How is dance presented and perceived in different art mediums

from 1900-1930 (modernism)?

MAY 6, 2014 RAMBERT SCHOOL OF BALLET AND CONTEMPORARY DANCE

Bas van der Kruk

Word Count: 5160

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List of Plates

1. Henri Matisse, La Danse [Dance (I)], 1909,

oil on canvas, 259.7 x 390.1 cm.

Museum of Modern Art (MoMa), New York

http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=79124, accessed 30th

December 2013

2. Henri Matisse, La Danse [Dance (II)], 1910,

oil on canvas, 260 x 391 cm.

The Hermitage, St. Petersberg

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/08/hm88_0_2_70_1.html,

accessed 30th December 2013

3. Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907,

oil on canvas, 243.9 x 233.7 cm.

Museum of Modern Art (MoMa), New York

http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=79766, accessed 31st

December 2013

4. Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Red Stone Dancer, c.1913,

carved red mansfield stone, 43.2 x 22.9 x 22.9 cm.

Tate Britain, London

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gaudier-brzeska-red-stone-dancer-

n04515, accessed 1st January 2014

5. Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, The Dancer, 1913,

Plaster, 78.7 x 23 x 21.6 cm.

Tate Britain, London

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gaudier-brzeska-the-dancer-t03726,

accessed 1st January 2014

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Table of Content

List of Plates p.1

Table of Content p.2

Introduction p. 3

Research Parameters p. 4-5

a. Definition of Dance

b. Art in its Context

c. Motivation for Matisse, Gaudier-Brzeska and Léger

Chapter 1 – Henri Matisse, Dance p. 6

Chapter 2 – Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Red Stone Dancer p. 10

Chapter 3 – Fernand Léger, Ballet Mécanique p. 14

Conclusion p. 17

Bibliography p. 18-19

Appendages

1. 1913 New York Times Article

2. BLAST magazine

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Introduction

This essay should be considered as a starting point for a study into the relationship between

dance and other art disciplines. In order to provide a detailed yet concise answer to the main

thesis – how is dance perceived across different art media from the early 20th century – the

research will primarily focus on three works of art. These works are created by artists who have

mastered different disciplines, nevertheless, their work has at least one obvious aspect in

common; the subject matter is dance. The first work to be analysed is Henry Matisse’s painting

called Dance (1910), then Henri Gaudier-Brzeska’s Red Stone Dancer (1913) and finally

Fernand Léger’s Ballet Mécanique (1924).

Dance has been depicted across different art mediums since prehistoric times. There are several

cave paintings, from different parts in the world, showing people dancing. In almost every

society since, dancing has been depicted. For instance on ancient Greek pottery, ancient

Rome’s statues and paintings, old Egyptian frescos, and so on. This clearly demonstrates that

dancing has been around for a vast amount of time, and is arguably innate with culture. It also

demonstrates that people have always found that capturing something as ephemeral as dance

is of importance. Whether the representation of dance was and still is for aesthetic reasons or

perhaps other reasons such as: a notation of the actual steps, a means to provide a more

analytical and objective approach to dance, a method to capture something else beyond all the

afore mentioned reasons is or all of the above remains debatable.

This research will touch upon the reasons why dance is captured by human kind across different

art mediums through analysing Dance, Red Stone Dancer and Ballet Mécanique. Another topic

relating to this research is the definition of dance itself. There seems to be an ever ongoing

debate on the definition of dance (among for instance Graham McFee, Jane Desmond). Certain

cases are simple to asses, more traditional ideas of dance taking place in a theatre with music

and dancers using their bodies as a vehicle to convey the choreographer’s vision are often

labelled dance without a lot of discussion, nevertheless, a large grey area remains e.g. site

specific work without music, pedestrian movement in a normal setting.

