Performing Arts

Performing Arts

by Joanne Park, Angela Cheng, Stella Clark, Amanda He

Contents Classical Music — 4 Elevator Music — 5 K-pop — 6 Broadway — 8 Technology Used for Various Arts — 10 Contemporary — 12 Contemporary Ballet - 13 Modern Dance — 14

Music

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Classical Music Classical music has been

around for centuries. It sort of started around The Middle Ages when the Christian Church started to dominate Europe. It was around the Renaissance period when classical music started to break free from the Church. If you fast forward to the Baroque Age the style of classical music has changed again. One of the greatest composers of this era was Johann Sebastian Bach. After this era the Classical Age came. This is where composers like Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn came. The music sort of gained a clean, uncluttered style. After the Classical Age the Romantic Age came. Many composers added more of an emotional depth with their pieces in this period. Classical music has definitely come a long way, changing with every step it took.

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Elevator Music Elevator music, or muzak, was originally used to calm down fearful passengers who used elevators for the first time. Since then, elevator music has expanded to other areas like malls, grocery stores, department stores, etc.

The tunes of muzak are purposely made to be very simple. The main supplier of elevator music is Muzak Holdings LLC, which is located in South Carolina.

Apparently, several popular music artists have tried to buy the company with the purpose of shutting it down. During the last thirty of years elevator music has been looked as more of a meme.

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K-pop Kpop is a genre of music that originates from South Korea.

Although it includes many other genres of music, the term is used to narrow it down and describe Korean Pop. One of the more “modern” form of the genre emerged when the group, “Seo Taiji and the Boys” debuted in 1992. The Kpop “idol” culture/genre began when H.O.T. deubuted in 1996.

After a slump in kpop, TVXQ and Boa started a new generation of kpop that expanded into Japan and started to get popular internationally.

Kpop idols and groups are created from Entertainment companies or agencies. The top 3 entertainment companies in Korea are JYP, YG, and SM, and are often referred to as the Big 3. In 1995, South Korean record producer Lee Soo-man founded the entertainment company, S.M. Entertainment. Former Seo Taiji & Boys' member Yang Hyun-suk formed YG entertainment in 1996, as did South Korean K-pop singer Park Jin-young established JYP Entertainment in 1997.

Entertainments in Korea take in “Trainees”. Trainees live together while they train/practice to sing, dance, act, and more so that they can debut into a group.

Agencies tend to present their newest idols group through a “debut showcase” which consists of online marketing and television broadcast promotions as opposed to radio. Groups are give a name and a marketing hook, in which they use that to introduce themselves on reality tv shows. Sometimes sub-units or sub-groups are created. For example, the group Seventeen from the entertainment company has sub-units that separate them into the performance, rap, and vocal teams. They still represent Seventeen as a whole group, but sometimes they do separate performances. Promotional cycles of subsequent singles are called comebacks even when the musician or group in question did not go on hiatus.

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K-pop

Lately foreign songwriters and producers are employed to work on songs for K-pop idols, alongs with foreign Choreographers.

Choreographies are very important for k-pop dances.

Lead singles are conventionally accompanied by choreography, which often includes a key dance move (known as a "point" dance move) that matches the characteristics or lyrics of the song. By convention in modern K-pop, trainees go through a rigorous training system for an undetermined amount of time before debut. This method was popularised by Lee Soo-man, founder of S.M. Entertainment, as part of a concept labelled "cultural technology".

The Korean Idol trainee system is unique in the world.

Because of the training period, which can last for many years, and the significant amount of investment agencies put towards their trainees, the industry is very serious about launching new artists.

Trainees may enter an agency through auditions or be scouted, and once recruited are given accommodation and classes (commonly singing, dancing, rapping, and foreign languages such as Mandarin, English and Japanese) while they prepare for debut. Young trainees sometimes attend school at the same time. There is no age limit to become a trainee and no limit to the duration one can spend as a trainee

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Broadway

New York is one of the biggest cities in America, and in it, lies the world of Broadway. Contrary to belief, Broadway isn’t just musicals, but plays as well.

Although, there are not many plays running on or off-Broadway. Broadway was started by two actor-managers, Walter Murray and Thomas Kean, in 1750. Broadway theater didn’t really explode into culture until after the Great Depression, when Broadway got its hit musical Oklahoma!

