Category: Fall for Dance (Page 2 of 2)

Although I first had some doubts about the Vuyani performance, it later became my favorite dance out of the four at Fall for Dance. I was afraid that it would be typical African tribal dancing, because I have seen much of that on television and at festivals. However, I was very surprised at the diversity and the outside influences that the choreography also captured; additionally, the dance came with an elegant combination of those influences with still a distinctly African tribal feel. Professor Natov mentioned that the choreography had elements of earth and air in it, which I couldn’t picture at first. After seeing the performance, I understood that concept completely. The balance between strength and smoothness was my favorite part of the Vuyani performance.

One of the dancers was shaking his hand to resemble a snake, matching the music. There were hard, loud beats on drums. It was interesting that a woman played the drugs because I know that it requires a lot of stamina. Elements of air and earth were featured in the performance; earth in the strong stance, air in the exaggerated arm and leg movements. It reminded me of Avatar the Last Airbender, which is a compliment. The white satin costumes really emphasized the “air” element. Sometimes, the dancers grabbed the flaps near their waists and waved them around. There is hardly anything subtle in the choreography. A lot of it was large, exaggerated movements that still flowed very well. Only very rarely were movements subtle, such as quick footwork or small stomps. In the first song, the first half was performed as a group/collaborative. The second half was mostly solo with dancers in the background bopping their knees and popping their bodies. One of my favorite aspects of the dance was the powerful “POP” in their bodies, which sometimes even resembled heartbeats along with the music. At the end of the performance, the lead dancer moved very quickly and violently (yet also with distinct organization and structure) to the ferocious music. I was actually scared that the dancer might accidentally pop a joint. The first song reminded me of a jungle, more traditional and tribal. The second song was a love story that started out timidly but then bloomed wildly and flourished. The man and woman were always in sync. The woman did more leaps, the man supported her; maybe it represents the family roles. I liked how all the dancers had almost identical physical appearances. It made me focus less on the gender and more on the cultural aspects of the dance. Some choreography reminded me of kung fu and traditional Chinese dances. The dancers mostly had non-expressive faces, but were sometimes smiling. The instruments included African drums, maracas, and a coffee bean shaker. I also LOVED the voices that sounded like calls and was in an African language!

The performance of Stairway to Paradise by Sara Mearns and company was simple and brilliant. 10 male dancers and one female dancer performed a traditional jazz era number. The female was lusted after and worshipped by her male counterparts. The whole dance focused on the men all grasping for a piece of the woman. The woman was meant to be the Paradise and the men all searched for it. She never really gave into one man; always tempting and flirting but never satisfying. The music was also simple, saxophone and piano accompanied by a female singer, perhaps to represent the voice of the female dancer. As the singer went through her vocal range the movements changed. The men got closer to the woman and many hands would appear on her with everyone vying for the best spot. They would all hoist her up like a god and parade her around the stage before the mating dance continued. I liked this piece the most out of the four because of its great music and simplicity. The jazz era was fabulous for dance and exploration of sexual themes which were heavily present throughout the dance.

At Fall for Dance the NY Dance Company performed a unique contemporary dance that, though some found it befuddling, left the idea that it must mean more. The piece was a long and seemingly drawn out performance filled with a cranking and repetitive beat. The performers utilized choreography that seemed almost unplanned, sloppy and repetitive filled with unfinished leaps and clumsy basic moves. The performers were not at all in sync and their only interaction was their random crashing into each other or the mimicking of the same moves but never truly interacting. All of this combined into a chaotic blob of emotionless dancers dancers that moved across the stage.

The yellowish lighting and shadows alongside their yellow, tan and dull silver costumes added a dull and mundane tone to the chaos.

Overall the performance seemed confusing and mundane, but I believe that was the point. Maybe the choreographer wanted to depict that life is filled with mundane actions exemplified in the dull movement and color/ music.

Additionally, I feel he revealed that even though we all do these same mundane things,  seen in their similar movements,  we don’t acknowledge each other, seen in the bumping into each other without acknowledgement. ) Lastly, the longevity of the piece may reflect the longevity of life. So, though the piece was a little odd it held an interesting underlying meaning.

