It seems like everyone enjoyed the Fall For Dance performance that you attended last Friday! I wish that I had gotten to attend with you all also, but I really enjoyed the one that I went to on my own.

My favorite of the performances was “Umnikelo” by the Vuyani Dance Theatre. I was really captivated by their use of what seemed like traditional African music and dance. To me, it was all really beautiful. Here’s a video:

There were a few things that I was really able to notice from sitting in the last row of City Center to watch the performance. The first was that getting a birds-eye view of the show enhanced my experience. I’m sure that seats closer to the stage and down lower are considered to be better for a reason, but I was excited to be able to see everything. I also really enjoyed during some of the performances not being able to tell whether the dancers were male or female. It was a good reminder about how this kind of art only is produced by humanity with no necessary divides between gender, race, or social class.

Something else that I noticed and appreciated was also touched upon by Chloe in her post: the set designers for each performance played with light as a major tool to set the scene for the audience. I never really noticed how important this was until I saw how the same people and place could be dramatically transformed because the color or location of the light changed.

My favorite part of all the performances was honestly seeing how seamlessly all of the dancers cooperated with each other. I have always admired dancers because I’m not a good dancer, myself. I admire their dedication, self-discipline, and passion. However, to me the best part isn’t an individual dancer, it’s seeing how beautifully everything ties together when all of the individuals mesh into one whole.