Abstract This paper examines the history of ballet from 15th century Italy until present day. It then looks at the history of BalletNY, formerly DanceGalaxy and founded in 1997 by former New York City Ballet Principal Ballerina Judith Fugate and international guest artist, Medhi Bahiri.
Paper Outline:
Introduction
Humble Beginnings
The Emergence of Ballet Opera Ballet Liberation Ballerina
Social Change
A Decline In Interest
The New York City Ballet and BalletNY: Full Circle
Bibliography
From the Paper "Judith Fugate is a former principal ballerina with the New York City Ballet. She has danced roles in virtually every ballet in the NYCB repertoire counting Peter Martins and Mikhail Baryshnikov among her many famous partners. In 1997, she left the New York City Ballet Company to purse a career as a freelance Guest Artist and Co-Artistic Director of what is now known as BalletNY. In addition to touring extensively, Fugate has appeared on "Live from Lincoln Center" with Ray Charles in Peter Martin's "A Fool for You", and in the Metropolitan Opera's production of "La Traviata", conducted by Placido Domingo."
Abstract The paper explains the origin of ballet in relation to semiotics and aesthetics. The paper then discusses its appeal to diverse audiences, using the example of Chinese and Chinese overseas culture. The paper includes notes on the theory of aesthetics and how some may appeal across cultures, as opposed to others. The paper presents ideas of ballet as an institution and not just a form of classical dance, explaining that this depends on location.
From the Paper "Marcel Danesi explains that dancing is found in all cultures, sometimes as a 'body art' that can be a form of aesthetic communication. (2004, 61) This form of dance can express emotions, moods, ideas, or it can tell a story. Danesi refers directly to Western classical ballet as his example. This paper tells more of ballet and how it can appeal to people, too, who live beyond Western countries, and those who belong to non-Western cultures. As aesthetic communication, ballet has become part of Chinese culture in particular."
Abstract This paper discusses various elements of Asian religions and how it is intertwined in Crane's novel "Bones of the Master". These elements include pilgrimage, master/disciple relationship and the importance of meditation. The book is a true story of a man on a spiritual quest for the truth.
From the Paper "The concept of the teacher and the student is prevalent in Bones of the Master. When beginning a religious path, it is most widely agreed that the best place to start is by finding a teacher, or a master. It is this teacher, that can guide the student towards proper meditation techniques and passing their wisdom down to the student. In his younger days, Tsung Tsai found his master in Shiuh Deng. One of the key teachings of a Buddhist master is the art of meditation. For one who is seeking a religious path, the most important aspect to learn is meditation."
Abstract This paper examines the nature of the servant and master relationship in the film "Master Harold and the Boys". The author points out that interracial relations are linked not just with racism and prejudice but also with sexism, classicism and stereotypes, as seen through the narrow world views of each character. The paper suggests that the play has hope for understanding.
From the Paper "The overt oppression and resistance of Guerrillas and the shocking overt racist words and actions in Harold and the Boys are merely symptoms of the power dynamics in interracial interaction. The actual structure that gives rise to the master and servant relationship is hidden. What is observed in both works is anger and reaction as misunderstanding because the structure is not understood. Harold, for example, projects his father on the world. The final words of Guerillas are deadly miscommunication: "Are you hearing me Jimmy?" "Massa" (248). The term 'massa' seems pleading, subservient, but is used by a character who has total control and seemingly wants to have revenge for Bryant's madness."
Abstract This essay focuses on the characters of the three central personalities in "The Master Builder": Halvard Solness, Aline Solness, and Hilde Wangel. Personal traits and the relationship of individuals to each other as a means of plot development are viewed as well as a discussion of what each character shows us about the human identity and soul.
From the Paper "The character of Hilde Wangel stands as the "wild bird of the forest" or foil to Aline's conservatism. Her appearance breaks the tension that we feel between Kaja the bookkeeper, Halvard, and Mrs. Solness in the first act, and draws attention to the magnificent and culminatory events at Lysanger ten years earlier."
Abstract This paper compares two films, one from Japan, Hayao Miyazaki's "My Neighbor Totoro" and China, Yuen Woo-Ping's "The Tai Chi Master". It analyzes the aspects involving the relationship nature has with the beliefs and values of the Shinto and Taoism religion that are prevalent in the films. The author states that the films' similarities reveal the common ideals that both religions are founded on: respect and gratitude towards nature and its power.
