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Dancing Flame Ballet
Projects
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Partway through my dance journey I made the acquaintance of opera and especially Richard Wagner's musical dramas, and this developed into a twin passion with dance. I've ever since sought to achieve a closer union between dance and music, especially vocal, inspired by my inquiries into Wagner's philosophy of art. In his Artwork of the Future the composer writes: "The most realistic of all arts is that of Dance. Its artistic 'stuff' is the actual living Man; and in troth no single portion of him, but the whole man from heel to crown, such as he shows himself unto the eye. It therefore includes within itself the conditions for the enunciation of all remaining arts: the singing and speaking man must necessarily be a bodily man; through his outer form, through the posture of his limbs, the inner, singing and speaking man comes forth to view. The arts of Tone and Poetry become first understandable in that of Dance, the Mimetic art, by the entire art-receptive man, i.e. by him who not only hears but also sees." I became thrilled with this unique artistic vision, which in the history of art found its later elaboration into the work of many artists and dancers, among which Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) who clang to the artistic ideal of Ancient Greece through the adoption of the Greek tunic instead of the traditional ballet tutu, for instance. As Wagner also writes, the union of "the three sister-arts" of "Tone", "Dance", and "Poetry", meaning Music, Ballet and Vocals, gives each more power of expressivity through which they transcend themselves to reach far into the human soul - not only as their own art forms, but as Art, a universal message which finds relevance deep within our hearts. It is also to be noted that by Dance Wagner doesn't mean Ballet as a specific dance style, but the universal idea behind Dance, that of the human body expressing itself through movement. I'm currently working on bringing together dancers of all levels and dance styles, in order to work towards the achievement of a collection of short pieces on the music of Wagner's dramas.
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How I work
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The thrilling aspect of working with vocal music is that Movement becomes more than a medium to express emotions as conveyed through music: it becomes an expression of thoughts, as precise and complex as the words of the text themselves are. Endeavouring to not only "feel" but "speak" through movement means that each gesture, each step must have its own meaning, its own power of expression. Therefore, when choreographing to a piece with lyrics I always work closely with the text, keeping it ever at hand when elaborating the steps. The spoken or written word is thus found to give superior scope both to the music and the dance, acting as a storyboard would to a movie. The greater expressivity and precision of the movements thus obtained also has another consequence: the abandonment of the more traditional steps of each specific dance style, in favour of a more free, universal, and expressive "pantomime of the soul" which allows the dancer to speak directly through his or her body to the audience.
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Richard Wagner (1813-1883), creator of the music drama and the great Ring Cycle of operas, based on Norse mythology and Germanic gods & heroes.
Isadora Duncan (1877-1927) in her Greek-style tunic, striking one of her signature poses which calls to mind the figures seen on Ancient Greek vases.
Special choreographic workshops
As a means of introducing my project to performing artists, I offer my students an exclusive opportunity to learn a choreography of their choice on highlights from The Flying Dutchman, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Tristan & Isolde, and the Ring Cycle. Whether you've just inquired into my classes and want a taste of what's special before getting down to ballet technique, or have already taken classes and wish to go further into choreography and improving the expressivity of your style, you'll have fun learning the steps together with the corresponding thoughts and feelings they express! Go to my Classes page to sign up...
I'd love to hear from you if you're interested in participating more actively in the realization of my project, and reside in New
Jersey or not far! I'm currently working on creating a collection of highlights from the Ring Cycle of dramas which would sum up the story in its "danceable" moments, which include the dance of the Rhinemaidens at the beginning of the Rhinegold, the duet of Siegmund and Sieglinde and the famed Ride of the Valkyries from The Valkyrie, etc. So go to my Contact page and drop me a message, I'll be thrilled to reply to you and make your closer acquaintance!
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