BELL RINGER
• M.Socrative.com – Room #38178
• Questions:
• 1. What was the subject of realist plays?
You should be able to answer this without your notes (you turned them in
yesterday)
IMPRESSIONISM DANCE
DANCE
• Two major revolutions in dance occurred in the early 20th century
• Sergei Diaghilev (DYAH-gee-lef; 1872-1929) was largely responsible for one of them
• When Diaghilev arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1890 to study law, he became
friends with several artists.
• In 1898, his friends launched a new magazine, World of Art, and appointed him
editor
DANCE - DIAGHILEV
• His career in artistic management shaped the ballet world of the 20th century
• In producing outstanding works that employed the finest choreographers, he
played a tremendous role in bringing the art of Paris and Munich to Moscow
and St. Petersburg (and vice versa)
DANCE - DIAGHILEV
• Once he had successfully produced opera outside of Russia, he was
encouraged to take Russian ballet to Paris
• In 1909 he opened the first of his many Ballets russes
• The dancers included the greatest dancers of Russia
• Including Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky
DANCE - DIAGHILEV
• Mikhail Fokine was the choreographer
• He believed in the artistic unity of all production elements – costumes,
settings, music, and dance
• Dancing should blend harmoniously with the theme and subject of the
production
DANCE - NIJINSKY
• Diaghilev loved Nijinsky’s dancing and decided that he should
choreograph as well
• In 1912, he choreographed the controversial Prelude to the Afternoon
of a Faun (music by Debussy)
• The choreography was rife with sexual suggestion and the obscenity
of the performance caused an uproar
• Rudolph Nureyev : Afternoon of a Faun' – YouTube (30 seconds)
DANCE - NIJINSKY
• A year later, the unveiling of Nijinsky’s choreography of Stravinsky’s
Rite of Spring caused an actual riot
• The controversy of Rite of Spring had to do with the music and the
dancing - the choreography was definitely shocking
• Joffrey Ballet 1987 Rite of Spring (3 of 3) – YouTube (beg and 4:25)
• Riot at the Rite (final,part 6) – YouTube
DANCE - MASSINE
• Diaghilev’s new choreographer, Leonide Massine, took the company (and ballet in
general) in new directions
• Nijinsky’s decision to marry in 1913 caused a rift with Diaghilev and he was
dismissed from the company
•
Diaghilev was homosexual – rumor says he had feelings for Nijinsky and thus dismissed him when he wed someone else
• The ballets turned to themes emerging in the visual arts, for example cubism and
eventually surrealism (we’ll talk about soon!)
DANCE - MASSINE
• Parade in 1917 found dancers in huge skyscraper-like cubist costumes designed by
Pablo Picasso
• The music, by Eric Satie, included sounds of typewriters and steamship whistles
DANCE - BALANCHINE
• In 1924, Diaghilev hired a new choreographer, George Balanchine
• He came from St. Petersburg and choreographed 10 productions for
him over the next 4 years
• Two of these are still danced today – The Prodigal Son by Prokofiev,
and Apollo by Stravinsky
• George Balanchine's Apollo - YouTube
DANCE - BALANCHINE
• When Diaghilev died in 1929, his company died with him
and an era ended
• Ballet had been reborn as a major art form, a blending of
choreography, dancing, music, and visual art – a rival to
opera as a “perfect synthesis of the arts”
DUNCAN & MODERN DANCE
• When Diaghilev continued within balletic traditions, others
did not
• The most significant of the set was the remarkable and
unrestrained Isadora Duncan (1878-1927)
• American
• By 1905, Duncan had gained notoriety for her barefoot,
deeply emotional dancing
DUNCAN & MODERN DANCE
• Achieved her fame in Europe
• Her dances were emotional interpretations of moods suggested to her by music or
by nature
• Her dance was personal
• She danced in bare feet
• This break with convention continues to this day as a basic condition of the modern
dance tradition she helped to form
DUNCAN & MODERN DANCE
• Isadora Duncan’s Style (this will transition into Modern and Contemporary Dance)
• Isadora Duncan - Maenod - YouTube
• 15 minutes short