Friday 30 September
Aesthetics "pertains to a sense of the beautiful" or "pertains to, involves, or is concerned with pure emotion and sensation as opposed to pure intellectuality" ("aesthetic", 2002). I like the latter definition the best. I could write a very long essay on different beliefs around the aesthetics of dance, but given this is a blog, and you're probably a bit over essays, I'm going to let other people's art and words do the talking.
Aesthetics "pertains to a sense of the beautiful" or "pertains to, involves, or is concerned with pure emotion and sensation as opposed to pure intellectuality" ("aesthetic", 2002). I like the latter definition the best. I could write a very long essay on different beliefs around the aesthetics of dance, but given this is a blog, and you're probably a bit over essays, I'm going to let other people's art and words do the talking.
(Degas, 1873)
Figure 1: Balanchine's Emeralds (Source: New Zealand School of Dance, 2011)
Figure 2: New Zealand School of Dance Students (Source: Stephen A'Court, 2011)
Figure 3: Sparks fly as ballet and street dance collide (Source: WordPress, 2010)
Figure 4: Street Dance Wall Paper (Source: Media.com, 2011)
"Dance is a delicate balance between perfection and beauty" ~Author Unknown
"In a dancer, there is a reverence for such forgotten things as the miracle of the small beautiful bones and their delicate strength" ~Martha Graham
Yo!
Tonight I was just minding my own business, doing my usual weekly thing, and suddenly an amazing opportunity to blog about the aesthetics of dance appeared.
Every Wednesday I hang out with a bunch of intermediate kids. It's often one of the highlights - between the kids and us 'leaders' we have such a ball! On club nights we play heaps of games. This week I was put in charge of the "dance off". Pretty easy really: all I had to do was play some 'cool' music and get a kid from each team up to dance.
Street dance and hip-hop are probably the two most controversial forms of dance in regards to their aesthetic qualities. Two of our boys got up in front of the group of 40 odd kids, and completely and utterly carved up with their dancing! It was most definitely "street dance" - but man they have some talent! I haven't been so captivated by dance in such a long time. Here were these tough kids (who can be really challenging at times!) totally shining. I was 100% floored by the unique ability that these kids have. I guess this leads in to spirituality too - I got an amazing sense of how big God's plans for their futures are - dancing or not!
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Yo!
Tonight I was just minding my own business, doing my usual weekly thing, and suddenly an amazing opportunity to blog about the aesthetics of dance appeared.
Every Wednesday I hang out with a bunch of intermediate kids. It's often one of the highlights - between the kids and us 'leaders' we have such a ball! On club nights we play heaps of games. This week I was put in charge of the "dance off". Pretty easy really: all I had to do was play some 'cool' music and get a kid from each team up to dance.
Street dance and hip-hop are probably the two most controversial forms of dance in regards to their aesthetic qualities. Two of our boys got up in front of the group of 40 odd kids, and completely and utterly carved up with their dancing! It was most definitely "street dance" - but man they have some talent! I haven't been so captivated by dance in such a long time. Here were these tough kids (who can be really challenging at times!) totally shining. I was 100% floored by the unique ability that these kids have. I guess this leads in to spirituality too - I got an amazing sense of how big God's plans for their futures are - dancing or not!
References
A'Court, S. (2011). New Zealand School of Dance Students. Retrieved from http://www.nzschoolofdance.ac.nz/news_events/upcoming_performances/images/H2879sml400wide.jpg
Degas, E. (1873). Ballet rehearsal [Oil on canvas]. The Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts
A'Court, S. (2011). New Zealand School of Dance Students. Retrieved from http://www.nzschoolofdance.ac.nz/news_events/upcoming_performances/images/H2879sml400wide.jpg
Degas, E. (1873). Ballet rehearsal [Oil on canvas]. The Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Media.com. (2010). Street dance wallpaper. Retrieved from http://www.scenicreflections.com/files/Street%20Dance%20Wallpaper__yvt2.jpg
New Zealand School of Dance. (2011). Balanchine's Emeralds. Retrieved from http://www.nzschoolofdance.ac.nz/news_events/images/nz-schoolofdance-Emeralds200wide.jpg
Unknown author. (2010). Quotations about dancing. Retrieved from: http://www.quotegarden.com/dancing.html
WordPress. (2010). Sparks fly as ballet and street dance collide. Retrieved from http://artsyfutsy.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/ballet.jpg
Hey Alice, i think it is sure cool you have used pictures to explain your concept, great idea, but maybe you should reference them.
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