Coppelia essays

Coppelia essays Some ballets get better with age. The romantic ballet Coppelia has an inbuilt scope for innovation. It remains fresh because of the wonderful music, clever, sometimes sublime choreography, the strong narrative, and the infinite variety of dolls that can be introduced into doctor Coppelius workshop in the second act. The costumes, sets and character development of Swanhilda, Franz The roots of classical ballet go back to renaissance Europe (1300-1600) in the palaces of Italian princes and dukes. Court Ballets (Ballet De Cour) were presented during elaborate banquets, festivities and celebrations. Steps and movements were based on social dances of the day and were more elegant versions of folk and peasant dances. This can be seen in the third Act with Arthur Saint Leon (the original choreographer) including an adapted version of a csardas a Hungarian folk dance, into the ballet. These court ballets usually ended with performers and audience members dancing together. Ballet started as relaxed social celebrations and then became more professional and distant from their audience. But during the first half of the 19th century romanticism swept across Europe and changed the world of ballet forever. The romantic period came about during the industrial revolution for people to escape the harsh realities of life. People suffered badly during the wars and therefore t he romantic period offered color, fantasy, fairytales and folk legends for society to follow. "Coppelia" was developed in 1870, at the height of the Franco-Prussian war. It was the last new ballet presented, before the closure of the Opera in the siege of Paris. Hence, it was developed to reflect the rising tide of French nationalism. It was a ballet for the people, of the people. As such, it borrowed...

Morgan Freeman essays

Morgan Freeman essays Morgan Freeman is a wild card actor. He usually plays the roll of the guy that thinks things out more than was thought possible by the other characters. Born in 1937 Morgan Freeman had a difficult childhood moving from place to place and was encouraged to act to stay out of trouble. Freeman has done quite a few movies many of which have been big hits which leaves great impressions on the viewers and bring them back to see more. His character always thinks about things in different ways then everyone else and he leaves the viewers trying to do the same. The movies he does usually have a plot line that jumps around keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat. Morgan Freeman has given the movie industry an unpredictable actor that can change the movie numerous times and keep the viewer glued to the screen the whole time. Morgan Freeman was also nominated for 3 Academy Awards for The Shawshank Redemption, Street Smarts and Driving Miss Daisy. Morgan Freeman was born June1, 1937, in Memphis, Tennessee, to Morgan and Mayme Freeman. As a child Morgan moved a lot. He lived with his grandmother for 4 years until she died he moved back with his parents in Chicago and after only six months his mother left her husband and took Morgan back to Greenwood, Mississippi, but didnt stay for long. They continued to move about threw out his childhood. He wont speak much about it, but Morgan was in a gang for a short time, but got out by having many school activities to tend to. To stay out of mischief Morgan was encouraged to act in school plays. One time he pulled a chair out from under a girl ha liked in class, but instead of getting in trouble, his teacher offered him a part in a school play, which he won state championship prize for best actor. He didnt take acting serious at this time and after high school he joined the Air Force in 1955. Morgans first big acting role was in the childre...

Explain why Wells avoids calling his characters by their names Essay

Explain why Wells avoids calling his characters by their names - Essay Example Figuratively speaking, the author talks about social struggles. It has to be mentioned that these two types of races, Morlocks and Eloi, represent the social classes that would later dominate the Earth. Of course, the whole notion of social struggle is hidden behind the Darwinian feel og the two races. These races give the science fiction feel of the book. One should understand that this book was published at the dawn of the Industrial Age. This was a time of great change, where people moved in from the country to the city, to provide manpower for new industries that have sprouted. Now, capitalism has risen, and with that, the notion that the rich will become richer permeated. It should also be noted that in 1859, Charles Darwin published the Origin of the Species which argued that species evolved to be better adapted for survival. Survival of the fittest ensued. Now the upper-class reacted to this idea by thinking that they are the better species, thus they are rich. This is Social Darwinism. How is Social Darwinism significant to The Time Machine? The book tackles the idea that the Eloi are the lithe, lazy but beautiful people. They are obviously an allegory to the rich. The Morlocks are the ones who work for the Eloi, they look horrible and they are mean. They live underground. It is also known that they eat the Eloi. They represent the working class. Now, this is a picture of two social classes exploiting each other, and it is set in the future. By that, Wells is actually warning the people the dangers of technology and wealth; how it would deepen the gap between the rich and the poor, and how it would affect the future and the lifestyles of the future inhabitants of the Earth. The book shows the rich have evolved into helpless humans and the poor have evolved into cannibals. It is a warning and a concrete example of Darwin’s theory of evolution. It should be noted that the Time Traveler is not called by his name at all. He is just that: Time Travele r. Why is the Time Traveler only being referred to as the Time Traveler? This is because the Time Traveler acts as a witness; a representative of the modern man to the future world. As the Eloi and the Morlocks find themselves separated by their classes in that world, the Time Traveler does not belong to any of those social classes. He can be anyone. He is an observer, and a scientist at that. Scientists should always be objective when making their posits, and by not assigning a proper identity, the Time Traveler maintains this position. The Time Traveler is also a passive person as he is only a visitor in the future. He knew there was a problem but he does not make any effort to fix it. His lack of name signifies the lack of identity and power to do things. He is on the sidelines, watching. Giving an identity to him by giving him a name will change the neutrality of the character, as well as his ambiguousness. Other characters do not have a name in the story as well. When the Time Traveler was explaining the Fourth Dimension, Wells introduced other characters as dinner guests. They are, among others, the provincial mayor, the medical man, the very young man, the psychologist etc. Only Filby has a name, and he is being described as the argumentative young man with red hair. Why the generic names? Well, firstly, it’s a style that H.G. Wells chose to employ throughout the book. The common names indicate