Petite Mort Essay
Dance Film Review
“Petite Mort”
Petite Mort is a piece choreographed by Jiri Kylian for the Nederland Dans Theatre. It is part of a group of six pieces, called the Black and White ballets, all choreographed by Kylian. Petite Mort was filmed for the first time in 1996 and is still being performed in theatres all over the world today. The lastest being in America by the American Dance theatre under the guidance of Alvin Ailey.
The piece starts of with male dancers playing around with fencing gear, as the women remain silent standing in the shadows upstage. The piece then continues with women gliding onto stage with sculpture like black gowns that they push around themselves while dancing around and with them. After the women disappear …show more content…
“Petite Mort”, the title, translates into ‘Orgasm’ and with Kyrian’s clear understanding of the term it evolves itself into clear and amazing images. The men with their fencing movement signifies and emotes the masculinity of men in the relationship, while the women with their gowns signifies the power they have through their appearances. The gowns give the illusion of being attached to the women, but then we are shown they are not. This gives the women further power as they can control their appearances. These two routines are, or can be, symbolic for the sexual roles of each gender – the men are protectors and lead with their tools, while women are supporters not without their own armor. The piece then continues and evolves into being more about the physical action of sexual intercourse itself. In the partners we are taken through a number of different images and meanings through the variety of movement they do. At times we see the man dominating the movements of the woman. We see this mostly in the lifts and guiding hand gestures of the men. As I watch it, I am reminded of a puppet/puppeteer relationship. We also see the relationship between man and woman in the act of sex. The women engages with the men through a series of twitching, pulsing and even contorting movements as the men follow it like a dog after a
“Petite Mort”
Petite Mort is a piece choreographed by Jiri Kylian for the Nederland Dans Theatre. It is part of a group of six pieces, called the Black and White ballets, all choreographed by Kylian. Petite Mort was filmed for the first time in 1996 and is still being performed in theatres all over the world today. The lastest being in America by the American Dance theatre under the guidance of Alvin Ailey.
The piece starts of with male dancers playing around with fencing gear, as the women remain silent standing in the shadows upstage. The piece then continues with women gliding onto stage with sculpture like black gowns that they push around themselves while dancing around and with them. After the women disappear …show more content…
“Petite Mort”, the title, translates into ‘Orgasm’ and with Kyrian’s clear understanding of the term it evolves itself into clear and amazing images. The men with their fencing movement signifies and emotes the masculinity of men in the relationship, while the women with their gowns signifies the power they have through their appearances. The gowns give the illusion of being attached to the women, but then we are shown they are not. This gives the women further power as they can control their appearances. These two routines are, or can be, symbolic for the sexual roles of each gender – the men are protectors and lead with their tools, while women are supporters not without their own armor. The piece then continues and evolves into being more about the physical action of sexual intercourse itself. In the partners we are taken through a number of different images and meanings through the variety of movement they do. At times we see the man dominating the movements of the woman. We see this mostly in the lifts and guiding hand gestures of the men. As I watch it, I am reminded of a puppet/puppeteer relationship. We also see the relationship between man and woman in the act of sex. The women engages with the men through a series of twitching, pulsing and even contorting movements as the men follow it like a dog after a