DOCUMENT RESUME El 214 922 / SP. Ot9 988 I. AUTHOR Hayes, Elizabeth R., Ed.; And Others TITLE A Guide to pance Production. "On With the Show." INSTITUTION American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dince, Washington, D.C. National t. 'Dance Association. PUB DATE 81 NOTE 92p. AVAILABLE FROMAmerican Alliance for, Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 1900 Association Drivt,Reston, VA 22091 (Stock,Number 243-26884; $8.95). EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Applied' Music; *Clothing Design;Cultural Activities;' *Dance; Lighting Design; *Production Techniques; Publicity; *Stages (Facilities); *TheaterArts; Theaters IDENTIFIERS Audition (Theatrical)1; Rehearsals (Theater) ABSTRACT ,This publitation provides suggestions for schooland professional level dance program production.The firstrchapter contains a brief history of twentieth centurycostumes and settings Apfor dance. The second chapter discussesprogram planning, auditions, and rehearsals. Costunle design and cbastructionare covered in the third and fourthchaptees. In the fifth chapter,aspects of musical accompaniment are considered, and lighting andcolor-are the subjects of the sixth chapter. Chapter Seven provides guidelinesfor telical production, including design, organization, scheduling,set-up, rehearsal, the performance, and striking theset after the performance. The eighth chaptei deals wittpublixityefforts. A list of suggested music selections for dance so6res is includedand ranges ftom medieval and renaissance pieces to works ofmodern and jazz coTposers...4FG) j *****************************;********************** c******,***A**** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best thatcan bemade from the original documents *********************i**********************************************f** 7 1 Published by the a . National Dance Association of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance CV I ALL.1 C A GUIDE TO DANCE PRODUCTION U.& DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE.OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER ERIC) The document has reproduced as Torn the person or organ aeon no( changes have been made to =prove rePrOductiOn QuaftlY Pants of new or owed,* stated el des docu- ment dnof necestraMy represent °Masi NIE posit.on or poky 'PERMISSION TO REPRODUCETHIS MATERIAL IN MICROFICHEONLY HAS BEEN GRANTED BY W. L. Coopee" TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." "on with the show" O a IP f Errata served as theeditor and Elizabeth R. Hayes Production: "on coordinator of AGuide to Dance Alliance for With the show":The American and Education,Recreation Health, Physical to haveprominent Dance isindeed forturiate such as Ms.Hayes, thatwill professionals, publications. serve asediiors on its 11. Copyright © 1981 The American Alliance for Health, Physital Education, Recreation, and Dance 1900 As lion Drive, Reston, Vir is 22091 ti Stock Nag, 243-26884 ... ,--- , . Contents r . Preface v Chapter II A BriefTiistory of 20th Century Costumes and.Seftings for Dance '1 Elizabeth R. Hayes , ter H. .. ' Preparing a Dance Concert. Program Planning, Auditions and Rehearsals 9 Elizabeth R. Hayes C11\lier Rilli J Designing the Co1stumes / , 15 Elizabeth R. Hayes 1 i CfilaPtSr7W Constructing the Costumes 25 Elizabeth R. Hayes / 5, chapter V 1 Arranging the Accompaniment 43 Jon Scoville Chapter VII p Lighting the Dance 49 Kenneth White Chapter MR i Staging,the Production 63 Kenneth White Chapter V11.411 0 Publicizing the Event ... Lee Anne Hartley i About the Authors Suggested Listening for Dance, .> r I. I This publication has been written tcZaid thenovitiate teacher who is faced with the many problems involved in producinga dance program. It will also give dance students the knowle.1ge needed toprepare a dance p duction, to create their dance costumes, to select and record theirmusic, to mSk their own hght plots, and to.stage manage and businessmanage their shows. Th material is concerned with solving problems of producing simple schoolprogram prod uctionsas well as professional productions. The initial chap)e4r presents, in caule form.,.a historical survey of themajor developments in 'twentieth centuryante theatre productioiA with particular reference to modern dance. As thisc apter points out, ths staging of dance, as well as the type of dances being presented,are in a constant state of flux, reflective df.the changing eras theyrepresent. The needs of dance tomorrow will not be the same as the needs of today. In spite of these conskant changes,it is hoped that the information provided herein will be sufficiently basicto be of value for some time to come. Speciarappreciation is expressed to Allel Ballif, forrherlyof the Department of Drama at Yale