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Quiz about The Visual Imagination of Modern Dance

The Visual Imagination of Modern Dance Quiz

Modern dance has given audiences unforgettable images, some delightful, some profound, and some just plain weird. See if you can match the descriptions, the dancer or choreographer's name, and the titles of the dance.

A multiple-choice quiz by zenaccident. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
zenaccident

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
300,490

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
243

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Which woman danced an emotional solo about anguish, first performed around the time of the Great Depression? She was encased in a tube of jersey material, making disturbing shapes as she moved. Hint

Helen Tamiris, "Negro Spirituals"

Judith Jamieson, "Cry"

Martha Graham, "Lamentation"

Katherine Dunham in "Shore Excursion"

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Question 2 of 10

2. Who used light and cloth to depict movements such as a moth, a butterfly, and fire? Hint

Loie Fuller

Maud Allen

Isadora Duncan

Irene Castle

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Question 3 of 10

3. Who danced a modern ballet about sexual awakening, as a half-human, half-animal character, with turned in feet, and two dimensional movements like a Greek frieze? Hint

Vaslav Nijinsky, "L'apr�s-midi d'un faune"

Anna Pavlova, "Dying Swan"

Michel Fokine, "Acis and Galatea"

Sergei Lifar, "Apollo"

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Question 4 of 10

4. Which work featured large, silver helium balloons floating around the stage at random? The design was by Andy Warhol. Hint

Merce Cunningham, "Rainforest"

Trisha Brown, "Glacial Decoy"

Alwin Nikolais, "Masks, Props and Mobiles"

Yvonne Rainer, "Trio A"

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Question 5 of 10

5. This work began at the choreographer's loft apartment, and ended at an empty parking lot. Across the street was a church, lit up with dancers as saints in a representation of the story of Joan of Arc. Who choreographed it, and which work was it? Hint

Martha Graham, "Seraphic Dialogue"

Meredith Monk, "Vessel"

Trisha Brown, "Walking on the Wall"

Helen Tamiris, "Negro Spirituals"

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Question 6 of 10

6. Which gemstones sparkled (metaphorically) in the dance movements and costumes in George Balanchine's ballet "Jewels"? Hint

Rubies, Jade, Diamonds

Sapphires, Rubies, Diamonds

Emeralds, Rubies, Diamonds

Emeralds, Rubies, Amber

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Question 7 of 10

7. German choreographer Pina Bausch is famous for transforming the stage for her epic works. Her stage has been covered in sand, water, tables and chairs, etc. In which work was the stage covered in carnations, and featured live dogs barking at the dancers? Hint

"Cafe Muller"

"Arien"

"Le Sacre du Printemps"

"Nelken"

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Question 8 of 10

8. This work began with a semi-naked Christ (played by a woman) climbing off the crucifix. The work is a stinging critique of the frantic search for religious devotion, social ties and sexual intimacy. Who choreographed it, and which work is it? Hint

Lloyd Newson, "Strange Fish"

Twyla Tharp, "Catherine Wheel"

Siobhan Davis, "White Man Sleeps"

Bill T Jones, "Still/Here"

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Question 9 of 10

9. Which choreographer dazzled London's West End with a "Swan Lake" featuring an all-male corps de ballet of swans? Hint

Mark Morris

Xavier du Frutos

Lloyd Newson

Matthew Bourne

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Question 10 of 10

10. In which Cunningham work do real dancers partner electronic bodies created by a special dance software? Hint

"Points in Space"

"Summerspace"

"Biped"

"Beach Birds"

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: Martha Graham, "Lamentation"

Martha Graham was one of the most well known and enduring modern dance pioneers in America. The jersey fabric in "Lamentation" looked like a second skin. The disturbing movements inside the cloth hinted at internal anguish. She bought the fabric cheaply!

2. Who used light and cloth to depict movements such as a moth, a butterfly, and fire?

Answer: Loie Fuller

In the late 1800s, the American Loie Fuller was scandalising Paris with her alternative lifestyle and dazzling experiments with electric light, movement, and metres and metres of cloth.

3. Who danced a modern ballet about sexual awakening, as a half-human, half-animal character, with turned in feet, and two dimensional movements like a Greek frieze?

Answer: Vaslav Nijinsky, "L'apr�s-midi d'un faune"

Nijinsky was part of the legendary Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. The sets in the company's works were exuberant and much more than decoration, they created an imaginative and exotic world on stage. "L'apr�s-midi d'un faune" was a first in showing a sexual action on stage in dance, it was a sensation even in early twentieth century Paris. "Wicked Paris shocked at last", ran a newspaper headline.

4. Which work featured large, silver helium balloons floating around the stage at random? The design was by Andy Warhol.

Answer: Merce Cunningham, "Rainforest"

Merce Cunningham often uses chance procedures in his choreography. The giant balloons would sometimes bump into the dancers on stage. The movements of the balloons were different in each performance, creating unpredictable partnering with the dancers.

Answer: Meredith Monk, "Vessel"

Meredith Monk is a composer, vocalist, film maker as well as choreographer. She was one of the American choreographers who took dance out of the theatre and into the cityscape. She made grand, epic opera works - done in parking lots!

6. Which gemstones sparkled (metaphorically) in the dance movements and costumes in George Balanchine's ballet "Jewels"?

Answer: Emeralds, Rubies, Diamonds

Each gemstone represented a period in ballet history. "Emeralds" (green) was a tribute to Romantic ballet. "Rubies" (red) celebrated the jazz, musical comedies and films that Balanchine worked on in America. The glittering "Diamonds" reflected the glories of the Russian imperial ballet.

Answer: "Nelken"

Bausch's choreography often touches on uncomfortable places. In "Nelken", adult dancers (men) are dressed in pastel frocks, hopping through the field of carnations spread across the entire stage. Policemen with dogs guard the field, demanding identification, pulling at their dresses. It is the start of a long series of humiliations, from within and without oneself.

Answer: Lloyd Newson, "Strange Fish"

Lloyd Newson, of DV8 Physical Theatre in Britain, began in the heyday of British conservatism in the 1980s, and so his works have always taken on a rebellious edge, delivering stinging attacks on holy cows whether religious, political, economic or personal.

9. Which choreographer dazzled London's West End with a "Swan Lake" featuring an all-male corps de ballet of swans?

Answer: Matthew Bourne

Instead of ethereal women, Bourne placed virile muscular swans on stage. Most interpretations took it as a story about reflections of alter-egos, but the flocks of male audience members know better!

10. In which Cunningham work do real dancers partner electronic bodies created by a special dance software?

Answer: "Biped"

Cunningham continues to experiment with different theatrical elements throughout his career, and adapts marvellously to new technologies. The software "Lifeforms" was especially designed for Cunningham's use, through which he choreographs virtual bodies that defy gravity and physical limitations. Hats off to the dance genius!

Source: Author zenaccident

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