DAN302_Davison

Final Project Caulondra Davison 5/03/2020 Ballet Project

Christopher Wheeldon • Christopher Wheeldon was born in Somerset, England. At the age of eight years old, Christopher begin taking dance lessons at East Coker Ballet School. He later enrolled into London’s Royal Ballet School at the age of eleven, where he trained for eighteen consecutive years. As a student, Christopher explained his love for being center of attention and being bossy which later made sense of him becoming a choreographer. At the age of seventeen years old, Christopher and five other dancers were chosen to compete at the Prix de Lausanne, an international dance competition. This competition allowed him a kickstart into his professional career at such a young age. Christopher Wheeldon is currently forty-seven years old and has choregraphed over thirty ballets in the past five years. Wheeldon won prizes for his choreography. In 1991, he won the Gold Medal and within that same year he was accepted into the Royal Ballet Company.

Wheeldon choregraphed student-led productions for Royal Ballet School, the London Studio Centre, and the School of American Ballet. Although he enjoyed dancing, at the end of the spring season in 2000 Wheeldon quit dancing and begin to focus more on becoming a choreographer. In 2000 Wheeldon a position was created just for him and became hired as the company’s first artist in residence by director of NYCB, Peter Martins. In 2002 Christopher Wheeldon won the London Critics’ Circle Award for Best New Baller for Polyphonia and by the NYCB he earned the Oliver Award for Best New Dance Production. Wheeldon has earned the highest upmost respect from the toughest critics.

The Winter's Tale • Premeried: in 2014 at London's Royal House • Music: Composer Jody Toblert • Ballet Company: The Royal Ballet • One way this ballet reflects my choreographer's style is because this is a piece, he choreography. Throughout the ballet, you see movement constantly flowing together, while transitions were executed smoothly. A desire of Christopher Wheeldon is a never endling show, throughout the ballet Winter’s Tale, I saw the resemblance of continuation throughout the ballet.

• This ballet is an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s romance The Winter’s Tale. The Ballet tells a story about love, jealousy, loss, and redemption. The central theme revolves around jealousy, compassion, and forgiveness. Jealousy leads Leontes, King of Sicilia, to be conceiving and believe that his wife would deceive him. The central theme teaches the livelihood of jealousy and the way it will astray others to do unfamiliar behavior.

Winter's Tale Review

• A typical ballet for Christopher Wheeldom would pertain around imagination that is not bound by a plot. Most of his choreographic style was influenced by his upbringing in New York at the Royal Ballet and New York City Ballet. Christopher believes in quick footwork, the precision of form, and fluidity.

He often believes, “The beauty of an abstract is that you are laughing from nothing.” Christopher Wheeldom view choreography as a painting with music, but with human bodies. He finds ways to bring plotted stories as in “Winter Tales” magic to dance. throughout his process, he adopts ways to make the dance to life just as it was portrayed in the actual story. Christopher also things strongly about his audience, he believes in making work for others to enjoy.

• https://www.scmp.com/culture/artsentertainment/article/2147762/how-new-york-andlondon-created-style-choreographer • https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/08/22/c hristopher-wheeldons-winters-tale

I enjoyed learning about Christopher's Wheeldon choregraphic process. Wheeldon explain's how he likes to give himself challenges in the producing a new production. I admire the way Christopher thinks about his audience in realtion to creating movement. In composition, this semster I begin to think about the audience a lot in relation to how things may be preceived from different angles. I appreciated the way movement was very pecise and elgant, moreover very dynamic. I appreciate his style because it is very pleasing aesthicly.