My thoughts on each of the performances:
Semperoper Ballet Dresden: Powerful. One of the most incredible performances of the show and my favorite. The choice of music was perfect and inspired a sense of awe in the listener. This coordinated perfectly with the movements of the dancers on stage. One of my favorite aspects of the performance was the symmetry. At every point in the dance, the dancers were mirrored about a central point and was an amazing exercise in perfect synchronization.
Lucinda Childs Dance Company: While some might find this enjoyable, I did not. I do not know why this could be (perhaps because of my lack of experience in dance or because of my taste in music); however, I recognized that their performance was incredibly talented and that it was an amazing display of grace and balance.
Sebastian Ramirez and Honji Wang: This was an incredibly energetic performance, portraying a relationship (not so much as the narrative of the relationship but of its current state). Because of its high energy and acrobatic feats, this was an immensely enjoyable performance. Ramirez and Wang complimented each other perfectly and displayed beautiful coordination. I’m also overjoyed at the fact that they let us take a group picture with them after the show!
Alvin Ailey Dance Company: I loved how this piece started off. It was so inconspicuous that most of us were unaware whether the performance had even started. The performance mixed a variety of styles. My favorite part was when “Hava Nagila” started playing and the narrator spoke of the fine line between beauty and insanity and the coexistence of fatigue and elegance (not verbatim). This theme was reflected in the performance. I was left wondering, was the one who had not taken off his clothes the insane one or the ones around him? Was him not becoming a part of the larger society true insanity? It was a truly thought provoking performance.
