A number of ballets are based on literary works, so a class around literature, ballet, and the translation between them could be really interesting! This is an outline for the content of such a class; note that this will be far better with students who have reasonable familiarity with ballet and preferably know basic ballet history.
The ballets in the recommended list are all available on DVD. There are some ballets that would be good fits for a class like this (ex. John Cranko's Onegin) but have not been released on film. And of course, if there are ballets based on literary works being performed by nearby companies, go see them!
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Saturday, October 10, 2015
National History Day 2016: Arts and Religion Topic Ideas
The theme for 2016 NHD is Exploration, Encounter, and Exchange History.
Art topics tend to be underrepresented in NHD, so here are some arts topic suggestions for this year's theme! I also included religion topics because this year's theme is particularly good for them; so much of religion is about encounter. The theme book encourages pulling in elements of all three parts of the theme, but it's not required, and it's natural for a project to focus much more on one than the others. This post might be updated occasionally throughout the year.
Religion
--John Wesley and the Moravians. Wesley was the founder of Methodism, and his theology was heavily influenced by a group of Moravians he met on a ship to Georgia.
--Methodist Circuit Riders in the early United States.
--The establishment of the San Antonio Missions. You could do similar things throughout much of the southwest US (as well as Mexico and Central and South America), these are just the missions I'm most familiar with. They're Spanish missions that were established to spread Christianity (and as part of colonization).
Visual Art and Architecture
--Paul Durand-Ruel and Impressionism. Durand-Ruel was an art dealer and one of the first supporters of the Impressionists. See this National Gallery exhibition for more information.
--Frank Lloyd Wright. This is more on the exploration side. Wright was known for incredible innovation in his work.
--Picasso. Again on the exploration, but he also drew from a lot of different influences as he explored different styles. He was one of the earliest Cubists and Neo-Expressionists.
--Matisse or Duchamp. Along with Picasso, really helped shape 20th century art across a variety of media. Matisse helped lead Fauvism but also did great work in classical painting, collages, and sculpture.
Dance
--1956 Bolshoi performances in London. There hadn't been touring between the East and the West in decades, and ballet had gone in very different directions on the two sides of the Iron Curtain. The Bolshoi's tour to London in 1956 created exchange that led to the modern story ballet in the West and choreographic symphonism in the Soviet Union. Read Swans of the Kremlin and Apollo's Angels.
--Ballet defections from the Soviet Union. There are three famous/major ones: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Natalia Makarova, and Rudolf Nureyev.
--Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. Ballet truly came to the US through the Ballet Russes, and their travels brought Russian technique out of Russia. Also, this is how Balanchine ended up in the West, which even without the rest would be significant. Again, read Apollo's Angels.
--Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. This was a touring company formed by members of the Ballet Russes, and they primarily toured in the US. While the Ballet Russes was responsible for exposing Americans in large cities to ballet between 1910 and 1930, from 1940 or so on the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo brought ballet to cities throughout the US, and their dancers established companies and schools. (Look for a local example!) And yes, read Apollo's Angels. (Seriously, for any ballet ideas: read Apollo's Angels.)
--Vernon and Irene Castle. This pair helped expose large audiences in the early 1900s to a variety of popular dances and music styles, popularizing them and making them "respectable."
--Martha Graham. This definitely falls most into exploration; Graham made modern dance what it is. Read Agnes de Mille's Martha.
--Lester Horton. Horton was another leader of modern dance, as much in his role as teacher as in his role as choreographer. He developed a technique still widely studied today, drew from a variety of styles for inspiration, and he was the greatest influence on Alvin Ailey. Alternately, talk about Ailey (the person or the company).
Music
--Stravinsky. Stravinsky pushed music to new places just as Martha Graham did for dance. It was strange and revolutionary and provocative and very controversial.
Art topics tend to be underrepresented in NHD, so here are some arts topic suggestions for this year's theme! I also included religion topics because this year's theme is particularly good for them; so much of religion is about encounter. The theme book encourages pulling in elements of all three parts of the theme, but it's not required, and it's natural for a project to focus much more on one than the others. This post might be updated occasionally throughout the year.
