Jazz Blog- 1st Year 2019/2020 School Year
Bob Fosse:
What are three qualities that make Bob Fosse's choreography unique?
According to L.Witkop, Bob Fosse's choreography consisted of working with angles in comparison to long, lean lines in which most dancers strive to create, this quality is immediately recognised as Fosse's style by the public eye . The dance step "erte"- found in his production "All That Jazz" - is a great example of how Fosse used angles within his choreography as it really focuses on the breakage of the elbows, wrists and hands (Playbill, 2019, 2:50). He created his angles by extending the hips, turning in the knees and breaking the wrists. Fosse was a perfectionist therefore also focused on the angles of their feet and fingers. Another example of this quality would be a movement in "Rich Man's Frug" where the wrists and hands are on the hips like a dancer is "holding an egg".
Fosse also focuses on his facial expressions. Fosse was very influenced by the nightclubs and sexually free atmosphere when growing up . This lead to his choreography not only including provocative costumes for example stockings and tight fitting clothing, however his performances were also very secretive and seductive. A perfect example of this would be "all that jazz", within this routine this idea of seducing the audience is very clear through their secretive facial expressions and arm gestures.
Lastly, according to L.Witkop, sensuality can be seen throughout all his performances, due to his first-had experience with the burlesque of dance. His dancers described Fosse's work as "bizarre, burlesque, exploitative, braiding, sordid, leering and lewd", from these qualities he used not only in his performances but through his films revolutionised the presentation of dance on screen. This changed the industry of film, video choreographers and directors.
How do these qualities reflect in your Jugganaught routine?
Angles are used consistently throughout our Jugganaught routine to include Fosses style of Dance. We show this by distorting the arms at the elbow and breaking wrists, this cuts the arm lines making it less aesthetically appealing however creates a more jazzy and burlesque approach. We also change our shoulder line to create an illusion of twisting the upper body. In addition we use the bend of the knees to, like the arm lines, cut off the long, lean lines in which most dancers would try to create. We also focus on facial expressions consistently throughout our Jugganaught routine trying to create a very secretive approach leaving the audience engaged and intrigued. Finally we express the idea of sensuality through our rounded shoulders and hits of the burlesque style.
Jack Cole:
What are three qualities that make Jack Cole's choreography unique?
Jack Cole was very inspired by his modern training growing up, this emphasised elements such as isolations, low centre of gravity and quick direction changes. Emphasised elements are clearly shown in his choreography piece "Ninevah Dance", within this piece Cole included a deep bend of the knees making the dance more grounded and its also expresses the idea of 'low centre gravity'. Quick direction changes are also spotted throughout this routine with the men and women facing different directions despite the doing the same dance sequences. (N/A,2013, 0:31)
In addition, Cole also focuses on deep plies within his choreography, this gives his Jazz style a sense of power and explosiveness. This idea is shown throughout his choreography, an outstanding example of this quality would include his piece "Ninevah Dance", within this dance you can clearly see how Cole uses deep plies throughout his piece in which some of them lead into large and tremendous jumps.
Andrew Choreographer (2018) states that Cole performed Indian dance techniques throughout his choreography looking at the precision Bharatanatyam movements, this includes swift change direction, combination of fingers, hands, head, placement of the feet to isolating body movements.
How do you think these qualities reflect in your Jason Derulo routine?
The idea of 'low centre gravity' is shown throughout our routine, we show this by bending our knees which allows our dance moves to be more grounded and dense, it also helps us feel the relationship with the floor the entire time we're dancing. If we don't keep our relationship with the floor, everything becomes weightless and light, this counteracts Jack Coles style. In addition we also incorporate quick direction changes, an example of where we show this within our routine would be when me and my partner create a box around each while creating gliding movements. This technique was used clearly throughout Jack Coles choreography as this was one of this 'emphasised elements' in which he was inspired from his modern training. We have also incorporated deep plies which is repeated throughout our routine, this creates a sense of 'power and explosiveness' in which Cole wanted to demonstrate through his jazz style. Finally our routine contains elements of Bharatanatyam as we isolate the the body as well as the arms and legs, an example of this would be our beginning step, within this dance sequence, we step the legs forward infant of our body while isolating the chest sharply.
Jerome Robbins:
What are three qualities that make Jerome Robbin's choreography unique?
New York City Times states that Robbins choreography included a lot of ballet technique due to his ballet training as a teenager, from here he introduced the ballet style within Broadway. Robbin counteracts this by using dynamics and isolations through out his pieces. He also incorporated everyday movements within his choreography such as walking. (The Gardian, 2009). A great example of this would be Robbins choreographic piece 'Glass Pieces', here you can see how Robbin uses the ballet dictionary however includes abstract arm lines while dancers continue to walk across the stage normally.. ( N/A, 2019, 1:15)
In addition, according to The Guardian, Jerome Robbins made sure his choreography was seamless to the music. A great example of this would be 'In The Night', because their movements correlate the music exactly, for example as the music repeats so does the dance step.
Finally another quality Jerome uses within his choreography is creating a story/character within his dance pieces. (Royal ballet, 2014) This lead him to work with broadway and film in which he won two Oscars.
How do you think these qualities reflect in your Billie Eilish routine?
