Act 1: Mazurkas

The dancers were representative of the Polish people under Soviet control. At first, they were happy and thought that communism would lead to equality and happiness. However, as each of the dancers became slower and faced more hardship, they seemed less confident and, in terms of facial expression, more saddened. At the end, the dancers (a.k.a. the Polish people) tried to bring back a sense of happiness by putting on brave faces and dancing together. However, as seen through the choreography there was something off about them, and they weren’t truly as happy as they were before.

Act 2: Carlota

This dance was based on the based on the true story about the emperor and empress of Mexico during the 1800s. At first, Carlota had found Maximillian and they had fallen in love, but then President Benito Juarez began to take power from them. This left them almost suffering and trying to gain back power, but led to the death of Maximillian. His death, caused Carlota to fall into insanity, which was seen at the beginning of the play—thus revealing that the whole dance was really a flashback of sorts.

Act 3: There Is A Time

The dance itself represented the passage of time and how our experiences affect us. Each dance represented not an exact narrative, but rather a particular emotion. All together, the dance was emblematic of how we go through life, with different emotions.