Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
3,589,088,567 visitors served.
forum Join the Word of the Day Mailing List For webmasters
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

Choreography

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.

choreography

Art of creating and arranging dances. The word is derived from the Greek for “dance” and “write,” reflecting its early meaning as a written record of dances. By the 19th century the term was used mainly for the creation of dances, and the written record became known as dance notation. In the 16th century dance masters at the French court arranged their social dances into specific patterns. In the 17th century such dances became more complex and were performed as theatrical ballets by trained professionals. In the late 18th century Jean-Georges Noverre and Gasparo Angiolini introduced choreography that combined expressive mime and dance steps to produce the dramatic ballet. This was further developed in 19th-century Romantic ballets by Marius Petipa, Jules Perrot, and August Bournonville. Radical change in the 20th century began with choreographers of the Ballets Russes, including Michel Fokine and Léonide Massine, and continued with George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Frederick Ashton, Jerome Robbins, Merce Cunningham, and Twyla Tharp. See also Alvin Ailey; Agnes de Mille; Serge Lifar; Bronislava Nijinska; Salvatore Viganò.


choreography, choregraphy
1. the composition of dance steps and sequences for ballet and stage dancing
2. the steps and sequences of a ballet or dance
3. the notation representing such steps

Choreography 

(1) A term originally used for the art of notating dances. The first attempts to record dances were made in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, but it was not until the late 17th and early 18th centuries that French choreographers and dance teachers, such as P. Beauchamp, R.-A. Feuillet, and P. Rameau, devised a system of dance notation, which later became widespread. The term “choreography” was introduced by the choreographer Feuillet, author of Chorégraphie ou l’arte de décrire la danse (1700). In Russia, two systems of dance notation were devised in the late 18th century: the system of F. A. Zorn (in Russian, A. Ia. Tsorn; 1889), used mainly by teachers of ballroom dances, and the system of V. I. Stepanov (1891). Stepanov’s system was used to record 27 ballets from the repertoire of the Mariinskii Theater in St. Petersburg.

(2) The art of composing dances and ballets. In this sense, the term has been used since the mid-19th century. Authors of the steps and dances in a ballet are called choreographers.

(3) The art of the dance as a whole. It is one of the oldest forms of art, whose means of expression are movements of the human body to music (seeDANCE).

REFERENCE

Lisitsian, S. Zapis’ dvizheniia (Kinetografiia). Moscow-Leningrad, 1940.


How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Feedback
Mentioned in?  References in periodicals archive?   Encyclopedia browser?   Full browser?
No references found
 
A lifelong choreographer, she served for nearly a decade as artistic associate and director of choreography for the Carlisle Project in Pennsylvania, and directed the Irish National Youth Dance Company.
The Australian production is written and directed by Toby Gough, with choreography by Merchant herself.
They add: "Stunning vocal and artistic talent combined with the show's design and the attractive use of video projection with slick choreography ensures that You Don't Bring Me Flowers lives up to its reputation as being one of the best shows touring the UK in 2009.
 
 
 
Encyclopedia
?

Terms of Use | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2012 Farlex, Inc.
Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.