Elements of Dance Analysis on Clair De Lune

Elements of Dance Analysis on Clair de Lune

In “The art of a Ballerina,” Marjorie Tallchief performs Clair de Lune as a classical ballet dance that perfectly portrays every element of dance. In this analysis, I will be discussing a few elements of dance that caught my eye during the performance. The female dancer was the main focus of the performance which gave me the impression that it is a pas de deux; additionally, the male dancer did not have his own solo dance otherwise it would have been a grand pas de deux. In pas de deux, the male dancer lifts up the ballerina, turns her body, and stabilizes her movements. In one particular scene (24:28-24:35), the male dancer lifts up and gently puts her down repeatedly, creating a float-like illusion.

The first element of dance in this analysis is the use of levels. In Clair de Lune, there was a mix of low, medium, and high levels. For example, at 26:38 there was a low-level movement demonstrated by the ballerina sliding under the male dancer then proceeding to go back to a medium level. As previously mentioned, the floating scene is also a good example of what a high-level dance movement would look like. The next element of dance that caught my attention was the use of symmetry. At 26:09-26:16, the female and male dancer movements were perfectly symmetric, creating a reflection illusion. Lastly, I think in Clair de Lune there was no specific time signature for the choreography because the tempo speeds up and slows down. I tested this by clapping the most common 2/4 and 3/4 measure to see if it synchronizes with the dancer’s movements/steps and I found no correlation; therefore, they must have used emotional phrasing.