The Arts in New York City

Ballet du Grand completely astounded me. From the name, I had reasoned that we would be seeing pieces completely immersed in the traditional ballet of the past, maybe somewhat adapted to the time, but not particularly experimental. The modernity of the pieces, thus, surprised and disappointed me. (I hate having been wrong. ) Nevertheless, though I found that I did not like the performance initially, afterward, while reflecting back on it, I decided that I did indeed like the symbolism of the dances and the ferocity of the movements.
Selon Désir was very representative of humanity. It opened with a girl frantically expressing herself in rapid, pronounced movements. It reminded me of a line from Milton’s “Il Penseroso:”
As may with sweetness, through mine ear,
Dissolve me into ecstasies,
And bring all Heav’n before mine eyes.
It did seem like the girl was “dissolved into ecstasies.” There was a constant religious feel about the piece. The movements seemed to represent a certain insanity, a confusion of the mind, or simply an idea that we humans could not understand. Her wild hair and ragged clothing would fly about her while she performed her agonizing movements. She was then joined by the rest of the group, each appearing like a thrall of their own personal hell. Yet, as was said about Hamlet, there was a “method in” their “madness.” The barbarous movements of each of the dancers had blended into a chaos, but one that could be dissected, and understood. They were aggressive and violent, and did contain a subtle sexuality to them. And as some dancers left the stage, more came. It was symbolic of the human race. The dancers were constantly searching for meaning; some dying, some being born, and yet all suffering from the chaos of their existence. In my opinion, it was a vain attempt at escape. The end suggested a circuitousness about the dance.

Mariola Szenk

The recital at Joyce theater was simply a pleasant surprise for me. I am a totally left-brained person who is really not interested in the arts at all, but even I admit that the moves were physiologically impressive. Unfortunately it was difficult for me to figure out a plot of any sort for any of the performances, but I really enjoyed watching the expressive and fluid motions. I also liked the music they were playing because it was rhythmic and presented an aura that successfully set the tone for the performance quite well, and because it reminded me of techno music, which is one of my favorite genres. Another observation that I had was that the outfits and bright colors combined with the motions sometimes allowed for the appearance of color in motion, because of a flounce under the arm, or something like that. The entire experience was entrancing and even though I am not sure of the statement that was trying to be made, I was left with many impressions and in awe at the high level of talent–in both being a graceful ballet/modern dancer, and with being extremely physically fit and mastering the “art” of balance. The techniques seemed to be inspired by multiple types of dance. After watching the recital, I am now much more interested in dance and possibly other art forms. I was expecting to be bored throughout the performance, but I was truly moved and hope that our class attends an additional dance performance.

-Naseeba R.

On the way to the Joyce, I was tired after being up the night before, and the only thing I was looking forward to was a nap. However, I was completely enthralled once the lights went down. The stark minimalism of the music struck me first, and I realized that this wasn’t going to be what I was expecting (a modernized Giselle with clichéd costumes and dull, predictable dancing). My favorite piece, aesthetically, was Salon Désir. The movements of the woman in the blue dress looked excruciating, and it was incredibly impressive that she and the other dancers were able to make it seem as simple as, say, doing the twist. I wasn’t able to follow the implied plot completely, but the frustration and sexual tension were palpable. The crucifixion motion stood out every time it occurred, but its’ meaning eluded me, and the music provided no clues. As far as effectiveness goes, though, I felt that Loin left the strongest impression on everyone in the theater, myself included. The breaks where the performers told stories engaged the audience with their abruptness and sense of humor, though at the expense of interrupting the dance. I rather liked the ambiguity that ended the dance: one could interpret the mass of dancers as a united whole, or as a burden released from the dancer who had dragged them along. Overall, I was thoroughly impressed. The performance was worth missing a nap.