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Research Parameters

a. Definition of dance

Dance is hard to define. In this research the focus lies on the use of the word ‘dance’ as a noun,

the verb ‘dance’ and the noun ‘dancer’. There are many different definitions that can be found

in dictionaries, some of these definitions omit any reference to the human body and purely

define the act of dancing as a rhythmical form of movement. One of these is the Collins Online

Dictionary describing the noun ‘dance’ as ‘a series of rhythmic steps and movements, usually

in time to music related adjective Terpsichorean‘ (Collins English Dictionary,

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/dance?showCookiePolicy=true,

accessed 30th December 2013). The same ambiguous descriptions are available for the

infinitive of ‘dance’ which reads to ‘move rhythmically to music, typically following a set

sequence of steps’ (Oxford Dictionary,

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/dance?q=dance, accessed 31 December

2013) The ambiguity lies within the freedom of interpretation that these definitions allow.

With the ambiguity of the definition of dance in mind I would like to conduct my research

analysing the presentation of dance within art. Of course the definition of dance is exceedingly

more complex than its dictionary definition. The possibility or impossibility of defining dance

does not necessarily provide a clearer understanding of the subject (McFee, 2012 [1992]) and

the understanding of dance is linked to providing examples of dance rather than exact

descriptions (ibid). Dance that is created can challenge what spectators believe to be dance.

The perception of dance has changed and is constantly changing throughout the history of men

and its interpretation is dependent on the context in which it is researched.

b. Art and its context

The interpretation of art changes over time. Today’s appreciation of a specific work of art might

be very different from the initial response to a work when it was first exhibited. External factors

relative to time and change influence a spectators’ framework for interpretation, which may

result in a change of appreciation or meaning of a work of art. The former applies to all art

forms, including dance. Take for instance the premiere of Sravinsky’s ballet Rite of Spring in

1913 which was a poorly received dance work (New York Times, 1913 [appendage 1]) yet

currently often part of many dance company’s repertoire. The three works chosen are all from

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a specific time period; 1909/10 – 1924. Henri Matisse, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Fernand

Léger are all French artists and were active within the same period of time. As front runners

for new art that does not comply with the aesthetic norm of the time they are categorised as

Avant-Garde artists (Kostelanetz, 2013). Another important happening in this time frame was

the 1st World War from 1914 to 1918. The lead up to the war was an exciting time known as

La Belle Époque; a period of prosperity and exciting developments with Paris as its beating

heart where artist came together (Vreeland, 1982 in Jullian, 1982). The phone, car, film,

possibility to fly and so on are all from within that period (ibid). The turn of the century into

the 1900s marked a new era of art, it was the start of Modernism (Smith, 1998).

c. Motivation for Matisse, Gaudier-Brzeska and Léger

Art works from different art mediums have often inspired choreographers and dancers to create

work, for instance Stéphane Mallarmé’s poem L’Après-Midi d’un Faune (1876) was the

inspiration for the title-sharing choreography L’Après-Midi d’un Faune (1912) by Nijinsky

(Jones, 2013). Reversibly, it seems that dance has inspired artists from different art disciplines

to create work. Three different mediums are used to help answer the main question, a painting,

a sculpture and a film. The choice to examine Matisse’s Dance (the painting) is because it was

one of the first famous works that depicted dance in a modern form. Edgar Degas, for instance,

is known for his paintings of ballerinas. He has always portrayed the ballerinas in a realistic

manner which results in the painting being a depiction of an actual scene. Matisse’s Dance

breaks away from reality and portrays more than simply a lifelike scene. Although the picture

is very vivid, it remains two-dimensional. Gaudier-Brzeska’s the Red Stone Dancer, however

is three-dimensional; being a sculptured piece. It too marked the start of a new way of looking

at portraying an image. The final work to be analysed is Fernand Léger’s film Ballet

Mécanique. Film (motion–picture) is two-dimensional yet in motion. Film relates to dance

because in both cases set frames are put in succeeding motion to produce the art form. A step

or frame by itself would not be considered a dance or film. All the afore mentioned works have

aspects that can be related to dance and together they form a representative collection of

Modernist art made between 1900 and 1930 regarding the subject matter dance.

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Henri Matisse (1869-1954) – La Danse (Dance)

In 2008, Jonathan Jones, art critic for the Guardian, described Dance as follows: ‘Savage and

classical, ancient and modern, civilised and barbaric: Dance is all these things’ (Jones, 2008,

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/jan/19/art, accessed 30th December 2013).

When reading about Dance, it is next to impossible to ignore the literal meaning of the title.

