Reflection

On a final note, what would you like to share with me or the rest of the class about your experience in ballet this quarter. Favorite moments, frustrations. What worked? What didn't? what was missing? What new ideas will continue to inspire your dancing?

I have enjoyed teaching this class very much. As a class, you worked very hard and were great sports about the improv element. Maybe you even enjoyed that part a little by the end. I will work on putting a short video on the blog when I have finished up with end of the semester stuff so you can see yourselves and each other.

For the final showing, I think we decided to wear all black with an accent of bright color. I will work on putting together a little musical collage of our favorite rock n' roll ballet moments. We will put it together on Friday first thing. Don't be late!

Thanks for a wonderful quarter!

Love, love, love,

Louis

One from Me

Often, I perform for my students, but I never got around to it this quarter so here is a clip of a piece from a few years ago. It's inspired by yoga, and the energetic systems of the body. It's called Hallelujah.

Samantha Croffut is in here somewhere!

Samantha,

Could you post a comment that helps us locate you?

Dance Majors Concert

What did you think of the Dance Majors Concert? Please post your reactions here:

Rock n Roll Ballet is Back!!

Here is the music for the last week of class in case you want to download and practice. We will be doing some rock n roll ballet for the final showing.

Intuition, Feist, The Reminder (I love this disc)
Helplessly Hoping, Crosby, Stills & Nash, So Far (a classic)
Creep,TLC, Crazysexycool (Also an excellent, fun album to dance to)
Glamorous, Fergie, The Dutchess
Tears Dry On Their Own , Amy Winehouse, Back to Black, (just won a Grammy Award)
Pocketful of Sunshine, Natasha Bedingfield, Pocketful of Sunshine
I Say a Little Prayer, Dionne Warwick, The Dionne Warwick Collection: Her All-Time Greatest Hits
Sunshine (Go Away Today) Jonathan Edwards, Jonathan Edwards
Rock the Casbah, The Clash (Thomas' request)
True To Myself, Ziggy Marley, Dragonfly
Mad World, Michael Andrews & Gary Jules, Donnie Darko (Music From the Original Motion Picture Score)
P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) Michael Jackson Thriller - 25th Anniversary (Super Deluxe Edition)

Water Ballet

Well, let's hear it!

How was your experience in the pool? It was great fun to watch all the diving and synchronized swimming. You guys are really wonderful. I hope you had fun. What did you learn from the exercises? For those of you who have never been to the IMA, will you go again?

Louis

Our very own...

Heather Rastovac.

Heather Rastovac has been studying, performing and teaching Iranian and
Near Eastern dances since 1997. She currently performs as a soloist and
as a member of the dance ensemble Delshodeh, co-founded with Sonja Hinz.
Delshodeh performs the dances of Central Asia, particularly the dances of
Iran and Tajikistan. Heather participates in Delshodeh as an artistic
director, dancer, choreographer, researcher and lecturer. From 2001 to
2004, she was a member of Shourangeez Persian music and dance ensemble
and participated in the Northwest Folklife Association's
Folklife-in-the-Schools program. Heather spent two months in Tajikistan
during summer 2007 studying and researching dance and is currently
pursuing a Bachelors degree at the University of Washington in Persian
language, Anthropology and Dance.

If any of you have videos of your many talents, I'd be happy to post them to the blog. Do you see any ballet in this kind of dancing?

Water Ballet Exercises

1) Side to the pool edge: Hooking one arm on the edge of the pool. Use a blue float board under your arm for cushion. Stabilize with the outside arm by pushing on the edge of the pool with the flat of the hand. Stabilize the inside leg on the edge of the pool using your core muscles.

Keeping the top of the foot of the inside leg touching the wall. Explore slow motion battements, and developé to the front, to the diagonal, to the back.

Feel the underside of the leg as it moves through the water. Feel the muscles necessary to engage the downward push of the leg.

Do: Battement front, passé, developé back, close first. Reverse. Repeat 10 times. (5 minutes)

2) Back to the pool edge: Hooking the arms on the edge of the pool, battement front and diagonal side. Again, keep the supporting leg grounded to the side of the pool. (5 minutes)

Do: Battements, 8 front, 8 diagonal side, right and left. Developé side, 8 each side. Enveloppé: battement out, passé, close.

3) In the center of the pool, (with a float belt if necessary): play with port de bras. From 1st to 2nd back and forth many times. Feel the different muscles necessary to bring the arms in and out. Feel the smooth quality of the movement of the arms. Feel how pushing through the water creates a controlled, fluid feeling in the arms. Remember this feeling and bring it into your classwork. (5 minutes)

Beats: Floating in the center of the pool, beat the legs back and forth in 5th position. Feel how the inner thighs work against the water to close the legs.