From the Paper "Hayao Miyazaki's "My Neighbor Totoro" and Yuen Woo-Ping's "The Tai Chi Master", one from Japan and another from China, will be analyzed in order to see how the beliefs and values of Shinto associate nature with human beings while Taoism interprets nature as the ultimate source of power. My Neighbor Totoro reveals Shinto beliefs throughout the films by presenting the audiences how Shinto belief ? that nature has a great deal of influence on human beings and actions one takes originate from nature ? has become a critical factor of Japanese people's life on a daily basis. The Tai Chi Master emphasizes the notion that one can strengthen himself from understanding the order of nature. Yuen leads the audiences through the main character's ordeal and how he manages to recover from the emotional and physical injury by questioning himself about the force and order of nature which eventually enables him to discover the path leads to his goal."
Abstract A book report on Robert Coleman's "The Master Plan of Evangelism", a study of Jesus' methods of evangelism (expansion of the church, conversion etc.) and a recommendation for pastors and other church leaders that they use the same methods of forming small groups of dedicated Christians who will go out into the world and faithfully spread Christ's message.
Abstract This paper gives an overview of the physical, social, emotional, and financial hardships that a professional ballet dancer must endure throughout his or her career.
From the Paper "One of the hallmarks of good ballet dancing is the seemingly effortless grace of the performers. Particularly, the high-level dancers of a ballet company elevate movement to an art in motion, almost in defiance of the laws of gravity, and in direct distain to the limitations of the average human body. For these ?prima ballerinas,? balance, range of motion, and control of muscle, borders on the miraculous?for to see them execute a grand jete (a running, jumping split), or a flawless grand battement (a kind of controlled kick), can conjure nothing short of slack-jawed awe."
Abstract The paper gives a history of Russian-born Serge Diaghilev and explains how his unconventional ideas of ballet led to the creation of the Ballets Russes in France. The paper lists the people associated with the company and explains the factors that contributed to the success of the Ballets Russes. The author describes the incredible impact that the Ballets Russes had on the world of ballet.
From the Paper "Serge Diaghilev was born of Russian nobility in Perm, Russia, on March 19, 1872. In 1890 his family moved to Saint Petersburg, and at the university there, Diaghilev was supposed to study law, but he soon became enamored with the arts and realized that was where his future lay."
Abstract The writer looks at the National Ballet of China and its history. This article also studies the form and history of dance in China. The writer describes how the objective of the National Ballet of China is to introduce to the Chinese audiences Western classical ballets and contemporary ballet works. The National Ballet also aims to explore the unique and possible fusion of classical ballet and the Chinese culture. The author explains that in 1957, the classic "Swan Lake," was performed on stage and signaled the formal entry of the ballet form into the country. The paper glances at recently produced successes and at how the company experiments with different modern styles.
From the Paper "One of the world's top 10 ballet companies, the National Ballet of China was founded on December 31,1959 (CCTV 2005, Orange County 2005) and has, in the past four decades, consisted of generations of striving and gifted artists. The dance company has turned out outstanding artistic achievements in Western and Chinese classical and contemporary ballet. It had rough and tough times too as when it was under-funded and its members became over-aged. Its only reward was art itself and its artists continued to devote themselves to their career to become the pioneer in China's unique ballet style."
Abstract This paper takes a look at the history of the art of ballet, as well as reviews the different types of the ballet dance and the strenuous demands that ballet makes on the dancer. This paper also covers various dance choreographers and their particular styles of dance.
From the Paper "Classical ballet celebrates the potential harmony of the human body, the utopian ideal of collective endeavor, the possibility of the interchange between masculinity and femininity. Something of this is what has recommended ballet to the communisms of the USSR, Cuba and China. Beneath the aristocratic tat of the settings and the charming but dispensable never-never of the stories, there is an implicitly socialist vision.
Yet classical ballet must of course always come wrapped in the specifics of where and for whom it is performed, what other values and meanings it is attached to, and these are riven with contradictions. In practice, in Britain, classical ballet is, at one and the same time, elitist and popular, and woman-centered, heterosexist and part of gay male culture, universal and distinctly white. It is all of this at once.
It is selective in part because it is expensive. Not only are sets on a grand scale and not only do most of the classics require large casts, but behind all that there are the years of investment in training. "
Abstract Describing ballet as a classical dance form characterized by grace and precision of movement and elaborate formal technique, the writer of this articles presents a history of ballet. The writer looks at the BalletNY company and notes that BalletNY has become a well known and respected dance Company. The writer discusses BalletNY's principal dancers. The writer concludes that the New York City Ballet has done what BalletNY hopes to do, acquire one of the largest, most faithful, intelligent, and enthusiastic audiences in the American theater world.
