Dance Theory And Examples
During my four years in the magnet dance program, we mainly focused on three genres of dance. Those three included Ballet, Modern, and Jazz. All of our concert pieces revolved around adding in touches from all three so it was a fun challenge to get familiar with them.
Ballet
According to Oxford Languages, Ballet is defined as "an artistic dance form performed to music using precise and highly formalized set steps and gestures. Classical ballet, which originated in Renaissance Italy and established its present form during the 19th century, is characterized by light, graceful, fluid movements and the use of pointe shoes." We mainly worked and incorporated our ballet technique with our teacher, Kristen Mast. She worked with us intensely to make sure we have the appropriate turnout position, engage our muscles to perfect battements and arabesques, and do chaîné turns beautifully. The pieces that she gave us revolved around ballet technique. You can see this being featured in "See Into the Flames" and "Hallelujah."
Modern Dance
According to DanceAdvantage, "The beginnings of modern dance in the United States (Germany also had a related and influential dance movement) are traced to the early 20th century to a group of dancers often labeled the forerunners of modern dance. Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, Ruth St. Dennis, and her husband and partner Ted Shawn, each made significant contributions to a new type of concert dance in America." Our teacher, Susan Griffin, mainly worked on modern with us. She taught us to let loose and let your body flow through every space and crevice around you. We were taught about the pioneers of modern dance, using levels and spatial elements, and effort qualities. In the pieces choreographed by Ms. Griffin, you can see us flowing through our space and being more "free" from the original ballet technique. Examples of those pieces can be our Modern showing in the 2018 Winter Showcase, or "A Million Dreams" from the 2019 Fall Concert.
Jazz
According to All That Jazz Dance Company, "Jazz dance combines techniques of classical ballet and modern dance with the current forms of popular dance. Jazz also has its own movement vocabulary ranging from the isolation of certain body parts to the movement of the entire body with the accents of musical rhythms. Jazz dance can take on many different characteristics and styles, including Street Jazz, Percussive, Broadway, Contemporary and Lyrical. Jazz classes can be patterned in any of these styles or a combination of them. Emphasis is on the importance of energy, rhythmical accuracy, and style." Ms. Mast worked on Jazz theory and went over its history with us, while Ms. Griffin did more jazzy pieces with us. We were taught about pioneers such as "the Father of Jazz" Jack Cole, how to have fun and use emotions to express the jazz feel, and how to accent musical rhythms. My personal favorite jazz piece that we have done was "So Shut Up!" which was featured in our 2021 Fall Concert. We got to put our own personal flair to it to further accentuate the musical rhythm and make it fun.
