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8/12/2019 DANCE 467 Features
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f e
a t u r e s
Ambra Vallo & Tyrone Singleton in Aladdin
by the Birmingham Royal Ballet
© S I M O N T O M K I N S O
N
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Dancing Down the Red Carpet
Curator Amy Henderson has rolled out the red carpet
to a host of America’s dancing superstars in a new
show at the Smithsonian National Portrait
Gallery in Washington DC
Judith Jamison in ‘Cry’ by Max
Waldman, 1976
© 1 9 7 6 M A X W A L D M A N
DANCE FEATURES
2 issue no. 467
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issue no. 467 3
DANCE FEATURES
From the late 19th century to today,
dance has captured the culture of the
USA in motion. Dancing the Dream
showcases generations of performers,
choreographers and impresarios. The show
includes images of performers like Fred
Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Michael Jackson,
Savion Glover, George Balanchine, Mikhail
Baryshnikov, Beyoncé, Isadora Duncan,Agnes de Mille and Lady Gaga. Dance has
drawn from the boundless commotion of
cultures to represent the rhythm and beat
of American life. This exhibition explores
the relationship between the art of dance
and the evolution of a modern American
identity. Dancing the Dream will be open at
the National Portrait Gallery, Washington
DC, until 13th July 2014. Curator Amy
Henderson takes us behind the scences.
Iam an unapologetic fan of showbiz glitz.
When organising an exhibition, my
approach is to dip scholarship in dazzle:
I firmly believe that injecting an exhibitionwith spectacle and showmanship fuels the
path to understanding. The idea is to inspire
visitors rather than to intimidate, baffle or
bore them. I’ve always wanted to roll out the
red carpet and this time I did.
In the current exhibition, Dancing the
Dream, which recently opened at the National
Portrait Gallery, the idea was to show how
Broadway, Hollywood, Modern, Classical
and Contemporary Dance have captured
American culture in motion. In 1900, Loie
Fuller unleashed her barefoot and uncorseted
version of the New Woman on stages around
the world; in the 1930s, Fred and Ginger
danced an elegant escapism for Depressionaudiences; at the height of the Cold War,
Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov
sought asylum and sparked a mania for Ballet
in America; from the 1980s to today, MTV
and YouTube have showcased such dancers
as Michael Jackson and Beyoncé and created
audiences that are both more diverse and
more individualised than ever before.
The dance exhibition’s basic ingredients
– strong images of iconic personalities –
were already present, as the Gallery has an
extraordinary collection of key dance figures
– Isadora Duncan, Irene Castle, Josephine
Baker, Busby Berkeley Rita Moreno, Alvin
Ailey, Shakira and Justin Timberlake, to namea few. The challenge for the museum’s design
team was to create a lively showcase that
conveyed dance’s dynamism. “I don’t like
white walls,” I chirped. “Make it dazzle.”
And they did. One of the most exciting
design elements is the red carpet that runs
down the centre hall connecting each of
the six exhibition rooms. Yes, the National
Portrait Gallery has a real red carpet.
Designer Raymond Cunningham told me
that he researched A-list red carpet events
and discovered that the red used by the
Golden Globes is a bluer red than the brighter
hue used for the Academy Awards (Oscars).
The color used for Dancing the Dream is closeto the Oscars’, but has been uniquely created
for the Gallery.
Tibor Waldner, the museum’s chief of
Top: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
by Unidentified Artist, 1936
Above: Liza Minnelli by Alan Pappe,
1972
“The Galleryhas anextraordinarycollection of
key dancefigures”
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DANCE FEATURES
design, and his remarkable staff created a
space that radiates with color – a drawing
of Josephine Baker shimmies and shakes
in a gallery with stunning teal walls; young
Ballet dancer Misty Copeland soars as a
flaming Firebird in a gallery the color of her
fires; Beyoncé hot-steps her Single Ladies
number in a yellow-green gallery that I call
“the riot of spring.”
