Humanities Homework Help

Posts: For this post, select one work of art (cinema, theatre, or dance) that has NOT been already analyzed or extensively discussed in the course readings or videos…part of the fun in learning about art is in DISCOVERING it! You are required to make one post to conduct both a formal and contextual analysis or your chosen work. Then, you will compare it to the work you selected in Module 1, the work you selected in Module 2, AND to any other work in Module 1 or Module 2 that was analyzed by another student in this class. This will give you FOUR works to discuss in this assignment:

• One work of art you select from the mediums we discussed in this module (cinema, theatre, or dance) in which you conduct a formal and contextual analysis with social angles.
• You then compare the work you chose in this module (cinema, theatre, or dance) with the work you chose in module 1 (two-dimensional art or three-dimensional art). This comparison will be a brief compare/contrast/ways of seeing between the two works.
• Next, compare the work you chose in this module (cinema, theatre, or dance) with the work you chose in module 2 (architecture, literature, or music). This comparison will be a brief compare/contrast/ways of seeing between the two works.
• Last, you compare the work you chose in this module to any other work analyzed in module 1 or 2 by a peer. Again, this comparison will be a brief compare/contrast/ways of seeing between the two works.

This process expands your skills of doing a contextual analysis by comparing works to each other.

In a narrative format, the post should contain the following elements:

• Define and Identify: Brief information about the artist and work. For example, birth/death dates, place of birth or work, where work is displayed, name of work, medium of work, context for creation of work.
• Experience and Appreciation: For example, where you found the work (website, another book, museum), what made you select the work, what about this work speaks to you.
• Observe and Analyze: Use and underline three terms that were introduced in the module to observe/analyze your chosen work. Add any other relevant information to improve your paper.
• Critique and Compare: Compare your work to the selections from Modules 1 and 2 and a peer’s. Consider the impact of the work on a particular social angle and/or the evolution of the media. Consider the impact of experiencing the work on your general outlook on the medium or appreciation of art.
• Apply Social Angles AND Context: Identify at least one social angle from the list below that can be observed or analyzed as part of the work. Address how the social angle is connected to the work. Plus, a thorough contextual analysis of the historical, cultural, and social implications should be discussed.
  • race and ethnicity,
  • gender and sexuality,
  • class and highbrow/low,
  • colonialism, postcolonialism, place and regionalism,
  • nature (environment, ecology) and culture,
  • memory, history, generational identity,
  • food culture, and
  • body and mind

Students will be expected to define, identify, and apply at least three terms (underline them so I can quickly find them) from the module in the post. Make sure to underline the terms so that I can quickly identify them. College-level writing and mechanics are expected; however, the purpose of this assignment is to move from experiencing art to analyzing art to evaluating art. Make sure to include a references section at the end of every post, even if you only cite the lecture video. All in-text citations and references should be in MLA.

Comments: For each of the two comments, select a classmate’s post, read the post, critique the post, indicate your reaction to the chosen work, discuss a comparison work from the module or any other outside source that is similar to the work identified in the post, and either add personal commentary or pose a question to stimulate conversation.

Discussion Board Grading: (Note: while the total number of points you can earn is the same in all contextual analysis discussion assignments for this class, the percentage weight of each assignment towards your final grade increases.)

Original Posts—30 points possible per module: Student has actively connected with the materials and has made a thoughtful and engaging post that considers multiple perspectives in relation to the readings and videos. Correct grammar, spelling, and sentence structure are utilized, as well as direct references to the course materials and an image of the selected work. It is crucial that you cite or reference some material from the class at least once during each original post to earn full credit. Minimum of 1200 words per original post. Indicate your word count at the end of your post (example: “Word Count: 553”).

Comments—20 points possible per module (10 points per comment): Student stimulates the conversation and has made a thoughtful comment that is directly related to the original post. Correct grammar, spelling, and sentence structure are utilized, as well as direct references to the course materials. Minimum of 400 words per comment. Indicate your word count at the end of your post (example: “Word Count: 283”).

comment #1

“Temptation” by Talia Favia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NCkTmz58_k (Links to an external site.)