University and more recently director ofTheatre138 in Salt Lake City, and.to Linda Phillips, costumer for the Departmentof Ballet and Modern Dance at the University of Utah, for valuable suggestionsin costume design and construction, to John M. Wilson, Chairman of Danceat the University of Arizona, who gave of his time to re d portions of themanuscript and offer helpful com-1 ments, and to Ann Mat ews, who created the illustrationsfor the chargers concerning costte 4. ....,,,,, c .. ..: b4a,Pter. h _., A Brief History of 20th Century Costumes r and Settings for Dance . Elizabeth R. Hayes, $ N c . ., On the day that Ispora Duncan turned her,backupon the decadent remnants of nineteenth ceritury ballet with its artificialities anduse of elaborate scenery and costumes, 'she set in. motion certain innovations and reforms that helpedto reshhpe the world of dance. Isadora'spreference for unshod feet and the free moving Grecian tunic, her choice of a' simple blue curtain,against which to perform her dances, directed a trend toward simplicity and flinctionalismin both costume and setting that has continued, with minor modifications,to this day. While classical ballet persisted in its traditionaluse of spectacular costumes and scenery, the followers of Isadora, by preference as well as far economicreasons, chose simplicity. I 4 Era of "Natural" Dance "Natural" dance performances, popular inthe 20's,were often staged outdoors. The ro man ticidea of "dancing-on-the-green", howeverposed unexpected prob.- lems An immediate discovery was that the earthwas non-resilient. Instead of soaring through space, the leaping dancer found himselfshckkinglyearthbound. Acorns, sticks, and unseen pebbles created plecanouslandings. The staging of these performanceswas simple and unaffikted The natural setting of trees and shrubbery often provided thebackground When arboreal, settings were lacking, temporary fences and trellisescovered with greenery provided an adequate substitute Costumeswere generally adaptations of Isad- ora's Grecian garb, the colors chosen to contrast and Nmonizewith the soli41 green setting These costumes were primarily made of ch,eeseclofh, silk,crepe, and organza, tinted in rainbow hues, sometimes in several blending tones, a few- wer? tie-dyed to create irregular geometricpatients on the colored silk Although legs and arms were bare, form-fittingcostumes, uncovered by drapery, would 4 have appeared indecent Indoor lighting forevening performances consisted of glaring floodlights and overheads thatwere turned on w hen the dancing corn- menced and turned off when it ended. Subtletiesin outdoor lighting were literally non-existent Indoors, the typical settings for most -so- called"natural'. or "interpretive" dance consisted of a plain curtain of blackor neutral color and the indispensable pale blue cyclorama Further details of settingwere left'to the audience's 'magma- tion Although settings and special lighting for dancehave gradually become increasingly theatrical, the velour curtains and blue cycloramastill constitute the modern dancer's basic scenic equipment Slightly antecedent to Isadora, but also hercon tdmporary, was a woman by the name of Loie Fuller_ Through merest accident she createda costume that launched her career as a dancer Its most notable featurewas a skirt containing countless yards of material that she billowed aizid swirledin moving shapes to create apparitions of butterflies, orchids, flames, or whatever theimagination might, fanty But her greatest contributionwas her creative experimentation with theatre lighting which was explored to the fullestto intensify her fleeting illusions. It was that in one effect she used 1,000ampers mpers of electricity, enoughto fight a town of thirty thousand. The harnessing of electricity made possiblenot only the spectacular lighting effects demanded by Loie Fuller, but it also openecilheway, generally, to inven- tive use of colored light, area lighting, and variationsin total intensity to reinforce the changing dramatic moodLO the dance. Costume colorscould now be mod- , ified orcha.nged by means of colored gels. The draped Grecian tunic eventually shared thestage with costumes that were slightly more form-fitting with straight, circular,or gathered skirts of various lengths, depending upon the needs of the dance. Costumesfor men' There were none. Interpretive dancing was strictly a feminine art. Early Modern Dance Contemporaneously during the 20's and 30's, Ruth St. Denisand Ted Shawn Were moving in a somewhat different direction. The Denishawnscreated elabo- rately exotic costumes in keeping with their oriental,Mexican, and Amencan Indian dance themes Miss Ruth's love for manipulatingdraperies to dramatic ends became a trademark of her dances Fokineis rumored