Dance makes music: Kanye West & Ulysses Dove
It may be old news that Kanye’s a douche, but I do like to track ballet’s convergence with pop culture (can we say Black Swan). His stylish Runaway video highlights a cluster of black-clad ballet dancers, but suffers from being choreographically thin. They clump more than they move. Two of the three soloists, the … Continue reading
Ballet horror beyond Black Swan
The pretext for Italian director Dario Argento’s 1977 flick Suspiria is the arrival of a ballet student at a European academy run by a secret coven of witches. Dance isn’t the point—the eerie prog rock soundtrack by Goblin, a lush, restricted color scheme and elaborate production design fuel an expressionist gorefest—where beautiful women are violently … Continue reading
Black Swan tribute: erotic intensity at the ballet
Before the Black Swan, the White Swan and the dichotomy between them ever existed, there were pioneering 19th century ballerinas who defined different types in ballet. The most famous is Marie Taglioni, the first to reinforce her ballet slippers and rise up on pointe, creating the impression of floating or flying—a creature of the air, innocent … Continue reading
Red Shoes type is on point
While I was collecting screencaps for yesterday’s post on the doomed heroines of Black Swan and The Red Shoes, I sat up and took notice of the beautiful type, lettering and handwriting peppered throughout the latter movie, and even given loving closeups. For inspiration purposes,
Black Swan countdown: Red Shoes retrospective
As soon as I saw the trailer, I knew I would see Black Swan, whether it were a swan or a turkey, simply because of my intense interest in the subject matter. I’m even more excited now that the buzz is good. Swan Lake has evolved into, among other things, an exploration of the duality … Continue reading
rebecca henretta | design » into « words 