I was vastly intrigued by Raymond’s redcarpet research, and have since discovered
that the red carpet itself has an amazing
history. The earliest reference to “walking a
red carpet” is in Aeschylus’s Agamemnon in
458 BC, when the title character is greeted
by his vengeful wife Clytemnestra, who
invites him to walk a “crimson path” to his
house. In Georgetown, South Carolina, aceremonial red carpet was purportedly rolled
out for President James Monroe when he
disembarked from a riverboat in 1821. Mainly,
though, it seems the red carpet was a railroad
phenomenon: in 1902, the New York Central
used plush crimson carpets to direct people
boarding the 20th Century Limited. It was
this usage that seems to mark the origin of
the phrase “red carpet treatment.”
Today, we associate red carpets as
fashion and celebrity runways at major
entertainment events. I asked Linda
Mehr, director of the Academy of Motion
Pictures’ Margaret Herrick Library, when
the Academy began using a red carpet,and she told me that it wasn’t until 1961.
Television broadcasts of the Oscars had
begun in 1953, and by 1966 when the
Above: Peter Martins And Suzanne
Farrell in ‘Chaconne’ by Max
Waldman, 1976
Top right: George Balanchine by
George Platt Lynes, 1941
© E S T A T E O F G E O R G E P L A T T L Y N E S
© 1 9 7 6 M A X W A L D M
A N
“Many of the iconicfigures in the danceexhibition have
walked the red carpet”
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DANCE FEATURES
awards were first broadcast in colour, the
red carpet had become a major factor
in the Oscars experience. Turner Classic
Movies primetime host Robert Osborne
has said that “for most of us, even a walkdown the red carpet is just a dream.” It has
also has become the stage for one of the
biggest fashion events of the year. At the
2013 Oscars, Jessica Chastain told a reporter
that “as a little girl … I always dreamed
about my Oscar dress. I love fashion that
celebrates a woman’s body, and that maybeis a throwback to the glamour of old
Hollywood.” Amy Adams said of her Oscar
de la Renta dress, “I’ve worn a lot of different
dresses, but I’ve never worn a big ballgown,
so I thought I wanna wear a dress you can’t
wear anywhere but the Oscars.”
Many of the iconic figures in the dance
exhibition have walked the red carpet,
several have won Oscars – including Gene
Kelly, James Cagney, Rita Moreno, and Liza
Minnelli – and several have been awarded
Grammys, including Lady Gaga, Justin
Timberlake and Beyoncé.Installing the red carpet was the
exclamation point that finished the
exhibition’s high impact design. But once it
was unrolled, there was yet another surprise:
the carpet’s red reflected off the walls and
ceiling in a way that suffused the entire
corridor with an unexpected glow. Amy Henderson, Curator
© 1 9 6 6 R O N A L D S E Y M O U R / M A U R I C E S E Y M O U R
© 1 9 7 5 M A X W A L D M A N
The above article was originally published on
Smithsonian.com, all rights reserved (25th October 2013).
All images courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National
Portrait Gallery.
Bottom left: Mikhail Baryshnikov in
‘Le Jeune Homme et la Mort’ by Max
Waldman, 1975
Below: Agnes De Mille by Maurice
Seymour, 1942
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DANCE FEATURES
Mathematics has never had a higher
profile in the news as politicians
beat their chests and talk about
children in other countries outperforming
those in the UK. This means that you, as
dance teachers, have never been in a more
marketable position as schools try to engage
and enthuse the students in mathematics.
After 10 years as a Ballet teacher and 10
years as a maths teacher my experiencehas inevitably created a rather different
perspective on how to use creativity in
teaching maths. If I can enthuse my students
by dancing maths – then so can you. In
addition to my own teaching maths to
students aged 11–18, I now give workshops
to maths teachers on ‘How to Teach Maths
through Movement and Rhythm’, borrowing
mercilessly from everything I ever taught in
the dance studio.
I teach equivalent fractions by getting
the teachers to create rhythms to a bar of 4/4
putting together half notes, quarter notes,
eighth and twelfth notes just as we do in
Tap. The only difference is that when they’ve
created the rhythms and taught them to
another pair, they then have to write down the
sum and show how it adds up to a whole using
common denominators. This is perfect for
upper primary or lower secondary teachers.
