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.
