BIOM 121 1nd Edition Lecture 1 Outline of Last Lecture I None Outline of Current Lecture i General Stage Theatre Information ii Primitive Period iii Ancient Period Current Lecture General Stage Theatre Information Proscenium Stage Arena Stage Stage Directions From Perspective of Performers Downstage Upstage Stage Right Stage Left Center Stage Gradation of Stage Directions Apron a stage that projects into the auditorium so that the audience sits on three sides of it Cyclorama cyc large curtain or wall usually concave hung or placed at the rear of a stage Scrim transparent fabric used as a drop in the theater to create special effects of lights or atmosphere Backdrops A painted cloth hung at the back of a stage set Raking of the Stage or the Audience Space Wings Legs Borders Batons Trees Orchestra Pit Light Booth Spot for Dancers These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Lighting Front Light Back Light Side Light Overhead Light Directional Light Spotlight Specials Color Gels Gobos Color of Lights Indicates Mood Time of Day Location Live Music versus Recorded Music Set Pieces Props Artistic Collaborators Lighting Designer Costume Designer Set and Scenic Designer Composers and Musicians Other Collaborations Primitive Period Up to 3 000 B C Dance was 1st formal art to exist and key purpose is communication Dances of Imitation Celebration Initiation Medicine Commemoration Spiritual Connection Imitation Often of Nature wind water fire rain earth etc or Living Creatures birds wolves bears etc Dance became ways to mark certain events Would often dance to praise the spiritual world and the heavens Primitive Music chanting bells rattles early variations on drums and reed instruments Costumes or Clothing often animal skins hides and fur feathers Dancers were predominately male Patterns were often circular Movements or steps were natural not technical and included running hopping skipping jumping leaping twirling tumbling walking rocking undulating swaying etc Celebration Dances include those to honor births deaths marriages coming of age etc Medicine Dances performed to appease the gods ward off evil spirits and protect individuals or groups from danger or disease Initiation Dances turning from a child into an adult Dances with Spiritual Significance also done to honor or appease the gods and to give thanks for rain sun a good harvest rainbows a good hunt etc DANCE WAS A WAY TO COMMUNICATE before the advent of spoken language Proof that dance existed in primitive cultures is found in a series of rock cave paintings from the Paleolithic Age 30 000 10 000 B C E a painting in a tomb depicted a harvest dance Dances were often ritualistic and passed down or taught in the absence of a common verbal language the movement of the body could express thoughts and feeling No narrative in the early dances of the primitive period Purpose of the Native American dance video was to grass dance had chanting drumbeat and the Native Americans would stomp down on the grass They thought the rain was a blessing The Apache crown dance was the most spiritual of dances in this era Eyes were covered because spirits don t like to be seen they wore crowns to honor the spirits and the sticks they held chased away the bad spirits THE ANCIENT PERIOD 3 000 B C to 400 A D Periods or Eras overlapped with aesthetic sensibilities permeating each successive era Civilizations began to develop spoken language written language organized religion centralized governments class systems artistic advancements in theater literature music visual arts and dance Greece Apollonian dance and Dionysian dance a form of pyrrhiche or pyrrhic tradition that is a military like dance with marching and formations Greece also praised the gods and goddesses Apollo goddess of sun and Dionysus god of wine Rome Mime Pantomime pyrrhic tradition was the center of civilization During this era they because creating roads bridges water systems Formal language and written connection was also formed Created better more sophisticated instruments Dance was more meaningful more organized religions China Court Dance ballet upper class dance Dragon dance Lion dance the Silk Road dance was developed Bharata Natyam an ancient temple dance still practiced today that required grace skill and stamina known for exact head and eye gestures intricate footwork and symbolism held in temples for thousands of years done in religious ceremonies dance spread 1940s Temple dance approved for secular viewing academia and in the theatre Areas of Ancient Civilization included the Middle East Asia Africa the Mediterranean Greece and Rome Dancers often were women Dances often geometrical and symmetrical representing a balance between soul body and mind and a balance in the cosmos Dance still honoring or paying homage to the gods and consistently being used to communicate Dance more elaborate steps more complex communication more intricate Everything means something Dancers were often women and patterns begin to change not only circular not symmetric anymore