Religion
--John Wesley and the Moravians. Wesley was the founder of Methodism, and his theology was heavily influenced by a group of Moravians he met on a ship to Georgia.
--Methodist Circuit Riders in the early United States.
--The establishment of the San Antonio Missions. You could do similar things throughout much of the southwest US (as well as Mexico and Central and South America), these are just the missions I'm most familiar with. They're Spanish missions that were established to spread Christianity (and as part of colonization).
Visual Art and Architecture
--Paul Durand-Ruel and Impressionism. Durand-Ruel was an art dealer and one of the first supporters of the Impressionists. See this National Gallery exhibition for more information.
--Frank Lloyd Wright. This is more on the exploration side. Wright was known for incredible innovation in his work.
--Picasso. Again on the exploration, but he also drew from a lot of different influences as he explored different styles. He was one of the earliest Cubists and Neo-Expressionists.
--Matisse or Duchamp. Along with Picasso, really helped shape 20th century art across a variety of media. Matisse helped lead Fauvism but also did great work in classical painting, collages, and sculpture.
Dance
--1956 Bolshoi performances in London. There hadn't been touring between the East and the West in decades, and ballet had gone in very different directions on the two sides of the Iron Curtain. The Bolshoi's tour to London in 1956 created exchange that led to the modern story ballet in the West and choreographic symphonism in the Soviet Union. Read Swans of the Kremlin and Apollo's Angels.
--Ballet defections from the Soviet Union. There are three famous/major ones: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Natalia Makarova, and Rudolf Nureyev.
--Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. Ballet truly came to the US through the Ballet Russes, and their travels brought Russian technique out of Russia. Also, this is how Balanchine ended up in the West, which even without the rest would be significant. Again, read Apollo's Angels.
--Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. This was a touring company formed by members of the Ballet Russes, and they primarily toured in the US. While the Ballet Russes was responsible for exposing Americans in large cities to ballet between 1910 and 1930, from 1940 or so on the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo brought ballet to cities throughout the US, and their dancers established companies and schools. (Look for a local example!) And yes, read Apollo's Angels. (Seriously, for any ballet ideas: read Apollo's Angels.)
--Vernon and Irene Castle. This pair helped expose large audiences in the early 1900s to a variety of popular dances and music styles, popularizing them and making them "respectable."
--Martha Graham. This definitely falls most into exploration; Graham made modern dance what it is. Read Agnes de Mille's Martha.
--Lester Horton. Horton was another leader of modern dance, as much in his role as teacher as in his role as choreographer. He developed a technique still widely studied today, drew from a variety of styles for inspiration, and he was the greatest influence on Alvin Ailey. Alternately, talk about Ailey (the person or the company).
Music
--Stravinsky. Stravinsky pushed music to new places just as Martha Graham did for dance. It was strange and revolutionary and provocative and very controversial.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
National History Day 2014: Arts Topics
No topics related to the arts are mentioned in the NHD Theme Book or list of suggested topics this year. Here are a few suggestions, split up by type of art. I might update this throughout this semester, and given the topic this year, this will be shorter than the science lists.
Dance
Soviet ballet defection (I think it's a stretch to relate this to responsibilities, but if you come up with something, it could be fantastic!)
Censorship/propaganda in Soviet-era Russian ballet (a really good starting resource would be Apollo's Angels)
I haven't read it, but there's a book called Dance, Human Rights, and Social Justice that looks really interesting and could be a good jumping off point for a project!
Dancing bans (legal or religious, and again, responsibilities might be a stretch)
Film
The Hollywood blacklist -- could go a lot of directions from here. Could talk about naming others to HUAC or not, pamphlets like Red Channels, or the Writers' Guild working to give proper credit to those who were blacklisted.
Propaganda films and how that relates to rights and responsibilities, either of people or of governments.