For my contextual analysis for Module 3, I chose a contemporary dance piece called “Temptation”, choreographed by Talia Favia, and danced by Chaz Buzan, Ashlynn Malia, Gabi Barra, Katie Koegel, Kelly Sweeney, Courtney Schwartz, Andrea Bess, Hannahlei Cabanilla, and Robbie Blue. The choreographer Talia Favia was born on April 4, 1991 in Phoenix, Arizona. She is a Los Angeles based choreographer and teacher, who currently resides in the south California area, as well as travels around with the Radix Dance Competition and Convention Tour for multiple seasons to teach contemporary classes to dancers across the country. A choreographer is the person who creates movements to have dancers learn and perform (Rinck). “Temptation” was a piece that she taught at a class at TMilly Studios in Los Angeles on January 31st, 2019. The music to this work is a pop and alternative song called “Temptations” by Irish singer and songwriter Dermot Kennedy. Favia has used Kennedy’s work for years, as many of her other pieces are choreographed to his songs as well.

The movement in this choreography does not stray far from Favia’s normal style, but it however leans more into how chaotic and frantic dance can be. Choreography is a pre-determined set of movements (Rinck). The sharp pictures that each dancer makes and then moves out of is from a place of struggle, pain, and frustration. These dancers aren’t necessarily portraying a certain character, but instead embodying the feelings and the lyrics sung by Kennedy. The raspy-ness and belting of his voice, along with lyrics such as “How we gonna make a living?” emits feelings of distress and restlessness. Nothing from this choreography is lifted and posed, but more so coming from a low, slouched, and hard hitting position. Favia’s contemporary style also utilizes parallel positions quite often. Favia’s choreography not only plays with stillness and abruptly stopping to emphasize certain pictures, but also plays around with the vertical plane. There are multiple instances where floor work comes up into a jump, or jumps go straight down to the floor in only a few counts. Without using these sudden lifted moments or use of the upper torso, the movement would have no true levels, dynamics, and would eventually be cut short. This provides another depth to what Favia is trying to portray in her work.

I found this work while on YouTube; I am subscribed to a channel that posts videos of classes and choreography that takes place at TMilly Studios. I clicked on the video excited to see more of Favia’s work, as her choreography has always been one of the most interesting to watch and perform, as I have taken many of her classes myself, and have gotten to watch some of these amazing and brilliant dancers perform with my own eyes. My world was instantly changed when I watched the first performer, Chaz Buzan, perform. The beginning and end improvisation of Buzan is my favorite part out of the entire video. Improvisation is spontaneous movement a dancer generates through their imagination or inspiration from the music they are dancing to (Rinck). Through a screen, you can still sense that there is something psychotic and manic in his eyes, even before starting the choreography. This shows mastery of his artistry, and the depth he will go to portray the emotional side of the movement. Every move has a starting point, and an ending point, along with dancing with heavy and weighted intention, which is something I strive to achieve in my own artistry. He goes full out, no holding back, fully unleashing everything from his inner self. Dancers like him remind me why I love dancing; it is truly a performance I will never forget, which is rare for us dancers to say. I also love and adore Dermot Kennedy’s music, as it draws out my passion for dancing and the need to move to his voice and emotion. The combination of Favia’s movement with Kennedy’s voice is truly a magical and special combination.

The social angle I believe fits this work the best is body and mind. Dancers are often not thought of as athletes because they participate in an art form, however dancers are some of the most strong and resilient athletes in any sport or art form. They have to build stamina and athleticism in order to survive in their industry and gain success throughout their career. These dancers have to combine their mental and physical strength to achieve greatness and brilliance in their dancing. In their minds they create and portray a story and entice the audience in their movement based on the choreography given. Through their movement and artistry, these dancers and Favia’s choreography emphasizes one’s inner power and creativity that can be seen when the inspiration and dedication to the underlying emotions takes place. Dance, especially competitive and contemporary dance has become more mainstream in pop culture because of more cinema, television shows, and other forms of entertainment that cover this captivating art form.

