The Fall for Dance performance at the New York City Center was breathtaking.
The Miami Ballet dancers in purple gracefully leaped through the air and defied gravity. Each movement was carefully executed. The synchronization of the group as a whole was impeccable. However, the music of Polyphonia captured a sense of gloom while the rest of the performance was relatively joyful. The contrast between the two was drastic. Overall, this performance was my second favorite.
The next performance, GULA by Vincent Mantsoe, was confusing. He emerged from a massive cloud of smoke and started chirping, as if he were a bird. He pranced around the stage, tweeting. Towards the middle of his performance, Mantsoe removed his yellow shirt and revealed a glistening, built upper body. The audience gasped and went wild. He and the rhythm of the music were one. Each stomp of his foot matched the rhythm. A bright yellow light shone from the back left of the stage. As he moved closer and closer to the light, it was as if he was being pulled in. Eventually, Mantsoe’s body sucked up all the light and he disappeared into the dark. This was my third favorite performance.
You can see us featuring the Trisha Brown Dance Company was very very very confusing. The music of the performance was really eerie. As I sat watching, I noticed a sense of suspense and dread crawling up my skin. The music, light, and movements of the dancers made me feel uncomfortable. I felt like the entire performance was straight out of a horror movie and something was going to pop out and scare me at any given moment. One particular detail of the performance that I thought interesting was that although there were two dancers, one of them never showed her face. When the two exchanged spots, I thought she was going to finally reveal her face. No. She spent all of her performance facing the back of the stage. When the performance ended, she turned around and I saw her face. This was my least favorite performance.
And last but not least, was the world premiere of Myelination featuring Dorrance Dance. It was by far my most favorite performance. The ensemble was absolutely fantastic. Each of the performers were amazing on their own but when they came together as a whole, it was stunning. I was a bit confused at the beginning because two dancers were wearing regular shoes and not tap dancing shoes. They left the stage and returned with tap shoes on their feet. I thought the attire for the performance was very interesting. Business casual attire only! In addition, I fell in love with the band’s vocalist’s voice. It was just the right mixture of rough, raspy, hoarse, and full of body, soul, and emotion. His voice itself, was a beautiful instrument. The insane talent of the musicians was astounding. Each of them played like 4 instruments. It was also, the longest performance. The second half was filled with solos and duets that would be later joined by the other dancers. It was simply magical.
