Nov 18 2012
Was This Really Dance?…….
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2012/11/17/arts/17BARNARD.html
Generally I try to be open minded about all the productions we attend. I learned early on that they’re very different from the things I’m accustomed to seeing so I tried not to be judgmental and tried to let it sink in like I usually do…
The Barnard Project was definitely the most different of all the productions we’ve seen. I’m usually just shocked and in awe of whatever it is I’m seeing but this time…yeah…I talked to my friend about it. She’s been dancing since she could walk and when I told her how I felt about the show she laughed and told me I had to love dance to appreciate modern dance. I’m going to have to agree because from the beginning I was just really confused. I was concerned that they weren’t wearing any shoes at first (or were they? I forgot my glasses and couldn’t see much). I tried really hard to understand why they kept saying, “swim” at random moments but they weren’t actually swimming?? Or making any swimming motions? I also felt really bad for the one girl that got dragged by another girl by the foot… That hurts…I was also wondering what was going on when they flipped their hair onto their faces and kind of convulsed for a while. I may or may not have been frightened. Basically I was just really confused the whole time.
I’ve tried to let myself think about it and try to be a cultured person since we watched it but I just don’t think it’s for me…My friend that I mentioned earlier is taking me to see a ballroom dancing show at Columbia University in December and that I am excited for. I can see myself appreciating a dance show like that because it’s a lot more familiar. I don’t think I’m cultured enough for modern dance just yet…maybe after a couple more semesters of IDC I will be but for now…I’ll stay away from it.
I do have to admire how passionate they were about what they were doing. They were all very in tune with the noises (music?) that was playing and with each other. I don’t know how they all knew which moves to make at what time especially since the music was a little hard to follow. It also looked like a workout. Especially that last scene when they were all running around and hopping and all of that. I can barely walk up a flight of stairs let alone run around and twirl and roll over people for 15 minutes. Passion and stamina…that is what I gathered from this production.
I agree that this was a completely different experience. Different and weird. I guess only a specific group of people were able to truly appreciate this performance. It was confusing from beginning to end. I don’t think anyone expected modern dance to be like this. This was a new experience and was definitely memoraperformers for their passion and stamina. They were constantly moving and I was able to see their sweat glisten on their bodies. I don’t think anyone expected modern dance to be like this. This was a new experience and was definitely memorable.