http://www.sfballet.org/
San Fransisco Ballet's website is very organized and easy to use. When the website is opened, there are many things to see. A large picture of a man and a woman in a performance takes up the majority of the page. Above the picture, are various tabs to choose from. Performances and tickets, news and features, about, ballet school, support, and education and community. Under performances and tickets are facts about the 2009 upcoming performances; how to purchase tickets; Nutcracker ticket sales; information on visiting, casting, subscribing, and touring; and a calendar of upcoming events. When navigating under this tab, you can find out various things. Under the 2009 performances the styles of each performance are told as well as composers, choreographers, and performance dates. Under visiting one can find out what to expect form the visit, and how to set up an appointment to visit. Under News and Features, are podcasts, feature stories, your story, dancer blog, artist spotlight, and news and press. This tab is more just to be "in the know." The feature stories are stories anywhere from choreographers to musicians of the ballet. In artist spotlight, details about various dancers are present as well as background and dance history.
Under the about tab, info about the company, the orchestra, the executive director, the board of trustees, staff, history of the company, a repertory database, and employment can be explored. Under the company and history, the background of the company and some of the staff is told. Also, one can learn about the executive director and if one seeks employment, they can get more info on that.
When looking under the ballet school, one can learn about the school's history, the staff, the program, trainee programs, summer sessions, and contact info. The program talks of the school's curriculum, and how students are placed in the classes. Under the school's history, one can find out how the program was started, and who started it, and the changes that occurred to bring the school where it is today.
And lastly, support, and education and economy. Here, community members can learn how to be involved with the ballet and how to subscribe. Also, the classes and camps that are open to the public throughout the year.
At the bottom of the page there are links that lead to planning visits, donating money, a ballet shop, getting involved, and sign up for emails. One may also purchase tickets, make a subscription, read about the company tours, and see the company blog. At the bottom is also a scrolling marque of highlights of the San Fransisco ballet.
Overall, this website is not banal in any way and easy to navigate and figure out. It is interesting with its many colors( it appeases the eye well), tabs, and options. If in doubt though, one may use the handy dandy search bar located at the top of the page. I think this site is lovely!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Ballet Today
Although ballet still uses the same positions and most of the same technique, the old ways of ballet are becoming obsolete. Ballet has changed a lot through ages from shoes, and dancewear to who dances and who doesn’t.
A long, long time ago, when dancing still took place in the royal courts, the shoes dancers wore were not designed for dance. Today, soft shoes, and pointe shoes are worn, and are designed specifically for every type of dancer. Pointe shoes are a ballet slipper hardened with glue, for support, as the dancer rolls up from the heel through the ball of their foot in order to stand on their toes. There are hundreds of different types of pointe shoes that a dancer can choose form. There are different vamps for different lengths of toes, different shanks for different strengths of arches, different wing heights for different “thickness” of a dancer’s foot, and different shapes of the overall shoe for the wide variety of shapes of the feet. In classical ballet pointe shoes are preferred for performing. They elongate the leg and make for a more elegant, beautiful recital. Pointe shoes are used during class also, in order to strengthen and prepare the feet, but soft shoes are also used. Soft shoes are little, “floppy” slippers that also come in a wide variety for the wide variety of dancer feet. For the most part, soft shoes and pointe shoes have been made the same way for hundreds of years, but recently, pointe shoe companies are coming up with new technology. For example, Bloch (pronounced “block”) has come out with something new called TMT or thermoMorphtechnology. When a dancer receives their shoes, they can heat the shank and vamp of the shoe with a hair dryer, and bend the shoe where desired break in is wanted. The shoe is then put in the refrigerator to “set” the shoe, so it stays in the shape the dancer wants. This new “technology” helps a dancer to easily customize and break in their shoes.