4) Traveling on your back: (feel free to use the lanes) Position one: arms in 5th en bas, legs both in passé. Position two: arms to second , both legs extend out to side. Position three: arms push down to feet, legs push to sou sou. (5 minutes)


Extra credit #1

Jump off the diving board in passé, or sou sou. Arms in 5th en haute.

Extra, Extra, Extra credit #2

Recreate the video below.

Water Ballet on Friday

Hey Everyone,

Just a reminder that water ballet is going to happen on Friday. We will discuss what we are going to do in the pool on Wednesday. Yes, Marina, you will need a bathing suit. No, it's not mandatory if you can't swim. Check in again soon to get a description of the exercises.

Louis

More Contemporary Masters

Recently at Meany Hall, Compania Nacional de Danza from Madrid with choreography by Nacho Duato. For those of you that saw this performance, what did you think?



No ballet course would be complete without some Balanchine. From the New York City Ballet, here is excerpt from Stars and Stripes: What are your impressions?

And yet another view of ballet and ballet companies, here is the Joffrey Ballet in modern dance choreographer Alwin Nikolais' Tensile Involvement. Ballet companies have been doing more and more modern work along side their classical works. What do you feel about this kind of work?

Modern Ballet

To help with our challenging petit jete, look up sissonne fermee and ballonnee.

http://www.abt.org/education/dictionary/


Just so we don't get too stuck in classical ideas about ballet, here's a video featuring one of the most famous contemporary ballet choreographers, William Forsythe.



Here's Sylvie Guillem in a Forsythe ballet called "In the Middle"



What are your impressions of this kind of ballet?

Water Ballet

Dancers!

I've tenatively scheduled our trip to the pool for water ballet on Friday, March 7. We will work on our water ballet exercises in the studio before we go. I am proposing we go as a group, but you can go on your own if you wish. Please leave me a comment if you are good to go. Please email me directly if you have a concern at lgervais@u.washington.edu. Should be lots of fun!

But first! Do all students have access to the IMA with their student ID cards?

Louis

Bad Girls

How did it feel to be a bad girl?



Although, I hear ballet girls learn fast.

Emotion and Performance

Rudolf Nureyev and Dame Margot Fontaine were a famous ballet partnership. Margot was quite a bit older than Rudolf. Her legs never went very high, but it was their emotional connection to one another that translated into great performances.

It's important to remember that we study ballet or any performance art in order to bring an inner experience forward through our dancing. Emotions and images are carried through the body into space. Remember to connect to your emotional state whenever possible.

Can you feel a sense of connection between Rudolf and Margot? How was your experience in class on Wednesday as we worked to connect different emotions and elements to our dancing?

Rock 'N Roll Ballet Songlist

Here's the music from Rock 'N Roll Ballet:

Teardrops, Massive Attack
Vibrate, Rufus Wainwright, Want One (I love this music)
Sunny Came Home, Shawn Colvin, A Few Small Repairs
1234, Feist, The Reminder (Great album!)
Kiss, Prince
Eye in the Sky, Jonatha Brooke, Back in the Circus
Grace Kelly, Mika, Grace Kelly -
Salvador Não Inerte Virgínia Rodrigues Nós (Also, really wonderful)
Unwritten , Natasha Bedingfield, Unwritten
Castle-Time, Chris Garneau, Music for Tourists
Hey Mami, FannyPack, So Stylistic
1999, Prince, Revolution

Visualize

I wrote a poem.

Ahem.


Sit on the side and visualize,
Sit on the side and visualize,
Saute, tombe, pas de bourre, glissade,
Sitting in the eye of your mind.

Please memorize. I may ask you to recite this poem if per chance you are sitting on the side and not dancing.

Speaking of sitting on the side and not dancing, please post your written responses here to the blog within two days of sitting out. Watching is just as valuable as doing (and visualizing!). Your written responses will help the entire class.



Here is Sylvie Guillem in Kitri's solo from Don Quixote. Sylvie is a star of the Paris Opera Ballet.

Visualize yourself doing this combination just like Sylvie. We may just do it at the end of the semester.

Here she is in performance

Rock n' Roll Ballet

If you search for rock 'n roll ballet on you tube, this is what you get. Not quite our rendition but it's fun! The music is painful, and the kids are cute.

Speaking of fun, today was totally fun.

For homework, look up penche, pique arabesque, tour jete and promenade on the ballet dictionary here: http://www.abt.org/education/dictionary/

Please post your comments about this weeks class, rock 'n roll, or whatever you learned from the on line videos. Have a great weekend!

Louis

On Line Ballet Dictionary

Mikhail Barysnikov in Don Quixote.

There is an online ballet dictionary. Check out this link to see_some_professional_ballet dancers_demonstrate_the ballet vocabulary. Watch the quicktime videos and check out the definitions of glissade, ronde de jambe, and assemble. Tell me what you'd like to incorporate into your movement from watching these dancers.

