Art & Authenticy

It seemed like all the dances were telling a story. However, I didn’t quite understand any of them other than the second one because of the title of the dance. To me, the other three dances were hard to understand and hard to follow the story behind the dancing. However, the second one just seemed like they were animals and what they were doing in a usual day. There was no need to follow anything because it was more like activities rather than a story. Other than the hard to understand part, the dancing was amazing. What they were best at was how precise the dancing was and how together they all were. It was a fun show to watch but I wished they explained to us the meaning behind each dance beforehand.

I had never seen ballet before and so I was extremely excited over the prospect of witnessing it for the first time. Unfortunately it was a dampener over my high hopes. Although I got a basic idea about what ballet is, I could not understand the meaning behind the dances that were performed that day. I Liked the harmony and the colors of the costumes of the first dance Les Biches but other than that it was really hard to understand the purpose behind the dance until i read the information booklet. As for the second one Afternoon of a Faun, there was no way I could have imagines them to be a pair of animals. I enjoyed the third one Four Bagatelles as it showed Ballet in it’s true form – simple and uncomplicated – I did not have to force myself to look for a story behind the dance. I liked the beauty of simple and pure dance form. A for the last one Grand duo it left me speechless. The energy and the costumes were admirable, but it was simply too long and again it left me wondering over the meaning behind the dance.

Cheap tickets and ballet shoes: two things I was never a fan of (that’s a joke, guys). Ballet is pretty intimidating though, probably because I can’t walk in ballet shoes, nevermind dance in them. The Fall for Dance began with a ballet number and was soon followed by some African-jazz dancing. The animals, as I correctly perceived them to be, danced so “animal-like” that it was easily noticeable that they were in the jungle. The costumes didn’t help one bit, it was the way the dancers interacted with one another, the way they interacted on one another. Too bad I couldn’t get up and jump and down like them; instead, I had to sit down and watch the rest of the performances. The rest of the performance was a fail for me. It really needed a translator on stage telling the audience what they wanted us to believe, was going on.

Who Shot Rock & Roll–Brooklyn Museum

Rating: 4.5 stars

Reasons:

I don’t think we, as the young generation, care about who actually shot rock and roll, but what did they shoot it of. In other words, we don’t care about the photographers; we only care about their photographs.

I was not expecting to see such a contemporary artist’s image in the exhibit since the hype of Rock & Rock passed with the 60’s and 70’s. So I was automatically drawn to Amy Winehouse’s photo when I saw it in the exhibit. I love her music and I love her style (for some reason, the big hair, the exaggerated eye liner, and animal-print bras are extremely attractive). I even went as far as dressing up as her for Halloween.

Oh, and can someone explain to me why Jay-Z’s picture was there, please?

Truth be told, when I saw the ad on the subway for the Whitney Museum’s exhibit of Georgia O’Keefe, her name sounded very vaguely familiar. It wasn’t until I saw her pieces in person did I realize I had seen her paintings and watercolors before. As an artist, I consider her somewhat of an anomaly, being so well-known for her paintings of flowers as well as skulls. While I think its interesting that she focused on those two objects, I don’t see the connection. I don’t think this is an exhibit that would appeal to everyone, but for the art enthusiast, it is worth checking out.

I had such high expectations for the Fall for Dance Festival because the people in the cover of the Play Bill looked so energetic and passionate but boy was I wrong. Continue Reading »

Considering this was the first dance performance I have ever seen, to say I was surprised is an understatement. I was absolutely disappointed with “Les Biches,” the first performance. I could not figure out the story line at all, if there was any, and the dancing was sloppy and unsynchronized. After that rocky beginning, I knew it could only get better and began to enjoy the rest of the show; the second performance -“Afternoon of a Faun,” created by Vaslav Nijinsky – was my absolute favorite. While I did not completely understand its representation of the relationship between the ego and id, the chemistry between the two dancers was captivation. The dance was unexpectedly contemporary and abstract; it was a pleasant surprise to learn that it was originally composed in 1912. It stood out the most because Mark Dendey, the choreographer paying homage to Nijinsky, changed the original piece from a man and a woman dancing to two men dancing. This was a beautiful, modern day interpretation of the work.

I actually liked it. Especially the second segment, “Afternoon of a Faun”. The movements were organic and gentle. There wasn’t a background and the costumes were simple, but the music and dance flowed so nicely together. The movements themselves were illustrating the music. I thought that they were supposed to represent some type of creature, but I would have never guessed it to be the faun. “Afternoon of a Faun” was the only dance that I really enjoyed because most of the other work was conventional; even the modern dance in the end. “Faun” was a combination of both elements: modern and contemporary. It made it fresh but also familiar.

One of my least favorite IDC events during this semester was the Fall For Dance Festival. Although some of the moves and performances were indeed crafty and showy, only a true master of dance could understand the concept of these dances. For a novice like me, these performances were about as bland as watching the grass grow. I noticed how various members in the audience were laughing during certain intervals of the dance performance, however, I have no idea as to why the subject was humorous or comical in any sense. Looking at the audience also revealed that many who were in attendance were of the upper-class. Perhaps, it is as simple as personal preferences. I was definitely expecting a much more engaging and if not, thrilling experience when it came to dancing because I have never been to these types of performances before. It is safe to say now that my perception on dancing hasn’t changed much. When I view dance, I seem to associate more with the “pop-cultural” aspect of it because of how much it has dominated the music industry with these hip-hop/rap genres of music. Nonetheless, for those who want a classical and casual view on dance, this is the show for you.

Loie Fuller singlehandedly brought together traditional skirt dance with multicolored lighting to create what became a world sensation know as the serpentine dance. A dance that was truly inventive for its time.

Jodie Sperling –founder of New York’s own Time Lapse Dance Company that reinvents classic genres of dance with contemporary influences– held this Seminar to speak about Loie Fuller, a dance pioneer in her day, despite the obstacles in her life, and hundreds of impersonators. While it was interesting to see artistic interpretations of Loie Fuller, it would have been better to see the original artist. On the bright side, listening to Sperling speak was more thought-provoking than I thought it would be. She showed me that dance is always evolving, but at the same time, timeless.

Meet the Artist “Materializing the Ephemeral: The Art of Loie Fuller with Jodie Sperling”