CHAPTER 4 - BALLET AND MODERN DANCE

Ballet

A type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the 15th century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia.

Ballare

This term was used to create the word ballet with the meaning to dance.

Ballo

This term was used to create the word ballet with the meaning of dances performed in a ballroom.

Haskell (1965)

Who states that ballet is a combination of the arts of dancing, poetry, music, and painting.

Burian (1963)

Who states that ballet is an artistic, programmatic, scenic dance accompanied by music.

Dinner Ballet

A term used to described ballet when it was introduced to the world through royal courts where the male servants would execute a movement related to the course they are serving during a court dinner. 

Queen Catherine de Medici

Who was the wife of Francis’ son (Henry II) that introduced ballet from Italy to France, marking its wider staging?

Balthazar de Beaujoyeulx (Baldassarino de Belgiojoso)

Who was the Italian musician that Queen Catherine brought to France to arrange festivals for French courts?

court fetes

This is a large, elaborate, festival or celebration. 

Ballet Comique de la Reine

This was de Beaujoyulx’s famous festive dance where it combined the spoken word, solo, and choral song and the dance in a unified whole presenting a story.

Louis XIV

A French court ballet dancer that was known as the magnificent Sun king who set the up Academie Royale de Danse together with their dancing master, Pierre Beauchamp.

Romantic era

This era was known as the dancers’ golden age.

Marius Pepita

A prominent Frenchman choreographer that became the virtual dictator of Russian ballet and was associated with the Imperial Theatres for almost 60 years.

Sergei Diaghilev and Michel Fokine

Who were the Russian choreographers that experimented with movement and costume that went beyond the confines of classical ballet form and story.

The Rite of Spring

This was one of Diaghilev’s work that talks about human sacrifice associated with dissonant music and unfamiliar movements. 

George Balanchine

A Russian choreographer who immigrated to America and introduced neo-classical ballet; as well as founded the New York City Ballet. He was also known as the greatest innovator of the contemporary plotless ballet.

Contemporary plotless ballet

Its purpose is to use movement to express the music and to illuminate human emotion and endeavor.

Classical Ballet

• known for its exactness of technique

• uses traditional mime with gestures for storytelling, requiring precise learning and performance.

Contemporary Ballet

• combines ballet steps with natural movements to express meaning.

• blends classical ballet and modern dance, allowing a wider range of movement and less strict bodylines than classical techniques. 

American colonization

Ballet was introduced in the Philippines because of the _________________.

National Artist for Dance Alice Reyes

Who was the founder the Ballet Philippines?

• Warm up

• Barre Exercises

• Center Work Exercises

• Corner Drills (grand allegro)

What are the composition of ballet dance?

Warm up

This includes limbering and stretching exercises to gently prepare muscle for difficult moves.

Barre Exercises

This includes using the barre for balance and correct body placement.

Center Work Exercises

This includes stretching and relaxing exercises in the center to loosen the back and other muscles. 

Corner Drills (Grand Allegro)

This includes large jumps, leaps, and turns performed across the dance floor.

First position

A basic dance position wherein heels are together and toes are turned outward forming a straight line. This position establishes the dancer’s turnout and alignment.

Second position

A basic dance position wherein feet are placed wider apart than in previous position, with toes still turn outward. This stance provides stability and prepare the dancer for various movements. 

Third Position

A basic dance position wherein one foot is placed in front of the other so that the heel of the front foot touches the middle of the back foot. This position is less commonly used but important for transitions.

Fourth Position

A basic dance position wherein the feet are separated by about one foot’s length, one in front of the other, both turned outward. This position is often used in steps that require forward movement.

Fifth Position

A basic dance position wherein the foot are closely crossed, with the heel of the front foot touching the toe of the back foot and vice versa. This position demands strong turnout and control. 

Turn out

This refers to how the feet in each position are always parallel to each other with in outward rotation of the legs. This provides freedom of movement in any direction and making the execution of the most difficult movements look effortless and graceful.

• Plie (pli-yey)

• Releve (rele-vey)

• Developpes (dew-low-pey)

• Battement tendu (bat-ma-than-dew)

• Battement degage (bat-ma-deh-ga-zheh)

• Grand battement (grawn-baht-mahn)

What are the basic barre exercises?

Plie (pli-yey)

This means to bend or fold the knees.

Releve (rele-vey)

This means to lift or rise

Developpes (dev-low-pey)

This means unfold.

Battement tendu (bat-ma-than-dew)

This means stretched beating.

Battement degage (bat-ma-deh-ga-zheh)

This means disengaged.

Grand battement (grawn-baht-mahn)

This means large beating.

• Port de bras (por-de-brah)

• Arabesque (ara-besk)

• Saute arabesque (so-tey-ara-besk)

• Attitude

• Pas de bourree (pha-de-bo-rey)

• Glissade

What are the basic center exercises for ballet?

Port de bras (por-de-brah)

This is the carriage and graceful movements of the arms.

Arabesque (ara-besk)

This is the carriage and graceful arm movements and is formed when one leg is raised and extended behind the body and a variety of shapes of the arms are used to harmonize with its long, extended line. 

Saute arabesque (so-tey-ara-besk)

This is known as a arabesque hop where while doing an arabesque, do a complete hop, hold the pose in demi-plie, then repeat.

Atittude

This is performed by raising the bent leg either in front or behind the body.

Pas de bourree (pha-de-bo-rey)

This means stuffed steps. 

Glissade

This is also called a gliding step.

• Ballet walks

• Chasse (cha-sey)

• Sautes (so-teys)

• Jete (je-tey)

• Grand jete

• Assemble (a-sem-bley)

What are the basic corner exercises in ballet?

Ballet walks

This described the characteristic way a ballet dancer walks. This includes a walk through the toes, ball, and then heel of one foot and then the other. 

Chasse (cha-sey)

This is also called the chasing step wherein you shift the weight on a first or third demi-plie position so the front leg slides along the floor to a fourth or second position.

Satues (so-teys)

This means jumps wherein you execute a vertical jump into the air and end is starting position. 

Jete (je-tey)

This means thrown wherein you soar through the air and land as lightly as possible.

Grand jete

This means a big leap.

Assemble (a-sem-bley)

This means assembled wherein the feet are brought together in the air, with the legs beating together before landing on the ground.

Modern dance

a style of dancing that is also called contemporary dance and is where dancer are able to emphasize freedom of expression through movement without following traditional dance rules.

Ballet

1. portrays beauty and ethereal qualities of the human condition

2. uses structured steps

3. uses the floor mainly for standing or sitting

Modern Dance

1. portrays human condition realistically

2. uses personal interpretation

3. uses the floor as part of the movement

What are the differences between ballet and modern dance?

• Technique

• Improvisation

• Choreography

What are the characteristics of modern dance?

Technique

This is where dancers use their bodies as expressive instruments, mastering control to convey all aspects of human behavior. Proper ____ ensures modern dance goes beyond mere interpretation.

Improvisation

Dancers perform spontaneous movements in response to the choreographer’s prompts. 

Choreography

This is where dance style and intent are unrestricted by specific themes or subjects.

America and Germany

Where did modern dance originate from?

Isadora Duncan

Who rejected ballet for its unsuitability to her dance style of being natural, free, and improvisational. 

• Dance Walk

• Run

• Triplet

• Waltz

• Gallop

• Chasse/Slide

• Jumps

• Leap

• Falling

• Rolls

• Turns

What are the basic modern dance skills?