BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Dance & Music 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The 'pas de deux' in classical ballet follows a standard musical structure. What is the correct order of its four sections?
- Entrée, Adagio, Variations, Coda (Correct answer)
- Coda, Entrée, Adagio, Variations
- Adagio, Variations, Coda, Entrée
- Variations, Adagio, Entrée, Coda
Correct answer: Entrée, Adagio, Variations, Coda
The classical grand pas de deux follows the sequence: Entrée (entrance), Adagio (slow partnered section), Variations (solos), and Coda (finale).
Question 2: Which rhythmic feature most distinguishes the habanera rhythm, used in many Cuban and Spanish dance forms?
- A dotted eighth-sixteenth figure followed by two eighth notes (Correct answer)
- A steady eighth-note ostinato
- A 3+3+2 clave pattern
- Triplet subdivisions throughout
Correct answer: A dotted eighth-sixteenth figure followed by two eighth notes
The habanera rhythm consists of a dotted eighth, a sixteenth, and two eighth notes in 2/4—a pattern heard famously in Bizet's Carmen.
Question 3: The 'Rite of Spring' (Le Sacre du Printemps) by Igor Stravinsky was controversial at its 1913 premiere largely because of:
- Its dissonance, irregular meters, and Nijinsky's angular choreography (Correct answer)
- Its use of twelve-tone technique
- Its exclusively electronic instrumentation
- Its lack of any dancing
Correct answer: Its dissonance, irregular meters, and Nijinsky's angular choreography
The premiere caused a riot due to the combination of Stravinsky's rhythmically violent, dissonant score and Vaslav Nijinsky's anti-classical, angular choreography.
Question 4: In Indian classical Bharatanatyam dance, the music and rhythmic structure are organized around a framework called:
- Tala (Correct answer)
- Raga
- Bandish
- Alap
Correct answer: Tala
Tala is the rhythmic cycle in Indian classical music that governs the timing and structure of Bharatanatyam and other classical dance forms.
Question 5: Which 20th-century American composer wrote the scores for Agnes de Mille's ballet 'Rodeo' (1942) and 'Appalachian Spring' (1944) choreographed by Martha Graham?
- Aaron Copland (Correct answer)
- Samuel Barber
- Leonard Bernstein
- William Schuman
Correct answer: Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland composed Rodeo for Agnes de Mille and Appalachian Spring for Martha Graham, both ballets celebrating American themes and folk idioms.
Question 6: The 'bossa nova' style that emerged in late-1950s Brazil combined samba rhythms with influences from which other genre?
- American cool jazz (Correct answer)
- Argentine tango
- Cuban son
- Dixieland jazz
Correct answer: American cool jazz
Bossa nova blended the rhythms of samba with the harmonic sophistication and cool, understated style of American cool jazz.
Question 7: When a choreographer 'Mickey-Mouses' the music, this technique means:
- Directly synchronizing every movement to specific musical events (Correct answer)
- Ignoring the music entirely
- Using silence during climactic moments
- Improvising against the beat
Correct answer: Directly synchronizing every movement to specific musical events
Mickey-Mousing (named after early animation) refers to movement that precisely matches each musical accent, phrase, or effect.
BM or BMus Bachelor of Music Dance & Music 4
The 'pas de deux' in classical ballet follows a standard musical structure.
What is the correct order of its four sections?