#jennymeck

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BLOG 2: Hit Tha Folks

Hey Hey Hey! We all know that Izzy is Greek so she already knows all of this information obviously! This week we focused more on the European growth and development of art. Dance performances had three specific purposes; theatrical(pleasure of the onlookers), spiritual(dances to please the gods), and social dancing(dances to please dancers). Often Greeks used the purpose of spiritual or ceremonial to pay tribute to their many gods. The Greeks viewed the combination of dance, music, and poetry as a symbol of the harmony of mind, body, and civilization. As we discovered in class, today, Greek folk dances are used for celebratory purposes and social interaction. In today’s society, we rarely see new dances being used for the sole purpose of celebrating or worship. Social dancing nowadays has also slowed down on its development and now you see one or two dance moves in a social setting as opposed to a whole dance as an entirety. I wonder if that is because as a society with the development of new technology, we have less of an attention span than when we used to. Just a thought!

Next, we see the development of all art in the Renaissance inn Italy! This is where court dance was the thing to do! As the art of dance continued to thrive, we saw the development of the barre, horse ballet, and women as choreographers. Women were able to contribute to the art but they had to be married. Oh the patriarchy! Even when women were in positions of power, they were not in power. Women need to be puppeteer by their husbands or else their hormones will make them start a war!!!?! Isn’t that the fear? OH WELL Continuing on...The French looked to Italy as a source of what was the hot thing to do. Not very free thinking or original if you ask me. But, this is where ballet came to flourish and really develop into the codified technique that we all know and hate(maybe love idk you). Ballet’s popularity can be tribute to Louis XIV. Ballets also became more theatrical. Jean Baptiste Lully was to thank for that because he was known for his comedy that included singing, dancing, musical instruments, and acting. Lully was also homosexual which contributed to his taboo reputation. The story of his death was quite an interesting one... he fricken stabbed his foot with his counting stick... yuck!

Anyways, Europe had a whole mixing and sharing of ideas on art from Greece, to Italy, to France and so on. PS lets not forget that IZZY IS GREEK

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Me, Mysylph, and I

Yo YO Yo! Welcome back. Lets burn the bridges today son!

First off, the SUPERBOWL... JLo and Shakira are strong independent women who rocked that stage and used their platform to enforce how our differences unite us not divide us! Also, I hope I look like that when I’m 40-50.... like shit girl. You wear that rhinestoned mesh suit. PS when JLO sang Jenny from the block it was a shoutout to Jenny Mack!

Next, the eternal feminine lives on through the romanticism era and women are even stepping into cross dressing as men. This developed the weird preferred body type for female dancers... so skinny, long, but not too long. Anywho... I found it interesting that the pas de deus gave the public a private fantasy of romance. Interesting how this partnering was even sexualized. 

Additionally, I found it refreshing that Balanchine used plotless ballets. now that the audience has shifted back to the elite, the dancing was once again reaching for the approval of the wealthy. Pointework also became more codified. Once again playing into the gender roles of dance. 

Lastly... WHAT IS TIME?!?! I got confused with this era switcheroo.... The Classical time period was accompanied with the Baroque and romantic ballet. Then the Neoclassical time was accompanied by post-romantic ballet and classical ballet. I was CONFUSION! 

Anyways, thanks for reading my blog baby!

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WhAt EvEn iS a SyLpH?!

Ay Ay AY! What is up today? Lets burn those bridges!

Anyways, this weeks topic was a not as entertaining as some of the topics that we covered; the history of ballet. In this post I will write about things that interested me;

1- For much of the beginning, ballet was under control of the nobility. The reasons for that is because at the start, most of the people in the audience were of high class. Ballet also needs money and an audience to survive and thrive. It is interesting to me because although artists were creating, they were creating within boundaries. How much freedom do you have when you feel the need to please your audience? Less risk taking and controversial topics were covered during the beginnings of ballet because the rich had full control over what was being put on stage.

2- When moving into the Romantic ballet era, the audience changed to new money and middle class. The audience used ballet as an escape from the changing political climate and succession. The tragic love stories provided a relatable, real display of the many issues as well as including more relatable characters and storylines. What I find interesting is that the more relatable the work was, the more distance they put between the stage and the audience. I wonder if this was because more people were coming to see these performances... did this eliminate the intimacy between performer and audience?

3- Pointe! First off, pointe hurts my bunions and my doctor said if I were to do pointe I would need bunion surgery...LMAOOOO 

Anyways, pointe set the women apart in ballet. Men took a back seat on stage because women had the most stage time. Although women had the most stage time, the narrative was always told from a man’s perspective and most of the creative/choreographic responsibilities were the role of a man. Pointe led way into making women have certain roles; the mythical creature, unattainable virgin, supernatural female, etc. I found it interesting that the main roles for women were typically given to attractive women of rank. This made the women a sex object to men. A “tease” because she is unattainable through her lightness. On the other hand, some saw the “lightness” as artist rebellion. Denying gravity. I still think that these roles were men’s way of putting women in their place. Women are meant to be seen, not heard! 

4- Lastly, I found the increase of science very interesting. People were moving away from religion because science brought up more questions that weren’t being answered. Because people moved away from religion, ballet conveyed real topics that could be considered “sinful”. These reoccurring themes throughout ballet continued the development and appealed to a new audience.