Ballet Video

In the video we watched on February 20, 2012 show various choreography and different stories, also to how the choreography shows different stories. Also to see how the choreography formed different shapes to show symbolism.

In the dance “Emeralds” The majority of the movements were soft and smooth. Throughout the dance mirroring was used often, which added dimension to the piece. It was interesting to see how the choreographer used different formations to show symbols. For example when a majority of the dancers were in a “V” shape and one on the dancers broke through the middle almost as if she was breaking though a wall. Repetition was also used through this dance, also helping to portray a story.

Diamonds was also a dance that used mostly soft and smooth movements. Diamonds was a duet performed by Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins. This dance included many extensions and many lifts. As the music changed the dance reacted and would change the movements and style. The two dancers in this piece worked well together and made it easy for the audience to watch and understand the story.

The Final dance called “Stravinsky Violin Concerto” was performed by Kay Mazzo, Peter Martins, Karen Von Aroldingen and Bart Cook. This dance was extremely unusual compared to most other ballets. The music choice was also very different. This dance included sharp and abstract movements. “Stravinsky Violin Concerto” also included unusual shapes and formations. The choreography showed the talents of the dancers, such as there flexibility. One part of the dance the really stood out to me was the backbend sequence the one girl performed. I liked it because it was not like most other ballets and it showed her flexibility and strength.  Also this part shows how the choreographer liked to use accents in the music to choreograph his piece. As the music changed and became deeper more kicks and arebesques were done. While most ballet pieces include turned out legs and pointed feet, this dance went against that and had parallel legs and flexed feet. It was interesting to see how different this dance was compared to the previous dances and other ballet pieces

This video was informational and taught me how different ballets can be. It was interesting to see how the choreographer used different movements and shapes depending on the music. Also the dancers worked well by interacting with each other and portraying a story.