Martha Graham - 'Heretic'

[starsandmars79]

It's amazing how potent a single, turned-in, eleve can be. 0:14, 0:50

[nickwallacesmith]

hi starsandmars79 - yes, i often find the success of a ballet (or not) can depend on a few steps, wonderfully chosen for their expressive possibilities in the context of the work - frederick ashton can do the same

[starsandmars79]

@nickwallacesmith Are there any particular Ashton pieces in which you feel that this choreographic quality especially stands out? Or is it something that one can find in most of his work?

In "Heretic", it also occurred to me that the way the dancers suddenly come down out of those eleves –violently, almost like they are stomping their feet in indignation- is likewise extremely powerful, especially when juxtaposed with the slow drama of the preceding step.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi starsandmars79 - ashton had one step - 'the fred step' - that he created in 1933 and thereafter used a lot. i'll post the combination on your channel as it's long and won't fit in a 'comment'. cheers

[nickwallacesmith]

... Finding the Fred Step

Cinderella: in Act I the dancing master teaches this step to one of the Ugly sisters and Cinderella later tries to copy it.

The Dream: done by Moth, the last fairy onstage, at the end of her dance as Oberon comes behind her.

A Month in the Country: done by Natalia Petrovna and her admirer Rakitin as they exit the stage arm-in-arm, with their backs to the audience.'

[starsandmars79]

@nickwallacesmith

Thanks for the info! Unfortunately, I couldn’t find The Dream or Cinderella segments on YouTube, but I did see the Month in the Country segment. There, the Fred Step seemed to be used express the anticipation of a pleasant walk outside, but there is also a certain understated quality to it, with the pas de chat barely discernible. Perhaps this is sort of hinting at Natalia’s waning interest in Rakitin or something like that.

[starsandmars79]

@nickwallacesmith

One more thing that I noticed about Heretic- it is fascinating how Graham used the corps to create ensembles of dramatic poses, like at 0:24 and 0:58, it is kind of like (for lack of better term) dance-sculpture.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi starsandmars79 - yes in this she reminds me of bronislava nijinska and the sculptural organisation of groups in 'les noces', don't you think? cheers

[starsandmars79]

@nickwallacesmith

It is similar to Les Noces! I hadn’t realized that before. It is interesting that both Les Noces and Heretic were created in the 1920s. I wonder if there was some idea or theory in the arts world during that decade which influenced both of these works?

[starsandmars79]

This got me to wondering…could a choreographer theoretically create a dance which entirely consists of dancers moving from one sculptured pose to another? Or would that be more like theater than dance? Dance, of course, must have a certain sense of motion to be considered dance, but I am wondering at what point choreography ceases be to dance and instead becomes theater? It is fun to think about.

[nickwallacesmith]

@starsandmars79 - as long as a dancer has to move from one sculptured pose to another and has to phrase the movement in between (there's no choice not to) then it would be able to be seen as dance - it is fun to talk about and consider these kinds of possibilities. cheers!

[nickwallacesmith]

... Petit développé à la seconde: dancer slightly lifts foot behind the ankle along the supporting leg and extends to the side

Pas de bourrée dessous: Leg is brought to the back and dancer performs a series of “sideway steps” with the legs interchanging and the back leg finishing at the front in fifth position.

Pas de chat: A jump to the side with the knees bent ending in fifth position. ...

[nickwallacesmith]

... Ashton called his lucky step the Pavlova (as it originated from a step she performed when dancing a Gavotte) but nowadays this combination is referred to as the Fred Step. It goes like this:

Pose en arabesque: dancer steps onto one leg with the opposite leg stretched behind

Coupé dessous (sometimes in fondu): dancer extends leg down to the front with a step, picking up and placing the other foot behind the ankle. ...

[nickwallacesmith]

hi starsandmars79 - ashton had one step - 'the fred step' - that he created in 1933 and thereafter used a lot. The Ballet Bag says"

'Ashton might not have been overly superstitious but he always found a way to include a signature combination of steps as a personal tribute to his beloved Pavlova. Principal dancer Michael Somes said at the time “even when a new work was completed, room must had to be found for [Ashton's] signature step” ...

[nickwallacesmith]

@starsandmars79 - yes, powerful in that juxtaposition, exactly

[madeleinedouglas]

We would have to give more than Justin Bieber and "what's his name" to bring back Martha Graham. I would take more than the whole Pantheon of Tin-Foil "Stars" in our era, to bring back people this great. They are beyond words, beyond measure....indeed, beyond Death even. In contemporary terms, whom do we have who may equal this? Very few....very few...

[LolaHasBeauty]

what time frame was this dance taken place? was it taken place during the revoluntionary war frame?

[nickwallacesmith]

hi LolaHasBeauty - the new york times said of s recent revival - 'Created in 1929, this recently revived dance for chorus and soloist was Martha Graham's first important work, and it ushered in a period of blunt, stripped-down choreography with which she and American modern dance became associated. Its theme of the outsider or rebel in hostile society is one that was to reverberate through Miss Graham's oeuvre.'

[hazel2nv]

Google brought me here!!!

[nickwallacesmith]

hi hazel2nv - glad you visited, cya again i hope

[TheKomando007]

cooooooool



[nickwallacesmith]

hey TheKomando007 isn't it!

[emmahhjoan]

The style of the choreography - not just how it was filmed and edited - reminds me so much of "silent movies." The chorus moves, then the lead dancer. They're sharp and staccato. I love it!

[nickwallacesmith]

hi emmahhjoan - hadn't thought of that connection - but some painters responded to silent movies by taking something of the new technology into their work

[andrewdancing]

This is so amazing. Can you imagine? This was the 1920s and 30s. To see a woman dance like this, to have this appearance, must've been shocking!

[nickwallacesmith]

hi andrewdancing - it does look so revolutionary for the time and was

[andrewdancing]

@nickwallacesmith Thanks for uploading this clip. I remember when this program first aired on PBS back in about 1994. Shortly thereafter I actually studied at her school. It had been a dream of mine to join the company.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi andrewdancing - it was hard not to upload it - there's not much early graham about - perhaps i just don't see it a round. did you see my upload on the early blue krishna work - colourised - amazing.

must have been great studying at her school!

take care, nick

[erikisPSYCHO]

God; bring back Martha Graham, and in return we shalll give you both P. Diddy, and Justin Bieber.

[nickwallacesmith]

hi erikisPSYCHO - yes she was extraordinary

[adrianO182007]

this why i fall more in love with modern she is such a fucking genious and a visionary!

[nickwallacesmith]

sure is!

[davidsquall351]

Damn Puritans

[nickwallacesmith]

yep, they could be an uncompromising bunch

[nickwallacesmith]

hey lovesucj

yep it is - glad u liked it

nick

[LoVeSuCkS1561]

beautiful