Just for Fun

Please post your reactions this weeks class here.

Sir Ken Robinson

About this Talk

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. With ample anecdotes and witty asides, Robinson points out the many ways our schools fail to recognize -- much less cultivate -- the talents of many brilliant people. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. The universality of his message is evidenced by its rampant popularity online. A typical review: "If you have not yet seen Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk, please stop whatever you're doing and watch it now."

What did you think of what Sir Ken Robinson has to say about education? Does this resonate with your education? What does he say about dance and the body? How could education be different?

Syllabus

By popular demand, here is the syllabus!

DANCE 108, M/W/F 10:30-12:15, MNY 266
Winter 2008
Instructor: Louis Gervais, Graduate Student, UW Dance Program
Office: Meany Hall 59J
Email: lgervais@u.washington.edu

Office Hours: Mondays 12:30 - 1:30 pm and by appointment (The best way to set up an outside meeting is through email or approach me in person after class to set up a time.)
Course Description:

Welcome to Dance 108, Ballet Technique. This course offers guidance and instruction in the theory and practice of ballet technique at the beginning level.

Course Objectives:
Students of this ballet course will be encouraged to personally engage their technical dance training. It takes many years to develop the strength and flexibility that support the body in its aesthetic linear expression.
It is my hope that the tools you will acquire over the next ten weeks will enable you to not only get better at ballet, but also teach you how to continue on your journey as a dancer and artist.

Learning Goals
To understand your personal responsibility in your technical training.
· Expand your knowledge of ballet movement and terminology.
· Develop ballet technique that serves the individual artist.
Acquire a basic understanding of correct muscular-skeletal alignment· Develop an awareness of musicality while dancing.
· Use the ballet technique as a mode of individual and group artistic expression and communication.
· Learn and practice the culture of studio etiquette.
Suggested Reading
"Dictionary and Manual of Classical Ballet," by Gail Grant
"Inside Ballet Technique," by Valerie Grieg
"Ballet Basics," by Sandra Noll Hammond (or any dictionary/glossary of ballet)
Online Ballet Dictionary
American Ballet Theater’s ballet dictionary (also has Quick Time video for many of the terms) http://www.abt.org/education/dictionary/index.html

Ballet on Video and DVD (all at UW Odegaard Undergraduate Library)
List compiled by Betsy Cooper, Associate Professor, Director, UW Dance Program, Summer 2007 http://staff.washington.edu/mca/Ballet%20videos%20and%20DVDs.html

Requirements and Grading
Studio Participation (75%)
Participation grades reflect the following:
· Attending class on a consistent basis
· Arriving on time or early, giving yourself time to focus and prepare to fully participate in the class.*
· Demonstrating individual progress toward achieving the kinesthetic, aesthetic and intellectual goals of the course.
· Demonstrating a working knowledge of the classical ballet terminology at the beginning level.
· Attendance at Dance Majors Dance Concert in Meany Studio Theater
March 6 - 8, 2008 at 7:30pm
March 9, 2008 at 2 pm.
Tickets: Adults $18, UW Faculty/Staff & UWAA $16, Students/Seniors $10
Available for purchase at UW Arts Ticket Office (40th and University Way) or on-line
http://www.meany.org/tickets/index.aspx
*NOTE: Do not come to class if you are very ill. If you are not ill, but cannot dance for some other reason, you must observe class and make a journal entry. If you are contagious, then you should stay home, rest and get well.

Online Journal Responses (25%)
A blog has been set up for this course. Over the course of the semester, this blog will be the place where we as a class will share our thoughts and reactions to the course. Assignments will be posted here and your responses will be submitted electronically as comments.
The URL is http://www.uwdance108.blogspot.com/. Click on Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) and you will be alerted when new assignments have been posted. Some assignments will be experiential in nature and may require additional time outside of class.
Attire/Personal Belongings:
· Please dress neatly and simply – no baggy clothes or excessive jewelry. Long hair should be pulled back and securely fastened so that you can do consecutive turns and pirouettes. No hats.
· Use dressing rooms on Lower Level to change into dance clothes.
· Be responsible for your personal belongings. You are required to bring a padlock and use the lockers provided in the hallway. (Dressing Room lockers on Lower Level are for Dance Majors and Minors only) Hallway lockers are for use during class time only.

Missed classes: There are no make up classes or incompletes given for dance technique courses. If you are well, I will expect you to be in class and participating to your fullest. If you become injured or suffer a prolonged illness during the quarter then you will need to schedule an appointment with me (or send an email) to discuss your situation.

