Documents for "Dance":

• American Ballet Theatre one of the foremost international dance companies of the 20th cent. It was founded in 1937 as the Mordkin Ballet and reorganized as the Ballet Theatre in 1940 under the direction of Lucia Chase and...

• ballet [Ital. ballare =to dance], classic, formalized solo or ensemble dancing of a highly controlled, dramatic nature performed to music.

• Ballet Folklórico de México Mexico's national dance company. It was founded in 1952 by the dancer, choreographer, and teacher Amalia Hernández. Sponsored by the Mexican government, it is headquartered at the National...

• Ballets Russes see Diaghilev, Sergei Pavlovich.

• bolero national dance of Spain, introduced c.1780 by Sebastian Zerezo, or Cerezo. Of Moroccan origin, it resembles the fandango. It is in 2-4 or 3-4 time for solo or duo dancing and is performed to the accompaniment...

• Bolshoi Ballet one of the principal ballet companies of Russia; part of the Bolshoi Theater, which also includes Russia's premier opera company. The Bolshoi Ballet began as a dancing school for the Moscow...

• cancan a lively French dance marked chiefly by high kicking. It was developed in Paris in the 1830s and became a popular social dance there. By the mid-19th cent. it was incorporated into dance revues...

• charleston social dance of the United States popular in the mid-1920s. The charleston is characterized by outward heel kicks combined with an up-and-down movement achieved by bending and straightening the...

• dance [Old High Ger. danson =to drag, stretch], the art of precise, expressive, and graceful human movement, traditionally, but not necessarily, performed in accord with musical accompaniment. Dancing developed as a natural...

• Dance Theatre of Harlem the first black classical ballet company. The group was founded in Harlem, New York City, by Arthur Mitchell , then of the New York City Ballet, the first black principal dancer of a classical company of international standing. The company began as a school for 30 students in the summer of 1968. Classes...

• fandango ancient Spanish dance, probably of Moorish origin, that came into Europe in the 17th cent. It is in triple time and is danced by a single couple to the accompaniment of castanets, guitar, and...

• folk dance primitive, tribal, or ethnic form of the dance , sometimes the survival of some ancient ceremony or festival. The term is used also to include characteristic national dances, country dances, and figure dances in costume to folk tunes. Many...

• gavotte originally a peasant dance of the Gavots in upper Dauphiné, France. A type of circle dance characterized by lively, skipping steps, it was introduced at the court of Louis XIV and was used by...

• gigue see jig.

• Highland fling national dance of Highland Scotland. Composed in the duple rhythm of the strathspey, a variety of reel, it is characterized by the Scotch snap (a succession of sixteenth notes alternating with...

• hornpipe English folk dance known since the 16th cent., when it obtained its name from the wind instrument that accompanied it. The hornpipes of the 17th and 18th cent. have moderate 3-2 time and 4-4 time...

• Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival summer dance concert series held annually near Lee, Mass., in the Berkshires. The site, originally an 18th-century farm, was purchased by the American modern dancer Ted Shawn in 1930, and three...

• jig dance of English origin that is performed also in Ireland and Scotland. It is usually a lively dance, performed by one or more persons, with quick and irregular steps. When the jig was introduced...

• Joffrey Ballet one of the major American dance companies. It was founded in New York City in 1954 by the dancer-choreographer Robert Joffrey. From 1956 to 1964 it made yearly tours of the United States. The...

• Kirov Ballet one of the two major ballet companies of Russia, the other being the Bolshoi Ballet. In 1991 it was officially renamed the St. Petersburg Maryinsky Ballet; however, on its frequent tours abroad it is still called the Kirov Ballet. Often regarded as the foremost European ballet...

• mazurka Polish national dance that spread to England and the United States at the beginning of the 19th cent. Danced by four or eight couples and characterized by stamping of the feet and clicking of the...

• minuet French dance, originally from Poitou, introduced at the court of Louis XIV in 1650. It became popular during the 17th and 18th cent. In 3-4 meter and moderate tempo, the minuet was performed by...

• modern dance serious theatrical dance forms that are distinct from both ballet and the show dancing of the musical comedy or variety stage.

• Momix see Pilobolus Dance Theater.

• morrice dance see morris dance.

• morris dance or morrice dance, rustic dance of the north of England that had its origin in country festivals, such as those of May Day and Whitsunday. Reference to it in English literature is made as early as the 15th cent. The...

• New York City Ballet one of the foremost American dance companies of the 20th cent. It was founded by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine as the Ballet Society in 1946. In 1948 the company took its present name and began regular performances at the New York City Center. It moved to the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center for the...

• Pilobolus Dance Theater innovative dance company founded (1971) at Dartmouth College by Moses Pendleton, Jonathan Wolken, Alison Chase, and others. Its dances, which are developed collectively, typically involve...

• polka ballroom dance for couples in 2/4 time. Originated by Bohemian peasants about 1830 from steps of the schottische and other dances, the polka by 1835 reached the drawing rooms of Prague, from which...

• Robert Joffrey Ballet see Joffrey Ballet.

• Royal Ballet the principal British ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden , London. It is noted for lavish dramatic productions, a superbly disciplined corps de ballet, and brilliant performances from its principals. Granted a royal charter in 1956, the company was formed...

• Royal Danish Ballet one of the oldest major ballet companies, established at the opening of Denmark's Royal Theater in Copenhagen in 1748. The company was developed over the centuries by three great masters. The...

• saraband dance of Asian origin that first appeared in Spain in the 16th cent. At that time it was characterized by alternate 3-4 and 3-8 meter and was accompanied by castanets and tambourines. Cervantes...

• Stuttgart Ballet the first major German ballet company. The company, housed in the Württemberg Staatstheater, rose rapidly to fame in the 1960s under the direction of John Cranko (1927-73), who left his position as...

• tarantella Neapolitan folk dance that first appeared in Taranto, Italy, in the 17th cent. It had rapid 6-8 meter with an increasing tempo and was thought to cure the bite of the tarantula, which supposedly...