Ballet and the Dance Boom of the 1960's And 70's

At right - Politicians making war in Kurt Joos’s GREEN TABLE created in Germany between World Wars 1&2, staged by the Joffrey Ballet

Balletomania - extraordinary enthusiasm for ballet - resurges from time to time. During the 1960's and 1970's a convergence of creativity, talent, vision, politics and money created what is known as the dance boom. is remembered by many as the dance boom.

Ballet, usually relegated to the back of the arts section, as front page news. The newspapers were full of ballet, which is normally kept for the back of the arts section. Ballet dancing even made the front pages. Many outstanding ballet dancers defected from the Soviet Union and seized the world's attention. The most prominent defectors included Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov. These ballet dancers sparked a renaissance in classical ballet and nonclassical items were reinvented. Suddenly new first rate ballets started appearing and ballet was the hip thing to do.

And there was money for it. During the 60's and 70's the federal government established the National endowment for the Arts, individual states created their own arts councils and private organisations like the Ford Foundation gave generously to dance and dance education.

Today, a Russian dancer can move to New York without too much difficulty, but before the fall of communism, it was unthinkable. Russia did not allow people, especially prized ballet dancers, to emigrate. When Russian dancers had tours to Western countries, they were under constant surveillance and were not permitted to go on tour at all if the government harboured suspicions about them. Ballet dancers lived in fear for their families that were left behind in case the government retaliated against them. If they did defect, they had to assume that they would never see their loved ones or their homeland again. Artistic freedom came at an enormous price and huge risk.

Nureyev dominated the stage with his magnetism and put male dancing in the spotlight again. Makarova brought with her exquisite line and expressive phrasing along with brilliant technique. Baryshnikov will be remembered for his astounding leaps and turns that just seemed to come out of nowhere.

Nineteenth century ballets got a much needed boost, and new classics were in full production. In Europe, Cranko, MacMillan and Ashton choreographed important and enduring ballets. In New York, Arthur Mitchell founded the Dance Ttheatre of Harlem. At New York City Ballet, allanchine and Robbins created some of their finest work. With NYCB's move to Lincoln Center in 1964, the advent of dance on television, creativity seemed boundless and endless. The 1972 Stravinsky Festival offered 22 premieres on one week, 10 by Ballanchine.

Robert Joffrey demonstrated how ballet could rouse an audience to political protest. The Joffrey Ballet revived important but rarely seen ballets from the distant and not-so-distant past. It also presented new work by then unknown choreographers like Tharp, Forsythe and Morris. In 1967 Joffrey revived Kurt Jones's 1932 harrowing antiwar ballet, The Green Table Two years later, when the Vietnam War as at its height, Joffrey put The Green Table on the program. During the performance, each dancer wore a black armband when his or her character was taken by Death; their final group appearance at the end creating an eloquent silent protest. Audience members were moved to follow the dancers out onto the streets of New York to join the demonstration.

Today, original voices have emerged,usually borrowing from fresh idioms. Chinese opera training may be at the root of Shen Wei's vocabulary, but this Chinese-born choreographer's abstract treatments of Stravinsky and other Western composers are startlingly innovative. Ronald K. Brown has adapted the fluency of African dances with remarkable creativity for Alvin Ailey's company and his own. The freshest novelty is break dancing, as restylized and theatricalized. It is a limited idiom, but you would not know it from the works of Rennie Harris and the French company Kafig.

All that said, everyone knows that the dance boom has ended. It fell victim to drastic cuts in government and private financing that curtailed touring and put some companies out of business. The creative drive of that exciting time has also petered out. Douglas Dunne no longer lies on a crate for hours. Ms. Tharp no longer investigates the limits of perception, daring audiences to follow her dancers from room to room or up and down staircases in museums.

Old-timers will tell you, rightly, that dancers value technique over artistry today. But this is not true in all cases, especially in the way Balanchine works are danced 23 weeks a year at New York City Ballet, the only company in the world that can attract a public for that long in one city. Professional Balanchine mourners: move on. Doomsayers of the dance world: stand by; any art form is greater than a single individual, be it choreographer or superstar. We are in an interlude waiting for the next boom. In the end is the beginning.

Interview/Documentary from Dance in America with the Joffrey Ballet in 1976. Includes Robert Joffrey briefly interviewing Kurt Jooss about "The Green Table"

The Man Behind Fred Astaire's Dancing: Choreographer Hermes Pan

At Right: Hermes Working with Fred

Lovers of the work of Fred Astaire have Hermes Pan to thank. A man who physically looked and danced like Fred, it was almost as if fate brought these two creative geniuses together.

He and Astaire met in an RKO rehearsal studio in 1933 (Hermes was 24, broke, and moving in the middle of the night from house to house with his mother and his sister Ditty.

Hermes had been hired by the studio Dance Director (there were no choreographers in those days) Dave Gould to work with Fred since Gould didn’t know how to dance.

Born in Tennessee, the son of a Greek candy manufacturer and distributor, as a little boy his “mammy,” as black housekeepers were called in those days, used to take him home at night sometimes to the part of town known as Black Bottom, a common name for the black ghetto in Southern cities.

The influence of the culture of Black Bottom is incalculable historically: great music and dancing emerged from these communities. Hermes would recall late in his life how those trips to Black Bottom were always exciting to the child because there was nightlife in the streets and musicians with tubs, broomsticks and strings that played what was then called “gut bucket jazz.” Today it would be called Rock-n-Roll.

Hermes remembered that music as getting into his bones. He recalled that its effect on him was almost sensual (probably was entirely). It was a dance movement that began with The Shuffle. He took that with him to New York as a teenager after his father had died suddenly and he put it to work. It was the mid 1920s and he and his sister supported themselves and their mother with song and dance jobs.

One of his jobs was a show called “Top Speed” with a newcomer named Ginger Rogers. Ginger told Hermes she was going to Hollywood where they were looking for musical comedy talent, including dancers. So after “Top Speed” closed in 1931, the Pans bought an old Model T and with $75, they drove across the continent to Hollywood.

The first two years were tough and they practically starved but then came the fateful day when Hermes was hired (at $75 a week) to work with Fred Astaire in “Flying Down To Rio,” only Astaire’s second picture and the first teamed with Ginger Rogers.