As far as dancewear goes, the wearing of long heavy dresses has long since terminated, and it is no longer shocking to see a dancer’s ankles. The leotard was introduced, and is now a dancing necessity. A leotard is like a one piece bathing suit, but more trendy, and easier to dance in. Bare legs have never seemed smart for a dancer, because the muscles are always wanted to keep warm, so ballerinas wear tights. Tights are like transparent nylon/supplex/spandex leggings that cover the feet. They no longer itch, become stretched out, and they move with a dancer better than they did thirty years ago. Dancewear is always fitted so a dance teacher can see exactly what the dancers joints, limbs, and muscles are doing.
Long ago, the “dance industry” exploited against women and only allowed men to twirl and skip as they liked. But now, it’s the women who shine in the ballet world. When romantic themes emerged, the women was needed more to play the lead women roles. As ballet escalated in popularity, women ballerinas became more well known then ever before. Now, the term prima ballerina, or principal dancer is used for the lady (or man) that assumes the lead role of a company ballet production. The women prima ballerina roles usually consist of difficult, delicate, and dynamic choreography. And a man’s role usually consists of very large jumps and continuing turns, while he also has the job of making the ballerina look beautiful.
There is also a constant pressure in the dance world to stay thin. A lot of dance companies won’t accept a woman who is over 110 pounds. Companies also look for the long, tall women with long graceful limbs. So, although a dancer can be very talented at what she does, she may not be accepted as “beautiful” to dance companies if she weighs over 110 pounds and is below average height. Men have similar problems with dance companies, but women have the hardest time with this.
To conclude, ballet sticks closely to its origins, and has needed a push to modernize. Many things that have not been accepted initially, are now a traditional, everyday part of a dancers life.
Works Cited
"The History of Ballet." Tip Toe Dancewear. 10 Sept. 2008.
Ellis-Chirstensen, Tricia. "What is Ballet?" Wise Geek. 2003. 15 Sept. 2008.
A long, long time ago, when dancing still took place in the royal courts, the shoes dancers wore were not designed for dance. Today, soft shoes, and pointe shoes are worn, and are designed specifically for every type of dancer. Pointe shoes are a ballet slipper hardened with glue, for support, as the dancer rolls up from the heel through the ball of their foot in order to stand on their toes. There are hundreds of different types of pointe shoes that a dancer can choose form. There are different vamps for different lengths of toes, different shanks for different strengths of arches, different wing heights for different “thickness” of a dancer’s foot, and different shapes of the overall shoe for the wide variety of shapes of the feet. In classical ballet pointe shoes are preferred for performing. They elongate the leg and make for a more elegant, beautiful recital. Pointe shoes are used during class also, in order to strengthen and prepare the feet, but soft shoes are also used. Soft shoes are little, “floppy” slippers that also come in a wide variety for the wide variety of dancer feet. For the most part, soft shoes and pointe shoes have been made the same way for hundreds of years, but recently, pointe shoe companies are coming up with new technology. For example, Bloch (pronounced “block”) has come out with something new called TMT or thermoMorphtechnology. When a dancer receives their shoes, they can heat the shank and vamp of the shoe with a hair dryer, and bend the shoe where desired break in is wanted. The shoe is then put in the refrigerator to “set” the shoe, so it stays in the shape the dancer wants. This new “technology” helps a dancer to easily customize and break in their shoes.
As far as dancewear goes, the wearing of long heavy dresses has long since terminated, and it is no longer shocking to see a dancer’s ankles. The leotard was introduced, and is now a dancing necessity. A leotard is like a one piece bathing suit, but more trendy, and easier to dance in. Bare legs have never seemed smart for a dancer, because the muscles are always wanted to keep warm, so ballerinas wear tights. Tights are like transparent nylon/supplex/spandex leggings that cover the feet. They no longer itch, become stretched out, and they move with a dancer better than they did thirty years ago. Dancewear is always fitted so a dance teacher can see exactly what the dancers joints, limbs, and muscles are doing.
