Complexions at the Joyce
Like Professor Eversley said, the Joyce Theater was very small. Surprisingly we were able to sit in the second row, which was great but made watching the dance a little hard later on. Because we were so close, we could see the dancers breathing and sweating as well as the muscles in every single body part. Complexions started with “The Curve” that was performed by the company. I don’t really know that much about Complexions as a company but I think I did learn more from the little breaks where Dwight Rhoden came out to speak with the audience. It was great that there was a performance from dance students from New Orleans. Even though they are probably close to us in age, they were obviously more fit and pretty amazing.
My two favorite dances were definitely “Choke” and “Pretty Gritty Suite”. I like that “Choke” was a duet between two men that was face paced and interesting. Both dances were very dynamic and you can tell that the dancers were very enthusiastic about their performance. I like that “Pretty Gritty Suite” included all of the whole company just like the first dance, “The Curve”. Everyone was smiling at the audience and I’m pretty sure the audience was smiling back throughout the dance.
The tambourines in “Pretty Gritty Suite” were very fun and I think they emphasized the differences between modern dance and traditional dance along with the heavy steps and breathing. In the examples given of traditional dance in class, we’ve learned that traditional dance is very quiet and the dances we saw were completely different. There were leaps and jumps but most of them ended in heavy landings. Sound wasn’t ignored or looked over, it was emphasized and actually encouraged. In “Pretty Gritty Suite”, they wanted the dance to seem lively and loud. It was very energetic and fun, something that a dance isn’t usually expected to be. The music was also songs that we may have heard before like “Time After Time” and “Amazing Grace” which surprised me because I thought that the music was going to be classical or just different.
I think that going to see Complexions at the Joyce Theater was a great experience and something that I’m glad to say I’ve done.
Posted: November 21st, 2012 under Modern Dance, Uncategorized.