Outline:
Humble Beginnings
The Emergence of Ballet Opra Ballet Liberation Ballerina
Social Change
A Decline In Interest
The New York City Ballet and BalletNY: Full Circle
Bibliography
From the Paper "Formerly DanceGalaxy, BalletNY was founded in 1997 by former New York City Ballet Principal Ballerina Judith Fugate and International Guest Artist Medhi Bahiri. BalletNY is comprised of accomplished principals and soloists who have danced with leading American and international ballet companies such as New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theater of Harlem, and the Joffrey Ballet, among others."
"Judith Fugate is a former principal ballerina with the New York City Ballet. She has danced roles in virtually every ballet in the NYCB repertoire counting Peter Martins and Mikhail Baryshnikov among her many famous partners. In 1997, she left the New York City Ballet Company to purse a career as a freelance Guest Artist and Co-Artistic Director of what is now known as BalletNY."
Abstract This paper examines how the differences in perceptions under the institution of slavery can be startling, to say the least. The way in which the same event is understood alternately by slaves and by their masters is dramatic. It examines three potential events in an imaginative fashion, suggesting different understandings for both slaves and masters. The events examined include marriage, the death of a master and a slave sale.
From the Paper "The differences in perceptions under the institution of slavery can be startling, to say the least. The way in which the same event is understood alternately by slaves and by their masters is dramatic. Of course, it would be reductive to imagine that perceptions about events through slavery are monolithic. Individual slaves and individual slave-owners might well have had differing perspectives on the events around them. However, for the sake of this study we can assume that, on average across the whole of the institution in the United States, there were commonly held perceptions that affected the way in which people on both sides of this institution were viewed. This paper will examine three potential events in an imaginative fashion, suggesting different understandings for both slaves and masters. The events examined will include marriage, the death of a master, and a slave sale."
Abstract This paper examines the art, form and traits of the carved marble female figures attributed to the Schuster Master whose real name is unknown and is identified only by the style of his work. It shows how these remarkable pieces dating back to 2400 BCE and sculpted in marble serve as reminders of the evolution of ancient Greek art and all have a prominent, linear nose, a curvaceous forehead and hints of pregnancy in the belly. The Schuster Master may have intended simply to convey the power of pregnancy or of the female spirit but Cycladic art is deceptively minimalist and original pieces, painted and decorated have exhibited the sophisticated understanding of the artist for his media.
From the Paper "However, the model's arms are tightly crossed and drawn across her torso. This pose is reposed, relaxed, resolute, and refined. The folded arms form a square that balances perfectly with the otherwise cylindrical nature of the statue. The elbows are pointy, perhaps suggesting a stubborn nature. This is no pushover. The Cycladic woman sticks to her guns; she is an effective leader. Her decisions are final, evident by her stoic stance. The artist's lack of detail in depicting her form also indicates a lack of frivolity in the female personality."
A discussion of whether Mikhail Bulgakov's use of the fantastic in "The Master and Margarita?" is designed to undermine, even to ridicule, the "certainties" of the materialist world-view.
1,851 words (approx. 7.4 pages), 0 sources, 2002, $ 59.95
Abstract This paper reviews Mikhail Bulgakov's book "The Master and Margarita" and examines his views on the accepted Soviet stand on fate, human nature, atheism, censorship, personal identity documentation and forced literature. It looks at how through the use of the fantastic in his novel Bulgakov seeks to ridicule and undermine the foundations of these Soviet certainties. It shows how throughout the novel Bulgakov's use of implausible and incredible happenings effectively undermine the "certainties" of the materialist world. It analyzes how Massolit is destroyed, bureaucracy is ridiculed, xenophobic attitudes are parodied and institutions and theories are mocked relentlessly, even in the epilogue. It examines how the Soviet machine is even able to rationalize the supernatural and how this rationale creates such absurdities as people arresting cats and furthermore, giving glowing references for their release. Bulgakov's use of the fantastical as a device to satirize and thereby undermine accepted "certainties" of his time is genuinely masterful.
From the Paper "Throughout the novel, Bulgakov bends the parameters of space, time and imagination, for the Moscow residents, and the reader. Passports, papers, people and money all come and go at Woland's will. Parties that last for hours take only minutes. Guns have no effect and people start to fly. Despite the fact that Soviet Citizens are generally used to mysterious disappearances, and unexplained circumstances, such as those that often lead to arrest, during the Devil's stay in Moscow, they are understandably bewildered. The rumours cannot be put down until the Devil and his retinue have left."