The two men had very different personalities but compatible sensibilities when it came to dance and music and humor. Actually when it came to music, Hermes being ten years younger, was naturally more in tune with the “latest” and Fred who was nothing if not shrewd about his business, recognized that. Hermes would rehearse with Fred in Ginger's role as they created dances, then rehearse with Ginger portraying Fred's role.

It was a collaboration that lasted for the rest of the men’s lives. Of all of Fred’s few real friendships, Hermes’ bond had an additional quality because of the dance.

Reflecting on his career, he acknowledged that the dancing that the world knew as Fred Astaire was mainly African in its roots. Astaire was very drawn to percussive sounds and rhythms. There were rumors that he took some lessons from John Bubbles of Buck-n-Bubbles. Mr. Bubbles was a vaudevillian, entertainer, dancer. He played “Sportin’ Life” in the original Gershwin “Porgy and Bess” and he was regarded by many as a genius. Astaire was a follower.

The movements and ideas that Hermes brought to the dance floor for Fred Astaire were those that he’d acquired as a small child in Black Bottom, thanks to his mammy and the boys who played gut bucket jazz in the streets. No one knew at the time, but it was all headed for Fred Astaire and the American dance musical.

Hermes had the longest career as a dance director/choreographer and hired a number of major American dancers for their first Hollywood jobs including Bob Fosse and Jack Cole. He won an Oscar for “Damsel in Distress” in 1936. After Fred and Ginger broke up, he went over to 20th Century Fox where he worked and danced(uncredited) with Betty Grable, who was then the number one box office star in America as well as Rita Hayworth. In the 1950s he joined the Pasternak unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he choreographed and appeared in "Kiss Me Kate"(1953) In the 1960s Joe Mankiewicz hired him to stage Elizabeth Taylor’s version of Cleopatra entering Rome.

“Dancers,” he once said; “are like children. That’s the only way they can do what they do.”

He won an Emmy Award for the 1958 television special "An Evening with Fred Astaire," and was recognized with a National Film Award in 1980 and by the Joffrey Ballet.

He died at his home in Beverly Hills a few months before his 81st birthday. He’d goten up that day and fed his cat and made his bacon and eggs, toast and coffee. After he finished his breakfast he sat down in his favorite chair in his livingroom overlooking his patio and swimming pool. Later that afternoon, a family member who hadn’t been able to reach him, found him still sitting there, already having departed for higher places.

Hermes and Betty Grable in "Footlight Serenade", 1942

Remembering Rita Hayworth: The Dancer as Well as Actress

Rita with her Father and Grandfather

Behind the aura of sexiness that Rita Hayworth oozed on screen during her heyday hid Margarita Cansino, a shy, lonely woman whose lifelong quest for love and happiness disastrously led her into the arms of several men who either controlled her or used her in a way or another, ultimately breaking her heart.

When she finally did break free from those men, Alzheimer's disease slowly crept in, ultimately claiming her life in 1987 - the first documented case of the disease in a celebrity.

Born Margarita Carmen Cansino on October 17, 1918, in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Spanish flamenco dancer Eduardo Cansino and English/Irish-American Ziegfeld girl Volga Hayworth. Rita was an exceptionally talented dancer, and her performances showed a strength and sensitivity that set her apart from other actresses, and made her just as popular with female audiences as with male. Dancing-wise, she held her own opposite Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and more. In fact, she regarded her two films with Fred as her favorites. Rita loved dancing, and it showed. In a quirk of fate, Rita's mother's brother, Vinton Hayworth, (Rita's uncle) was married to Ginger's mother's sister, Jean Owens (Ginger's aunt)

Rita's aunt Elisa was Eduardo's dancing partner, but eventually "Margarita" replaced her when she was only 13 years old. "There was the Depression at that time", Rita said, from an interview conducted shortly before Alzheimer's took over. "When we needed money, I worked with my father in a place in Tijuana."

She eventually began landing movie roles after movie executives showed interest in her, and ended up landing a contract with Fox pictures, something that didn't last long once the studio's chief, Darryl Zanuck, found that he couldn't find suitable roles for her.

Through the contacts and investment of the first husband, Ed Judson (a 40-year-old man she married when she was merely 18 years old), she ultimately landed a contract with Columbia Studios, which revamped her image and shortened her name to Rita. In addition to that, the last name, Cansino, was changed to Hayworth, her mother's maiden name, which the studio thought sounded more refined.

That was not all. In order to make her look more "American", the studio's heads also worked to give her a visual makeover. "She used to have very black hair", says friend Ann Miller, "and they lightened it. And she had kind of a low hairline. They had to take about an inch out of her hair with electrolysis to give her a higher kind of a forehead, but that was very painful."

After several movie roles, Rita finally reached stardom in Blood And Sand, a remake of the 1918 Valentino movie in which she played Doña Sol, the femme fatale that leads the bullfighter to a disgraceful demise. What made her a sex symbol, however, was the famous Life Magazine pin-up.

Rita divorced her first husband in 1942 after she fell in love and got engaged to Victor Mature, her costar in My Gal Sal. But as Mature headed to World War II, Orson Welles began to romance her and ultimately won her over. They married on September 7th, 1943 in a quiet ceremony during a break in the shooting of Covergirl, a musical with Gene Kelly.

At the peak of her stardom, Rita got pregnant (studio chief Harry Cohen was furious at her for that), and Rebecca Wells was born on December 17th, 1944. She was reportedly happy as her dreams had come true: she had a family and apparent security, but sadly things were not in Rita's favor. Her marriage quickly went sour as Welles' workaholic and philandering tendencies took the best of their relationship. They separated in 1945.

During that time, she was working on Gilda, the movie that would forever cement her sensual image. To her surprise, the public expected her to be her character, something she was not only unable, but also unwilling to do. Rita, however, fought to keep her personal life private, so she rarely spoke to the press - especially gossip columnists Noelle Parsons and Hedda Hopper.

Although separated from Orson Welles, Rita used her star image to press studio chief Larry Cohen to back The Lady From Shanghai (1948). At that time, Welles had been practically blacklisted by Hollywood for the flak he got from Citizen Kane. She was his costar, but the film ultimately didn't work with the public. As one critic put it, The Lady From Shanghai was "an experiment on what not to do." Today, however, both films are considered cult classics.

