The Beauty of Modern Dance

This past Sunday, there was a performance done at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center put on by the Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company that is worth noting. While reading the dances performed that night, one in particular, which is rarely performed, caught my eye because of it’s unique nature. It is a piece called “Radeau,” which means raft. This work is the scene of three Haitian women who are lost at sea and depicts the struggle they go through as they “leave one life and journey toward another,” as it was so gracefully worded in the New York Times. Interestingly, the choreographer, Mr. Pomare, worked with modern dance during his lifetime and specifically created pieces that delivered accounts of urban, political and social occurrences experienced by black Americans. In “Radeau,” the women are shown growing closer because of the circumstance and being fearful with tight-lipped, frozen faces. It was also noted in the review that to show the unforgiving and rough sea, the dancers moved in a rocking linear motion.

I found this theater-like approach to dance very refreshing and was reminded immensely of one of the works we saw at Bryant Park at the Fall Festival in September. Unfortunately, I can’t find or remember the exact name of the piece I’m referring to but know that it was the dance depicting a painter, who is creating a piece of art work. The dancer actually used paint and the girl who was dancing with him held a palette for him to create on. This lyrical type of story of how this famous painter went about creating his own artwork was similar to the way that “Radeau” told a story of three women. Both versions of choreography are taking a scene and acting it out, the way it would be done in a theater, except that it is done not with the spoken language but with body language.

Check out the article here.