Compared to my work I analyzed for Module 1, an oil painting called “Tilted Dancer” by Edgar Degas, both are similar in that they involve dance in some form or another. Whether the medium of dance took place in a 2-D form or in actual movements on professional dancers, both works show a dance performance that is enticing and beautiful to admire. On the other hand, these works have different social angles; Degas’ work’s social angle is class and high/low brow, because ballets in the 18th and 19th centuries were originally meant for the royal families and privileged diplomats, as well as wealthy citizens. Favia’s work is more centered around the athleticism and how impactful dance can be, with her work’s social angle being body and mind. Nevertheless, these two art works have more in common than not, because of how Degas’s work portrays a strong and elegant ballerina performing on stage, and Favia’s work displays dancers who emanate power and commitment to their art form while in performance.

Compared to my work I analyzed in Module 2, which was a symphonic movement in a ballet, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”, both are similar in that they once again depict dance, and this art form is the center, or the main purpose of this work. These two works contrast in their mediums, as one is a piece of music while the other is a dance performance. Tchaikovsky’s work was also first created and performed in the late 1800s, while Favia’s work was created only a few years ago. Both pieces represent different time periods and the art of dance in different styles and forms. Tchaikovsky’s work was purposely composed for a ballet performance, which is a completely different style than contemporary or modern movement that Favia’s choreography displayed; modern is meant to go completely against the rules of ballet technique (Rinck). However, both works share the same main thematic element, which is the art, love, and beauty of dance.

A work that I found to be similar to my contemporary dance piece is a 12 foot bronze sculpture of Michael Jordan, analyzed by Amr Abdalla in Module 1. This sculpture is located in Chicago, Illinois, and I found many similarities between this work and my own. The first similarity is that both show a very high level of mastery and athleticism, they are just represented in different ways. Both Michael Jordan and the professional dancers shown in the contemporary dance performance are the best of the best; they would not have a huge platform of recognition and followers if they weren’t amazing at what they do. Whether it is basketball or dance, both require high levels or stamina, endurance, finesse, and vigor. Both also require multiple months and years of preparation in order to achieve greatness and success; Favia had to choreograph a piece that she knew was going to be filmed and released on a platform that her peers and the dance community could easily view, and therefore had to live up to her name and levels of achievement to guarantee a noteworthy performance. Especially in the age of the internet and social media, a choreographer’s reputation is one, if not the most important thing to an artist in the industry. Same goes for Jordan, as it took years and many seasons to gain respect and achieve the ‘legend’ status that he has today in the world of sports. In contrast, both of these pieces differ in their mediums, as one is a 3-D sculpture that centers around one subject, while the other is a contemporary dance that features not only the choreography and choreographer, but multiple dancers as well.

Word Count: 1,447

References

Rinck, Christie. “Dance.” HUM 1020: Introduction to Humanities, Spring 2018, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.

comment 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JPtlxe13Hg&t=133s (Links to an external site.)

For my module 3 contextual analysis, I decided that I wanted to focus it on dance. I started searching YouTube for Russian Folk Dances as I am part-Russian, and my religion is Russian Orthodox. Furthermore, when I was a kid, I attended the special events that my Church held outside of service hours, such as fairs and dinners with Russian dance shows. As I was going through videos, I came across the Russian Folk Dance, Kalinka. A folk dance is a specific type of world dance that focuses on culture (Rinck). I remembered parts of the dance and the music along with it from my childhood; therefore, I knew this was what I wanted to do my contextual analysis on.

Kalinka started out as a Russian folk song composed by Ivan Petrovich Larionov in 1860. Larionov was born on January 23, 1830 in Perm, Russia (“Ivan Larionov Biography”). He had a passion for music; therefore, he went on to study music in Moscow, Russia. He became a Russian composer, writer, and folklorist. He died on April 22, 1889 in Saratov, Russia due to stomach cancer (“Ivan Larionov Biography”). To this day, he is still most remembered for his song, Kalinka (“Ivan Larionov Biography”). Kalinka represents the snowball tree (Paterson). The snowball tree is a tree that has small white flowers in the Spring, which turns to red berries later in the year (Paterson). The song became very popular and turned into a dance, due to the song’s chorus and tempo (Paterson; Rinck). The chorus really draws you into the song, with the music getting faster and faster. This speedy tempo makes people want to get up and dance, or if you are a part of the audience for the Kalinka folk dance, you want to participate by clapping along. This happens in the Kalinka dance in the video I provided, as some of the audience is dancing or clapping during the performance.