When reading about Dance, its relationship to dance is undeniably present; Dance easily reads

as dance and its descriptions could apply to dance. The title Dance can be considered

ambiguous, because it evokes a primary interpretation which would be with dance; a moving

art form. A representation of this moving art form is captured in Matisse’s Dance.

Currently, there are two versions of Dance on display. Dance (I) is part of the permanent

collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York and Dance (II) is part of the

Russian Hermitage Museum’s permanent collection (Kostenevich, 1990). Sergei Shchukin, a

wealthy Russian merchant and art collector commissioned Matisse to make a double work

Dance and Music in which was finished in 1910 (Sweet, 1952). Dance (I), finished in 1909, is

a sketch for the final work Dance (II) which was finished in 1910. Dance is seen as one of

Matisse’s most important works (Kostenevich, 1990).

Plate 1, Henri Matisse, La Danse (I), 1909, Plate 2, Henri Matisse, La Danse (II),

1910, oil on canvas, 259.7 x 390.1 cm. oil on canvas, 260 x 391 cm.

One aspect of Dance is an exploration of space. The way in which the dancers move around on

the rectangular canvas is anything but square. They form a broken circle like structure. All the

lines within this painting are curved. There is not one distinctive place where this dance is

taking place. The use of few colours gives us an indication, green is earth and blue is the sky.

The dance is taking place somewhere in between. The work is about the strong sweeping,

primitive and almost frantic feel that it conveys. The bodies are taken over by the dance and

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they lose themselves in the movement. The depiction of distorted bodily proportions creates a

certain feeling of movement, but maybe more importantly it portrays the expressive qualities

of a body in motion, swept away by rhythm and perhaps a certain group energy. This painting

is the starting point of Matisse’s journey away from clear depictions and towards more abstract

works (Sooke, 2010). The final version uses bold primary colours, red, green and blue,

contributing to the work its primitive feel. ‘…the red bodies whirling and yet still, linking

hands, looking downward at the green earth as they cycle in the blue…’ (Jones, 2008,

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/jan/19/art, accessed 30 December 2013).

Dance and Music were not received well and initially shocked the Parisian audiences during

its first display in 1910 (Sooke, 2010), which led to Shchukin having doubts over acquiring the

paintings (Kostenevich, 1990). In the end, he did have them shipped over to Russia (ibid).

Dance juxtaposed the essence of art, it was barbaric and horrifying (Sooke, 2010).

The beginning of the 20th Century is marked by an exploration of primitive and avant-garde

art, which is one of early Modernism’s key features (Smith, 1998). Dance was part of this

exploration. A factor in the development of interest in ‘primitive’ art was the imperialistic

nature of Europe. Exotic artifacts, paintings, masks from European colonies were introduced

in Europe (ibid). These new shapes, forms and use of colours were an inspiration for European

artists. Matisse had acquired some African art which he had showed to Picasso (Trachtman,

2003). One of the most famous examples of these influences on art is Pablo Picasso’s Les

Demoiselles d’Avingon (ibid) part of MoMa’s collection.

Plate 3, Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907,

oil on canvas, 243.9 x 233.7 cm.

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Both Matisse and Picasso’s work was not received well by critics at the time (Trachtman,

2003). Picasso completely turned his back on the conventional use of perspective. The

women’s faces are inspired by African masks (Ibid). The distorted and harsh shapes of the

women give a primitive feel to the painting. ‘Cubism demolished traditional aesthetics…’

(Spurling, The Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3576503/Matisse-v-Picasso-

the-final-showdown.html, accessed 30 December 2013). The painting shocked Picasso’s

friends and contemporaries at a private viewing in his studio, amongst them Matisse

(Trachtman, 2003). Both Picasso and Matisse looked at the shape of women and changed it

drastically. Where Picasso opted for more deconstructive shapes and strong angles which

formed the foundation for cubism, Matisse explored curves and proportional distortion both

these explorations of shapes are based on the ‘primitive’ and ‘barbaric’ (Ibid). Shortly after

Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, Matisse shocked the art world with his painting Dance.

