#com497

Whether or not you’re a ballet fan, you’ve probably heard of the infamous Swan Lake ballet. This ballet is a long-standing favorite of many dance lovers , and it is a classic that will continue to endure. Because it’s such an old ballet, it has a lot of rich, interesting history:

The beautiful, haunting music was composed by Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky in 1875.

Tchaikovsky was heavily…

Get excited – another great ballet is coming soon to Indy! The pre-professional dancers of the Indianapolis School of Ballet, a professional dance instruction school in downtown Indianapolis, will soon be performing “From Swans to Splendor”, and I’m really hoping to see it!

What caught my eye about this performance is that it’s not strictly Swan Lake. The performance is describedas a “Mixed…

I hope these make you smile! And if you’ve got any that I didn’t put below, I’d love it if you commented and shared them with me. Enjoy!

Earlier this semester, I wrote about the upcoming Purdue Spring Dance Works. This show is a really exciting time in the dance division because it features choreography by our wonderful Dance Division faculty and is performed by the talented students.

I’ve got some new details to share with you about tickets! The Purdue Events Calendar has some helpful details about ticket prices: tickets are $14…

Fondu Demonstration with Purdue student Savannah

Last week I had an opportunity to film a few ballet videos. One of my favorite ballet moves is called a fondu (nope, not the cheese or chocolate kind – it’s a real move!). It’s a fun, slow move that takes a lot of balance and proper timing.

I got to sit down with my ballet instructor, Melodie Carr, in Purdue’s Pao Hall of Visual and Performing Arts. She talked through the steps of a fondu, so if…

The one and only "flingé" is at Purdue

Here at Purdue we’ve got a ballet move you’ve never heard of – the flingé. The flingé is our fun name for a grand battement variation. My ballet professor has a funny story of how this name came about. One semester, she was teaching the move to a group of DANC102 students. They thought the move needed a fun name, and the word that came to mind was “fling”. But one student objected, saying that it…

This past week I’ve been focusing on learning about ballet around the world. It’s been amazing to watch so many different styles, see so many different costumes, and learn about many different types of dancers from all across the world. One piece in particular really captured my attention, and I have to share it with you to kick off your weekend.

The Israel Balletperformed a piece called…

One of my all time favorite painters, Edgar Degas (1834-1917), created some of the most famous ballet paintings of all time. He made a beautiful statement about the importance of using imagination while painting:

“It is very good to copy what one sees; it is much better to draw what you can’t see any more but is in your memory. It is a transformation in which imagination and memory work together. You only reproduce what struck you, that is to say the necessary.”

Degas beautifully explained the emotional and imaginative journey he went through to produce his world-renowned paintings. When I look at his work, I feel like I’m looking at a snapshot in time. His paintings feel real because he painted moments.

I put together a gallery of some of my favorite ballet paintings by Degas. I think they really showcase what he calls “imagination and memory [working] together”. His Impressionist style also works well for ballet because the paintings themselves seem to move and flow gracefully. Enjoy the beauty of his paintings, or as he describes it, “…a little mystery, some vagueness, and some fantasy. When you always make your meaning perfectly plain you end up boring people.”

And Degas’ creations have certainly never bored people.