Broadway performers do eight shows a week, normally with 2 two-show days and one break day. The amount of performers in a play of musical depends on whether or not the musical has a background company. Popularity doesn’t depend on how many actors are in a cast though, seeing as how some shows can get away with only 8 actors.

Examples of popular Broadway shows with a small cast are: Come From Away, which was nominated for the 2017 Tony Awards; Dear Evan Hansen, which won a Tony Award for Best Musical; Cabaret, which also won a Tony Award for Best Musical; and more. Examples of popular shows with a large cast are: Hamilton, which won the 2016 Tony Award for best musical; Anastasia, which was nominated for the 2017 Tony Awards; Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, which was nominated for a best musical Tony; and many more shows.

These are all shows that have made it onto Broadway though. A few examples of shows that have stayed Off-Broadway are: Be More Chill, Heathers, and Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief Musical

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Broadway Theaters There are many Broadway theaters that run different shows. Many theatres are currently running shows, as of December 2017. A few examples are: the Broadhurst Theatre, which is playing Anastasia; the Music Box Theatre, which is playing Dear Evan Hansen; Broadway Theatre, which is playing Miss Saigon; the Richard Rodgers Theatre, which is currently playing Hamilton; and more. With all of these Broadway theaters, there are also Off-Broadway theaters such as Second Stage, which played Dear Evan Hansen before it went on Broadway. Before any show goes onto the big stages of Broadway, they must go through Off-Broadway runs. Sometimes, shows may not even make it on Broadway, depending on popularity, musicality, and how wonderful the actors in a show are. It takes a lot for a show and people to go on Broadway, but in the end, it’s worth it.

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There are modern dances, contemporary dances, “street dancesâ€? and much more to choose from. All in all, you will see people of all ages, dancing backgrounds, and ethnicities‌ dancing.

Technology Used for Various Arts Technology is a major part in everyday life; from cell phones to televisions to computers. All of these have one thing in common-they all provide visual entertainment.

Dance videos are most commonly found on social media such as Instagram, Facebook, Triller, Flipagram, Snapchat, etc. With many different types of dance being produced, the videos in which dance is featured in vary.

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Dance

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Contemporary Contemporary dance contains the technique of ballet, but with more modern stresses on the torso. It also includes the parts of modern dance that are: floor work, fall and recovery, and improv. Often times, contemporary style dances will tell a “story” and has the dancer use their movements and expressions to show the feeling of the dance.

Contemporary dancers usually dance on their bare feet and can dance to any style of music.

Contemporary dance is a genre of dance that developed in the mid-twentieth century and has become quite popular across the US and Europe. Contemporary dance combines many genres of dance including: classical, modern, jazz, and ballet.

A few pioneers of contemporary are: Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, and Merce Cunningham.

ALl of these artist believed that dancers should be able to have the freedom of movement and ability to express themselves through dance. A few of these pioneers’ ideas were: refusal of ballet’s leg technique; disorder in the dance, yet with technique; multiple simultaneous actions; creative freedom, and more.

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Contemporary Ballet

Contemporary ballet is a distinct mix of classical ballet and modern dance.

The art features the same usual attire and moves as classical ballet, but adds jazzy, modern movements to spice things up. This genre of dance first came into being in the twentieth century.

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Street/Hip Hop Dance

Hip-hop dance refers to

The dance industry

There are many styles of

street dance styles

responded with a

Hip Hop Dancing. One

primarily performed to

commercial,

main style of dancing is

studio-based version of

known as B-Boying.

hip-hop—sometimes

Other main styles are

called "new style"—and a

popping, locking, and

hip-hop influenced style

breaking. They are very

of jazz dance called

similar but are all very

"jazz-funk". Classically

different in their own

dance crews in the United

trained dancers

way. Some common

States. The television

developed these studio

Street style dances are

show Soul Train and the

styles in order to

krumping, turfing,

1980s films Breakin', Beat

choreograph from the

Jerkin’ and more.

Street, and Wild Style

hip-hop dances that

showcased these crews

were performed on the

hip-hop music or that have evolved as part of hip-hop culture. It includes a wide range of styles primarily breaking which was created in the 1970s and made popular by

and dance styles in their early stages; therefore,

street.

giving hip-hop mainstream exposure.

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