I’m hardly the dance/ballet expert, so it was quite hard to follow the performance, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, at the Joyce Theater. So all I could do was watch the ballet in an earnest fashion: marveling at the way the dancers moved and performed but not understanding why or how they dance.

It was entertaining to watch the dancers move with utter grace and fluidity. They would do stretches and poses that looked impossible to do if I tried to replicate there moves. It was passionate, and at times, extreme how they tried to portray the feelings through nothing but dance. There wasn’t a word that was uttered during the dance; you only could hear deep and time breaths, the slapping of their hands, and the pounding of their feet.

The first few dances to me were quite abstract. It was trying to portray some sort of feeling; I found it to be happiness. They were all dancing collectively, as if they were expressing happiness and good will as a human force. The music that they danced too was often quite positive and happy; it consisted of piano, strings, and often brass.

The dances after the first intermission conveyed a much different emotion to me. It was sadness and desperation as the dancers usually danced separately. The music was much more mellow and depressing, as usually a single violin or viola played music to which the dancers dramatically danced to. It made me feel sad and disappointed inside about how the dancers expressed their movements and the music that was being played.

The last set of dances after the final intermission was in stark contrast to the ones done before. It was jazzy, it was upbeat in that you wanted to follow a long, and it was something you’d just want to be part of. You could even see it on the dancer’s faces; they smiled and gave even a quiet chuckle as they danced to the groove. I personally preferred the first two set of dances, even if the third one was memorable and entertaining. There’s something more in-depth about the first two that draws me in.

Complexions was a great ballet to watch; it definitely gave me a new impression about ballet itself!