The Creative Innovation and Vast Influence of Merce Cunningham Essay

The Creative Innovation and Vast Influence of Merce Cunningham - Essay Example If I was one who did not know his background, I would just see him as an old, shriveled, slow-speaking senior citizen dispensing wisdom on dance and life from his wheelchair and regaling his glory days when he had his share of the limelight as the star of the show. Yet, upon listening to his words, one can be enamored by his passion for the arts, notwithstanding his age and disability. In his advanced age, when most of his contemporaries are long dead or shoved in nursing homes rendering them useless to society, Cunningham remained vigilant in his post as guard of the dance, issuing instructions for his company of dancers as he envisions the dance in his still brilliant mind. He may sit immobile in his wheelchair, but his spirit and ideas joined the nubile movements of his dancers on the floor. That vision alone encapsulates how innovative and influential he was in the world of dance. This paper will explore how he came to be such. Travelling back in time to his origins as a young da ncer, Merce Cunningham started training in all-round theatrical dance at the tender age of twelve under the supervision of Mrs. J.W. Barrett. He went on to further his studies at the Cornish School in Seattle, Washington and became a mentee of the eminent dance diva, Martha Graham. This grand dame had a great influence on the young Cunningham, as she prodded him to pursue professional dancing and choreography as a career. In 1944, he first collaborated with long-time art and life partner, John Cage in a dance concert where he choreographed his dances as the dance soloist to the original music composed and performed by John Cage. The resulting performance was something new for everyone to see and it elicited a gamut of reactions from all sectors. The resounding critique was made by Edwin Denby who noted that he had ‘never seen a first recital that combined such taste, such technical finish, such originality of dance material, and so sure a manner of presentation’ (Gresko vic, 1999, p. 72). Indeed, Cunningham has lived up to that compliment all throughout his dance career. In 1953, Cunningham had his own company of 5 dancers, including himself. He preferred to maintain a small group that even in 1994, there were only 17 including the choreographer. His fortunate dancer-trainees eventually went on to develop their own careers as dancer-choreographers and made names for themselves. Some of these were Paul Taylor, Remy Charlip, Viola Farber, Margaret Jenkins, Douglas Dunn, Gus Solomons, Jr., Karole Armitage and Ulysses Dove (Greskovic, 1999). The prominence these mentees of Cunningham gained was a reflection of his great influence in their dance philosophies. Cunningham’s dance innovations never ceased to amaze the audience. Asked if he was out to shock people with his dances, he claimed he was not, but was out to bring poetry in their lives. He brought a twist to ballet, which was so much part of the modern dance innovations but somehow put an e dge to the classic dance. He combined what he learned from ballet such as the pronounced use of the legs, with the strong emphasis on the upper body in modern dance methods. Greskovic (1999) identifies one of Cunningham’s technical advancement in relation to ballet’s five positions of the feet that he referred to as the Five Positions of the Back – upright, curve, arch, twist and tilt. A meticulous artist, Cunningham did not stop at designing details of his choreography but also dabbled with the music that accompanied the dance. The unconventional sound elements used may be disturbing to the audience simply because it is unfamiliar and therefore, uncomfortable.

Critically evaluate the relevance of cultural theories to the study of Assignment

Critically evaluate the relevance of cultural theories to the study of International HRM - Assignment Example There are several theories that relate to culture including globe theory, Hofstede theory and Trompenaar theory. The Hofstede theory is retrieved from the research of a Dutch researcher Geert Hofstede, who derived his model from studying employee’s behavior at the work place. Some cultures value equality among people, while others value power. However, Geert focuses on five cultural dimensions that include power distance index, individualism, masculinity, uncertain avoidance index, and long-term orientation. In power distance index, the junior staff expectations are for the power to be distributed appropriately and equally, since they do not have authority in the organization or in the society. According to Hillebrand (2008 pp 3), in Low power distance model, people tend to see the members of the society as equal such as the western cultures. They believe that power should be equal and that managers or leaders should not have a lot of power compared to the subordinates; this a pplies to countries like Israel. However, the high power distance reveals that those in authority should have more power than the subordinates; this is applicable in Malaysia. Nevertheless, societies cannot be equal; there is always an element of un-equality among them (Jais, 2007, pp 34). Individualism dimension interests are divided into two - individual and group interests. In the society, every individual has a duty of looking after himself and his nuclear family. Collectivism come in where the extended family is involved, in which, one has the duty of taking care of them due to the strong ties in the family. This dimension only focuses on family interests. The third dimension is the masculinity verses femininity dimension, which focuses on the femininity concentrating on the distribution of duties between the two genders, male and female. The study shows that women and men values differ. For instance, male are believed to value material wealth and money, they also work hard to pursue their expected goals in life; it could be buying a Mercedes. In fact, most men in different countries are competitive when it comes to the way of living. However, in comparison, women have a strong value for the quality of life, social interactions and they have concern about the welfare of others; for instance, most women contribute to charity concerning children. The fourth dimension is the long-term versus short-term orientation, in which long-term orientation mainly concentrates on relationships, Work, and life and it involves the perseverance value. If a culture is willing to work for the long-term goals, then the culture has long-term orientation (Torun, 2007 pp 10). This orientation involves hard work and dedication. Short-term orientation is mainly concerned with the past and the present, whereas its values involve fulfilling of social obligation and respecting the values of tradition, in addition to protecting one’s image. This orientation is common in the Phi lippines (Bhagat and Steers, N.d). The fifth and final dimension is the uncertain avoidance index, this index deals with the level of uncertainty and to which level can it be tolerated and its impact on decision making in a society (Hofstede G, 1983 pp 83). Cultures that avoid uncertainties implement measures such as implementing strict rules and regulation and security measures this