There is no exact one version of the Kalinka folk dance that is performed by everyone. Different choreographers assign different movements to the Kalinka song. I will focus on the one shown in the video link I have attached.

Before evening starting the dance, one notices the main dancers’ costumes. The women have colorful dresses, along with colorful hats. With the dresses having a wide skirt, it allows women dancers to freely jump and see the dress move as one spins around (“Kalinka: Russian Song and Dance”). The men are wearing kosovorotka shirts, that are mainly white, but with some color, along with dark pants (“Kalinka: Russian Song and Dance”). These costumes also help focus the audience’s attention on these dancers, as they are supportive dancers also on the stage, with more regular clothes (Rinck). Instead, they are dancing with red, blue, and white cloths.

Furthermore, before the dancing starts, the dancers start singing. It starts with “Kalinka, kalinka, kalinka moya,” which is repeated over and over again throughout the song. It translates to “Snowberry, snowberry, my little snowberry” (Paterson). The singing leads into the dancing, in which some of the dancers are singing and dancing at the same time. In the middle of the song, there is no singing, just dancing to the music. Towards the end of the song, the singing comes back, with previous parts repeated with one new part. Going along with the music, the singing starts off slow, which gets faster and faster.

The way the people are dancing also depends on the music. The music starts on the slower side, where the dancers were doing leg kicks. As the music speeds up, they switch over to doing fast knee-bending. As the music slows down, they stop jumping and get with a partner. They dance together, supporting each other, and taking careful steps. There is even one note in the music that aligns with each woman’s twirl movement. This part with the slow music blends very well with the slow dancing. As the slow music section is coming to an end, each group of two spreads out, while still holding hands. The music starts speeding up, which leads to going back to leg kicks. When the music speeds up some more, two groups of two work together, in which they take turns going under the other group’s arm linkage. The music gets even faster, in which the dancers come together jumping and running around, forming linked arm moving circles. As the music once again slows, they disconnect the arm links in the circle, go to form one large oval, and only hold onto their partner. They take small slow steps to move around the oval, in a counterclockwise direction. The music once again starts speeding up, in which partners separate, where all the women get together in one group and all the men in another. The women go towards the back of the stage, while the men take up the center of dance floor. The music gets faster, and the men do leg kicks along with swinging their arms left and right and also fast knee-bending. The women then take on the center of the stage, where they were spinning themselves around. The women switch to fast knee-bending, while heading to the left or right, and the men in back of them join in on the dancing. They are mostly crunching down and then coming back up with their arms spread out like the shape of the letter, T. Although, the men in the first row, are spinning on the floor, moving their arms, while their legs go in a circle. Once again, two groups of two join together, but this time, the four of them are arm-linked, going around in a circle. The dance finishes with them separating and doing fast knee-bending.

The lighting is also very important to watch this Kalinka dance. As you can see in the video, this performance happens at outside at night; therefore, enough light is needed in order to be able to clearly see the dance (Rinck). From the video, I can see six stadium lights. Stadium lights are very powerful, which are mounted at high heights with small beam angles. The small beam angles allow for a higher light intensity within that angle to appear on the ground. Furthermore, there are other stage lights. This further helps light up the stage and also lights up the bleachers, where part of the audience is, so they can move around without getting injured.

The Kalinka is the most famous Russian folk dance. The Kalinka is a Russian folk dance because it represents the Russian culture. This leads to that it falls under the social angle, “race and ethnicity.” The Russian culture has a long history and involvement in in literature, dance, painting, and music (Bradford). In addition, the Russian culture has a rich tradition of being involved in folk tales that came from Salvic myths and traditions (Bradford). As mentioned earlier, there were colorful costumes in the Kalinka dance, and this relates to the Russian culture by how Russian folk characters are very colorful. Furthermore, one of the things that the Russian culture finds to be very important is the homeland (Bradford). The dancers with the red, blue, while cloths are symbolizing the Russian flag as these are the three colors that it contains. There are parts of the Kalinka where the dancers dance with partners, as a group, or as a whole. In addition, part of the dance also involved forming circles and this shape, one of its meanings, represents love. The Russian culture considers family, friends, and the community to be a priority in life.

