What is muscle contraction in dance?
This is the type of muscle contraction that you might think of when you think of using a muscle. Think of doing a bicep curl with a hand weight (not that we do this in dance, but it’s a useful illustration). In a bicep curl, you hold a weight in your hand, and then move the hand towards the shoulder.
What muscles are involved in isometric contraction in dance?
They are undergoing an isometric contraction. Holding any position, whether it is an arabesque in ballet, or a plank in contemporary dance, involves isometric contraction of the muscles involved. If you are in a jazz class and you do a high swish kick to the side you are working the hamstrings and quadriceps.
What are the basic movements of ballroom dance?
BASIC MOVEMENT: In ballroom dance, a characteristic figure that remains constant. BATTEMENT: A beating movement of the legs. PAS DEBOURREE: A series of small, fast steps executed with the feet very close together. BRISE: In ballet, a jump off one foot that is “broken” by a beating of the legs in the air.
What are the different types of muscle contraction?
Both of these types of contraction are called isotonic (also known as dynamic), which means the length of the muscle changes when it contracts. The third type of muscle contraction that I’d like to tell you about today is isometric contraction. This is when the muscle contracts, but doesn’t change length.
What is contracting in dance?
Key elements in the Martha Graham technique of modern dance. They refer to the action of the body at the moment of the exhalation of breath (the contraction) and the moment of inhalation (the release).
How do you perform a contraction in dance?
When you control the movement as you extend your arm, you are performing an eccentric contraction and controlling the speed at which you lengthen the bicep. So one way to think of it is that an eccentric contraction of a muscle slows down the rate of movement.
What is a jazz contraction?
Another popular jazz move is the "contraction." A contraction is accomplished by contracting the torso, with the back curved outward and the pelvis pulled forward.
What is the principle of contraction and release?
Based on her own interpretation of the Delsartean principle of tension and relaxation, Graham identified a method of breathing and impulse control she called "contraction and release." For her, movement originated in the tension of a contracted muscle, and continued in the flow of energy released from the body as the ...
Why is contraction important in dance?
It is the contrast between desire and duty, between fear and courage, between weakness and strength. The repeated use of the contraction and release gives a rhythmic energy to the movements in this technique, and its execution is central to the seated, lying, and standing exercises of the training method (figure 8.2).
What is the most accurate definition of a contraction in dance?
Contraction: term introduced by the modern dancer and choreographer Martha Graham as one of the key elements of her own dance technique. It refers to the forward curving of the spine, starting from the pelvic zone.
What is a triplet in dance?
Triplet – In modern dance, it is a three step movement executed in turn out to music in ¾ or 6/8 time, in the following order: plie, releve, releve.
What is a stag leap in dance?
0:031:20How to Do the Stag Leap | Jazz Dance - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd then we'll do it to music. So that's right left stag left right stag. It's very important whenMoreAnd then we'll do it to music. So that's right left stag left right stag. It's very important when you're doing leaps that you're always rolling through your feet.
What is a hitch in dance?
0:121:05How to Hitch Kick | Jazz Dance - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd then you're going to passe your left leg and then develop a your right leg as left leg comesMoreAnd then you're going to passe your left leg and then develop a your right leg as left leg comes down arms come up you're going to do that simultaneously.
What does folding mean in dance?
Collapsing movement: Movement that is characterized by a relaxed release into gravity, resulting in a folding or curling of the body downward.
Who created the contract and release technique?
Martha GrahamThe Roots of Release In fact, the mother of modern dance, Martha Graham, recognized the power of release by making the contraction—a two-part process of contracting and releasing the core—the foundation of her style. Graham wasn't the only modern master to focus on release.
What are some techniques in dance?
Below, you will find some helpful tips to use with your teams at practice to improve their overall technique as dancers.Body Alignment. ... Pom & Kick. ... Turns. ... Leaps and Jumps. ... Tips for Turn Technique. ... CHAINE TURN. ... PIQUETURN. ... JAZZ PIROUETTE.More items...•
What is the form of dance?
Form: this is a word that is most commonly used to refer to movement (dance) from an abstract point of view. The ‘form’ of movement, also called the ‘shape’, would include its occupation of space, timings, body uses and such kind of elements that do not express other contents than movement itself.
What is body placement in dance?
Body placement: this is an expression that we use in dance to talk about the way in which we carry our body (our selves), including the positioning and alignment of big bones (like the pelvis or spine), limbs and head as well as the micro organizations of muscles that are responsible for their positioning.
What are some examples of dance improvisation?
Examples of dance improvisation guidelines are: following the music, occupying space in specific ways, movement qualities, choreographic phrases that are executed according to chosen rules and so forth. Inversion: one of the strategies used in the compositional method that makes variations of a leitmotiv.