Ballet technique is used throughout our routine in a way to demonstrate Robbins style. We show this by doing pirouettes and high leg extensions. However we counteract this with dynamics and isolations in order to create his style we show this by doing sharp head and arm movements. In addition our choreography is seamless to our music. Our music 'Bad Guy' has a very strong base in which beats can be heard very clearly, our dance allows us to hit this beats through our own creativity and imagination through the process of improvisation. This allows us to hit the beats sharply while still keeping the style and aesthetic off the dance routine. Finally our choreography gives a great example of Robbins idea of creating a character as the music tells us to be intense and mysterious. We show this by lowering our eye line to give a more dramatic and intimidating effect.
References:
Jack Cole:
What are three qualities that make Jack Cole's choreography unique?
Jack Cole was very inspired by his modern training growing up, this emphasised elements such as isolations, low centre of gravity and quick direction changes. Emphasised elements are clearly shown in his choreography piece "Ninevah Dance", within this piece Cole included a deep bend of the knees making the dance more grounded and its also expresses the idea of 'low centre gravity'. Quick direction changes are also spotted throughout this routine with the men and women facing different directions despite the doing the same dance sequences. (N/A,2013, 0:31)
In addition, Cole also focuses on deep plies within his choreography, this gives his Jazz style a sense of power and explosiveness. This idea is shown throughout his choreography, an outstanding example of this quality would include his piece "Ninevah Dance", within this dance you can clearly see how Cole uses deep plies throughout his piece in which some of them lead into large and tremendous jumps.
Andrew Choreographer (2018) states that Cole performed Indian dance techniques throughout his choreography looking at the precision Bharatanatyam movements, this includes swift change direction, combination of fingers, hands, head, placement of the feet to isolating body movements.
How do you think these qualities reflect in your Jason Derulo routine?
The idea of 'low centre gravity' is shown throughout our routine, we show this by bending our knees which allows our dance moves to be more grounded and dense, it also helps us feel the relationship with the floor the entire time we're dancing. If we don't keep our relationship with the floor, everything becomes weightless and light, this counteracts Jack Coles style. In addition we also incorporate quick direction changes, an example of where we show this within our routine would be when me and my partner create a box around each while creating gliding movements. This technique was used clearly throughout Jack Coles choreography as this was one of this 'emphasised elements' in which he was inspired from his modern training. We have also incorporated deep plies which is repeated throughout our routine, this creates a sense of 'power and explosiveness' in which Cole wanted to demonstrate through his jazz style. Finally our routine contains elements of Bharatanatyam as we isolate the the body as well as the arms and legs, an example of this would be our beginning step, within this dance sequence, we step the legs forward infant of our body while isolating the chest sharply.
Jerome Robbins:
What are three qualities that make Jerome Robbin's choreography unique?
New York City Times states that Robbins choreography included a lot of ballet technique due to his ballet training as a teenager, from here he introduced the ballet style within Broadway. Robbin counteracts this by using dynamics and isolations through out his pieces. He also incorporated everyday movements within his choreography such as walking. (The Gardian, 2009). A great example of this would be Robbins choreographic piece 'Glass Pieces', here you can see how Robbin uses the ballet dictionary however includes abstract arm lines while dancers continue to walk across the stage normally.. ( N/A, 2019, 1:15)
In addition, according to The Guardian, Jerome Robbins made sure his choreography was seamless to the music. A great example of this would be 'In The Night', because their movements correlate the music exactly, for example as the music repeats so does the dance step.
Finally another quality Jerome uses within his choreography is creating a story/character within his dance pieces. (Royal ballet, 2014) This lead him to work with broadway and film in which he won two Oscars.
How do you think these qualities reflect in your Billie Eilish routine?
Ballet technique is used throughout our routine in a way to demonstrate Robbins style. We show this by doing pirouettes and high leg extensions. However we counteract this with dynamics and isolations in order to create his style we show this by doing sharp head and arm movements. In addition our choreography is seamless to our music. Our music 'Bad Guy' has a very strong base in which beats can be heard very clearly, our dance allows us to hit this beats through our own creativity and imagination through the process of improvisation. This allows us to hit the beats sharply while still keeping the style and aesthetic off the dance routine. Finally our choreography gives a great example of Robbins idea of creating a character as the music tells us to be intense and mysterious. We show this by lowering our eye line to give a more dramatic and intimidating effect.
References:
B. Farber, 2020, [online], available at: https://www.dance-teacher.com/afaliah-tribune-makes-age-appropriate-hip-hop-music-for-class-2645090276.html accessed on 3rd March 2020.
A.Macaulay, 2018, [online], available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/arts/dance/jerome-robbins-centennial-new-york-city-ballet.html accessed on 3rd
N/A, 2019, (1:15), [online], available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yYGTxubYeE accessed on 3rd March 2020.
R.Thomas, Royal Opera House, 2014, [online], available at: https://www.roh.org.uk/news/jerome-robbins-a-master-of-both-ballet-and-musical-choreography , accessed on 3rd March 2020.
L.Witkop, Lovetoknow, N/A, [online], available at : https://dance.lovetoknow.com/Choreographer_Bob_Fosse , accessed on 3rd March 2020.
PlayBill, 2019, (2:50), [online], available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1KWH99c-lM&feature=youtu.be accessed on 3rd March 2020.
A.Choreographer, 2018, [online], available at: https://www.ladancechronicle.com/a-look-at-the-amazing-jack-cole-dancer-choreographer-for-broadway-and-film/ accessed on 3rd March 2020.
FredsChannelOne, 2013, (0:31), [online], available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn68jlCo6yw&feature=youtu.be , accessed on 3rd March 2020.
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