THE FORM OF THE SUITE IN BALLET AND ITS METRORHYTHMIC ORGANIZATION

The article reveals the peculiarities of metrorhythmic organization of the classical dance cycle (suite), typical for Russian ballet of the XIXth century and its evolution in the early XXth century under the influence of innovations in the field of rhythm in the ballets by Igor Stravinsky. The purpose of this article is to find mechanisms of interaction between dance and music based on coordination of their temporal parameters. The material of analysis is the classical dance cycle that performs both compositional and dramaturgical functions in the ballet. Apart from the metrorhythmic and compositional system of organizing time in ballet music, other types of time can be distinguished: real, psychological (subjective) and conceptual, artistic time organizing the processes of the characters' life cycle and the development of action in the virtual time of the artwork. In a classical dance cycle in each number, real time predominates, but when the numbers alternate, subject to the principle of contrast, the conceptual time has a corrective effect. The alternation of musical and choreographic numbers in a ballet determines the rhythm of the form or "compositional rhythm" (according to V. P. Bobrovsky). The correlation of temporal proportions of numbers is considered on the example of ballets "Swan Lake" by P. Tchaikovsky and "Petrushka" by I. Stravinsky. The compositional unit is the duration of the stage segment of the musical form, the change of which creates the rhythm of the form.

Experiencing Time in Brian Cherney’s String Quartet No. 4 (1994)

Brian Cherney’s Fourth String Quartet (1994), in one movement lasting half an hour, is striking for its formal coherence and diversity of materials. The work achieves large-scale cohesion not only through an intricate interplay of three simultaneously unfolding “main structures”—four attacca movements in one, on one level, seven sections forming certain temporal proportions, on another, and four cycles of “breathing rhythms” derived from the same proportions on a third level, as documented in the manuscript sources—but also through the continually fluctuating tension we experience throughout the movement between ontological and psychological time. Pierre Souvtchinsky’s notion of a “counterpoint” between “ontological time” (i.e., clock or real time) and a particular music’s inherent time shaped by “the material and technical means by which [the] music is expressed” is referenced to demonstrate how in Cherney’s quartet fixed proportions and slow, stable polyrhythms active in the background afford space for foreground activity that has its own sense of time. The article further explores the notion of time in a second, metaphorical dimension, as concerns intertextual allusions in the quartet.

Analysis of V1 Skating Technique of Olympic Cross-Country Skiers

The alternate stride or V1 skate technique was the predominant skiing method used in the free technique races of the 1988 Calgary Games. High-speed films were recorded of two free technique races: the Men’s 50 K and the Ladies' 20 K. A moderate and a steep uphill were sites of the filming, and both temporal and kinematic analyses were made. Times for a complete skating cycle tended to decrease on the steep hill (cycle rate increased). Cycle temporal proportions shifted to longer poling and recovery phases while the skating phases shortened on the steeper terrain. Mean cycle velocities (CV), cycle lengths (CL), and cycle rates (CR) were determined. Differences in kinematic relationships were noted: Male skiers included both those who emphasized CL to maximize CV and those who emphasized CR; females were relatively more consistent in emphasis on CR. In either case, center of mass (CM) motions were related to CR and CL. Increased lateral motion of CM tended to increase CL while decreasing CR. Ski edging angles were negatively correlated; a sharply edged ski on one side was usually associated with the other ski being relatively flat. The relationship of glide to ski flatness suggests that many skiers might benefit from skating with both skis relatively flat.