After wrapping the film, Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth's marriage was finally over.
During a vacation in Europe, Rita met playboy Prince Ali Khan, who Rita described as "fabulous". They fell in love, and after untangling their legal statuses, they married, and Rita left Hollywood to become Princess Margarita Ali Khan. Unfortunately, his jet-set lifestyle was too much for the quiet-loving Hayworth.

Rita kept trying to lead a happy life, and she was very joyful when her second child, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan was born in December 1949. Even though Khan was a good father for both of Rita's children, the never-ending lack of privacy was too much for her, and she finally returned to America after two years of marriage.

She returned home to her career as a single mom, although she wasn't exactly happy about it. Affair in Trinidad (1952), a mediocre film in retrospect, was her comeback vehicle, but despite the bad script, she threw herself into the role, and her dance scenes are nothing but memorable.
During the making of Salome, she met nightclub singer Dick Haymes, who she ultimately married. Later Rita would say she only married him to help him out with his troubles with the IRS and to stop his deportation to Argentina.

Rita filed for divorce in 1955, and after four years without making any movies, she had her second comeback in a dramatic role in Fire Down Below (1957). The same year, she co-starred with Frank Sinatra in Pal Joey, which would be her final film with Columbia studios.
Her next role was in Separate Tables, a film co-produced by her final husband(whom she married in 1958), James Hill. In that role, she plays(alongside Burt Lancaster) an "aging, once beautiful lady, and her essential problem(in the words of director Delbert Mann) is her desperate fear of growing old - particularly of growing old alone".

The marriage with Hill didn't work. As with Orson Welles in the forties, Hill was a workaholic, and he saw in his relationship with Hayworth and opportunity to make movies, while Rita longed for some quiet time. They divorced in the fall of 1961.

After coming to terms with living alone and spending time with her family, she slowly began to show the symptoms of the illness that would claim her life. Rita was losing her short-term memory, and she was having various mood swings and moments of odd behavior that were augmented with her growing alcoholism, which had been fueled out of her frustration of not being able to remember her lines.

She continued to pursue movie roles during the 1960s and 70s, but her illness made her unable to memorize her lines. She had to use cue cards by the end of her career. Her last film was The Wrath of God (1972), opposite Robert Mitchum.

After various manic episodes of erratic behavior that many attributed to her drinking, she was finally diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in a Los Angeles hospital.

Rita Hayworth died in New York on May 14th, 1987 after spending her last days bedridden and unable to walk, talk or take care of herself - indeed a sad ending for a woman who, during her lifetime had inspired so many for decades with her selfless dance and gracious moves. Her memory, though, lives on, and we have her films, which continue to impress us and shall continue to do so for years to come.

A Montage of Clips Showing Rita's Dancing

Intergenerational Dance: Alive and Well

If people were slaves to conventional wisdom, they might accept the idea that professional dancers need to retire before age 50, turning to choreography and teaching to remain active in the field. But a growing number of elder dancers in the Boston area are saying that they still want to dance professionally. Some even seek to include the youngest beginner dancers in intergenerational performances to keep the opportunities and challenges flowing.

Back Porch Dancers

These intergenerational projects are necessarily and joyously collaborative, and what the dancers learn from one group is likely to be carried forward to the next. Perhaps the earliest of these groups was Back Porch Dancers founded in 1985 by Joan Green and Vicki Solomon, and this interracial group of women spanning three generations dissolved in 2001. According to the Cambridge Women’s Heritage Project, their eldest performer was Evelyn Tyner.

Ms. Tyner, a former World War II welder, was 82 in 2000 when the group performed a dance work celebrating women’s lives and work in Cambridge at MIT. The youngest Back Porch Dancer was a high school sophomore in Cambridge at the time. In this work of dance theater, combining movement and narrative, Ms. Tyner actually performed a story of her own experience, as reported by Iris Fanger in Dance Magazine (2000)

Prometheus Dance and The Elders Ensemble

Two years after the Back Porch Dancers began, in 1987, co-founders Diane Arvaintes and Tommy Neblett launched Boston’s venerable, internationally touring company Prometheus Dance, a group of 10 dancers, who continue to offer an athletic and graceful repertoire.

When the Back Porch Dancers disbanded, Joan Green moved on to join the Prometheus Elders, a company of 8 dancers.

These post-professional dancers range in age from 60-88 years old. In addition to performing original, narrative works, they give back to the community by performing at senior centers and other community service organizations. The special focus of this company on the elder dancer has enabled them to work on material and interpretations of human history that remain challenging and deep and assert the value of life experience in human enlightenment. In 2011, they performed a work called “Parish Blues.”

Across the Ages Dance Project

Prometheus Elders' post-performance discussions empower the audience members to achieve a similar enrichment. These elders also come from a rich dance heritage; many have studied with modern dance luminaries, including Martha Graham, Jose Limon, and Alwin Nikolai.

As a member of the Prometheus Elders, Joan Green made the acquaintance of post professional dancers Marcie Mitler and Eliza Mallouk. The three have currently joined forces to produce an intergenerational dance event called Across the Ages Dance Project (ATAD), which features participants as young as age 4 and well as elders. Mallouk and Mitler are co-producers of ATAD and dancing in a number of pieces, while Green is choreographer of a multimedia, intergenerational story.

Additional choreographers crossing generations include Cat Wagner, Audra Carabetta, Melody Ruffin Ward, and Daniel McCusker, a Tufts professor and Cambridge dance teacher who has danced with Lucinda Childs and currently instructs classes for many of the participants. Mallouk continues to dance with Prometheus Elders, and all have gained in confidence and desire since first testing the limits of child dancers and adult post professionals.

Across the Ages Dance Project Documentary-Excerpts from Deborah Greenhut on Vimeo.

Back Pocket Dancers

Joan Green has expanded the creative synthesis in yet another direction by developing Back Pocket Dancers, who perform for elder dancers in common spaces found in elder venues.