What is the meaning of "two or more" in dance?
When referring to dance, it expresses the same but in choreographic terms: two (or more) choreographic fragments with different use of space, time and/or body are executed together and make part of a choreographic unity.
What is a dance step?
Dance steps: this is an expression that we use to refer to codified movements, which make part of a dancing vocabulary. A dance step is not necessarily a common step (with a leg), but can be any movement of the body that is already recognized as part of a dance type or style.
What is the term for the forward curving of the spine?
Contraction: term introduced by the modern dancer and choreographer Martha Graham as one of the key elements of her own dance technique. It refers to the forward curving of the spine, starting from the pelvic zone. Corporeality: (or corporeity) this is a term used by dance researchers mainly.
What is a choreographer?
Choreographer: artist who creates with the movement of humans as material. In dance terms though, a contemporary dance choreographer is usually considered as a general director of scenic art pieces that include several aesthetic languages (music, visual fine arts, architecture…), all under his creative judgment.
What is the dance that the dancer repeatedly crosses his or her legs in the air?
ENTRECHAT: A ballet movement in which the dancer repeatedly crosses his or her legs in the air. EPAULEMENT: In ballet, the position of the torso from the waist-up. FANDANGO: A lively Spanish dance in triple time performed with castanets or tambourines. FERME: In ballet, a closed position of the feet.
What is the name of the dance that is characterized by symmetrical figures and elaborate curtseys
JETE: Leap from one leg to the other in which one leg is thrown to the side, front, or back. GRAND JETE: A large leap forward. MINUET: A slow and graceful dance that is the most popular dance of the eighteenth century, characterized by symmetrical figures and elaborate curtseys and bows.
What is the name of the dance that dancers wore bells on their legs?
MORRIS DANCE: An English folk dance that appeared in the fifteenth century, in which dancers wore bells on their legs and characters, included a fool, a boy on a hobby horse, and a man in blackface. OUVERT: In ballet, an open position of the feet. PARTERRE: Steps performed on the floor.
What is the fourth position in ballet?
Fourth position: one foot in front of the other, parallel, but apart. Fifth position: One foot in front of the other, parallel, with heel of front foot touching toe of back foot. FONDU: In ballet, a lowering of the body by bending the knee.
How many positions are there in ballet?
FIVE POSITIONS: In ballet, the basic positions of the feet. First position: feet in a straight line, heels touching. Second position: feet in a straight line, heels apart. Third position: one foot in front of the other, parallel to it, with heel of front foot in hollow instep of back foot.
What is the tuck jump in ballet?
ASSEMBLE: In ballet, a jump from one to both feet, usually landing in fifth position. ATTITUDE: In ballet, a pose in which one leg is raised in back or in front with knee bent, usually with one arm raised. AXEL: A tuck jump turning outward leaving and landing on the same foot.
What is contraction in dance?
The indexical meaning of the contraction in Graham's choreography is generally that the dancer is overcome with emotion, although the details depend on the specific context.
Who was the dancer who danced with Graham?
Former Graham dancer Ellen Graff, 2004. Like other early modern choreographers, Graham used floorwork to explore the themes of weight and gravity in new ways; European students were "shocked" when Anna Sokolow introduced them to Graham's "percussive" falling techniques in the 1950s.
What muscle is used to pull the spine into a concave arc?
Martha Graham, 1991. A classic Graham contraction is a movement originating from the deep pelvic muscles. These muscles, along with the abdominal muscles, pull the spine into a concave arc from the coccyx to the nape of the neck, with the pelvis tucked and shoulders forward. The spine grows longer, not shorter, in a contraction.
Why did Graham criticize her dancers?
Graham sometimes criticized her dancers for failing to initiate from the pelvis, or as she sometimes put it, "move from the vagina"; the connection between Graham technique and the female pelvis led one of Graham's male dancers to develop "vagina envy".
Why do dancers use Graham falls?
In almost all falls, the dancer exerts a strong upward force to counteract the force of gravity and suspend the body in space for artistic effect. Graham falls can be used for dramatic effect, taking meaning in a choreographic context from manipulating the balance between actively suspending the body and surrendering to gravity.
Who was the first dancer to use the Graham technique?
It is widely regarded as the first codified modern dance technique, and strongly influenced the later techniques of Merce Cunningham, Lester Horton, and Paul Taylor. Graham technique is based on the opposition between contraction and release, a concept based on the breathing cycle which has become a "trademark" of modern dance forms.
Who was Graham in the dance movement?
Graham, along with Doris Humphrey, Helen Tamiris, Agnes de Mille, and others, was part of an artistic movement in dance which rejected both the centuries-old tradition of classical ballet and the first-generation rebels of modern dance, such as those who taught at the Denishawn school where Graham studied. grievous in
