Revisiting Modernism and the Ballets Russes: What Contemporary Choreography Can Learn from Diaghilev
Date of Award
5-10-2014
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Honors Thesis
Department
English
Abstract
In order to discover some of the features of what contemporary choreographers, dancers, artists, and musicians can learn from the Ballets Russes and the defining artistic movement of which they were a part-modernism-we must first take a journey back to Paris in the early twentieth century and work to unravel modernism's meaning in relation to different artistic media. We must ask complicated questions: What is modernism? What defines artistic success? What does it take to make something truly new? By asking such questions we can come to a deeper understanding of the conditions necessary to create a thriving artistic environment on a global scale. Furthermore, these questions may illuminate how artistic collaboration can be productively facilitated and how it can enhance the quality of productions, extend public engagement, and ensure the lasting impact of a ballet, propelling the art form forward into the twenty-first century.
Recommended Citation
Oden, Kelly, "Revisiting Modernism and the Ballets Russes: What Contemporary Choreography Can Learn from Diaghilev" (2014). Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection. 236.
https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/ugtheses/236