Creative Aging

People throughout the U.S. and elsewhere are recognizing the value of performing arts for quality of elder life. Recreational initiatives in dance are exemplified outside of Boston by the Creative Aging movement, exemplified by Kairos Dance, founded by Martha Genne during 1999. Kairos is the only intergenerational dance company in Minnesota. Featuring participants aged 7-98, their work incorporates dance in elder care by including dancers, care teams, family members, and the elders in movement explorations that are beneficial to their health.

In Brooklyn, Spoke the Hub Dance offers dance mentoring for beginning, middle, and elder dancers. This company, featuring performances that include newborns through octogenarians, was founded by Elyse Long in 1979.

The Boston Area has long been supportive of modern dance, and, for the contra and swing dancing enthusiasts, the city hosts Boston Intergenerational Dance Advocates that promotes both traditional dance and intergenerational activity. Opportunities continue to grow as the population grows in the elder direction and people discover their natural gifts of movement.

Apollo's Angels: Is Ballet Becoming A Lost Art Form?

In her epilogue of her book Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet, Jennifer Homans poses the question:”Is ballet really over?” It may seem odd to begin with the end, given that her extensive, highly detailed coverage of the evolution of classical ballet would suggest otherwise, for it is an art form populated by impassioned impresarios, insatiably driven dancers and choreographic geniuses.

However, when you read her fascinating linear journey of classical ballet, which focuses on its European roots from the blended French/Italian court of Catherine de Medici through to the Sun King, Louis XIV, then spreading to Denmark, Italy, Russia, and Britain to finally culminate in the U.S. in the Russian-American mountain of genius, Balanchine, whose summit is beyond reach, one can see why she would ask such a question. But is she right?

Ballet as a Mirror to Society

Homans takes pains to dissect the art of ballet, an art with its feet delicately poised but firmly planted in aristocracy and deeply steeped in court etiquette. From the 16th century to the 21st, it both depicts and manifests the political and cultural landscape in which it flourishes or languishes, as the case may be.

Classical ballet has its evolution and its methods - much like the world of music - such as la belle danse, ballet de cour and ballet d’action hailing from France, the Bournonville method in Denmark, the Cecchetti method arising in Italy, the Imperial ballet in Russia, the Royal Academy of Dance in the UK, and finally, the burst of creativity and change that would splinter and invigorate dance throughout North America – modern dance, contemporary ballet, the Broadway musical and ballet-jazz.

The spread of ballet throughout Europe – its revival and greatest manifestation in Russia through its dancers, choreographers and composers (many later transplanted to the United States) – takes its source from the premier city of style and fashion – Paris. The irony lies in the fact that although the French court radiated its art throughout Europe, ballet in France began to languish in the mid-19th century, that is, until its expat choreographers set aflame the Russian world of dance as that century came to a close.

The Shift from the Male to the Female

Women were only marginal actors in the early centuries of classical ballet. It was a form that exemplified the beauty of the male form, its power and masculine grace until it reached its apogee in the early 19th century in the danseur Auguste Vestris, who was then promptly supplanted by Marie Taglioni and her ethereal dance technique, especially as La Syphide. Since then, the spotlight has continued to focus primarily, though not exclusively, on the prima ballerina.

Until Taglioni, women dancers were regarded as morally compromised women, and some certainly were. Taglioni’s perceived virtue and her light-footed dancing perfectly meshed with idealized Romantic views on the feminine ideal. Unlike her precursors, she embodied what is decent and correct, thus moving away from the come-ons of lascivious dancers to the pristine purity of ballet as a movement towards spiritual heights. She was in fact, the first ballet superstar.

It was not until the 20th century that the male ballet dancer began to re-emerge through the likes of Nijinski, Nureyev and Baryshnikov. And it is no accident that the greatest dancers and teachers came from Russian stock – no nation has made ballet so inextricably linked to its national identity and so deeply loved as in Russia. And it is this love and vision and flawless technique that they took with them to America.

Balanchine and the End of the Road

Although George Balanchine was the product of Russia’s Imperial ballet, it was not until he stepped off the boat in New York that he finally breathed the air that allowed him to create to the full extent of his genius. Although his genius is undisputed, it is in the final chapters dealing with Balanchine, with whom Homans studied, that she seems to lose perspective, behaving like a giddy schoolgirl in the presence of greatness.

Homans’ all-consuming love for the master and his works, again meticulously scrutinized and given historical and sociological context, nevertheless verges on unabashed idol worship. Granted, it is easy to be awed by Balanchine’s gifts, especially when one has worked in the full rays of his genius. She credits him with giving ballet its tradition, and yet following his death, she bemoans what she perceives as a now-dying art, as though Balanchine’s “tradition” is but a house of cards blown away by mean-spirited death.

There is a fear that, to those outside the ballet world, what happens on stage is like a fantasy. Something temporary, something that doesn't last. Because of that, people will never fully understand this world of ballet and dance.

Fantasy is something that isn't real, something that at most is fleeting, a reality we create with our minds and our thoughts. Fantasy doesn't last and is not permanent. But the magic happens not because it is in spite of the fantasy, it happens because of the fantasy. It's because it is fleeting, because it isn't real that's there is magic in the auditorium. For just a moment, we are carried along in a symphony of movement and illusion mapping out a journey where each member of the audience can choose to map. Why is it that so many little girls fall in love with ballet the moment they see it on stage live or watch it on television? Ask any girl below the age of five after she has watched a ballet performance what she thought about it and I can assure you, the response will be similar across each one of them; they loved it and want to dance.

Now, why is that? Why is it that children as young as 5, or even younger in fact are attracted to the world of dance in such an easy manner? Trust me, try herding or gathering a bunch of 20 year olds and a group of young children to the ballet. I can tell you which group will be easier to gather and handle. There is an instant love that is invoked, a kind of innateness about it.

It reminds me of Joshua Bell (the world famous violinist) in Washington D.C. central station. This was a man playing a Stradivardi violin in the middle of a crowd that didn't even stop to listen. It was like he wasn't even there and yet, as you watch the video of him playing, you can't help but feel how loud and beautiful the violin was. When questioned, many of the commuters exclaimed they couldn't even remember a violinist. But, here's the magical part of the observation. There was no exact pattern or similarities between the adults to stayed and listen and those who just continued walking. But one demographic showed an amazing likeness in their actions. As children walked pass, ALL of them turned to look. They looked even though their parents, who were holding their hands most of the time, didn't look nor stop. As you watch the video over and over again, every child who walks by does the same thing; he or she suddenly turns and is attracted to the man playing the violin in the corner.Call it naivity if you will, but I'd like to think that children as a whole appreciate beauty in a more wholesome manner than older individuals do.

