Although I was not able to attend the Fall for Dance Performance, I was able to look up videos about Polyphonia by the Miami City Ballet, GULA by Vincent Mantsoe, You Can See Us by Trisha Brown, and Myelination by Michelle Dorrance. The different performances are very unique in their own way, yet they are able to all come together to produce a show that attracts so many people each and every day. Each performance is able to show dance in a different way and really show how skilled the different choreographers are.
According the the Miami City Ballet website, Polyphonia was really the ballet that made Christopher Wheeldon “one of today’s most important choreographers.” The fact that this performance made him what he is as a choreographer makes it so much more influential and interesting to watch. The performance alone literally made him one of the largest choreographers in the entire world. They mentioned in the video that he used odd beats and movements that made the performance stand out amongst all his others. The performance does a great job taking the audience’s attention by using no sets and dancers dressed the same, moving in unison.
According to Wikipedia, Vincent Mantsoe is a dancer and choreographer from South Africa who takes most of his inspiration from local styles of dance. He also takes a lot of inspiration from spiritual influences of the area. I believe that when an artist uses spiritual inspirations the works turn out much better, because it guarantees that the artist truly believes what he or she is creating. There is not much about GULA on the internet, however, it seems like it was a traditional South African performance mixed with some Eastern traditional dance. It is a dance performed by one man on stage, and is meant to highlight all the things that happened in South Africa during the time the dance was created. It seems like a very interesting dance, that should have more information about it on the internet.
The Trisha Brown Company’s website explores her style revolving around post-modern dance and the extraordinary in the everyday. She helped change modern dance by using different performance techniques that choreographers would not have used in the past. In 1970, she was able to create her own dance company, and influence the world of dance even more. It is very cool that she created her company right here in SoHo, because it is just a short walk away from where we go to school everyday. It is unbelievable how much art and culture comes out of that tiny area of Manhattan. In 1995, she created the dance performance named You Can See Us, which was originally performed by Trisha Brown herself which makes the performance that much more interesting and influential.
Myelination by Michelle Dorrance is a tap dance that stems around the meaning of the word myelination, which is the process myelin sheath forming around a nerve, allowing the nerve impulses to act more quickly. The videos of the dance clearly shows this with the fast moving footwork of the dancers. The performance was one of my favorites and I believe shows the movements of the human body the best.