M Conroy

Honestly, the Ballet Du Grand Théâtre’s performance exceeded my expectations about modern ballet. I was looking forward to a classical ballet but found myself thoroughly intrigued throughout the performance. The first piece, Para-dice, had such a tranquilizing flow to it that I found myself getting lost in the experience. The music was very subtle and I felt like there was a metallic movement to the piece. With the slicing of each dancer’s arms through the air, the music sliced into your ears further. The emotion it evoked was mostly confusion and losing control but living in the moment.
The next piece, Selon Désir, caused a great stir of emotions with the vibrant performances and the strong music. There was a constant feeling of frantic desire and sensation. Many of the sequences were repeated but I never found it dull. The pieces were done with every performer having their own set of steps that made the whole dance come together. With each dancer having their own performance, it made the dance that much more intricately beautiful. It created so much emotion that went back and forth between frustration and raw desire. There was a sense of desire amongst the dancers with every movement that threw them into the next sequence. To me, it almost told a story, similar to classical ballet, and depicted adolescence and sexual drive. It also insinuated a feeling of violence along with the sexual tendencies. The music shaped each emotion into the piercing raw instincts that were portrayed through the dancing. It made me in suspense of each movement, anticipating the next surprise even though I knew the sequence was repeating towards the end. Even though I didn’t know the story for sure, I kept waiting for the ending that I thought would be an amazing climax to conclude the dramatic storyline.
My favorite part was the beginning of the piece ‘Loin’ because the portrayal of love was magnificently done with emotions playing at each other between the two performers. I enjoyed this part because I felt the emotion they created with just the movement and space between them. Their facial expressions also seemed to give away the emotion of love because of how their eye contact was hardly ever broken. The dancers made sure they were focused on each other, as there was nothing else in the world, with all their space to be taken up by them and their love. It was intriguing to realize that two dancers who most likely do not share a history together could make the audience feel as if they had these feelings for one another.
The end of Loin was also though and emotion provoking. I thought it told a more vivid story than the previous stories because the dancer had to carry all those people and drag them along. It made me feel like those were his burdens because he had to carry them wherever he went and they relentlessly stuck on. I felt the free energy he felt when he got rid of his burdens at the end. It was an almost accomplishing scene and I even thought it could be a depiction of death, when all your burdens are then released on your passage away from earth. The clothing also resembled peasants clothing, emphasizing the harsh struggle of the piece. I really enjoyed this modern ballet because of the emotions it was able to emit into the audience while telling a story, similar and dissimilar to a classical ballet.

- Shaziya Ali

I guess my total lack of any prior experience with viewing ballet (aside from the knowledge I gained from the readings) may be the main reason why I greatly enjoyed all three of the pieces, even though I noticed that these pieces weren’t 100% traditional ballet pieces but more interpretive dances. I remember thinking through the entire night that the way in which the dancers moved was so beautiful and I couldn’t help mimicking their hand movements in my head. I was completely shocked with how the dancers maintained the ability to not get dizzy, especially in the Selon Desir piece, where they mostly thrashed their heads in a rock-and-roll sort of fashion. I can honestly say that watching that piece left me feeling lightheaded.

My favorite piece would have to be the Salon Desir because it was just so intense, especially with the female dancer all in blue who appears first on stage. For me, the way she moved her body, especially her mid-section, looked almost painful because it seemed like she was almost inverting her entire stomach-area. I couldn’t help but wince whenever she and the rest of the dancers did that movement. I also loved the way the rest of the costumes were all a combination of mismatched dull colors (like browns, grays, and other pale colors) except for the blue-clad female dancer who I thought of as the main dancer or even maybe the main dancer of this piece. Truthfully, upon seeing the male dancers in skirts I laughed out loud but then it got me thinking as to what the point for making the males wear skirts could be. I think that the point for making all of the dancers wear similar clothes was to portray a scene in the blue-clad dancer’s mind maybe of her confusion about who she is because I noticed that in between the dances, one character would be in the background wearing this totally lost and befuddled expression while about 10 dancers in the foreground continued to intensely dance. I also couldn’t help noticing the sort of crucifixion movement of when 2 male dancers picked up one female dancer by her midsection and she would then extend her arms in the same outstretched manner of Christ. I also really loved the part when all of the dancers would huddle in this circle and once there they would jump at the exact same time, which caused this loud stomping noise that felt like it traveled straight to my heartbeat—I’m guessing the point of that movement could have been to make the audience feel like a part of the performance and not only be viewers. In addition, I also really enjoyed the different music that was played because it altered the mood for that given amount of time, which I thought was really cool.

-Marianna Davydova

Though each performance of the night was exciting, “Loin” was the most engaging for me, both aesthetically and intellectually. Its integration of various languages, acting, and a large variety of dancers, truly embodied the meaning of “Loin.”