It is an interesting observation that both paintings depict five female nudes; their works often

show commonalities. In a sense these two modern artists have always been in a playful

discussion with one another (Spurling, The Telegraph,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3576503/Matisse-v-Picasso-the-final-showdown.html,

accessed 30 December 2013).

In dance this exploration of primitive art and the avant-garde movement was apparent in

Nijinsky’s le Sacre du Printemps (the Rite of Spring) (1913). According to a 1913 article in the

New York Times (Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph, 1913) [appendage 1] this ballet

to Igor Stravinski’s score, sharing the same title, shocked its Parisian audience (Marconi

Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph, 1913). It was received with ‘hissing’ and ‘counter cheers’.

Just like the viewers of Demoiselles d’Avignon and Dance had initially reacted. Nowadays,

the repertoire of many respectable dance companies includes a version of Rite of Spring (Royal

Ballet, Tanztheater Wuppertal, Bolshoi) or they have performed a version of the work.

Interestingly, it does no longer evoke such a strong reaction from the audience as it did when

it first premiered in Paris and its 100 year celebration in 2013 was surrounded by theatre events

and coverage in major newspapers. The same change of appreciation is apparent regarding

Matisse’s Dance, which is admired all around the world and can nowadays be found in books,

on mugs, fridge magnets and posters. A strange phenomenon is that the sketched version of

Dance from 1909 is more commonly known, which might be explained by its location in NYC;

allegedly the Western World’s cultural epicentre, but this is speculative.

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A supportive fact for this observation is that a

printed poster version of Dance (I) can be

found at the Lucent Dans Theater, residence of

the Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT). After

entering through the artists’ entrance, there is

a flight of stairs that leads to the changing

rooms. A framed poster of Dance (I) is placed

on the wall next to the staircase and next to the

main backstage studio. This might be a

coincedence, but it demonstrates how one of the most respected and recognised contemporary

dance companies in the world (NDT) chose to have this specific work of art on display at its

headquarters. Paralels between Dance and NDT can be made. The modernist painting Dance

in a modern/contemporary dance environment. In 1959 some dancers of the Dutch National

Ballet left and founded a new company that moved away from the ruling ballet easthetic. Just

like Matisse, NDT was looking for their own style and Jiri Kylian was one of the main

choreographers to help the company develop their characteristic style. NDT turned their back

on the traditional classical ballet tradition and used the technical vocabulary to create

something new.

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Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (1891-1915) – Red Stone Dancer

In the title, Red Stone Dancer (Gaudier-Brzeska c.1913), the word dancer immediately implies

someone who moves. The title alone influences the viewer’s perception of the art work. Not

unlike Matisse’s work Dance the title is an influential factor in anylising Red Stone Dancer.

Whereas in Matisse’s Dance the absence of a title would probably still lead to the conclusion

that the work involved dance, Gaudier-Brzeska’s Red Stone Dancer would be harder to define.

Once labelled as a ‘dancer’ we are led to see a dancer. Labeling is used to categorise and

structure the world around us. The more abstract the work, the harder it is to define; it leaves

more room for interpretation. In the case of Red Stone Dancer the inclusion of the word dancer,

suggests the figure is a dancer. Gaudier-Brzeska has made another dance sculpture called the

Dancer (1913) which is far less abstract than his relatively better known Red Stone Dancer.

Plate 4, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Plate 5, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska,

Red Stone Dancer, c.1913, The Dancer, 1913,

carved red mansfield stone, Bronze

43.2 x 22.9 x 22.9 cm. 78.7 x 23 x 21.6 cm.

Not only is the work Red Stone Dancer better known, it is also regarded more influential.

Where the Dancer is still based on Auguste Rodin’s take on the perfect sculpture, Red Stone

Dancer is ‘free from influence’ (Pound, 1970, p.137). It has a strong primitive feel to it, which

marked aspects of the modernist period of time he was working in (Glossop, 1998). The triangle

placed on the figures head and the circle on one breast and rectangle on the other, combined

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with the curved shape of the body make for a more abstract yet recognisable shape (Cork,

1976). It still looks like a human figure, but the actual movement is captured rather than then

a still of a moving object.