Multiple moves sees one group dancing
a sequence of five movements repeatedlywhile another repeats a sequence of four
movements. When both groups finish their
sequences at the same moment then they
have found that the lowest common multiple
of 4 and 5 is 20 – great for adding and
subtracting fractions too.
The Cecchetti Ballet method involves the
corners and walls of the room labeled from
1 – 8. Using these you can get the students
to face corner 1 (downstage right) and rotate,
for example, 135 degrees clockwise to see that
they end facing wall 7 (upstage). This offers
great angles revision with some adding and
subtracting thrown in for good measure.
In class, I ask students to reflectthemselves in an imaginary line across the
room and then give the students 30 seconds
to run into the place that they have been
reflected. They can see that those directly
on the axis of reflection stay put whilst
those who are farthest away have to race to
the other side of the room as they have the
longest distance to travel.
I’m currently choreographing a piece of
dance with my maths class showing how
Did You Know You Are Teaching Maths?
Corinne Wolfe , gives some tips on how to branch out and use
your dance teaching skills more widely
“Thechoreographicpotentialis obvious
whateverthe style ofdancing andno matterhow complex
or simple themovements”
Top: Students in Hong Kong finish
their ‘Multiple Moves’
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DANCE FEATURES
consecutive triangle numbers make a square
number. The triangular numbers 1, 3, 6, 10,
15 etc. created by adding one more number
each time and so beautifully demonstrated in
Swan Lake, can be put together in consecutive
pairs to make square numbers 4, 9, 16, 25
etc. The choreographic potential is obvious,
whatever the style of dancing and no matter
how complex or simple the movements.
However, as long as you are reinforcing the
number patterns along the way, you are
teaching maths. The students are so receptive
and see nothing odd about learning maths
in the theatre instead of the classroom. With
laminated numbers (1 – 36) around each of
their necks I can keep track of who is where
and get non dancers to create something
wonderful.Next I will create a piece on factors
entitled ‘5 is not a Factor of 12’. I have
posted this dance on YouTube under the
heading ‘Maths Dance’, Triangular Squares
if you would like to see how this idea
works in practice. We break down numbers
automatically as choreographers – 12 dancers
become groups of 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 or even 12 and
these are the factors of 12 but alas, in the
dance, 5 is not!
You may be teaching dance but you’re
really teaching maths and that’s before I talk
about constants and variables, symmetry,
angles, reflection, rotation, functions and
translation. You too can develop these ideasand offer your expertise to a local primary
or secondary school to enhance their maths
lessons during the day; it just takes a little
Corinne taught Cecchetti Ballet at the Edmonton School
of Ballet, Alberta, Canada, the Arts Educational School,
Tring and Hurst Lodge in Sunningdale before retraining
as a maths teacher, teaching in the UK, Shanghai and
Hong Kong. She is currently teaching at the British
School of Jakarta, Indonesia but she also delivers
workshops internationally and writes on maths and
creativity. If you would like more information or if you
are interested in a workshop or collaboration around
these or other ideas on maths and creativity please
contact [email protected].
imagination. If you are a Ted’s Talks fan you
might have already seen how the idea of
dancing science has been embraced with
‘Dance your PhD’ (John Bohannon and Black
Label Movement).Needless to say, my maths lessons can be
a little unusual but at least, like my career so
far, there is no time to get bored. Good luck
if you would like to try out any of these ideas
and please let me know how you get on.
Corinne Wolfe (neé Jacobs) LISTD
Top: The theatre as a maths
classroom, British International
School, Jakarta
Middle: Year 7 students create the
triangle number, ten
Above: Corinne Wolfe
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I
n 1878 English photographer Eadweard Muybridge
developed a technique to capture a moving horse.
His photographs were a technical and conceptual
breakthrough; to have a clear image of movement. Dance
photographers have been trying to capture movement
ever since. Lois Greenfield in the 1980s was able to capture
dancers as they had never been seen before, capturing a
moment, an unusual position and unpredictable movement
unseen to the naked eye. For many dance photographers she
changed the idea of how to photograph dancers.
It seems now that photographers are once again pushingthe boundaries of dance photography, trying to create their
own style and groundbreaking images. To show a moment
or the unique movement of dancers is no longer enough
and photographers are now creating pieces of art through
their photographs.
