Dance Comments
The first ballets at the Joyce Theater we’re sort of a disappointment to me. In the first, I was constantly waiting for it to come to life. I kept thinking, “O this must be the introduction something is going to happen soon…”. When nothing did, I was confused and slightly angry that I had come to see this. Their contrasting costumes were a nice idea, but the constant repetition of moves did not appeal to my taste. When the second piece came on, I was so disappointed with the first that I said it could only go uphill. However, this time there was too much action at first; I couldn’t keep track of what was going on. The girl throwing herself everywhere scared me… After she left though, the second piece kept my attention. They could’ve laid off on the repetition though…
Loin was by far my favorite of the three ballet pieces.. Personally, all other acts led the grand finale - saving the best for last in a sense. I could not interpret a story out of the dance but several emotions. Anger, annoyance, and love. What really stood out to me - and probably to many others - was the beginning. First, with the “hand-dancing”. There was so much symmetry that sometimes the viewer couldn’t tell which hands belonged to whom. They were intertwined. This theme continued when those in the man and woman outside of the line picked each other out and when everyone else rolled off of the stage, they too intertwined with each other. It was also displayed in the end where one man was carrying many and then they all clung together while he stood on top. Sometimes we think we are are completely isolated, but the burdens of others sometimes fall on us. It was as if no matter how we tried to be separate from each other, we all end up intertwining events, emotions, and lives.
The dance with the couple was breathtakingly beautiful (cliche I know but it was…). What made it unique though, were the sudden interruptions by the dancers to tell of their tales around the world. I am not sure about this but I thought that these blurred the dancer - audience divider and put us in the dancer’s skins momentarily. It took away the almost “television” aspect (viewer staring at performance) and showed the the hardships these live performers endured. They were given voices. But then immediately afterwards, they produce something silent but gorgeous while doing so in a seemingly effortless manner.
I enjoyed many aspects of Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve, but Loin was a unique and pleasant presentation and culmination of so many emotions and settings that, I feel it was a true representation of art and humanity.
~Amanda Ojie