Academic Accommodations:
To request academic accommodations due to disability, please contact disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, (206) 543-8924 (V/TTY). If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating that you have a disability that requires academic accommodation, please present the letter to me so that we can discuss the accommodations you might need in this class.
University of Washington Policy on Sexual Harassment:
Sex discrimination in the form of sexual harassment, defined as the use of one's authority or power, either explicitly or implicitly, to coerce another into unwanted sexual relations or to punish another for his or her refusal, or as the creation by a member of the University community of an intimidating, hostile or offensive working or educational environment through verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, shall be a violation of the University's human rights policy. (University Handbook, Vol. IV, p.44).
While most harassment involves men harassing women, either men or women can be harassed by members of the same or opposite sex. The University of Washington policy prohibits all forms of sexual harassment. The University will carry out a thorough investigation, protecting the rights of both the person complaining and the alleged harasser.
The University has been very successful in resolving sexual harassment complaints. If you believe you are being harassed, seek help the earlier the better. The University has designated special people to help you. Call the University Ombudsman and Ombudsman for Sexual Harassment at 543-0283 or 543-6028, or the University Complaint Investigation and Resolution Office at 616-2028.

88 year old ballet dancer from Megan

Thanks to Megan for sending in this link to a CNN story about an 88 year old ballet dancer in England. Click here. What do you think?

AC/DC

AC/DC is a term that applies to electrical currents. DC means direct current and AC is alternating current. With direct current, the electrons (either positive or negative) travel in one direction. With alternating current, voltage is continually changing between positive (+) and negative (-). Typically, DC gets hotter quicker and handles low voltages like in batteries best . Electricity can travel great distances in AC and can handle much higher charges. It also tends to remain cooler over time.

Traditionally, ballet is taught in a DC kind of way. The teacher gives the exercises. The students receive them through their senses and create memory files of information. The students then dance from these memory files. With one direction for information to move, students tend to overheat.

In Dance 108, as in other classes at the UW and elsewhere, an alternating current is employed. The traditional model is used and then juxtaposed with creative play and improvisation in order to refresh and reset the body and mind of the students. Students tend to receive information more easily with these refreshing periods.

What does this alternating current feel like in your ballet class? How does ballet feel? How does improv feel? Do you enjoy both equally? How is the transition between the two? What is most challenging to you as a dancer in this approach?

End of Week Thoughts

Dancers,

Congratulations on your first week of ballet. The comments have been interesting and varied. Kudos to those who have embraced this online process.

I'm glad to read that some of you have been reading each others entries. It's great to get a sense of what others are thinking and feeling. The connections that dancers are drawing from one anothers ideas as well as the unique and unexpectedly interesting perspectives are what the blog is all about. All the responses have been beautifully written and thoughtful.

If you have any thoughts or responses to your first week of class, I'd love to receive them. This is not an assignment, just an opportunity to share.

Cheers!

Louis

The Vitruvian Man

The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci around the year 1492. It depicts a nude male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and simultaneously inscribed in a circle and square. Leonardo based his drawing on some hints at correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry.

These ideas of human proportions and geometry play into the aesthetics of ballet line. Like the flower below, there is geometry in our physical instruments that we engage as we train.  Working in ballet helps the body to flower into its most extended expression.

How does it feel to look at the Vitruvian Man?  How would it feel to be the Vitruvian Man?  Does standing in first position with arms in second feel the same way?  If not, why not?

And to think (if he were a real person) he would have started out looking like this. What would it feel like to be this little guy?

Contained Within

This bud is on a Night Blooming Cereus. It blooms just once a year for one night only. It is a rare and special event. In Victorian times, people planned parties around the blooming of these plants.

All the design information and geometry in this blossom (as in any blossom) is contained in the seed of the plant. It just takes time and the right conditions for the plant to flower.

What do you think it feels like to be this flower? How do you think the flowering of a plant might connect to the study of ballet?

Placement

Dancers,

Having lots of students interested in dance is wonderful! However, having too many students can be problematic for the class. There are as many as eight students that will be joining Dance 108 from upper level classes. On Wednesday, Betsy Cooper (the director of the dance department) will be visiting class to see if there are students that could move up to higher levels. :) Those students who have never taken a ballet course before may be asked join Dance 102 which is a link between Dance 101 and Dance 108. Please talk with me after class on Wednesday if you think this issue of placement may pertain to you. Also, if Betsy or I feel this change may help you in your learning we will contact you on Wednesday.

Cheers!

Louis Gervais

Welcome to Dance 108

Welcome to Dance 108!

Over the course of the semester, this blog will the place where we as a class will share our thoughts and reactions to the course. Assignments will be posted here and your responses will be submitted electronically as posts. Click on the comments link below.

As we begin our work in beginning ballet technique, it would help me to have an idea of your backgrounds in dance and your goals for this course. I was 6 years old when I started dancing. The photo above is from my very first ballet performance of the Nutcracker. Briefly, please describe your dance background. Why are you taking this course and what do you hope to gain from the study of ballet?