New York City Ballet’s second Annual Art Series combines
both photography and dance. French street artist, JR,
photographed 80 dancers posing on giant sheets of paper, which
formed a giant eye when viewed from above. He then pasted
a 6,500ft vinyl photograph of the eye onto the floor of the
David H Koch Theatre for all visitors to enjoy. This piece of art
showcases the dancers as well as JR’s creativity, and helps fans to
interact with New York City Ballet in an original way. Hundreds
of audience members posted photos on social media siteInstagram, creating their own piece of art from the installation.
Other dance photographers are experimenting and
discovering their own style of dance photography. Former
The Art of Displacement
Jane Cuppage talks to dance photographer Simon Tomkinson
The Urban Playground Team
in ‘Run this town’ at Pavilion
Dance South West
© S I M O N T O M K I N S O N
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DANCE FEATURES
professional Ballet dancer, Jesus Chapa-Malacara, describes
himself as both a multi-media artist and photographer. He
has taken posed and motion photographs of dancers, but
is now experimenting with his technique and what he can
create. Another photographer who is also experimenting withthe boundaries of the medium is Simon Tomkinson. Simon
specialises in dance and has been commissioned by a broad
range of companies from the Birmingham Royal Ballet to the
New Movement Collective. The ISTD team were invited to
Simon’s exhibition ‘The Art of Displacement’ at the Silverprint
Gallery in London in December and spoke to him about his
work. The photographs on this and the previous page are
from this exhibition.
While on tour as a soldier with the British Army, Simon
took a photograph of an Israeli soldier standing against the
Wailing Wall and realised he could have a serious career
in photography. He took a year long course at the London
College of Communications and then started his photographyprofessionally. With an interest in the way dancers move and
control their movements, Simon took a course with dance
photographer Chris Nash.
Simon regularly attends photo calls with many leading
dance companies. ‘The Art of Displacement’ came about
from a year of experimenting with a new creative idea after
the allotted photo-call time with the dancers. Simon had
included his experimental photographs in his portfolio when
he met with Artistic Producer of Pavilion Dance South West,
Ian Abbott. Ian liked Simon’s new style and suggested he
work with Urban Playground Team who were rehearsing their
“performance parkour” for their UK premier of Run This Town
at Pavilion Dance South West. Urban Playground Team blend
parkour with urban and contemporary dance into what they
call “performance parkour”. The photographs Simon tookwere made even more striking with the help of the team’s
lighting designer, Chris Umney.
“The photographs show notonly the control the dancershave over their bodies but also
the energy that they exudewhile performing”
Sasha Biloshitsky in ‘Run
this town’ by The Urban
Playground Team at Pavilion
Dance South West
© S I M O N T O M K I
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Simon’s photographs aim to focus on the
emotion and movement of the dancers he
is shooting and with this particular projecthe wanted to show the motion of movement
as well, rather than a captured or frozen
dancer. He wanted to add an extra layer
to the movement in his photographs. The
photographs in his exhibition show not onlythe control the dancers have over their bodies
but also the energy that they exude while
moving and performing. All the photographs
were created entirely in camera with no post
production techniques. The photographs
were taken over two days and Simon was able
to show the shots to the dancers and discuss
the images in between and after taking them.
Simon is pleased with how far his
technique has progressed after spending
a year experimenting with his camera and
lighting to produce work he was happy to
exhibit and find a style he can call his own; a
unique style that shows the dynamic nature
of movement without manipulation The
photographs that Simon takes are the result
of what the dancers give on the day, how they
perform and how they interpret their art form
for the camera. He now plans to experiment
with showing the audience a different view of
dancers, as if the audience is part of the dance.
To find out more about Simon’sphotography you can visit his website: www.
simontomkinson.com.
Jane Cuppage
Top: Maria Kochetkova in ‘Trio’ by
San Francisco Ballet at Sadler’s Wells
Above: Vitor Luiz and Maria
Kochetkova in ‘Symphonic Dances’ by
San Francisco Ballet at Sadler’s Wells
© S I M O N T O M K I N S O N
© S I M O N T O M K I N S O N