'ad·mire v.tr 1. To regard with pleasure, wonder, and approval.
The feeling of admiration and creating idols is vital for
personal development within a genre and to create versatility and originality within an industry whilst developing work already created.
Matthew Bourne and His New Adventures.
Matthew Bourne began training as a professional dancer at Laban and graduated, therefore reaching the position I am in my career as I write this but since then has developed a new and unique approach to dance creating a cinematic approach to theatre. Controversially he has played with classic ideas and made them his own. Swan Lake has been one of his main achievements which has got him recognized worldwide, with the help of 'grown up Billy' performing this at the end of Billy Elliot the movie released in 2000. Swan Lake is one of the most notorious Ballets writen by Tchaikovshy being famous for the numerous white female swans creating the corps de ballet, in complete contrast Bourne experimented with the use of cross gender in these roles which with the use of males was very foreign to the usual ballets audience. With this change bought much discussion within the entertainment industry, Bourne's new style of choreography on top of classic elements was praised by some but dismissed by many. This however did not stop the creativeness flowing as Matthew Bourne and his adventures motion pictures dance company continued to produce box office hits such as The Carman, Edward Scissorhands, Highland Fling and most recently the remake of Oscar Wildes Dorian Gray. Admirably for me Matthew Bourne ignored his contemporaries which dismissed his work. The entertainment industry is renowned for being truthfully hard for new starters to gain respect from the audiences. He worked on his strengths and left his weaknesses behind to become what he is today. As a performer myself it is very hard not to take each negative comment as personal comment and to concentrate on my strengths to help me move forward. Keeping Matthew Bournes success in focus even with its knocks and it varied critics comments, helps me realise it what I do that makes a difference and moves me forward and not what other people think.
The Nicholas Brothers
I am proficient in tap dancing and love
the creation of beats through dance. Tap over the years has wavered in popularity rising in the eras of Busby Berlky in the twenties, falling in the fashion of music videos and the creation of MTV in the eighties and then crawling back up in the
new millennium with such professors of tap such as Savion Glover.
Unlike Matthew Bourne the Nicolas Brothers were immediately successful. Starting out as children living, watching and working in Vaudeville acts they soon became a main component of the jazz circuit in America in the 1920's. Simply they did not just 'tap dance' they amalgamated ballet and acrobatics with there beats to create there own unique style. Surprisingly to many and the scholars of today neither of the brothers had any formal dance training yet created a legacy for themselves driven from there passion to dance and entertain.
Segregation played a leading role in the rise of the dance, white and black people never danced together, and it remained like this for many years until 1948 when the film ‘The Pirate’ was the first time the star artists worked and were paid exactly the same whether white or black. Gene Kelly and the Nicholas Brothers stared along side each other and this experimented and broadened the horizons of films and dance at this time.
It is hard for me to link to this pairs successes or background or even the strife that racial segregation created in the times when they were starting out. However to learn from other peoples work is also to learn to work like them and create a base for for the longevity of a career. The Nicolas Brothers without any formal dance training beca
me substantial figures in the history of dance created mainly from their passion to perform and succeed for this I admire them.
Jason Bietel
Jason Bietels influence on me is a little closer to home that the above two. Jason is an established American Dancer who teaches at Pineapple Dance Studios another main resource for me to take class. It is very easy to admire everything that Jason Bietel does without even knowing anything about his personal history. As a teacher he creates an atmosphere for learning without pretension or a condescending manner and especially without him having to prove how successful he is to gain respect. Having witnessed this mans modesty yet obvious substantial talent as a teacher and even more predominantly as a dancer himself I researched him. Whilst Googling him, numerous videos from youtube, links to celebrity music industry clients and theatrical critiques reached the top research hits.
Jason started out in Illinois and then moved to further his dance training in L.A in 1998 where he won the award for 'best senior dancer'. As all dancers he worked hard and searched with resources to find his breakthrough job to enter the industry. In 2005 he landed a role on Kylie Minogues , Greatest Hits Tour, Showgirl. After this he worked with copious amounts of celebrities, began modeling and opened his website. Once Jason was artistically recognized he reprised his role on The Homecoming tour and Kylie's most recent tour KylieX2008. Currently Jason is back on tour and paused his role as a teacher until November.
I admire him simply because of the wonder and pleasure I receive from watching him dance and the amount I am able to absorb and learn from him. His energy is unaltered from day to day creating a positivity to his work which is illustrated in his passion and capacity when he dances. As a successful performer he could quite easily not share his expertise and judgment with his peers (as at an audition he could be there standing equally with me) and I admire his modesty and patience to enlighten his class to strive to be their best and follow their passion.
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