Daily Archives: November 29, 2013
Complexions
The projected sweat, the deep breathes, the sweet caresses: nearly every aspect of Complexions Contemporary Ballet left me in awe. The performance as a whole was broken into three, and some were better than others.
It started off with a contemporary dance with what I believe was a storyline of male versus female, bridging off towards topics such as seclusion and heartbreak. The males and females would sometimes dance as pairs, leave their partner or dance alone as others stared. As a whole, a full liner storyline can be difficult to interpret, so I decided to fully focus on one dancer. I created a story for him: he was the man with brown curly hair and nameless. He immediately caught my attention after bouncing up and down; making me laugh and grasping my emotions. At times I noticed his sadness as others danced, his happiness when he danced. He seemed to be a loner trying to find a companion, so he would often stare with wonder at the other characters. I identified with him and was drawn to his story, but I wish I could have done the same for all the dancers; a daunting task based on the wide variety of personal stories being told on stage.
The second part was by far my favorite. As the curtain rose, I heard deep, saddening music, and right away I was touched emotionally. I had so many favorite parts of this show; one being the two seemingly naked males dancing. It was slightly provocative, potentially homosexual, but the crisp movements of their body and the chemistry between the dancers were simply beautiful. To me, the two dancers portrayed a love story with potential problems and heartaches, and when one dancer tried to leave the stage and the other pulled him back, I felt the tension and quick desire between them. The final scene was so graceful, as the two dancers held a disconnected embrace.
The other dance I particularly enjoyed was with three dancers: two up front and one in the back. The dancers in the front seemed to be wearing black robes doing a traditional Japanese dance. It felt extremely proper, but in an artistic and elegant in tone. However, the artist in the back is what I enjoyed the most: he danced in front of a white screen making him appear as a shadow and dancing as he wanted to. This gave the dance a direct juxtaposition: traditional versus the internally pleasing. It reminded me of oppressive parents, the two dancers adhering to their strict traditional beliefs of dance, as their child is in the back dancing as he wants to, making motions off whim and pleasure as opposed to tradition.
The final act was my least favorite, it was lively but it seemed off putting compared to the beautifully constructed first parts. The whole dance seemed to be a bad Broadway musical reminiscent of dancing at a club. Sure it was fun and enjoyable, but I felt that it was all over the place and I couldn’t focus on one character or one dance like I’d want to.
Interview with Constance Cooper
Complexions
Let me start off by saying that dance is some of the most intense stuff that I’ve ever seen. Literally everyone on that stage seemed like they were flexing every muscle in their body to keep a perfect form of movement consistently throughout the performance. I really enjoyed having a close seat, but I have a feeling that sitting in the balcony would’ve provided a great view all on its own because we would’ve seen the dancers’ full bodies from a higher angle. Seeing them sweat and hearing them breathe gave the evening a very personal and intimate aura, however, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
The first two small performances were interesting, and that’s just about all I can say about them. I searched and searched for some sort of story line and meaning, but couldn’t find anything. Perhaps that’s because I’m not very creative, and our professor(s) came up with a plot that the performance followed. The music was certainly classical more than anything, and my second favorite instrument is the piano, so I found the melody to be captivating. I can overlook my inability to create a plot in my mind by focusing more on the movement and the effort that I watched all the dancers put forth in their performance, which in a personal sense I admired more than anything else.
But, of course, the last part of the performance was completely thunderous and incredible. Give me saxophone solos, jazzy love songs, and some Stevie Wonder audio, and I’m ready to get up on that stage with the dancers to make a fool of myself. Those melodies revitalized about half of the sleeping class (I was a member of the awake group) and gave the rest of the audience a jolt, leading to spontaneous applause and whistling and ubiquitous “wows” that were heard nearly every thirty seconds.
MoMA – Rene Magritte
La Clairvoyance by Rene Magritte was, without a doubt, my favorite painting in the MoMA exhibition. I think the first thing that stuck out to me as I walked by was the majestic bird on the canvas, and that’s where my pondering began. Why would Magritte paint a self portrait in the act of painting a bird, when he could’ve just painted the bird itself and focused on all of its delicate details?
That’s when I looked down and saw the unhatched egg on the table.
Essentially Magritte is suggesting that when he paints, he perceives
everything about the future. He is so creative and innovative that all he needs
is square 1, and he will give you squares 2-infinity. Of course, the painting
need not be a realistic representation of how Magritte would actually paint a bird, rather a pretty clear suggestion that Magritte has the element of creativity
that makes him stand out as an artist.
Magritte may be promoting the idea of clairvoyant thought. Don’t settle for a small white egg on a table; take the egg and enhance what it merely is. Even go a step further: don’t settle for something that “is”. Make that something into a prospect or a potentially miraculous image. Some might mistake Magritte’s painting as a blatant sign of arrogance, but I believe it’s quite the contrary: it’s more of a message to the audience that’s going to be viewing and criticizing his work than it is a self-righteous display of his talent. And that makes it even more fascinating; Magritte is famously known as a surrealist, but here the only surreal aspect is the fact that he is seen painting something as opposed to presenting his painting as it is traditionally supposed to be: on canvas. Instead, the focus is not actually the bird (which it would be if it was a “normal” painting) and is, instead, Magritte’s keen ability to be creative.
Complexions at Joyce Theater
This past Tuesday, we visited Complexions at Joyce Theater. After seeing what contemporary dancing was like in class, I was excited to see the performance!
During the first half of the performance, it was very difficult for me to understand the story behind the dancers’ movements. I remember one point where I thought “oh, my gosh! It’s a romance story and the two men are fighting over one woman!” But, then another woman came into the picture and five other men rushed onto the stage as well. The complexity was very admirable but it was also hard to comprehend. The background music was also very dragged out. It was hard to tell apart the beginning, middle, and end.
Like Professor Eversley pointed out in class, the dancers moved with the beat of the music. I could only imagine the time and energy the dancers and choreographers dedicated to perfect the performance. When the dancers twirled, you could see their sweat from their forehead hit the floor as they quickly twirled. I bet if I watched the performance again, I would understand the story line/meaning better. I wonder if the dancers exactly understand the meaning behind each step, and each move. I love how passionate they are about dancing. Their drive and determination makes this performance even more special!
I LOVED THE SECOND PART OF THE PERFORMANCE. LOVED LOVED LOVED IT! I felt like it was more livelier! The music and the song lyrics made it more easier for me to understand. I wonder what dances the dancers personally liked better. I wonder if there was an intention behind the difference of choreography and music between the two paradoxical performances. I wonder what the costumes signify. I remember the first performance had women in a black one piece and men were in black “underwear” shaped outfits. In the second performance, dancers were wearing nude colored spandex, I believe. Then, if I remember correctly, actors then changed into a span of different color tops with tight white jeans. All the costumes were so unique. I wonder if the costumes were created first or if the dances were. I wonder how they found the music.
What did you guys feel about the performance? Did you guys like the second half better?
