Topic: Movement - Dance
Dance is a subcategory of movement that involves the feet. Other parts of the body may be used, but the feet need to be engaged. The only type of movements that cultures exclude from this conception of dance are those associated with work that are accompanied by music. Thus, the walking or marching done by troops getting from place to place is not seen as dance, and, by extension, neither are the routines done by marching bands.
Movements can be done by either trained individuals for the benefit of others or by people for themselves. Our culture’s primary entertainment form, ballet, began as court entertainment in France, then spread to Russia.
As the genre developed, the training requirements became more rigorous. An order developed for classes and practice sessions that still is followed. Dancers began by using specific parts of the body in a proscribed order while holding onto a barre: the arms, the knees, the feet, the ankles, the legs, and the hips. [1]
Once the body was warmed up, stretches were done on the floor, and dancers moved to center floor where they worked without support. While performers might then have begun rehearsals, students generally practiced four types of movements: turns, jumps and leaps, slow leg lifts that required strength and balance, [2] and steps that connected movements.
While the order was constant, exactly what was done was determined by the age and experience of the students. For instance, pointe shoes were not allowed until girls’ muscles had developed to support their use. Similarly, many teachers didn’t want to take very young students because they didn’t want to harm their growing bodies. Since parents insisted, teachers developed very simple forms of movements that emphasized rhythm.
Traditionally, the barre was accompanied by a piano: a live musician in well-endowed studios, recordings in the rest. The stretches were unaccompanied, while music for the floor work could use any type of instrumentation. The piano still seems to be the standard, perhaps because it is the cheapest to produce.
Lisa Harris specialized in producing records for class use. In 2002 she released Pink Tights for pre-ballet. It lasted 20 minutes, which fit a 45 minute class period. She selected tunes familiar to children like "Frère Jacques" and "London Bridges" because "the music is easy to count." [3]
She used "Kumbaya" for practice in turning the leg as a unit from the hip. The 1.43 minute piece came after music for the arms, the knees, and feet. [4] Unlike those exercises, which usually were done to 4/4, no particular rhythm was needed for "Turn In Turn Out." In fact, she used arpeggios between phrases to make it fit counts of two and four.
The turn out exercise was the most difficult of the ones in the series, though not the most strenuous. It was followed by repeating the foot exercise, presumably turned out, and an ankle exercise. [5] After some stretches to "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean," the floor work consisted of marching, walking, waltzing, clapping, tip-toeing, and jumping in sync with the music to reinforce a sense of rhythm.
Performers
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Soloist: Lisa Harris, piano
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: none
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: strophic repetition with change of key
Notes on Performance
Cover: an Asian girl in a light-colored leotard and tights with her feet pointed forward, her hands on her waist, her hair loose, her head turned to the left, and back slightly arched. One knows from conventions, her clothes were light pink, or "ballet pink" as it was described in marketing materials.
Notes on Performers
Harris earned a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University in Dance and Music in 1982. [6] After that, she worked as an accompanist in Monaco. In New York, she played for classes sponsored by the New York City Ballet and Alvin Ailey. [7]
Availability
Album: Pink Tights. Tenacious. CD. 2002.
YouTube: uploaded by CDBaby on 7 May 2015.
End Notes
1. Plies for the knees and port de bras for the arms usually were done together; battement tendus were for the legs, beats around the ankle or frappes developed foot and ankle flexibility, développés and grand battements strengthened the long leg muscles, and rond de jambs exercised the hip.
2. These were called arabesques and prepared dancers for slow adagio movements.
3. "Pink Tights." CD Baby website. The first was used for tendus facing the barre; the second was for frappes.
4. These were port de bras, plies facing the barre, and slow tendus.
5. These were tendus and frappes.
6. "lisa harris." LinkedIn.
7. "Lisa Harris." Jay Distributors’ Dance Class Music website.
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