaconne
Theme and Variations
Apollo
Scherzo a la Russe
Square Dance
Walpurgisnacht
Davidsbundlertanz Part One
Davidsbundlertanz Part Two
Bugaku
Stars and Stripes Part One
Stars and Stripes Part Two
Who Cares?
Vienna Waltzes