Vuyani is a dance that incorporates a lot of different musical instruments and dance movements. The musical instruments used in Vuyani include voices (sounds of nature), violin, drums, cabasa and castanets that sound like the hisses of snakes. The dance choreography makes use of the whole body, from the tips of the fingers to the heels of the feet. The choreography also includes arms spreading to reach for the sky like the dancers are offering themselves to the gods or summoning the gods, bowing down to the earth like they are praying to the gods, feet stomping on the earth, vibration of the whole body, and multiple spins and turns. The dancers are the bridges between the sky and the earth. They connect the sky and the earth by spreading their arms and stomping their feet. The dance movements also remind me of martial arts with the long kicks and bending of the knees and arms. The design of the Vuyani clothing is similar to the design of karate uniforms. Like karate uniforms, one edge of the top is layered over the other edge and complemented with a belt and loose pants.

The Vuyami African Dance performed at Fall For Dance was very engaging and exhibited a lot of talent from the dancers. The dance consisted of a lot of full body movements in which the dancer’s bodies appeared to be popping and pulsating. A lot of arm waving and spinning was also used. This attention grabbing choreography appeared to follow the music that was being played in the background. The music, which featured a lot of drum use and sounded very traditionally tribal, was slow paced at the beginning of the performance, but increased in speed as the dance went on. When the music was slow, there was less movement from the dancers but the movement was more intense, like the popping movements. When the music was faster faced, there were more of the spinning and wild arm movements. The dancers were wearing shirts with long ends, so when the dancers spun their shirts would also spin, adding to chaotic and wild feel the dance gave off. Within the chaotic choreography, there was order, which was very interesting and exciting. The dancers would constantly change places with each other and spin in opposite directions from the dancers next to them, which shows teamwork and planned actions. From watching the dance performance, the story line that the dancers were making an offering to a God was not very clear to me, but the dance in itself was exciting despite the obscure story line. The most intriguing part of the performance was during the final moments of the dance when the music was fast paced but all the dancers except for one were completely still. They seemed to be counteracting the music, which was the only time the dancers really conveyed emotion. Having never been to a dance performance before, I never thought myself a fan of dance and was a little unsure of what to expect from the Vuyami performance. I found myself happily surprised when the dance turned out to be engaging, fun, and a little wild.

In Stairway to Paradise, there were one female and eight male dancers. The male dancers wore uniform suit-like costumes consisting of a white shirt, silver vest, and black pants. The female dancer wore a figure skater-esque rhinestoned black leotard with short flowing black skirt and heeled shoes. The costumes gave a very theatrical look. The dancers did not utilize any props. The expression overall was theatrical, as expected by the choreographer’s background and as supported by all the elements of the performance. The music was the song “I’ll Build A Stairway to Paradise”, which set the showbiz theme. The use of recorded applause sounds reaffirmed the showbiz theme. It starts the performance and is used several times during the performance as well. A steady rhythm in standard time (meaning four beats per measure, and a beat has the value/length of a quarter note) allowed the dancers to work with a basic eight-count routine. The dancers conveyed a story of woman who was desired by other men. She gives each man a chance and they try for her heart but in the end she does not choose any of them. This performance was a structured jazz routine. The movement was very uniform, practiced, and precise. The dancers did use the entire stage but they used the center of the stage the most. The female dancer was the main dancer. Her flexibility, strength, and skill were highlighted in some impressive moves, such as when the men lifted her as she performed a split. The male dancers also used their entire bodies to dance. They, however, were not focused on as much as the female dancer and did not have any extreme moves. It was amazing to see the dancers portray the image of a staircase. The dancers made it look as though the female dancer was walking up a staircase as one male dancer passed her to the next and moved her. She walked from hand to hand, gaining as she moved from the stage floor to being lifted higher and higher. The precision and strength of the dancers were clear as the female dancer held herself straight as if it were effortless and the male dancers held her steady.

This post-modern dance was highly unappealing. I do not know much about the technicals of dance, so I cannot say if the dance was properly executed, but the music and the visual flow of the dance were aggravating watch and listen to. The dancers appeared almost limp, and the music sounded like an excerpt of a satanic ritual. The entire performance was hypnotic, but not engaging. The performance seemed like depiction of purgatory, but I do not know what the dancers were trying to convey to the audience.