My experience at the Joyce Theatre, for the performances by the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, was an extremely enlightening one. Though it was discussed in class that the classical form of ballet has taken on a modern form, the pieces performed that night were still somewhat surprising. They shared common differences from the classical form: modern outfits that often showed large portions of the body, a large presence of male dancers, and, of course, a complete evolution of the dance itself, in both technique and aesthetics. Each performance brought out a side of ballet that I had never personally experienced. Once piece, however, particularly stood out. Though each performance of the night was exciting, “Loin” was the most engaging for me, both aesthetically and intellectually. Its integration of various languages, acting, and a large variety of dancers, truly embodied the meaning of “Loin.” Though “Para-dice” and “Selon Désir” both brought the previously mentioned modern elements to the stage in an amazing way, “Loin” took the art a step further, and brought the acting stage to the ballet stage. The skit segments provided a nice break within the dancing, while still integrating choreography and synchronous movement. The words of the English-spoken skits seemed to cover a strange story, which I did not understand. Yet, just the presence of speech made me feel so much more connected to what was going on, on the stage. Even the skit and song segments performed in languages foreign to me made me feel closer to the stage than dancing alone. The speech had a way of bringing a human element to a performance that seemed surreal, and to performers that seemed supernatural, characteristics that, though exciting and interesting in terms of “Para-dice” and “Selon Désir,” left these performances distant from the audience. Still, all three pieces brought an exciting presence to the stage, and were definitely a great learning experience and exposure to the ballet of today.

-Curtis Laraque

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

The three pieces presented by the Ballet Du Grande Theatre De Geneve were each innovative, executed with dramatic intensity, and showed the amazing control the dancers had over their bodies’ movements. Yet, “Loin” was easily my favorite because of its unparalleled grace. From the moment the dancers stepped on stage to perform the rhythmic hand movements to when they came together at the end in an intertwining structure, each step was filled with elegance, not unlike the elegance found in more classical ballets. This elegance, combined with ethereal music and soft lighting, gave the performance an otherworldly quality. The brief, but highly amusing, anecdotes were welcome surprises and ensures that the audience was jolted into an attentive state. For me, however, the most memorable part of “Loin” was the pas de deux performed. The partners, who were of different ethnic backgrounds, were clearly engaged in the movements of the other, several times simply taking a moment to look deeply into each other’s eyes. Their interraction seemed to suggest a love that transcended cultural and societal boundaries. Overall, the rhythmic motions of the dancers kept me thoroughly entranced throughout the piece.

~ Christina Marinelli

 To me, Loin was the highlight of the Ballet Du Grand Theatre De Geneve’s performance. It was probably because of the fusion of East and West. There were Far Eastern costumes combined with European chamber music. It was exciting and original. The first piece, Para-Dice confused me, the second piece, Salon Desir, bored me, but i could not keep my eyes off of Loin. The beginning with the use of only arms was odd and drew me in, and my favorite part was the couple dancing. There were hints of classical ballet and Far Eastern dance in that segment of the recital. The two dancers were in perfect unison, doing every movement together, always complimenting each others moves.The oddest part of the show, when the dancers would stop and come to the front of the stage to tell stories with a French/Swiss accent was humorous and odd. It interfered with the fluidity of the show, but overall improved it by adding some humor to an otherwise serious recital. Another great part of the performance was when one of the dancers started singing in a European language, i think Romanian or something, and everyone else danced to her song. It was random breaks in continuity like this that kept me drawn in to the performance. The third performance, Loin, was the only piece i really enjoyed out of the entire recital, but it really made up for the other two.

Jacob S.

Undoubtedly, ‘desire’ is the word that first came to mind when “Selon Desir” opened. Though it is difficult to recall the exact movements of the dance, it is easy to remember the fierce, animal lust immediately exuded by the first dancer. She was bright, alive and full of sexual energy. That same sexuality was possessed by all dancers, male and female, and shared amongst them in a nonspecific way. The intercoursing was at times androgynous, homosexual, and dare I say it: heterosexual. The carelessness, or perhaps openness, of the dancers’ sexual encounters illustrates the passionless nature of their strictly carnal desire. Their movements, mirroring their yearnings, were wild, loose, and provocative. Decadence and hedonism pulsed through the pleasure pursuits of the dancers. There was something Hellenic in their dress, as well; the tunic tops and pleated skirts evoked images of reclining Greeks. These neo-hedonists moved by their sexual whims. Desire drove their actions; it drove them together and sometimes apart. Desire created visible internal and external struggles. Ultimately though, they all went selon desir, according to desire.

–Jaimie S