Sculpture, like the human body, is three-dimensional. This means that the sculpture fills up

space in the same way a dancer would, the difference being that the dancer is in movement and

the sculpture captures the illusion of movement. The beauty of the sculpture is that it can be

seen from different angles, which adds to the experience of interpreting the work. Rather than

having to stand still in front of a two-dimensional image, it is possible to actually move around

the sculpture itself. Given the sculpture’s bold curves and abstract form, the very fact of being

able to walk around it might contribute to the idea of motion being captured within Red Stone

Dancer. It also demonstrates the skill that Gaudier-Brzeska had for sculpting.

‘The great sculptor must combine two qualities (a) the sense of form (of masses

in relation); (b) tremendous physical activeness.’ (Pound, 1970, p.138)

This quote coincidentally is very applicable to dance. Maybe the two art forms sculpting and

dance are not as far removed from each other as is generally thought. A dancer/choreographer

also has to have a sense of form and movement, and its creation often require tremendous

physical activeness. Within Red Stone Dancer Gaudier-Brzeska has demonstrated both. The

sculpture is carved out of stone which means that he had to have a clear idea of shapes he was

after (Cork, 1976). The physical labour needed to carve stone is vast. When watching the stone

sculpture, the notion of the physical labour needed to carve it might contribute to its sense of

movement.

When talking about shape and form, it is impossible to ignore the circle on the figures breast

and the triangle on its head. These are very clear shapes, clear inhumanely shapes. These

shapes, however, are often used by dance artists to explore the body’s range of movement

especially in improvisation sessions. Renaud Wiser’s improvisation classes at Rambert School

of Ballet and Contemporary Dance involved making circles and triangles and creating circular

and triangular shapes with body parts and the body (Wiser, 2013). Regina Wielingen’s

improvisation sessions at the same institution have also included the exploration of creating

circles with body parts (Wielingen, 2012). In Red Stone Dancer, the presence of circular and

triangular shapes are used to display a dancer, these shapes are currently used by dancers within

dance technique. Therefore, the current interpretation of the work is easily related to dance

technique, which demonstrates how time influences interpretations.

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Gaudier-Brzeska was one of the artists to bring contemporary art to England (Encyclopaedia

Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/226997/Henri-Gaudier-Brzeska,

accessed 02 January 2014). He moved to London in 1911, where he became part of the Vorticist

movement (Pound, 1970). Vorticism is part of the English Avant-Garde (Chilvers and Glaves-

Smith, 2009). A vortex of rebellion against traditional norms within the English art and even

society, as is clear from reading their manifesto. Vorticism launched itself with the publication

of the first issue of BLAST magazine (appendix 2) in 1914 (Cork, 1976). Gaudier-Brzeska

signed the manifesto that can be found in BLAST magazine (appendix 2, p34 [43]). The

Vorticists adopted some cubist and futurist principles, but unlike the futurists, they did so with

an awareness of machine’s possible negative consequences and focused on energy (ibid).

Capturing energy within art is one of the Vorticists main aims (Pound, 1970). In their manifesto

they ‘blast’ things they are against and ‘bless’ the things they find important.

After blessing England, France is blessed. Throughout the manifesto there are several

references to France as being a creator of art. This can be seen as an indication that it is regarded

as an influential centre of art by the Vorticists (Cork, 1976). One influential member of the

Vorticist movement was Ezra Pound (1885-1972), an American poet who had settled in

England (Campbell, 2008). Pound lived in London from 1908 to 1920 (ibid), where he met

Gaudier-Brzeska in 1913 (Blackwood, 2005). Pound was an important contributor to BLAST

magazine and one of the leaders of the vorticist movement (Blackwood, 2005). He admired

Gaudier-Brzeska’s work, especially Red Stone Dancer, because it embraced Pound’s

Vorticistic views regarding art (Pound, 1970). Red Stone Dancer was the perfect example of

Vorticistic art (ibid). An interesting connection can be made with Pound’s Vorticist notions

and dance.

‘Some of the issues related to movement and dance that Pound addressed in his

poetry and criticism, notably his approval of Gaudier-Brzeska as an exponant

of sculpture capable of capturing energy in material form, were handled by

dance theorists in a parallel tradition in the context of German expressionism,

especially in the work of Rudolf Laban (1879-1958)’ (Jones, 2013, p.209).

