The Arts in New York City

I was pretty excited to go to a dance performance for the first time! “Brooklyn Academy of Music” This sounded familiar yet I had no idea what to expect. All the other classes were raving about their performance and I was expecting something big, modern, and live too.

The BAM was a nice theater and the atmosphere was very comfy too. I got settled in my seat and then the performance started. Lemon came out, even though I didn’t know it was him at the time, and a screen also came down. I thought, “Oh wow, just like Little Foxes.” This thought wasn’t particularly positive because I wasn’t that enthusiastic about the use of the screen in Little Foxes in the first place. Nevertheless, after this, an old guy came on the screen as Lemon was narrating and started rolling on the floor in a fake spaceship. I thought to myself, “Oh Boy.” This wasn’t a normal dance piece and definitely had its own unique aspect. I had NO idea what was going on for the remainder of the play. There were various stories about different people on the screen and it also showed a short piece of people dancing freely. I had no idea that these performers would actually come out and do that sort of dancing for what felt like forever.

I was shocked at first when the dancers came out and started performing. I thought, “Really, does Lemon actually expect us to watch this?” As I was thinking this, I saw a few people walk out of the theater. I wasn’t surprised, I felt like doing it too! I became angry, and annoyed at the dancers because I had to watch them dance so awkwardly. I didn’t know what to do, however, for a split second, I did feel their emotions, but this quickly went away and I ignored that I had ever felt that.

When Okwui was crying on stage, I felt an intense emotion. Like someone said in class, “It was like mother grieving over her deceased child.” At first, I was like whats going on and why is she crying. Yet, after a few minutes, I got into it and started thinking about the sad moments in my life or all the horrible possibilities that could occur in my life. Honestly, I felt like crying for a few seconds because her crying felt like something real. When the speaker came Monday, she told us that Okwui prepares for that scene by looking at her “book of sad things”. So her crying was genuine and I had felt all the emotion there.

Professor Profeta really helped me appreciate what Lemmon was trying to portray. When I left the theater, I felt like that time of my life was wasted and I was angry we had to watch it. However, I knew there was something about the piece I was just not getting. This is what the professor helped clear up. She told us about the emotions, the breakdown of them, and everything that was put into this piece. It really helped me appreciate this work of art so much more. I actually got the idea and thought to myself, “How would my viewing be different if I watch it again, knowing the messages behind it?” I think I would definitely appreciate it more and actually get into the roles of the performers.

I have learned from this experience that we shouldn’t be so superficial and always want what is commonly portrayed. I think a piece like what Lemon created is something that we may need more of and if you actually put in the effort to understand it, then it is definitely worth watching.