Test your basic knowledge |

Dance History

Subjects : performing-arts, dance
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Embraces conflict - polyrhythmic - pelvis off centered - high affect juxtaposition (intenseness of feeling) - ephebism (power - vitality) - cool (intensity) - improvisation






2. A signature piece of Taylor's in which he and his pianist remain motionless for the duration of the music-less score by John Cage.






3. Concerts organized by Dunn continued here until 1968; concert in 1962 considered to have begun the postmodernist movement






4. A diversion or amusement; a short ballet or other entertainment performed between the acts of a play






5. Composer of Le Train Bleu - influenced by jazz






6. Confirmed that Balanchine was an experimentalist - Africanist principles in his rhythmic scores - turns not resolved as in ballet - they just stop - take 'one' counts rather than 'and' counts






7. Work written at a time when one of Jones' company dancers - Demian Acquavella - nicknamed D-Man - was suffering from AIDS; a celebratory - affectionate work about the company defiantly remaining joyful - loving - productive - and cohesive in the face






8. (1931-1989) A New York City dancer who created an American Dance Theater which trains dancers and performs worldwide; most famous work was Revelations and piece named Cry - in honor of his mother; lost battle to AIDS in 1989






9. Choreography is famous for its speed - force and eroticism; died of AIDS at the age of 49






10. Height of Romantic Ballet - Star: Carlotta Grisi - Choreographer: Jules Perrot (Carlotta's lover) & Jean Coralli - Written by: Gautier (Who was in love with Grisi) - Act I (sunlit) - Act II (moonlit)






11. Pilobolus - human jousting horses






12. Alwin Nikolais - had a lot of ribbons - very involved in the sounds - wearing skin colored clothes - drum music - elastic ropes and strings - all across stage






13. Last member of the group that helped found the modern dance movement - Amassed a growing collection of 133 dances - His work created the Paul Taylor Dance Company - Known for his innovative and sometimes controversial choreography - Still considered






14. Fokine - starred Nijinsky - about a sad puppet who wanted his soul to come to life - belonged to evil sorcerer






15. Nijinsky choreographed - in the forest - nymphs shows up to flirt with the Faun - one of them drops her scarf - they all leave - and he masturbates into the scarf






16. Studio behind the stage at the Paris Opera which is now used as a rehearsal stage and a reception venue but which was notorious in the 19th century (during the reign of Dr Varon) as the salon where members of the Jockey Club could meet dancers.






17. Massine - parable about freedom - Picasso - aesthetic unity






18. Famous tennis player who took ballet (lover in Le Train Bleu)






19. High energy act of two African american brothers - Fayard and Harold - had a 'flash act' consisting of an acrobatic tap style - were in movies - only African Americans encouraged to mingle with audience (by audeince demand)






20. Wrote 'The Art of Making Dances' in 1931 - Fall and Recovery - inspired by Bach and used his work in many piece - choreographed pieces without music - Passacaglia and fugue in C minor (showed fall and recovery)






21. Music that combines spoken street dialect with cuts (samples) from older records and bears the influences of social politics - male boasting - and comic lyrics carried forward from blues - R&b - soul and rock and roll






22. African American social dance in the 1920s; spurred the Jitter Bug






23. By Martha Graham - focuses on technique - used technique as her own language - inspired by when she moved to Santa Barbara as a child - choneo - straight out of technique class - running on the cliffs of Santa Barbara and the development of her techn






24. Martha Graham explored use of breath to contract & releases the muscles of the pelvis to create a powerful - grounded - percussive - angular dance






25. In charge of new Paris Opera; under his direction - Paris Opera made a profit for the only time in its existence; slashed salaries of ballerinas to force them into mistresshood for fellow Jockey's






26. The transformation from an agricultural to an industrial nation; industrialization allowed for stable incomes and allowed for centralized support of art in cities






27. French composer; uses harmony to reinforce stasis; Prelude to Afternoon of a Fawn (half man - half goat - simulated masturbation); concert work that became a ballet






28. First book of choreography; published posthumously in 1959






29. Nijinsky's sister - choreographer - dancer - became leading dancer and choreographer in diaghliev's company






30. 1st principal dancer with Royal Ballet - choreographer-in-residence during the second year (1941) of Ballet Theater






31. Choreographed by Petipa & Ivanov - Odette (under a spell) & Odile look alike - Prince Siegfried (Odette saves other swans & tells him her tale) - his mother throws a ball for him to find a wife - Odile shows up as Odette & Prince commits his love to






32. St. Petersburg Ballet School 1738 - Director of Imperial Theater - Official Patronage 1766 & Moscow 1806; - first dancing master that was brought to russia - from france






33. Teacher in Merce's studio Who is remembered for creating a competitive environment filled w/ experimentation for new dance styles






34. Beginning of modern dance - danced with bare feet - wore flowing Greek-style robe - died being strangled from a long-flowing scarf caught in a car wheel






35. A ballet company established in 1909 by the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev. It created a sensation in Western Europe because of the great vitality of Russian ballet compared to French dance. The Ballets Russes became one of the most influential b






36. Writer of Giselle - Dance Critic - Wrote against male dancers - Praised ballerinas for their sensuality and beauty - in love with Carlotta Grisi






37. Radically new or original






38. HIV - choreographed Still Here - organized survivor workshops






39. Started in NYC by Robert Joffrey - small company - repertoire was eclectic and contemporary - reconstructed works from Diaghilev's Ballets Russes - Financially weak - often folded - moved to LA then chicago






40. Modern Dance Choreographer-- mixed media extravaganza's celebrating the electronic age; choreographed Tensile Involvement






41. Dancer - choreographer - teacher - born 1930 in NY - began dancing senior year of HS - scholarship to New Dance group. studied with Primus. Professional debut in 1948 - choreographed 1st pieces with group when 18 - 1951 founded contemporary dance gro






42. Choreographed by Paul Taylor; Modern dance work in one act with choreography by Taylor - music by Handel - and lighting by T. Skelton. Premiered 4 Aug. 1962 at Connecticut College - New London - by the Paul Taylor Dance Company with Taylor - Elizabet






43. Gentlemen's club which indulged in fencing - horses - and mistresses; often took ballerinas with low incomes as mistresses






44. Sharp powerful movement; angle






45. American leader of the movement to legalize birth control during the early 1900's. As a nurse in the poor sections of New York City - she had seen the suffering caused by unwanted pregnancy. Founded the first birth control clinic in the U.S. and the






46. Famous for her incredible technique - lightness - and ethereal presence -(1804-1884) -Introduced new costume design (bare neck/shoulders - tutu) -Perfected dancing en pointe -La Sylphide`






47. Performed with New York City Ballet under Balanchine - later founded Dance Theatre of Harlem - first African American principle dancer






48. Based on Bill T. Jones' seminar workshops; swirling with arms out to side - spinning - stomping feet - flying






49. Different styles: 1. hoofers: Gregory Hines - Savion Glover - intricate footwork 2. class acts: Fred Astaire - Ginger Rodgers - refined and elegant 3. flash acts: tap with acrobatics 4. soft shoe: skimming floor - producing soft & muted steps






50. Fokine - starred Nijinsky - about a woman who comes home from a ball and puts a rose on a table - falls asleep and dances with the spirit of the rose - the rose jumps out the window; most famous jump in dance history