Laban, was a movement theorist (Hodgson, 2001). He was active within the same period as

Gaudier-Brzeska and Pound, and tried to capture movement on paper, known as Labanotation

(ibid). The importance of dimensions within space was a key element in Laban’s theories (ibid).

Within his theory, the three dimensional model, which also applies to sculpture, was used for

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the indication of movement dirction; sideways, up and down and back and forth (ibid).

Arguably, both Laban and Gaudier-Brzeska treat the same issues within their own field of art.

Capturing energy and movement, using the idea of different dimensions (Jones, 2013). Even

though, theoretically Laban’s work and Gaudier-Brzeska work may show similarities, they

have never been acquainted or have knowingly been aware of each other’s work (ibid).

In 1915 the second issue of BLAST was published, it would be the last number (Stinson, 2009).

The movement was started just before the 1st World War had started. By the time the second

issue of BLAST was published Gaudier-Brzeska had died fighting in the war (ibid). The war

was the main reason for the Vorticist movement to end (ibid).

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Fernand Léger (1881-1955) – Ballet Mécanique

After the 1st World War there was a strong sense of dissolution and people had witnessed the

destructive power of mechanical development. An artistic movement had started to develop

during the war (MoMa, http://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/themes/dada, accessed 02

January 2014). This new movement – Dadaism – was a reaction to the war (Smith, 1998).

Dadaists believed that the rationality of mankind had led to the 1st World War, therefore the

movement embraced irrationality, illogicality, and nonsense (ibid). The movement was an

aversion to the preceding train of thought regarding political ideologies social ideologies and

art (Stinson, 2009). Ballet Mécanique (1924) by Fernand Léger is classed as a Surrealist

Dadaist Avant-Garde film (Freeman, 1996). Pound, mentioned before in connection to

Gaudier-Brzeska, was also part of Léger’s film project (Freeman, 1996). The original title of

this short film was Charlot présente le Ballet Mécanique. For this film Léger collaborated with

Dudley Murphy (1897-1968); cinematographer and George Antheil (1900-1959); composer

and mentee of Stravinsky (Delson, 2006). Man Ray (1890-1976), modern fine artist, is believed

to have been part of the film project too (ibid). In the 1920s all five men lived in Paris. Ever

since the start of the project, it remains unclear who was the actual initiator, especially since

only Léger is credited at the start of the film (ibid).

After having analysed the titles of Matisse’s work Dance and Gaudier-Brzeska’s Red Stone

Dancer, Léger’s title Ballet Mécanique demonstrates a clear relationship with dance.

Mécanique stands for mechanic and the French use of the word ballet for dance. Once again

the title influences the work’s interpretation. When watching the film Ballet Mécanique the

machines in the footage dance

rhythmically to Antheil’s score. The film

does not have a storyline; ‘C’est le

premier film sans scénario’ (still from

Ballet Mécanique). The film fits the

Dada characteristics because it lacks

sense and rationality that would

normally be incorporated within

narrative films of the time. Even though

Léger claims that the film does not have a story, it has carefully been produced and edited;

selecting the right footage was quintessential (Delson, 2006). Despite its intention of having

no storyline, spectators tend to create their own narrative (Verstraten, 2009).

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This project questioned the perception of film, music and dance. Many questions arise after

seeing Ballet Mécanique, even nowadays the work is still considered experimental of nature

and deals with some key questions; what do we consider dance? Is film without a narrative

possible? And how does music influence what we see? In the film machines rather than people

are the vehicle of the nonexistent traditional storyline with music setting a certain atmosphere,

therefor leaving room for interpretation and raising the aforementioned questions. The question

whether film can exist without a narrative and can therefore be completely abstract is also

applicable to dance. If the narrative is part of the spectators’ interpretation of the film, as

claimed by Verstraten (2009), then would this same principle not apply to dance?

As is the case with Dance and Red Stone Dancer this work does not depict a realistic scene.

