Review: Fall For Dance

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It seemed as if when the first performance, “Xover”, began, everyone in the audience around me started looking side to side at one another as if to say, “Is this serious?” “Is this really the performance?” For myself, I honestly thought that maybe the microphones were getting too close to the speakers on stage and it caused that achy, high-pitched “noise.” I understand that this “music” by John Cage is where the origin of electrical music began, but everything seemed so unplanned and ill-prepared that I don’t think it is worthy enough to be played at a performance. Partially because I don’t really think you can dance completely accurate to these sounds. In my opinion though, Merce Cunningham’s Dance Company did a good job for the most part, staying in sync with all their combination of acrobatic and ballet moves, despite there being no real flow to the “music” to keep rhythm on. Like I said, dancing to the music being played is very difficult, but I believe they did an adequate job for what they were given.

I think it’s fair to say that the second performance really captured everyone’s eyes and was the clear cut favorite of the audience. It was such a pleasant change from rather slow ballet dancing, all white leotards, and unclear “music”, to the upbeat dancing, colorful outfits, and contagious music. “I Can See Myself In Your Pupil” by Gallim Dance was really exciting to watch starting with the quirky duet between the boy and girl, all the way to the final bow. The dances seemed so provocative, quick, and rhythmic that you just couldn’t look away. Every part of this performance was a show in itself… The dancing, the music, the outfits, and even the background. The back-screen of the performance created a whole different perspective of the dancers through their shadows. It enhanced the size and movements of the dancers in a way where you didn’t know whether to watch the actual dancers or their shadows. By the time the performance was over, the crowd showed its delight in this particular performance by the loud, thunderous, standing ovation they gave. This to me was the highlight of the night.

The third performance, “Vistaar”, seemed to me like the most unique performance, dance wise. It was a very traditional dance style, which focused on different hand movements belonging to the Odissi dance style. This dance brought the focus on one lead dancer and basically her four imitative dancers who would follow her movements. I felt that their synchronization worked well and that the movements with their hands through their fingers brought a liveliness to the dance altogether. The outfits worn for this performance worked very well with the Indian theme. They were very lively looking with the gold and crimson colored designs included on them. They worked well with the performance. The only negative I saw with this performance was that it had to follow “I Can See Myself In Your Pupil”, because let’s be honest, that was definitely the hardest act to follow. I think having to follow it made it have to live up to higher expectations, which I don’t think were met… But not necessarily their fault.

I actually really enjoyed the final performance, “The Golden Section.” The first thing I saw was all the matching gold outfits and right away I liked it. The energy on stage and the highly acrobatic “flying” of the dancers made it exciting to watch. With the costumes, I felt like I was watching a pack of lions running and tearing around the stage. The dancers were obviously extraordinarily talented and meshed well with the energetic music playing alongside them. All in all I thought this was a great ending to Fall For Dance because it ended the night on a good note.

Fall For Dance was a performance I was not expecting, nor ready for. But at the end of the night I was definitely pleased with the performances and was truthfully happy I went. I thought I might be a little bored by the show, being that modern dancing and ballet aren’t really some of my strongest interests. But even sitting through “Xover” I wasn’t bored because it was so new and interesting, that even though I didn’t love it, I couldn’t stop watching it. Everything was a mystery to me so I was glad I got to see and listen to these performances to open myself up to these new genres and performances.