Long ago, the “dance industry” exploited against women and only allowed men to twirl and skip as they liked. But now, it’s the women who shine in the ballet world. When romantic themes emerged, the women was needed more to play the lead women roles. As ballet escalated in popularity, women ballerinas became more well known then ever before. Now, the term prima ballerina, or principal dancer is used for the lady (or man) that assumes the lead role of a company ballet production. The women prima ballerina roles usually consist of difficult, delicate, and dynamic choreography. And a man’s role usually consists of very large jumps and continuing turns, while he also has the job of making the ballerina look beautiful.
There is also a constant pressure in the dance world to stay thin. A lot of dance companies won’t accept a woman who is over 110 pounds. Companies also look for the long, tall women with long graceful limbs. So, although a dancer can be very talented at what she does, she may not be accepted as “beautiful” to dance companies if she weighs over 110 pounds and is below average height. Men have similar problems with dance companies, but women have the hardest time with this.
To conclude, ballet sticks closely to its origins, and has needed a push to modernize. Many things that have not been accepted initially, are now a traditional, everyday part of a dancers life.
Works Cited
"The History of Ballet." Tip Toe Dancewear. 10 Sept. 2008
Ellis-Chirstensen, Tricia. "What is Ballet?" Wise Geek. 2003. 15 Sept. 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Background and History
Ballet originated during the 14 and 1500’s in Italy. During the Renaissance era, Italy was made up of city-states. The wealthy, who ruled the city states tried hard to promote the arts by competing with animosity to show who was the wealthiest, with fancy royal court performances where the dancer was merely dancing to please their ruler. In 1547, a member of a wealthy family in Italy became queen of France. Her name was Catherine de Medicis and she brought the Italian traditions into the French courts. Because dance technique was so limited back then, the dancers relied on their elegant, but heavy, costumes to show off their wealth and to impress all who watched. Dancing still only took place in the royal court where the women were limited to long awkward dresses where their dance steps were impossible to see. The men, on the other hand, had more freedom in their clothes and could jump and do many more steps than the women could. Most of the time masks were worn to better portray the character a dancer was playing.
Time went on and ballet developed more and more. The “industry” became more competitive, where more skill was required. King Louis, who ruled France in the mid-1600’s recognized this, greatly admired dancing. He loved to watch as well as participate, and was so adamant about ballet to growing into something big, that he developed the Paris Opera Ballet, a dancing school where all could be taught the gift of dance. Through the training at the school, new skills were developed and dancers became more advanced than ever before. During the early 1700’s, a man named Pierre Beauchamps, King Louis’ dance master, defined and named many new dance steps as well as the five positions of the feet that are still used in all types of dance today.
Professional ballet dancers made their way from the royal courts to public stages. Dancers and choreographers traveled around performing for the public and the art of ballet was spread worldwide.
Works Cited
"History of Ballet." World Book.
Time went on and ballet developed more and more. The “industry” became more competitive, where more skill was required. King Louis, who ruled France in the mid-1600’s recognized this, greatly admired dancing. He loved to watch as well as participate, and was so adamant about ballet to growing into something big, that he developed the Paris Opera Ballet, a dancing school where all could be taught the gift of dance. Through the training at the school, new skills were developed and dancers became more advanced than ever before. During the early 1700’s, a man named Pierre Beauchamps, King Louis’ dance master, defined and named many new dance steps as well as the five positions of the feet that are still used in all types of dance today.
Professional ballet dancers made their way from the royal courts to public stages. Dancers and choreographers traveled around performing for the public and the art of ballet was spread worldwide.
Works Cited
"History of Ballet." World Book.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Why ballet???
I chose ballet, because it has always been a huge part of my life. I don't know much about it other than sewing pointe shoes, terms, and of course, dancing!! A few things i would like to address and learn more about are....
*eating disorders in the dance industry (+expectations of a dancer)
*where it originated (+the history behind it)
*anatomy of a dancers feet
*the art of choreography
*eating disorders in the dance industry (+expectations of a dancer)
*where it originated (+the history behind it)
*anatomy of a dancers feet
*the art of choreography
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)