MAZURKAS

In Mazurkas, dancers portrayed the heroic spirit of the Polish people. By their facial expressions and movements, it is revealed that the characters had experienced some hardship, possibly from war, and the heroic aspect comes from overcoming the struggles. There were four women and three men. There was piano music in the background playing Frederic Chopin. The bubbly music added to the high spirit of the dance. This dance piece as a whole had a lot of energy and constant movement. You could see the sweat on the dancers. In particular, the men had been covered in sweat from their strenuous dance. They put on pasted smiles and rise up against all odds while the men come on stage together showing off their abilities by magnificently leaping across the stage.

CARLOTA

In Carlota, the dancers portrayed The true story behind the relationship among Empress Carlota, Emperor Maximilian, and President Benito Juarez of Mexico. The emperor and empress had been placed in Mexico and backed up by the French – Napoleon III. The French had hoped to establish colonial rule. By the end of their reign, Benito Juarez had his guerilla men execute Maximilian while Carlota was left in madness by the loss of her love. This was highlighted at the very beginning with her shrieks of horror and grief for Maximilian. There was no music throughout the play which emphasized the seriousness and respect the dance deserved as it told a historical event.

THERE IS A TIME

In There is a Time, there was a theme of the large circle which moved to evoke the interminable passage of time. The dance makes allusions to the text from Chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes. Each individual dance represented different emotions or events of human experience from joys and mourning of friendships to hate and love in war or peace. The circle was a constant form to represent a clock and/or time passing. The entire dance began and ended with a giant circle filling most of the stage. In one particular scene, a woman came on stage with a colorful skirt, flowers in her hair, and a big smile. Her solo act, along with the tone of the music, showed the peaceful and positive nature of the dance as a whole.