This same logic could be applied to the world of dance. Kids aren't immature. They understand it better than all of us. We adults snuff that understanding out as they age. Let me ask you when was the last time one of you, in the middle of your daily life and routine, just stopped and actually took the time to look around and listen. In an auditorium, there are no distractions, no handphones, no games, no tv, no radio, no chatter, just you, the dancers, the orchestra, the music and the result is a similar experience across the entire audience.

That is magic there in itself. Getting both young kids and adults to sit quietly for over 2 hours I think is a miracle in itself. To go on about the magic of the performance in writing would do little justice for it. You have to experience it for yourself to truly appreciate it. In the end, every human mind craves for a bit of fantasy and the world of ballet provides that outlet though it may only be fleeting.


Ballet has appeal and it is ageless. The magic that it conveys is unmatched by any other danceform or performance. It is like a portal into another world and another time. Watching one of the classical ballets is a joy and an experience. Until you have experienced one of them, you won't fully know what ballet is capable of and how much it has contributed to the world and how we see it even though you may dance it. Classical ballet symbolises the discipline of training, the beginning of a fantasy, the creation of wonder, the harmonious relationship of orchestra and movement and most of all, the wondrous capabilities of what the human heart, mind and soul are capable of creating through hundreds of years of experience. It is appealing because it presents humanity in the light of its greatest capabilities.

Ballet has persisted through five centuries of human history and cycles of intense interest and indifference. The 18th century dance critic Noverre, the 19th century choreographer Bournonville and now the 21st century ballet historian Homans have all lamented the downward spiral of ballet. Balanchine may well have seen it coming by saying “Après moi, le board”, which was derived from Louis IV's "Apres moi, le deluge," meaning "After me the deluge will come," or “After my reign, the nation will be plunged into chaos and destruction.” But after the deluge a renewal will come, as all art is eventually renewed. Is ballet really over? I don't think so.

Who Owns Dance Moves? A Brief History of Dance Copyright

The recent accusation against Beyonce, claiming that she has stolen dance moves in this article made me investigate the history of dance and copyright. Martha Graham, considered by many to be the founder of modern dance, died in 1991. In her will, she left her estate to her close friend, Ron Protas. Towards the end of the decade, Mr. Protas, a non-dancer, claimed that he owned the copyrights to approximately seventy of Ms. Graham’s dances and threatened to prevent the Martha Graham Dance Company from performing those works.

After a long legal battle, Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum for the Southern District of New York, determined that forty-five of the dances belonged to the Center, ten were in the public domain, five belonged to the individuals who had commissioned them, and one dance belonged to Mr. Protas. The forty-five dances belonged to the Center through one of two means. The court found that Ms. Graham worked as an employee of the Center from 1956 to 1991. During this time, she was paid a salary and was expected to create dances, and the Center financed sets and costumes, and received the royalty payments. The dances she created during this time, then, were created as works-for-hire, and therefore, owned by the Center. For works created before 1956, the court found that Ms. Graham had transferred her rights in her work to the Center that year.

For those of you doing the math, there are nine dances left - for these, the court found that neither side had shown adequate proof of copyright ownership. A later case determined that these works also belonged to the Center. As an aside, the court also determined that the Center owned the costumes and sets (many famously designed by Japanese sculptor Isamu Noguchi for most of the work.

The decision, obviously a victory for the Martha Graham Center, prompted two conflicting emotions in the dance world. On one hand, the field was elated. These wonderful and iconic works, much of a part of history, would be preserved through performance. On the other hand, the field was shocked to learn that choreographers might not own the rights to their dances.

In January 2007, the NY Times published an article exploring some of the options available to choreographers for preserving their work after death. The article looks at choreographic icons, Paul Taylor and Merce Cunningham, each of whom began his career dancing with the Graham Company, began choreographing in the 1950s, currently heads his own company, and is now seriously considering what will happen to his works and company after death.

For those who don’t know, both the Paul Taylor Dance Company and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company are single-choreographer companies. This means, for example, that the Taylor Company’s repertory consists solely of work choreographed by Mr. Taylor. Likewise for the Cunningham Company. Contrast this with companies like the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Limón Dance Company, both of which are multi-choreographer repertory companies, meaning that each company’s repertory includes works by a variety of choreographers, and not just the founding choreographer.

When faced with the challenge of determining the ownership of their works and what to do with them after death, both Mr. Taylor and Mr. Cunningham had more than just the Martha Graham episode as an example of what can happen when ownership isn’t clear. As the article quickly reveals, some iconic choreographers, such as Lester Horton and Erick Hawkins, have died without leaving wills. Jose Liman, whose company is often credited as the first modern dance company to survive the death of its founder, had a will, but it did not mention his choreography. After his death, Mr. Limón’s dances were divided up and ownership rights were granted to several different people. Eventually, the works were sold back to the Jose Liman's Dance Foundation. Alvin Ailey’s will left his dances to his mother and the rights to his name to his step brother. The Board of Trustees for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater eventually bought those back. While these two companies were spared the expense and headache of a legal dispute over ownership, they were not spared the potentially prohibitive cost of re-purchasing the rights to the choreography.

Perhaps a more well-known story is that of the choreography of the great George Balanchine, founder of and choreographer for the New York City Ballet. When Balanchine passed away, he left his work (some 400+ ballets) to a number of former dancers. An out-of-court settlement gave control of the rights of the works to the Balanchine Trust, and prevented a potentially lengthy and most-certainly expensive court battle. The New York City Ballet continues to perform Balanchine’s work and the Trust now licenses the works to other companies wishing to restage them. In an effort to preserve the artistic integrity of the dances, the Trust generally licenses works only to qualified companies, sends “Balanchine-trained repetiteurs” to stage the work (a perfect example of the dance field’s use of older, experienced dancers to pass choreography onto younger dancers), and requires periodic reviews of the productions.

