Lecture 8 Flashcards
(28 cards)
how did alwin nikolais begin his career
as a musician and puppeteer
who did alwin nikolais study with
hanya holm at bennington college
what was the basis of alwin nikolaiss approach to choreography
holms technique
- exploration of space, time, and energy
alwin nikolaiss company
alwin nikolais dance company
3 major characteristics of alwin nikolais’s work
total theatre
subject matter
use of improvisation
total theatre
creates a unity of music, lighting, set design, costumes, and movement
what did alwin nikolais create for his works
the movement, music, lighting, set, and costumes
alwin nikolaiss lighting designs
extremely innovative
- first to project photographic images onto dancers (erases outlines that separate dancer from environment)
- first to use black light (picks up fluorescence on costume)
what did alwin nikolais create onstage
magical illusions
what made possible the lighting effects that alwin nikolais developed
modern technology
what did alwin nikolais always monitor
the events occurring onstage during the performance
alwin nikolaiss subject matter
non-narrative and not expressing emotion
- abstract (though sometimes representational)
what did alwin nikolaiss subject matter react to
the use of psychodrama that dominated during modern dance
who used psychodrama
graham
limon
sokolow
dancers in alwin nikolais
sometimes genderless, all dressed in similar costumes
- sometimes accused of dehumanizing them
- preferred to call them depersonalized
alwin nikolais costumes
sometimes completely enclosed the dancers
how did alwin nikolais want to portray individual dancers
as beings in an environment, rather than those with human personalities
what 2 main categories does alwin nikolaiss work fall into
theatrical and abstract
theatrical category that alwin nikolais work falls into
props, costumes, magical lighting, focus on the dancers within an environment
abstract category that alwin nikolais work falls into
flesh coloured costumes so dancers appear naked, focus on the movement of the dancer
alwin nikolaiss use of improvisation
all his dances were created from improv
- once the movement was set nothing changed
- no chance element in performance
alwin nikolais is ____ choreographer
an abstractionist
video: jerome robbins
excerpts from his personal journals, archival performance footage, and never-before-seen rehearsal recordings, as well as interviews with Robbins himself and over forty witnesses
jerome robbins
master of broadway musicals
- ballet choreographer
- contradictory and controversial