The Fall for Dance Festival held at the New York City Center on October 12th was an amazing representation of the diversity of dance and its ability to tell a powerful story. The four dance groups that performed showcased different style of dance, each portraying its own story and expressing different emotions. I thought that each group brought their own individual voice and connected with the audience by sharing a powerful message about the joys and pains of being human and how sometimes we may feel lost finding our own identity. The festival really showed me how the human body can express such a strong variety of ideas and emotions. I was able to see how dance is such a diverse and beautiful form of art that allows people to share their individual stories without words.
The first group that performed was Ballet Hispànico, a Latino dance organization that celebrates Latino cultures and combines traditional elements of folk dance with a more modern, contemporary style. Their performance, entitled Con Brazos Abiertos,showcased the beauty and energy of Latino culture while also depicting the struggle that many Latino-Americans face in finding their identity. For me, the most emotional and heart-wrenching piece of the performance was the duet between the female and male soloist. This piece was much slower and had a more solemn tone than the lively, energetic group number that preceded it. It portrayed the strong feeling of being lost and defeated as the female performer showed her struggle in being labeled “too Latina” or “too American” and not knowing who she really was. I thought that the dancers’ expressions and their movements really told a relatable story of feeling like an outsider that so many people could connect to.
Following the beautiful, moving performance of Ballet Hispànico was the dynamic dance pair of Junior Cervila and Guadalupe Garcia. These two dancers performed a striking and passionate tango, accompanied onstage by live musicians. Cervila’s and Garcia’s tangos were my favorite dances of the night because I could really feel the passion behind their movements as they told the story of two lovers coming together in a dance. While the tango is not a dance I’m very familiar with, I was drawn to the music and the sharp, intimate steps of the dance. I was able to see the strong connection that the pair shared and the story of love and passion that they portrayed.
The second act of the festival opened with a very different style of dance. The company Acosta Danza performed a piece called El cruce sobre el Niàgara, featuring two male dancers, Carlos Luis Blanco Ramos and Alejandro Silva Colàs. Unlike the upbeat and energetic style of the previous dances, this performance was much slower with each movement gradual and stretched out. The slow steps and the simple costumes of the dancers showcased the strength and beauty of the human body. The dancers focused greatly on the technique of each movement, slowly transitioning from one step to the next. The intimate dynamic of the two male dancers also challenged the traditional idea of a duet being between a male and female dancer. The interaction of the two dancers, particularly the lifts, showed how they were connected and were able support each other and give each other strength. I thought that it was an interesting and moving piece that was different from any dance that I had ever seen.
The final performance of the night was the colorful and lively piece called Stack-Up, performed by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. This piece featured an array of dancers in a vibrant 1970s setting that represented different types of people in an urban community. It showcased the tensions as well as the unity that arises within communities as the dancers portrayed various characters and their inter-relations. I thought that this piece was fun but at the same time highlighted the reality of an urban setting during the time period. I liked that it combined elements of modern and jazz as well as some ballet which shows that dancers do not have to conform to only one style of dance.
Each company that performed had their own individual style and shared their own beautiful stories. The diversity of dance that the festival showcased illustrated that there are so many different styles of dance and that the human body can express so many different emotions and ideas. There are many stories that can be told through dance and the Fall for Dance festival really captured the essence of dance as a powerful and expressive art form.