With these lessons in mind, and the knowledge that a company’s survival after the death of its founder is far from guaranteed, Paul Taylor and Merce Cunningham turned to the difficult task of solidifying current ownership of their choreography and determining the fate of their works and companies. As with many art forms, a dance has multiple parts. The often complex task of determining ownership only begins with the choreography. And this first step has its own complications. For examples, companies that have existed for decades may not have a clear paper trail for early works. Additionally, early works may pose another problem in that choreographers are unlikely to have been paid, even by their own companies, for dances created early in their careers. This muddies the “works for hire” parallel that determined ownership in the Martha Graham case.

Other issues may arise when works are commissioned by other organizations. Here, it may be unclear whether the commissioning organization, the choreographer, or the choreographer’s company owns the works. It can be especially confusing if one work is commissioned by more than one organization, and/or funded in part by the choreographer or the choreographer’s company (as is almost always the case, given the expense of making a dance).

Once the ownership of the choreography is determined, the next step is to solidify ownership of the music, costumes, sets, and any other components of the work (lighting, text, video, props, etc.) This can mean chasing down all sorts of things, people, organizations, etc. The chase can be especially long and frustrating for early works where record keeping is likely to have been less than perfect.

With that noted, back to Mr. Taylor and Mr. Cunningham. As the article reports, Mr. Taylor selected the works he wanted copyrighted in his name. The Executive Board of the Paul Taylor Foundation formed an intellectual property committee to determine ownership and legacy, a task of three components: 1) who currently owns the work, 2) who will own the works after Mr. Taylor’s death, and 3) who will own the works if the Paul Taylor Company no longer exists. After ensuring that he owned the dances, Mr. Taylor decided that he would transfer ownership of his works to his board, upon death. The board will then license the work. As for his company, it will continue after his death as a multi-choreographer repertory company.

This means that, like the successful Ailey and Liman companies, the Paul Taylor Dance Company will commission and perform works by other choreographers, in addition to continuing to perform Mr. Taylor’s own work. The artistic director, Mr. Taylor’s successor, will be chosen by a group of unnamed advisors. Finally, should the Taylor Company ever dissolve, it will have the right to transfer ownership of Mr. Taylor’s work to another company. Hopefully, this ensures that Mr. Taylor’s work will continue to be performed (so long as dancegoers want to see it), and, thus, preserved through performance.

Mr. Cunningham chose a slightly different route. Both Mr. Cunningham and his Company owned a number of his dances, and both transferred their rights to the Cunningham Trust, which will oversee the licensing, staging, teaching, and preservation of Mr. Cunningham’s work, much like the Balanchine Trust. Mr. Cunningham’s company will continue after his death, but will perform only his work. Should demand for his work diminish, and/or the company dissolve, the work will be preserved through the Trust. As a safeguard, the Trust is not part of the same non-profit entity that supports the Cunningham Company and, thus, will not be in danger of folding if the company folds.

The decisions by Mr. Taylor and Mr. Cunningham, and their paths to those decisions reflect not only the major legal issue that dance companies face today, but also many of the challenges and ramifications of the decisions they must make. The first goal is for a company to survive its founder’s death without a lengthy legal battle over ownership of choreography. The Martha Graham case serves as a sharp reminder to many companies that it is essential not only to indicate who owns the work, but to avoid the costs of a legal battle.

Dance is expensive to make and expensive to preserve, and dance companies today (if ever) simply cannot survive an expensive legal battle. The second, and vastly more important, goal is to set up a framework that will allow the choreography itself to survive a choreographer’s death. Because of the uniquely ephemeral nature of choreography and the difficultly of capturing dance in a fixed form, it is essential that the works are available to be continuously performed, and passed down through experience — not just through video. As the article aptly states: “The challenge lies not only in safeguarding the dances, but in maintaining their integrity and vitality.”

Recycle, Swap, Donate: Using Old Dance Costumes for Halloween

Halloween costumes are always a challenge. Figuring out what your child wants to be can become a yearly hassle, and the cost can get out of hand quickly when purchasing new costumes and accessories every year.

If you happen to have a child in dance classes, or maybe figure skating classes, then she probably has accumulated several costumes from recitals and shows. If so, why not try to recycle those costumes into usable, creative Halloween costumes? After all, you've already shelled out the big bucks paying for the dance or skating costumes, only for your child to get to wear it once. Why not get some extra use out of the costume, while saving money at the same time?

My mother did this and created some truly beautiful and unique Halloween costumes. For instance, a dark green/ pastel green tutu was

transformed into an "angel fairy" using an added inexpensive wings and a color coordinating halo with magic fairy wand, and presto, Halloween costume accomplished for just a few dollars. Another year, a light blue dress became Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, adding a basket with a stuffed dog in it and purchasing a pair of red "ruby slippers."

Some Other Ideas

Witch Your little princess may be choose to be a witchy woman instead with black tutu layered with a bright contrasting color such as a vivid purple, lime green, or hot pink.

Flower Turn an old dance costume into a fanciful flower by topping a tutu with a flower-petal belt and make a fanciful hat into the flower's stamen. This costume can be individualized in countless ways, by changing colors and shapes. You could even attach a large bee to th

e costume, either on a hat, or for a more humorous effect, right on the nose.

Swan Make a bill from a yellow sun visor, and feather boa attached to the neckline and arms of an all -white leotard or costume. Feathered wings like the ones in the picture below add just the right touch. You can wear yellow or orange tights to suggest bird legs, and a pair of dance shoes, preferably ballet slippers, will help carry off the look. This costume would be suitably paired with a younger sibling dressed as an ugly ducking, or for an adult party, a couple could go as a swan and a hunter, with one partner wearing camouflage hunting attire.

Flamingo Pink tutu, pink leotard, and black and white

striped leggings. Inspired by Disney's Fantasia. You can again make a beak using a sun visor, and a pink feather boa will give the impression of feathers.

Queen of Hearts In this costume, wear a small tutu around the neck in the style of a medieval ruff with a cape, and a long regal-looking dress. Make a sceptre tipped with a large glitter-covered heart from a walking stick or a large dowel. Throw in a silly hat or crown and wear a dour expression. You could hot glue or pin playing cards to the outfit if you like.

