Week Five - Thinking about Structuring

Dance and Music

According to Bonnie C. Wade in her book, Thinking Musically, “So very often, music and movement are inextricably interrelated” (Wade 154). Many different cultures incorporate forms of movement into their musical lives. These patterns of movement can serve many purposes, from telling a story, to keeping the instrumentals together. This multimedia essay will explore different types of movement and dance that accompany music and how they serve the culture they originate from.

Ballet dance is an art form, depicting stories correlating with accompanying music. It has been known to exist since the early Italian Renaissance courts in the 15th century.  Later, the French courts took a liking to the new art form and started to set up schools in Paris. However, ballets were not completely their own shows as we know them today. They would usually be included in operas, until around the 19th century when they started creating whole ballets that ran as their own shows.  This change happened in the Romantic Era, when many of the most successful ballets where created.  This is also when the stereotypical look of a ballerina was created; with pointe shoes, tutus, and a calf length skirt with a lot of tulle attached.

During the Romantic Era, ideas of fantasy and whimsical creatures were most prevalent in ballet.  Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky took those ideas and made incredibly successful pieces of music with them, such as his four most famous ballets: "The Nutcracker", "Swan Lake", "Romeo and Juliet", and "Sleeping Beauty".  During this time, the Russians made a name for themselves in ballet. They developed the Classical technique, including pointe, high extensions, and big full movements.  This technique correlated properly with what composers like Tchaikovsky were making.  Here is a recording of the Balcony scene in his “Romeo and Juliet.” Just as with the scene from the play, the two characters are seeing each other for the second time.

https://youtu.be/A0RsOmLwcX8?t=5m15s

In this video the music starts out with Romeo and Juliet laying eyes on each other and a tune starts to play as if it is their own song.  With the music and the dance combined, the audience gets a sense of longing from Romeo as Juliet is still on the balcony. Then, as they finally meet, the dynamics of the music change and the orchestra becomes louder.  At this time, the characters both become in sync as well, but then suddenly when they look at each other and they profess their love, the music becomes tender and light.  Then, as the two delight in each other’s company, the music becomes loud, full, and happy. On a sadder note, Tchaikovsky’s other ballet, “Swan Lake,” has a dance called the Dying Swan. 

 

In this video, the tormented mortal swan is dancing gracefully with a mournful cello playing with piano accompaniment.  However, with only a sorrowful cello playing, it makes the moment more powerful than a whole orchestra playing fortissimo.  The desolate music is paired with a dancer displaying an elegant death.  The lone cello expresses the swan’s death, and the swan reflects that mournful death in her dance. In many different shows and many different ballets, the music reveals the dancers and the dancers reveal the music.

One ballet that is different and unique from Tchaikovsky’s classical ballets is Stravinsky’s neo-classical ballet “Rite of Spring.” This ballet is meant to be an allegory for life in Russia. Stravinsky’s music uses odd rhythms and dissonant chords. The original ballet uses harsh, jerky choreography. In the climax of the piece, the “Chosen One” dances to death in a sacrifice, which consists of lots of jumping. It is a physically demanding piece of choreography that breaks the typical style of ballet that was seen in ballets such as Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet.

Another form of dance that came from the 15^th century is Topeng, which comes from Indonesia, primarily Bali and Java. The dance is often performed to gamelan music. The dancer wear intricately designed masks and costumes. The dance tells an ancient traditional story. Four or five dancers will work together to tell the story, using many masks to perform different roles. Different colored masks meant different things. For example, red masks defined a strong character. Storytellers wear half-masks so that they have room to talk. Sometimes, the dancers cue the instrumentalists when to speed up, slow down, play louder or softer. Quick decrescendos in the music that are cued by the Topeng dancer are called angsels. Near the end of this video, the dancer cues the gamelan players with his hands to speed up:

Dance is used in many cultures to express the emotions and stories that are inside of music. Dance expresses the meaning of music in a view able format.

Sierra Marsh wrote the information on ballet. Logan Kropp wrote the introduction, information on “Rite of Spring” and Topeng music, and the conclusion.

Works Cited

"History of Dance Masks - Topeng Dance." History. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. 
 

"Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre." A Brief History of Ballet. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. 

"Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre." Types and Styles of Ballet. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. 
 

Poznansky, Alexander. "Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Russian Composer." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. 

Schwarm, Betsy. "The Rite of Spring | Ballet by Stravinsky." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. 
 

"Topeng Dance." BaliTrips.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015. 

Wade, Bonnie C. Thinking Musically: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.