Ghanima Atreides (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
atreideslioness) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2010-11-03 10:10 am
atreideslioness) wrote in fandomhigh2010-11-03 10:10 am
Entry tags:
Cultural Appreciation, Week IX [Wednesday, Periods 4 & 5]
Today's portal would lead students to the doors of the David H. Koch Theater, home of the New York City Ballet. "Today, you'll be seeing something more along the traditional lines of 'culture,' Ghanima said, once everyone had arrived. "New York City Ballet was the brainchild of Lincoln Kirstein. He envisioned an American ballet where young native dancers could be trained and schooled under the guidance of the world's greatest ballet masters to perform a new, modern repertory, rather than relying on touring groups of imported artists performing for American audiences."
"When he met George Balanchine in London in 1933, Kirstein knew he had found the right person for his dream. Balanchine's training lay in the tradition of the great Russian ballet; he entered the Imperial School of Ballet in St. Petersburg at age 10 and graduated at 17. Also a student at the Petrograd Conservatory of Music during this time, he studied piano and composition. With his schooling behind him and only 20 years old, Balanchine left the newly-created Soviet Union for the West. In 1933, Balanchine accepted Kirstein's invitation to come to America to start the school which was to serve as the incubator of their American ballet."
"Currently, the Company has approximately 90 dancers, making it the largest dance organization in America. It has an active repertory of over 150 works, principally choreographed by Balanchine, Robbins and Peter Martins. Today, however, we are not seeing one of the modern repertory pieces, although I almost purchased tickets to Jewels, which is a particular favorite of mine."
"Swan Lake, the last of the great 19th-century Russian ballets, is a work of emotional intensity, inventive choreography and glorious music, a lyrical and moving musical/psychological dance drama. Although Swan Lake was also the last of the famed Tschaikovsky-Petipa-Ivanov ballets, it was actually the composer's first ballet score."
"In 1875, Tschaikosvky had received a commission from the Moscow Imperial Theatre -- now called the Bolshoi Ballet. He was paid 800 rubles for a new four-act ballet, a sum that was nearly half of what he earned during a whole year teaching at the Conservatory in St. Petersburg. Tschaikovsky, who thought that ballet was "the most innocent, the most moral of the arts," suggested the libretto for Swan Lake."
"Years earlier, for a family entertainment, he had composed a short ballet based on a German fairy tale about a wicked sorcerer who turns young girls into birds. He expanded this story into Swan Lake, a moving ballet of romance and tragedy. Enchanted by sorcerer Von Rotbart, Odette, the Swan Queen, assumes her human form only between the hours of midnight and dawn. It will take the pledge of eternal love by a man who has forsaken all other women to break this spell. Prince Siegfried falls in love with Odette, but is tricked into proposing marriage to Von Rotbart's daughter, Odile. Although his betrayal seals the Swan Queen's fate, she forgives him. The lovers triumph over the evil magician by throwing themselves into the lake — their self-sacrificing love frees the Swan Maidens from the curse and destroys Von Rotbart's power forever."
"The plot has served to inspire countless story books, a few movies, and is recognizable by people who have never even seen the ballet. Watch the dancers, and think about where you've seen elements of this ballet incorporated into contemporary culture."
[OOC:Wait for the OCD to find its pointe shoes shoes are on, barre work is done, and it's time to run variations!]
"When he met George Balanchine in London in 1933, Kirstein knew he had found the right person for his dream. Balanchine's training lay in the tradition of the great Russian ballet; he entered the Imperial School of Ballet in St. Petersburg at age 10 and graduated at 17. Also a student at the Petrograd Conservatory of Music during this time, he studied piano and composition. With his schooling behind him and only 20 years old, Balanchine left the newly-created Soviet Union for the West. In 1933, Balanchine accepted Kirstein's invitation to come to America to start the school which was to serve as the incubator of their American ballet."
"Currently, the Company has approximately 90 dancers, making it the largest dance organization in America. It has an active repertory of over 150 works, principally choreographed by Balanchine, Robbins and Peter Martins. Today, however, we are not seeing one of the modern repertory pieces, although I almost purchased tickets to Jewels, which is a particular favorite of mine."
"Swan Lake, the last of the great 19th-century Russian ballets, is a work of emotional intensity, inventive choreography and glorious music, a lyrical and moving musical/psychological dance drama. Although Swan Lake was also the last of the famed Tschaikovsky-Petipa-Ivanov ballets, it was actually the composer's first ballet score."
"In 1875, Tschaikosvky had received a commission from the Moscow Imperial Theatre -- now called the Bolshoi Ballet. He was paid 800 rubles for a new four-act ballet, a sum that was nearly half of what he earned during a whole year teaching at the Conservatory in St. Petersburg. Tschaikovsky, who thought that ballet was "the most innocent, the most moral of the arts," suggested the libretto for Swan Lake."
"Years earlier, for a family entertainment, he had composed a short ballet based on a German fairy tale about a wicked sorcerer who turns young girls into birds. He expanded this story into Swan Lake, a moving ballet of romance and tragedy. Enchanted by sorcerer Von Rotbart, Odette, the Swan Queen, assumes her human form only between the hours of midnight and dawn. It will take the pledge of eternal love by a man who has forsaken all other women to break this spell. Prince Siegfried falls in love with Odette, but is tricked into proposing marriage to Von Rotbart's daughter, Odile. Although his betrayal seals the Swan Queen's fate, she forgives him. The lovers triumph over the evil magician by throwing themselves into the lake — their self-sacrificing love frees the Swan Maidens from the curse and destroys Von Rotbart's power forever."
"The plot has served to inspire countless story books, a few movies, and is recognizable by people who have never even seen the ballet. Watch the dancers, and think about where you've seen elements of this ballet incorporated into contemporary culture."
[OOC:
Re: Sign-In IX