I did my module one contextual analysis on the Golden Skull by Hirokazu Yokohara, which has some differences with the Kalinka folk dance, in addition to a connection. The Golden Skull has a mood of darkness that aligns with horror, due to the dark background, dark skeleton, dark metal robot parts. On the other hand, the Kalinka folk dance, gets the audience in a good and happy mood, and it is full of beautiful colors, shown on the costumes, stage floor, and even the lights. Furthermore, the Golden Skull leaves the audience with a warning on how robots are going to take over the world if we continue the path we currently are on, while the Kalinka folk dance is about displaying the Russian culture important values. The connection that can be made between the Golden Skull and the Kalinka folk dance is robots exist that can dance to music. Maybe one day robots will perform the Kalinka.

The Kalinka has some differences and similarities to the Weeping Woman, which a student did their module one contextual analysis on. The Weeping Woman features a woman who is crying, since she lost her baby, in which she is actually holding her dead child. This brings on the mood of sadness. Furthermore, the Weeping Women was also created in response to the bombing of Guernica, as a weeping woman stands for universal suffering. The Kalinka folk dance is like the complete opposite of this. The dancers and audience of the Kalinka are having a great moment of their life; one can even see smiles on their faces in the dance video. A similarity between the two is how family means a lot. The Kalinka and the Weeping Women are both colorful, and the Weeping Women reminded me of how a folk character would look, and as mentioned earlier, the Russian culture enjoys being involved in folk tales.

I did my module two contextual analysis on the Water Cube, which has similarities and differences to the Kalinka folk dance. Both are very colorful. For the Water Cube, it is the building itself, while the Kalinka has colorful costumes and colorful lights. In addition, the outside building part of the Water Cube and the colorful lights shown at the Kalinka dance performance can both change colors. Both do have repetition, but the Water Cube has more of it compared to the Kalinka. Repetition is shown on the Water Cube with the entire 4 sides of the building plus the roof being covered in water bubbles. The Kalinka has parts of the song repeat and the dance does repeat some of the same dance moves, but it has less repetition as there are parts of the song and dance moves that only happen once throughout the entire dance. The Water Cube and the Kalinka both focus on cultures. Although, the difference is the Water Cube focuses on the Chinese culture, while the Kalinka focuses on the Russian culture. The Water Cube displays a square, which reflects on how the Chinese people believe in order to accomplish something, one must have norms and standards. On the other hand, the Kalinka focuses on traditions and how family, friends, and the homeland are very important to Russians.

The Kalinka has some similarities and differences to the Botanical Garden of Curitiba, which a student did their module two contextual analysis on. The Botanical Garden of Curitiba has a beautiful garden along with a greenhouse building that contains rare native plants. The plants and their green color symbolize life (Bourn). Green also helps reduce anxiety, depression, and nervousness in a person (Bourn). Green is also associated with growth, safety, fertility, hope, and health (Bourn). This is similar with the Kalinka as the dance celebrates life and everyone is happy and enjoying themselves. In addition, due to the Russian culture’s high values, of course they would want to be able to have a family and for their family to be healthy and safe. While the Kalinka is more about celebrating life and the Russian culture, the Botanical Garden of Curitiba has a different purpose. It is located in Parana, Brazil and 87% of the Araucaria forest, which is homed to Parana, has been destroyed. This leads to the Botanical Garden of Curitiba emphasizes the need for environmental conservation.

Word Count: 1954

Works Cited

Bourn, Jennifer. “Color Meaning: Meaning of The Color Green.” Bourn Creative, 4 June 2016, www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-green/#:%7E:text=Green%2C%20the%20color%20of%20life,%2C%20jealousy%2C%20and%20wall%20street.&text=Green%20is%20soothing%2C%20relaxing%2C%20and%20youthful