The Evolution and Musicality of Fall for Dance

The Fall for Dance show was a wonderful experience that perfectly encapsulated why I love dance as a means of art expression.

I enjoyed the progression of the program, as it went from more classical pieces to contemporary pieces. The program showcased the evolution of dance, and demonstrated all different cultures. After doing a bit of research, I learned that the first piece is a traditional Indian dance, which cannot be pinpointed at a specific time. The ballet originated in France during the 15^th and 16^th century, the modern dance as a type of dance was originated in the United States and in Germany in the late 19^th century, and finally the tap dance originated in United States in the mid 19^th century as well

In one medium of art, we saw four completely different takes on it, and each one was a joy to watch. The traditional Indian dance started off a bit slower, and was very technical in the way that the arms were placed at a specific angle, and the legs held at a certain height. It was a slower piece than the ballet, which is equally as technical, and focused on the poses which were all part of an ode to Shiva. On the other hand, the ballet was a little faster, and focused more on the fluidity of constant movement and footwork from each motion. The modern piece was a lot choppier, so even though it has classic roots in ballet, it defies their rules by incorporating many different styles with it. Everything is not necessarily “pretty” to watch at all times, and it seems like the dancers are all working against each other but that is the nature of the piece. It also broke conventional guy with girl pairings in dance, and instead, used guy with guy pairings or girl with girl pairings. Finally, the tap piece was a large ensemble and was extremely modern in the blues and R&B music playing, with a complete focus on footwork. I really enjoyed this piece because I had never found conventional tap dancing to be very interesting, but the footwork and the incorporation of hip hop into their dances was incredible to watch. I believe through the evolution of dance, one is able to see the individual expression more freely. Whereas the more traditional dances are rooted in aesthetics and elegance with very technical aspects, the latter of the two dances are rooted much more in telling a narrative and there is more freedom to create movement that is not necessarily elegant but evokes an emotion. The purpose of dance is to make someone feel something, and I feel like more modern pieces are more impressionable because they are not working in the confines of what has already been done.

I also really enjoyed the fact that the Shivashtakam and the Myelination included a live band because it made the pieces feel that much more authentic. Every element is happening right in front of you, and it plays out an interesting dynamic between the musicians and the dancers. The dancers and musicians are equally reliant on one another and must maintain that balance in order for the piece to work. Furthermore, the music choice in Locomotor was very unconventional, as the piece started out in silence and gradually added sounds that were coming from household items, or giant bells. For the half of the piece, the music was debatably not music depending on how one defines music, rather just a chorus of different sounds and no melody. Along with the strange music, the matching outfits caught my attention. I think it was making a statement to make everyone equal and that gender did not matter because we were not supposed to see the dancers as separate male or female or anything in between, but as parts of a whole. They were meant to blend together and each dancer was simply mechanism, or a small part that help played into the whole.