Artsource The Music Center’s Study Guide to the Performing Arts
TRANSFORMATION
ENDURING VALUES
DANCE ®
CLASSICAL
1. CREATING (Cr)
CONTEMPORARY
2. PERFORMING, PRESENTING, PRODUCING (Pr)
EXPERIMENTAL
3. RESPONDING (Re)
MULTI-MEDIA
4. CONNECTING (Cn)
FREEDOM & OPPRESSION
Title of Work: Impressions #2 (Vincent van Gogh)
Creators: Company: Lewitzky Dance Company Choreographer: Bella Lewitzky, b. 1916 d. 2004 Composer: Larry Attaway b. 1949 Decor & Light Design: Darlene Neel, b. 1941 d. 1999
Background Information: Bella Lewitzky was born of Russian immigrants in a utopian community in the Mojave Desert. She was greatly influenced by the space, stillness and beauty of her surroundings. Although she loved to move as a child,
ARTISTIC PROCESSES
TRADITIONAL
THE POWER OF NATURE
THE HUMAN FAMILY
painter, enthusiastically introduced her to the work of van Gogh when she was a girl. She says that “...under my father’s tutelage, I developed a ‘graphic eye’ that translates to my choreography. I care very much about the graphics of motion. How movement involves space - creating and destroying it.” This work is part of a trilogy, which includes Impressions #1, based on the sculpture of Henry Moore, and Impressions #3, motivated by the whimsical art of Paul Klee.
Creative Process of the Artist or Culture: Ms. Lewitzky brought works of art by Vincent van
it was not until high school that she received formal dance training. At 17, she began taking classes with modern dance pioneer, Lester Horton, with whom she worked
Gogh into the studio for her dancers to view and
closely as a dancer and collaborator until 1950. At that time she began to teach and create independently, forming the Bella Lewitzky Dance Company in 1966 when she was 50. In 1970 she pioneered the National Artist-in-Schools, Dance Component, and was instrumental in setting the standards for Dance Education. In addition to teaching and performing,
and patterns, weaving them into the completed choreography. There are a total of eight sections in the work. However, two contrasting ones have been selected for our focus. The first is Landscape #1, influenced by two paintings: Starry Night and Starry Nights over the Rhone. The dancers move as if they were paint applied with strong brush stokes. They move with the
she demonstrated how creative movement could be used as a tool for learning concepts within the school curriculum. Ms. Lewitzky was well known for the way she expressed her thoughts verbally, as well as kinetically, and she was also a strong advocate for freedom of expression in the arts. Her artistic vision
explore improvisationally. She selected specific movements and designs which she evolved into phrases
energy qualities of smooth, jagged, wavy, pulsing, shimmering and exploding. It feels as if the dancers are inside the painting, transforming its vitality into motion. It is interesting to note that the music
placed her in demand with important national and European art patrons for the creation of new dances.
was created after the dance. Photo: Erica Davidson
About The Artwork: Impressions #2, which premiered in 1988, is based on Lewitzky’s responses to selected paintings by the artist Vincent van Gogh. Bella’s father, who was also a
“Change is the only constant.” Bella Lewitzky California