Jacksonville University, The Joffrey Ballet, and the School of American Ballet were all different places that William Forsythe received his formal modern and ballet dance training from. This became a huge opportunity to be influenced by teachers such as Nolan Dingman, Maggie Black, Finis Jung, Jonathan Watts, Meredith Baylis, William Griffith, and Pat Wilde.
His first choreography was produced at Stuttgart Ballet where he was invited by John Cranko. Within these good five years at Stuttgart-he blossomed, creating works for ballet companies in Munich, London, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Paris, New York, and San Fransisco. In 1984, he became the ballet director of Frankfurt Theater where his seeds blossomed for twenty years.
With collaborations of architectural and other art based projects, he joined with Ohio State Department of Dance and Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design to work with and create an exciting website that explores his work on new levels! It includes tools as to how to see choreography in new ways!
Here is a link to this website:
http://synchronousobjects.osu.edu/content.html#/movementMaterialIndex
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Who is William Forsythe?
William Forsythe was raised in New York. He is linked to contemporary dance having a choreographic work that stems from a "neoclassical" style with exploration in Modern dance codes that have classical ballet vocabulary underneath.
He has created such a wide range of audience with all the mixing of different styles and methods influenced by other choreographers, but has gained mostly the European scene. There is something so precise, yet so freeing about his choreography and style. Not only that, but the perspective in which he creates and develops is so exciting! Some examples include architectural and performance installations by architect-artist Daniel Libeskind. Also his piece "One Flat Thing:Reproduced" is filmed from above to show the use of tables and the different ways in which the body goes through, over and under and how that looks like from different angles.
Forsythe is so interested in the question of, "How does dance work?" By this question, he explores the definition of choreography and the mechanics of it. In an interview with Forsythe that I came across on youtube, he states, "makers of dances are looking at how things are made, the emergence of motion, trying to understand what the decisions are that are being made in order to engender that." Exploring this concept goes deeper in that he also is finding ways to make ordinary people know or understand the depth of what he consideres "the awareness of the dancer" and that dancing is not just something that comes together and "boom!" But it is a complicated sophisticated compositional process.
If you ask me, William Forsythe is someone not to miss!
He has created such a wide range of audience with all the mixing of different styles and methods influenced by other choreographers, but has gained mostly the European scene. There is something so precise, yet so freeing about his choreography and style. Not only that, but the perspective in which he creates and develops is so exciting! Some examples include architectural and performance installations by architect-artist Daniel Libeskind. Also his piece "One Flat Thing:Reproduced" is filmed from above to show the use of tables and the different ways in which the body goes through, over and under and how that looks like from different angles.
Forsythe is so interested in the question of, "How does dance work?" By this question, he explores the definition of choreography and the mechanics of it. In an interview with Forsythe that I came across on youtube, he states, "makers of dances are looking at how things are made, the emergence of motion, trying to understand what the decisions are that are being made in order to engender that." Exploring this concept goes deeper in that he also is finding ways to make ordinary people know or understand the depth of what he consideres "the awareness of the dancer" and that dancing is not just something that comes together and "boom!" But it is a complicated sophisticated compositional process.
If you ask me, William Forsythe is someone not to miss!
About Me
Hi I'm Ashley! Before I begin telling you about William Forsythe, here is a little something about me...
I am currently a Junior studying dance at the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin. Growing up, I never took interest in dance as a form of art or something that I ever thought I would even pursue, at least not until high school. I remember it being one of those, "I want to be one of those drill team girls dancing for the school" moments! I always was involved in some type of sport; soccer being my favorite, but because of my newly found passion for dance, that was something I had to sacrifice-working twenty-five hours just to pay for two classes and attending school became too much for me to handle at the age of seventeen. I was always exposed to dance which is something that I am very grateful for now. The hispanic side of my family never failed to dance for five hours at every family party we had-dances including salsa, merengue, cumbia, and bachata. And that was normal-go figure! I guess I never realized it would come in handy to help for future purposes. Apart from dance I also pursue a passion for photography and enjoy it very much! I have to say- being twenty-one, married, studying in college, AND pursuing my passions, I am very blessed to be able to have a kind of life such as this. But to give this all to "fate" or "luck" would not be true on my part. My relationship with Christ has a lot to do with where I am and the gifts that He has blessed me with-and most of all-providing a very supportive Husband to encourage and push me. I love dancing, I do. But oh-I LOVE choreographing. The process and the experience that goes with making something come to life just absolutely amazes me. My goals are to choreograph dance pieces that are a reflection of my heart, a reflection of who I am in Christ, and things that He has shown me and things that he has sparked a burden in my heart for. This is my motivation and my drive to do what I love to do. One aspect that I love about dance is honesty. Who is the choreographer? What is the choreographer's intentions? That is something that I want-to be able to tell a story, or create something-ANYTHING-but that it be honest and genuine (even in the most abstract way), and it impact the viewer and the dancer in a profound, moving, way.
I am currently a Junior studying dance at the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin. Growing up, I never took interest in dance as a form of art or something that I ever thought I would even pursue, at least not until high school. I remember it being one of those, "I want to be one of those drill team girls dancing for the school" moments! I always was involved in some type of sport; soccer being my favorite, but because of my newly found passion for dance, that was something I had to sacrifice-working twenty-five hours just to pay for two classes and attending school became too much for me to handle at the age of seventeen. I was always exposed to dance which is something that I am very grateful for now. The hispanic side of my family never failed to dance for five hours at every family party we had-dances including salsa, merengue, cumbia, and bachata. And that was normal-go figure! I guess I never realized it would come in handy to help for future purposes. Apart from dance I also pursue a passion for photography and enjoy it very much! I have to say- being twenty-one, married, studying in college, AND pursuing my passions, I am very blessed to be able to have a kind of life such as this. But to give this all to "fate" or "luck" would not be true on my part. My relationship with Christ has a lot to do with where I am and the gifts that He has blessed me with-and most of all-providing a very supportive Husband to encourage and push me. I love dancing, I do. But oh-I LOVE choreographing. The process and the experience that goes with making something come to life just absolutely amazes me. My goals are to choreograph dance pieces that are a reflection of my heart, a reflection of who I am in Christ, and things that He has shown me and things that he has sparked a burden in my heart for. This is my motivation and my drive to do what I love to do. One aspect that I love about dance is honesty. Who is the choreographer? What is the choreographer's intentions? That is something that I want-to be able to tell a story, or create something-ANYTHING-but that it be honest and genuine (even in the most abstract way), and it impact the viewer and the dancer in a profound, moving, way.
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