When Pigs Fly This clever costume is silly and easy to pull off, and obvious enough that you shouldn't have to explain yourself to too many people. You'll need a pair of angel's wings and a pig snout, both of which you can easily order online or find at your local costume retailer. Paired with a pink tutu and pink leotard and tights, and a pair of black dance shoes, you will be the hit of the party. Don't forget to attach a piece of tightly wound pink pipe cleaner for a cute little tail.

Leotards are great to use as foundations for one of a kind creations that will dazzle fellow aficionados of Halloween. They can easily be reused for yoga and dance classes, dance recitals and also solitary exercising within the privacy of one’s own abode. One piece swimsuits will also suffice as a portion of one’s Halloween costuming needs. They can also be reused for leisure swimming and water therapy classes.

Halloween Costume Swap

Invite fellow friends/dancers to bring at least one of their old Halloween costumes to a Halloween costume swap. Everyone gets to swap their own old costume for the old costume belonging to someone else. By doing this, the Halloween costume swap participants have a fun time socializing and go home with a “new” costume.

There are so many ideas you can come up with by using the dance costumes you've already purchased. Just use a little imagination and creativity and save a lot of money while making a great costume for your child to wear on Halloween. Even if the costume is not right for a dancer to reuse you can donate to someone who would love to wear it and cannot afford a costume for Halloween.

Donate

Donating old costumes can seem like something so simple; however, it could make someone else’s day. In the world today, there are so many people who can barely afford a Halloween costume to enjoy and it has the added benefit of teaching compassion for others. What could be better than that?

Creating the Dance: Taking Steps to Become a Choreographer

Many dancers want to create their own work and become choreographers. There are some qualifications that are needed. Every choreographer needs extensive dance training, talent, people skills and communication capabilities.

Two additional key tools for moving into choreography are musicality and imagination. Whether someone is designing a dance for a college concert or a home town recital, he/she will need to have exposure to numerous genres of music and a wide range of abilities -- from helping in the planning stages to making sure each dancer gets his part down properly. The choreographer combines all of these tools to visualize the overall performance and break each dance down into required steps and sequences.

Earning a degree is not a necessary step toward becoming a choreographer; however, a degree program prepares choreographers for the practical business of the dance industry and expands artistic skills. Universities offer bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in choreography, though students may study one or more forms of dance with a choreographic focus. These degrees include education in dance theory, technique and history, as well as instruction in lighting, stage direction, music history and business topics. The National Association of Schools of Dance accredits dance programs of every level to ensure the quality of dance education.

Other Courses that are Helpful

Literature and Art

Being able to understand and interpret art and literature is an important intellectual skill for any choreographer, given that the choreographer needs to interpret the stories he/she wishes the dancers to perform. The ability to think critically and creatively about art and literature is an important asset for any choreographer. The more intellectual and artistic context that is developed through courses in these areas, the better off the future choreographer will be.

Other Performing Arts

Courses in the other performing arts such as music and drama can benefit the dancer-choreographer. The more familiar you are with varieties of musical genres, the more possibilities you have for being creative in the use of music when creating dances. Knowing how to work with elements of drama such as staging, timing, lighting and the use of props provides even more tools for the your toolbox.

Liberal Arts Courses

Liberal arts courses in humanities and social studies are helpful in many ways. One important goal of a liberal arts education is to foster the development of the student as a human being. The best liberal arts programs go beyond transmitting information to students by helping them develop a broadened perspective and ways of thinking about themselves and society. Liberal arts courses also help develop important skills such as creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, global awareness and the ability to collaborate to achieve goals. All of these skills are brought to bear in the choreographer's job of creating dances with a group of dancers and crew.

Sometimes community colleges will let the students choreograph a piece for their show. So take advantage of that and try to experience with different moves that have been learned in the Modern dance classes and when you perform the piece be sure to have someone to record the piece that has been choreographed and review it.

This is a really important step in becoming a choreographer, because that video can be used in an audition for choreographing. So be sure to do that, and try to choreograph as much as possible because we learn from reviewing and can improve the piece so it will be better next time. The nice thing about choreographing is it is your own creation and can be changed if needed and modified. Then taught to other dancers. So give it a try. Have fun with your piece.

First-Hand Study

If you want to be a Modern Dance choreographer, for example, a good idea is to study modern dance as much as possible. Research on origins and history of Modern Dance to understand it better. Try to see some of the popular dance company's such as Paul Taylor's dance company, Martha Graham,or Alvin Ailey. Companies perform at different theaters each year and sometimes at Universities. So look them up and go watch some of their performances. Try to talk to the choreographer after the show, and ask him or her questions.

Develop Skills. Each job leads to more recognition and bigger opportunities for choreographers. Showcasing work whenever possible is important, and choreographers at any stage of their career may find community productions, dance recitals and festivals offer opportunities to demonstrate their artistic skills. Jobs may also be available for music videos and other television productions, through cruise ships and leisure activities or in public and private teaching positions.

Join a Professional Organization - Organizations, such as the National Dance Association and Dance/USA, offer employment listings, networking events and educational opportunities to members. Dancers and choreographers may participate in sponsored performances, find funding sources and update skills and dance styles through developmental workshops and training sessions. These organizations also provide legislative advocacy for the arts through fundraisers, awareness events and public education.

Keep Learning

Choreographers with expertise in ballet and jazz as well as modern dance technique provide a solid foundation in essential dance characteristics, including grace, style and poise. Keep up with with new dance forms and styles, introducing or incorporating contemporary trends into your work. Having a diverse knowledge and practice of dance styles may enhance your appeal to employers and audiences.

Some Colleges to Consider

Many colleges provide its undergraduate and graduate dance students with opportunities to learn the art of choreography. While dancers are the visible performers on stage, choreographers are the creators of a dance concert's material. Most dance departments provide choreography classes, but some institutes offer degrees or emphases on choreography. Students also have chances to choreograph solo and group dance pieces while they are still in school.

Cornish Institute of the Arts

The Cornish Institute of the Arts in Seattle, Washington, offers a Bachelor of Fine
Arts degree in dance. This degree allows students to participate in performance and choreography opportunities through Cornish Dance Theater, the school's dance ensemble. Cornish's Department of Dance also sponsors the New Moves concert, an annual show featuring student choreographed dance pieces. Senior students have opportunities to demonstrate choreographed pieces at their senior recitals.

