Fall for Dance

Usually, when people try to communicate their thoughts and ideas, they use their words. However, the problem with doing this is that you don’t really pay attention to your surroundings. You spend all your time and energy on the words as opposed to the person actually speaking. That’s why when it comes to dance performances, silence is golden.

Throughout the entire performance, there were no words spoken from the cast. Instead, they used movement to tell their stories. The main body part the Miami City Ballet dancers moved was their legs. Most classical ballet dancers move their legs to help amplify the beauty and grace of the music accompanying their performance. Vincent Mantiose mainly swung his head around to help go along with his whistling and the bongos that were playing in the background. During the Trisha Brown Company’s performance, the two dancers primarily moved their arms, helping the audience realize that their dance was based off mirrors. When one dancer moved her right arm, the other would move her left in the same manner the first dancer did. Lastly, the performers from Dorrance Dance swung their arms to help go with the jazz music and singer. Thanks to all your comments when I read my piece aloud, I realized that another big body part the Dorrance Dance performers used was their legs. For the whole performance, they would swing their arms and simultaneously tap their feet. People say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but no one ever says that a gesture is worth a thousand pictures.

Costumes by Noshin Choudhury

Miami City Ballet: The costumes for this dance company was standard for ballets. The girls wore dark purple camisole leotards that showed off their lean, tall figures. They paired the leotards with ballet shoes. The guys wore tight, dark purple shirts and pants. Both of their outfits allowed the audience to see all of their graceful dance moves and made the overall performance look elegant.

Vincent Mantsoe: Vincent took a very creative take on both his dance and his outfit. When he first entered stage, he wore a loose white shirt and cream, cropped pants with brown patterns. The pants made it seem like he was a part of nature, which his dance was aiming to do. Midway through the performance, he takes off his shirt to reveal his toned muscles as the music comes on. By showing his bare skin, it connects him more to his dance.

Trisha Brown: Unlike the Miami City Ballet Company’s costume, Trisha makes her dancers wear costumes with her distinct style. They wore a cream dress that clung tightly to their upper body but then became flowy when lower than the hips. There was a large slit on either side that ran up their legs. Also unlike standard ballet performances, the girls were not wearing ballet shoes and their hair was not tied up in a bun. The costume exemplifies Trisha’s innovative dance style that varies from typical ballet.

Michelle Dorrance Dance: The most unique part of this company’s costume was that the dancers were not wearing uniform attire. Each person took their own take on business casual attire. This reflected their dance as well because each person was able to embellish their dance moves with their own style. The lack of uniformity is normally not seen in dance performances and it made this show unique.

            I have no other word, but to say, “Wow!” about the Fall For Dance performances at City Center. From the theater, to the lights, from the live music, to the lack of music, from the uniform costumes, to the different costumes, everything was just so beautiful and impressive. I was especially taken aback by Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe’s dance piece. His entire solo consisted of him rendering the quick and arbitrary movements of a wild bird. His arm gestures and sporadic movements of his head captured the essence of a bird. The first half of his piece had no music, except for his whistling and his forefoot bones hitting the stage. The mood he set through the sounds he made with his own body made me feel as though I was in the jungle and watching a wild animal. As I was watching his choreography, I was drawing the different patterns that I was observing and his body movement. If one were to look at my sketches without prior knowledge of what I was observing, he or she would most probably guess a bird because of the wide and bird-like wingspans I repeatedly drew. His ability to capture the movement of a bird all in one dance was just mouth-dropping and impressive.

At the Fall for Dance, all the costumes perfectly corresponded to the specific type of music and dance, ensuring everything was in sync. Starting off with the Miami city ballet, the costumes were very traditional as they were wearing regular ballet clothing consisting of leotards and stockings. However, they were all very consistent with the purple and white theme and wore identical clothing, which added to the symmetry of the dance. As for the Vincent Mantsoe dance, the main dancer was wearing a very plain white shirt and traditional shorts resembling patterns from tribal clothing. He later removed the shirt, which added to the performance and emphasized his muscle movements. Third was the Trisha Brown company which only consisted of two dancers, who were also dressed identically. They were both wearing nude colored flowy clothing which made their clothes look like a part of their skin. This connected with the overall theme of the dance as it was very delicate and ominous at the same time. Last but not least, there was the Dorrance Dance company. The last performance was surprising because unlike all the other pieces, the dances weren’t dressed in an identical manner. Instead, everyone was wearing business casual clothing. The colors ranged from black and white to gray, which went along with the overall diversity of the dance.

-Zenab

Rhythm is a regular and repeated pattern of movement or sound. During the first performance, Miami City Ballet, I noticed the music synchronized with the dance movements. Slow music was always associated with slow dance (as well as a lesser amount of people), while faster music was always associated with a lot of jumping and prancing, all together at a faster pace. The dance moves and patterns became more intense as the music grew more dramatic. Moreover, the dancers moved their bodies in such a way that it complemented each music note. For example, during the higher notes, they tip-toed or kicked their legs in the air, whereas with the lower notes they slowed their pace and lowered their bodies. As for the tap dancing portion, Dorrance Dance, I noticed that the deeper tones of music were associated with harder, stronger, and louder taps, while gentle music accompanied slower taps and the overall frequency of tapping was lower. These were repeated patterns of movement I noticed throughout the entire performance.

The performance I watched at the Fall for Dance Festival was captivating and extremely impressive. This was my first dance show and I look forward to watching another one in the future. During the show, I focused on the dancers’ facial expressions from Miami City Ballet Company and Dorrance Dance Company. I found a surprising contrast between the expressions from the two companies, which contributed to the overall atmosphere of the performance. We were sitting a far distance from the stage, making it quite difficult to see each dancer’s exact facial expression.

The Miami City Ballet performance consisted of graceful movements from the female dancers. Despite their nimble movements, the females displayed a strict looking expression, which was highlighted through their high cheekbones and red lips. In comparison, the male dancers were more optimistic and lively through the smiles that they displayed on their face. This comparison between the female and male dancers in Miami City Ballet is extremely interesting. However, I am not sure if this applies to all female and male ballet dancers from different companies, as there is limited information online about this. From pictures that I have observed, males generally do have a more pleasant expression while dancing compared to females.

The Dorrance Dance Company consisted of both males and females that were all very energetic and lively. They made the atmosphere feel light and joyful. Every dancer had a smile plastered on their face throughout the performance, which contributed to the feelings that I was able to feel. Their smiles showed that they were really into the dance and enjoyed what they were doing. The smiles were not forced, but genuine smiles that displayed their passion for dance.