The film consists out of fragments, most of these are close ups of machinery. Some frames

show Man Ray’s girlfriend at the time Alice Prin (1901-1953) a.k.a. Kiki de Montparnasse

(Delson, 2006). Prin was an Avant-Garde model and muse for many artists residing in Paris in

and around the 1920s. Other frames show Murphy’s wife and Murphy himself (ibid). The

motion of the machines is violent, especially when accompanied by the score. The rhythmical

motion of the machines to music comes close to what could be considered a definition of dance.

The title combined with the rhythmicity of movement make a persuasive argument for this film

to be considered a dance film.

‘Léger’s work follows in a modernist tradition of using dance – or the idea of

dance, especially without dancers – to figure the motion of machine modernity’

(McCarren, 2003, p.123).

There is no recognisable registration of figures dancing, merely machines. However, the film

was approached by all contributors as choreography (McCarren, 2003). Within its time, the

film was an exploration of the possibilities within film making and a demonstration of machine

power in contrast with human qualities and capabilities (see the woman walking up the flight

of stairs carrying a bag, she does not possess the same power that the machines do; mankind is

relatively weak). The film also opens a debate; people are mechanical beings (Verstraten,

2009). One perspective is that people can be considered well-functioning pieces of machinery.

. Especially within dance works where dance is made for dance’s sake, the body can be seen

as a purely mechanical operator of movement. If that is so, then the comparison between

machines and humans demonstrates that Ballet Mécanique can essentially be considered a

dance film. Disregarding emotional content, dancers are sublime operators of their own

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machinery. Purely from a functional perspective, dancers have trained their bodies in such a

way that they can be controlled as machines and are able to perform certain practices which

other bodies would not allow or be able to sustain. The power that a dancer can produce and

the definition that can be seen on an anatomical level could be compared to an insight in the

functioning of a clockwork in which the detail of the process of movement can be observed.

‘The way in which human bodies move is reminiscent of objects or machine parts’ (Verstraten,

2009, p.21). Within the film objects and machine parts are dancing to music, perhaps

reminiscent of the machine like technicality of a dancer’s body.

The beauty of film, unlike painting or sculpture, is that it is in movement itself. BalletBoyz use

film as part of their in theatre performances (The Talent, Richmond Theatre, 2014), but

audiences do not demand a refund for not having seen enough dance. There seems to be an

acceptance of film being valued equally to live on stage performance and debatably a growing

acceptance of regarding film as a form of dance. Sculpture and paintings are not valued equally

to a dance performance; if a theatre would present a picture or sculpture rather than a dance

performance, when such was advertised, then the audience would probably be left unsatisfied.

Perhaps this is because Film is in motion. The notion of the portraying movement while being

in motion is a given for dancers; movement can be conveyed through a still image by using

sign language or gesture, but primarily dancers display motion by being in motion. The

movement created requires energy and creates energy, which relates to the Vorticist principles.

Dancers are capturing energy in movement. Ballet Mécanique could fit the Vorticist principles

too, which might have been one of Pound’s influences on the project. The film captures and

displays a vortex of power with a strong center of relentless energy.

17

Bas van der Kruk

Conclusion

The perception of dance through art created in the Modernist period of 1900-1930 is dependent

on the context in which it is placed. The conceptions of dance were different in the time the

three works Dance, Red Stone Dancer and Ballet Mécanique were produced. Since then, there

have been many artistic and cultural developments influencing the current perception of these

works. Where these works were received by audiences as scandalous, wrong and brutal they

are now appreciated as major works of art that have been influential in the progression of art

and art’s conception. Dance (I), shocked Schukin, artists and viewers at first but can currently

be found, as a reproduction, at NDT’s headquarters. This is one clear example of how widely

accepted and appreciated this work of art has become over time.

Another time influenced factor is the ongoing debate on dance and its definition. During this

research some interesting perceptions regarding the definition of dance, its qualities and

representation have surfaced. It was impossible to answer the main thesis without considering

some of these perceptions. The label that comes with the work of art seems to have an enormous

impact on its interpretation. As soon as the title is known and has a reference to dance, dancers

or dancing it taints the analysis and understanding of the work of art.

