Music & Dance
Revisiting Modernism and the Ballets Russes: What Contemporary Choreographers Can Learn from Diaghilev
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Subject Area
Music & Dance
Start Date
11-4-2014 9:00 AM
End Date
11-4-2014 10:30 AM
Sponsor
Lee Garver (Butler University)
Description
Unlike many artistic and cultural movements of the 20thcentury, there is no single, unified definition of modernism, whether in terms of its scope, timeframe, or impact. Therefore, in order to make sense of the term it is helpful to define the modernist movement by analyzing parallels between the different arts that constituted modernism, including literature, music, visual art, and dance. To reach a more unified definition of modernism, I chose to focus in on two artistic spheres of the early 20th century – the self-declared "modernist" magazine,Rhythm, and Sergei Diaghilev's "Ballets Russes." The characteristics that the works featured in Rhythmand the Ballets Russes shared were threefold: 1) the unified expression of artistic elements within a work; whether it be a balanced use of line, color, shape, or movement in a work of visual art, or an exhibited unity between music, costumes, scenery, and movements in a ballet, 2) the fascination with primitive or exotic themes, and 3) a shift away from aestheticism and towards expressionism. Through a thorough examination of these parallels, the idealistic principles that existed at the forefront of the modernist movement are exposed, allowing for a deeper appreciation and understanding of the movement and revealing that an interdisciplinary ideological connection between artistic fields spearheaded the modernist movement as a whole.
From this research into a unified definition of modernism I arrived at the following conclusion: that the modernist method of interdisciplinary interaction has increasing relevance in a world where many critics argue that dance is dead or dying. I propose that if contemporary dancers and choreographers use the interdisciplinary interaction of modernism as a model for success, they will be able to survive in a dramatically changing artistic world, reach a wider audience, and, as Ezra Pound put it nearly 80 years ago, "make it new."
Revisiting Modernism and the Ballets Russes: What Contemporary Choreographers Can Learn from Diaghilev
Indianapolis, IN
Unlike many artistic and cultural movements of the 20thcentury, there is no single, unified definition of modernism, whether in terms of its scope, timeframe, or impact. Therefore, in order to make sense of the term it is helpful to define the modernist movement by analyzing parallels between the different arts that constituted modernism, including literature, music, visual art, and dance. To reach a more unified definition of modernism, I chose to focus in on two artistic spheres of the early 20th century – the self-declared "modernist" magazine,Rhythm, and Sergei Diaghilev's "Ballets Russes." The characteristics that the works featured in Rhythmand the Ballets Russes shared were threefold: 1) the unified expression of artistic elements within a work; whether it be a balanced use of line, color, shape, or movement in a work of visual art, or an exhibited unity between music, costumes, scenery, and movements in a ballet, 2) the fascination with primitive or exotic themes, and 3) a shift away from aestheticism and towards expressionism. Through a thorough examination of these parallels, the idealistic principles that existed at the forefront of the modernist movement are exposed, allowing for a deeper appreciation and understanding of the movement and revealing that an interdisciplinary ideological connection between artistic fields spearheaded the modernist movement as a whole.
From this research into a unified definition of modernism I arrived at the following conclusion: that the modernist method of interdisciplinary interaction has increasing relevance in a world where many critics argue that dance is dead or dying. I propose that if contemporary dancers and choreographers use the interdisciplinary interaction of modernism as a model for success, they will be able to survive in a dramatically changing artistic world, reach a wider audience, and, as Ezra Pound put it nearly 80 years ago, "make it new."