Man With a Movie Camera and revolution in the Soviet Union -- this is a really cool film impacted by the idea that a social and political revolution should also induce a revolution in the arts, and it really shows the industrialization occurring in the late 1920s.
Literature/Writing/Philosophy
Thomas Paine's Common Sense and/or Rights of Man
John Locke
Thomas Hobbes
Ayn Rand and objectivism
Adam Smith and The Wealth of Nations
Banned books and freedom of speech -- either in general or focusing on specific books
What is To Be Done? (by Chernyshevsky, by Lenin, or both!) and Bolshevism
Literature and civil rights -- could focus on James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, or Lorraine Hansberry
Uncle Tom's Cabin
To Kill a Mockingbird
(This could be such a long list, and here I've focused on just a couple of ideas and given some suggestions. If you come up with a rights issue, search for related literature!)
Visual Art
Political cartoons and freedom of expression. Could choose particular cartoonist, incident/cartoon, etc.
Propaganda posters and the relationship to the rights and responsibilities of people/governments. Choose a country and time period and possibly even a theme within it. (I'm in a Soviet Union class right now, and there are some great examples of propaganda posters here: http://www.iisg.nl/exhibitions/chairman/sovintro.php)
(So sorry there is no music or theater here! I think a lot of the ideas from the others could be carried over to those, but I just don't know the details.)
Dance
Soviet ballet defection (I think it's a stretch to relate this to responsibilities, but if you come up with something, it could be fantastic!)
Censorship/propaganda in Soviet-era Russian ballet (a really good starting resource would be Apollo's Angels)
I haven't read it, but there's a book called Dance, Human Rights, and Social Justice that looks really interesting and could be a good jumping off point for a project!
Dancing bans (legal or religious, and again, responsibilities might be a stretch)
Film
The Hollywood blacklist -- could go a lot of directions from here. Could talk about naming others to HUAC or not, pamphlets like Red Channels, or the Writers' Guild working to give proper credit to those who were blacklisted.
Propaganda films and how that relates to rights and responsibilities, either of people or of governments.
Man With a Movie Camera and revolution in the Soviet Union -- this is a really cool film impacted by the idea that a social and political revolution should also induce a revolution in the arts, and it really shows the industrialization occurring in the late 1920s.
Literature/Writing/Philosophy
Thomas Paine's Common Sense and/or Rights of Man
John Locke
Thomas Hobbes
Ayn Rand and objectivism
Adam Smith and The Wealth of Nations
Banned books and freedom of speech -- either in general or focusing on specific books
What is To Be Done? (by Chernyshevsky, by Lenin, or both!) and Bolshevism
Literature and civil rights -- could focus on James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, or Lorraine Hansberry
Uncle Tom's Cabin
To Kill a Mockingbird
(This could be such a long list, and here I've focused on just a couple of ideas and given some suggestions. If you come up with a rights issue, search for related literature!)
Visual Art
Political cartoons and freedom of expression. Could choose particular cartoonist, incident/cartoon, etc.
Propaganda posters and the relationship to the rights and responsibilities of people/governments. Choose a country and time period and possibly even a theme within it. (I'm in a Soviet Union class right now, and there are some great examples of propaganda posters here: http://www.iisg.nl/exhibitions/chairman/sovintro.php)
(So sorry there is no music or theater here! I think a lot of the ideas from the others could be carried over to those, but I just don't know the details.)
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Education Through Arts: Dance and Theater in Oklahoma City 2013-2014
Local arts events can supplement curriculum or even provide a framework for it. Many ballets and plays are based on books which can be used in literature curriculum (and history to a lesser extent). For students interested in a particular type of art, these performances also provide an opportunity to learn about the history and influential figures of the art form.
This post focuses on the major dance and theater performances in Oklahoma City over the next year. Note that some of these seasons are over the summer (Lyric and Shakespeare in the Park) and some are throughout the school year.
This post focuses on the major dance and theater performances in Oklahoma City over the next year. Note that some of these seasons are over the summer (Lyric and Shakespeare in the Park) and some are throughout the school year.
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