Martha Graham / Break Dance & Chinese Classical

Martha Graham

Questions

1. What did Graham think about the human body?

2. What did she mean by "playing the emotion and the circumstances"?

3. Why is Appalachian Spring Graham's most lyrical and popular work?

4. Why did Graham identified herself with Joan of Arc?

5. Explain what Graham meant when she cited Emily Dickinson's words "this is my letter to the world."

----------------------------------------------

Student's Presentations

Lauren Haverlin

Break Dancing

DAN 130
13 April 2020


· Introduction:
o What is break dancing?

Video

Break dancers often have dance battles, which you can see in the video clip

This concept will be explained further

o Aspects of break dancing:

Break dancing is a very energetic form of dance, with complex footwork and athletic movements, such as handstands and head stands

There are 4 main movements, toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes

Some dances can be more robotic than others

What is great about break dancing is that, unlike other forms of ballet, there aren’t really “rules”

· A lot of break dancing is improvisational

· You can experiment and make it your own

o History forming the dance:

NYC in 1960’s/1970’s

Diverse, influx of immigrants

 In the “Harlem Riot of 1964,” African Americans rebelled against police forces after police kill a 15-year-old boy

· This showed that times were about to change

Then, in 1969, the recession led to an era of drugs, violence, and poverty

· Unemployment soared

· People moved out of cities

o Breakdancing in NYC

African Americans and Latino’s invented break dance as a spin off of their martial arts moves

It was a self-defense against other gangs in Harlem

Losers had agreed to stay off each other’s home “turf” if they lost the battle of dances

o What is a “Break?”

It is particular rhythms and sounds produced by DJs by mixing sounds from records to form continuous dancing beats

· DJ Kool Herc was a pioneer DJ

Break dancers were known as “B Boys” and later “B Girls”

o Conclusions:

Benefits

-------------------------------------

Chinese Classical Dance By Yi Gao

Power Point

Students' Work

 Alexis Jackson
 

Graham thought that you would always reveal what you felt by the way you move your body. She thought everything started with a contraction or a thrust in the pose. Her movements were strong, direct, and candid. She thought that the body was very beautiful and elegant. That the body had to be treasured and honored and disciplined, which were rights of the dancers.

You have to play the emotions of the circumstances by moving how you feel would fit the particular situation. For example when she was told she had to cry, instead of crying on demand she did a thrust in her gut and made it seem as if she was crying, and fell to the floor. 

The Appalachian Spring is Graham’s most lyrical and popular work because it is about a young quaker marriage . It is the story of a young married couple coming into their home for the first time. She recreates her youth as a bride in this performance and shows her love within the piece.

She identified with Joan of Arc because she thought of herself as a heroic woman of vision and action. She thought she was the symbol of triumph in the deathless in insufficient. She really didn’t have many friends because she didn’t have the time. She had a vision of what she wanted to do and set out to complete it. Dance was what she thought about all the time, dance was her whole life. 

When she cited Emily Dickinson's words “this is my letter to the world” she meant that there are good things and bad things that you will receive during your life but for her, her treasure is her debt. I am not sure exactly what she meant but I think that maybe she was talking about how after her alcoholism and downfall she ended up creating 20 new ballets and 20 new revivals at the age of 79. That something good ended up coming from something bad. 

 Bingche Huang

1. Gardham thinks that the human body can tell stories, and people can express themselves or convey messages by actions through their bodies. Also, she harbors the idea that people should cherish their bodies and discover the beauty of the human body.
2. I think she means that people should put them in the circumstances and express the emotions and create the atmosphere, which is consistent with the situations.
3. I think it is because the work tells a love story about a young couple and it can connect with her according to her personal love experiences and it expresses strong emotions that the audience can feel.
4. Because, from her perspective, she thinks herself has some common features with Joan of Arc. They are both clear about what they want to do and are going to do.
5. I think it means she expresses her ideas, emotion though dance, and dance is the way she communicates  with the world and pay back to the world after receiving lots from the world.