Art and dance appear to be intertwined. All art disciplines, including dance, occupy themselves

with shape, dimension, form, and style. Throughout history dance has been a form of

inspiration to artists from different disciplines and vice versa. It is difficult to determine why

the representation of dance across different art mediums throughout history has culturally been

persistent. This is an enticing question and would benefit from further research.

As stated in the introduction, this research is nothing but a starting point that will hopefully

lead to finding, analysing, contextualising, and determining the connection between dance and

other art disciplines. From the research I can conclude that art is affected by external

circumstances, in this case for instance war, and by its proceeding forms and artistic

movements as well as contemporary forms and movements. Art is in constant motion and

motion creates art.

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Bas van der Kruk

Bibliograpgy

Books:

Blackwood, J. (2005) Gaudier-Brzeska, Henri (1891-1915) and Gaudier-Brzeska: a Memoir,

Adams, S. & Tryphonopoulos, D. P. (ed) The Ezra Pound Encyclopedia, Westport,

greenwood Publishing Group

Chilvers, I., Glaves-Smith, J. (2009) a dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art,

Oxford, Oxford University Press

Cork, R. (1976) Origins and Development: Volume 1, Berkeley, University of California

Press

Delson, S. (2006) Dudley Murphy, Hollywood Wild Card, Minneapolis, University of

Minnesota Press.

Hodgson, J. (2001) Mastering Movement: the Life and Work of Rudolf Laban, Oxford,

Psychology Press

Jones, S. (2013) Literature, Modernism and Dance, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Jullian, P. (1982) La Belle Epoque: an Essay, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Kostelanetz, R. (2001) a Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes, New York & London, Routledge

Publishers.

Freeman, J. (1996) Bridging Purism and Surrealism: The Origins and Production of Fernand

Léger’s Ballet Mécanique, Kuenzli, E. (ed) Dada and Surrealist Film, Cambridge, MIT

press.

McCarren, F.M. (2003) Dancing Machines: Choreographies of the Age of Mechanical

Reproduction, Redwood City, Stanford University Press.

McFee, G. (2012 [1992]) Understanding Dance, New York & London, Routledge

Publishers.

Pound, E. (1970) a Memoir of Gaudier-Brzeska, New York, New Directions Publishing.

Smith, B. (1998) Modernism’s History: A Study in Twentieth-century Art and Ideas,

Sydney, University of New South Wales Press Ltd.

Stinson, E. (2009) Literary and Cultural Contexts: Major Figures, Institutions, Topics,

events, Murray, A. & Tew, P. (ed) The Modernism Handbook, Cornwall, MPG Books Ltd.

Verstraten, P. (2009) Film Narratology, Toronto, University of Toronto Press.

Journals:

Glossop, C. (1998) The Myth of the Artist, Oxford Art Journal, Vol. 22 No, 2 pp. 202-205

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Kostenevich, A. (1990) Matisse and Shchukin: a Collectors Choice, Art Institute of

Chicago Museum Studies, Vol. 16 No, 1 pp. 26-43+91-92

Sweet, F. A. (1952) Henri Matisse, The Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly, Vol. 46 No, 2

pp. 30-34

Magazines:

Trachtman, P. (2003) Matisse & Picasso, Smithsonian Magazine, Smithsonian Institute

Washington DC, Febuary 2003

Newspaper Articles:

Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph, (1913), Parisians Hiss New Ballet, The New

York Times

Video:

Sooke, A. (2010) Matisse, BBC1 Modern Masters, BBC1, 09/05/2010

Classes:

Wielingen, R. (2012) improvisation class, Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary

Dance

Wiser, R. (2013) improvisation class, Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance

Electronic Sources:

Collins English Dictionary,

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/dance?showCookiePolicy=true,

accessed 30th December 2013

Encyclopaedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/226997/Henri-

Gaudier-Brzeska, accessed 02 January 2014

Jones, J. (2008) The Guardian Online,

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/jan/19/art, accessed 30th December 2013

Oxford Dictionary, http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/dance?q=dance,

accessed 31st December 2013

Live Performances:

Maliphant, R. Fallen, Scarlett, L. Serpent (18/02/2014) The Talent, BalletBoyz, Richmond

Theatre, Richmond