University of California, Los Angeles

Frequently known as UCLA, the University of California, Los Angeles offers a Master of Fine Arts degree in dance. This master's degree allows students to specialize in dance choreography. UCLA requires its dance choreography students to produce a dance concert in the third year of the program. This program allows students to choreograph class pieces and teach choreography at local Los Angeles schools. This concert features dance pieces choreographed by the student. After the show, the student must provide an oral dissertation, or an explanation of the importance of the concert's material.

George Mason University

Located in Fairfax, Virginia, George Mason University offers a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts in dance through its College of Visual and Performing Arts. Undergraduate dance students may pursue an emphasis on choreography. Dance students studying choreography must take four semesters of choreography intensive classes such as improvisation, choreography and composition. During their senior years, these students must produce a series of choreographed dance pieces, which will be judged by the Dance Department's faculty members.

Marymount Manhattan College

Marymount Manhattan College's campus is located in the Upper East Side neighborhood of New York City and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance with a choreography concentration. This bachelor's degree permits students to solely focus on the art of dance choreography. Some of the program's courses include improvisation, choreography for American musical theater and dance composition. Marymount's dance choreography program also requires students to compose solo and group dance pieces.

Purchase College State University of New York

Westchester County, New York, is home to Purchase College, State University of New York, a school with a graduate program in dance choreography. This program is a Master of Fine Arts degree through Purchase College's Conservatory of Dance. The list of first-year classes includes studio pedagogy, choreography and dance production.

Feeling Down? 10 Mood Boosters for Everyone

Life is not always a breeze. There are times when we find ourselves feeling blue. It does not mean that we should allow ourselves to wallow in our misery and sink into depression. There are ways to ease our minds and lift our spirits.

1. Read books. Do you have that favorite book that inspires you so much? Lose yourself in those pages and find the inspiration to be happier. Books enriches our minds so we can see things a lot clearer.

2. Listen to music. Music touches the soul. We can easily be moved by wonderful lyrics and stirring melodies. Music has this power to calm us or boost our energy. Depending on your current mood, it can easily wake up your senses or calm your nerves.

3. Pamper yourself. Get that new haircut or a new manicure. When we feel good about ourselves, the inner glow shines through. A nice massage relieves the stresses of life. Learn to love yourself more.

4. Have conversations with people you love. Our friends and family are our cheerleaders. These people cheer us up when we are down. Talking to them about life or just a mundane conversation eases up whatever burden we are carrying.

5. Indulge on your favorite comfort food. The food not only nourishes us but it also gives us that warm feeling inside. We sometimes get transported to those simpler times when our mothers, even grandmothers, cooked us hearty meals that make us forget our worries. It feels good, isn't it?

6. Meditation helps us get in touch with our inner self. It takes us to state where we can be at peace with ourselves and with our surroundings. When reach that harmony, it leads to relieving the aches and lifting our spirits. When we find that inner peace, it calms us and the joy exudes.

7. Watch a movie. Take yourself to reel world and let the movie help you forget your worries for awhile. It makes you relax and enjoy the moment.

8. Help someone. One of the wonderful feelings in the world is helping another person in need. Volunteer your time to a charitable organization. It will give you a better perspective on life.

9. Take a stroll. It takes the mind off some things. Enjoy nature and let the wind brush through your face. If you have a dog, walk your dog. Having a pet is a great stress-reliever. Unconsciously, pets help their owner cope with sadness. After a long day's work, it is such a comfort to be welcomed by a pet that is happy to greet you.

10. Savor the moment now. The past is past. The future is yet to come. What have is now. Learn to enjoy this moment now. Marvel at your life and the people around you. Isn't the world beautiful?

As a poem goes, "We are the master of our fate." The only thing we can control is ourselves. When we get weary, it is up to us to make ourselves feel better. Take action and enjoy your life.

Keeping a Dance Studio a Healthy Place To Be

Dancing is more than moving to a rhythm. It often involves stretching, jumping, twisting, running and freeze-frame postures. The bodies of trained dancers often undergo movements not practiced in everyday life. For this reason, the dance teacher must ensure that the space is suitable for dance classes and also that safety precautions are taken.

A Safe Dance Floor

Assessment of the dance studio must be carefully conducted to ensure the following

The dance floor has slight flexibility, such as a wood or cork to absorb shocks.
The floor must not be slippery.
Tripping hazards such as wires and cables must be eliminated.
Objects that might cause collisions must be cleared away.
The area must be sufficiently warm.
Some dance studios use a plastic mirror.

Risk Assessment of the Dance Studio

Risk assessments are a must to ensure the area adheres to health and safety guidelines. However, some dance studios also conduct their own risk assessments. The following must be taken into account:

Electrical equipment is maintained.
Fire equipment is in working order.
Fire exits are kept clear and also that staff and the students know the drill.
The dance teacher (and the locum teacher) is aware of additional safety policies.
The dance teacher knows first aid.
Teachers and parents of dance students have contact numbers in case of emergencies.

Initial Assessment of Dance Students

It is good practice to conduct an initial assessment of the dance students to ensure the teacher is aware of any health conditions. Joint problems, allergies and asthma will impact upon the scheme of work and upon differentiation of lesson plans. To ensure physical safety, the following must be practiced:

The dance students wear snug outfits such as tights and leotards so that the teacher can see that their postures are aligned correctly.

The dance students must warm up prior to the lesson. This might involve anything from gentle stretches, side lunges, pacing briskly about or pushing against walls. Tendons and muscles are more flexible when warmed up and injury is less likely during the dance routine.

After the routine, the body must be cooled down in similar fashion as the warm up. This rids the body of lactic acid.

It is good practice to keep a logbook of any injuries that might occur. The most common might be sprains and tears to the muscles or tendons. Until the doctor is consulted, the best practice is RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. This will control the swelling and the pain. Heat treatments might then be used to aid healing.

Making the Dance Studio Safe

Health and safety during dance classes involves several things. An initial assessment of the dance space must be conducted to ensure the apparatus and the resources are suitable and correctly maintained. Objects that might pose a tripping or collision hazard must be eliminated. Precautions against injuries such as warm ups and health assessments are essential to any dance class and helps the teacher take special needs into account when planning their work schedule.