The Embracing Diversity Dance Performance at our campus last night was spectacular. It showcases the diversity of dance culture at our campus. This performance contains modern dance, Philippine dance, African dance and tap. I have been waited for this show for about two months since my jazz dance professor Carolyn Webb told us about this show.

The first piece is modern dance called Alast. It is as abstract as Three to Max that we watched in Fall for Dance. I don’t quite understand what idea or meaning it is supposed to express. The dim light and the monotonous music creates an eerie atmosphere. The group dance is more difficult than solo because all dancers have to be in same move simultaneously and our QC dancers cooperate well at the last part of the dance when they move backward while facing forward, circling around the stage with same speed and direction.

I like the third piece African dance best. Its wildness excites all the audience. From this show, you can feel human’s passion and hope for life. The dancers bring their own passion for life into the dance and dance so naturally and energetically. You can’t help being influenced by their zealousness and just want to dance with them. Of course, the energetic dance must be accompanied with drums. The two drummers who play in the show are incredible. The speed they strike the drum is unbelievably fast; it almost makes you dizzy. I appreciate this type of dance very much because its movement is so natural and it is the most original form of expressing happiness and it is a ritual to celebrate the beautiful life. It also shows the harmony among people which is lack of in our society.

It is really a great show. All the dancers are so professional. A few of them dance in three pieces and I could tell how much preparation they did behind the stage.  I really admire them and wish I could be part of the show in the future.

Tonight, I had the pleasure of attending the Queens College dance show, “Embracing Diversity.” From the beginning of the first performance, I knew a style had appeared that I’d seen before. The final performance of “Fall for Dance” was almost identical to this one, “Embracing Diversity” as far as style goes. The style of music is a mix of sounds that have a bit of a beat and is repeated over and over again. This is similar to the part in “Fall for Dance” when the dancers were dancing to the song with counted numbers. Now, I mentioned to a friend next to me that these dancers really have to rely on each other and make sure they’re in sync. This style is more about feeling the music than counting the music, because when a song is so repetitive, it’s easy to lose track of which part the song is at.

As far as the actual movement is concerned, the dance moves are performed slowly and are stretched out. It almost looks as if they’re dancing separately from the music. There is also a lot of twisting of the body, so it draws attention to the shapes that the dancers make. The dancers perform a set of these movements and then repeat them as the song repeats. In my opinion, a performance like this makes me think, which I appreciate, but I know that it also tries a lot of people’s patience. I believe that an audience can’t walk into a dance show and have a certain standard for the show to live up to. It’s like any art form: stay open minded and give it a chance.

My favorite part of the show was the final tap number of course! My professor, Marshall Davis Jr., choreographed the piece, and he used the style of Charlie Adkins. His style of tap is classy and clean. The tappers were dressed in suits, suspenders, and and fedoras, with tastefully placed gold sparkles around the costume. I want to mention an aspect that I found interesting, because I’ve discussed this with Professor Smaldone and Professor Marshall Davis: the use of arms. In this number, the choreography included use of the arms in unison. I always appreciate when they are, but I also expect that this was part of Adkins’ style.

I’m happy to share that “Embracing Diversity” will be performed on December 3rd and 4th as well in Rauthas Hall at the bottom floor! So come down and support the Queens College dance department!

Choreographer Alvin Aleey Jr is most famous for redefining modern dance, especially among African American participation in 20^th century concert dance.  He founded the Alvin Alley Dance Theater in New York, which soon received international prominence with widespread global touring.  On December 1^st, 1989, his life was cut short due to the devastating results of AIDS, and last Thursday night the City Center remembered his legacy (along with commemorating World Aids Day) with a special performance.

The show on Thursday featured three pieces, “Anointed,” “Home,” and “Revelations.”  In “Anointed,” the dance express the torch-passing from Ailey to Judith Jamison, and eventually Robert Battle.  I know this is a bit of a stretch, yet this idea reminded me of “Faune” by Pontus Lidberg, (which we witnessed November 1^st during the Fall for Dance)  in which the dancers chronologically switched, and eventually passed down each outfit to the next potential Faun in the circle.

“Home” is the second piece, jam-packed with sexual undertones and charm.   The work entails the dancers to develop an internal dynamism in order to portray the “Lester Horton technique.”  I found a sample video of the performance of the third performance, “Revelations.”  While watching it, I quickly fell in love with the piece. Check it out for yourself, and see if you concur.

It is interesting to note that the author of the article comments on the “unfortunate track record” of ballet and modern-dance companies on “appropriating hip-hop dance without treating it with the respect it deserves.”  However, he then goes on to compliment Mr. Harris’ ability to decompose and reorganize dance successfully, all while disregarding the hip hop status quo.

For those interested, the Alvin Alley Dance Theater will continue to perform until January 1st.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/arts/dance/alvin-ailey-dance-in-home-at-city-center-review.html?_r=1&ref=arts

While all four performances were extravagant, there were two that particularly caught my eye: the Australian ballet and “Three to Max.”  I had been to one ballet performance prior to this one–my little sister’s–during which I was thoroughly put to sleep.  During the Australian ballet, however, I was captivated by every part of it.  The presentation of the dance, for one, helped keep the focus on the dancers; the lighting affected the golden costumes so that only a very thin angle of the dancers’ bodies could be seen at every turn.  This seems like a very minor observation, but the presentation of the dance in this case did a lot to keep the focus on the dancers’ movements.  Aside from this, the dancers moved with such grace that made the movements seem easy, but simultaneously painful.  I was also able to identify various ballet steps such as a jeté and even the positions because of the clear, precise steps.

“Three to Max” was also significant, because while I occasionally found parts of it unable to keep my attention, other parts were indeed my favorite.  The repetition in the performance became a little too much, but the steps (and the memorization of them for that matter), now that I think about it, were still impressive.  I particularly loved the piece with the Indian song.  It was very expressive of the loving emotions flowing through the dancers unlike the repetitive counting.  In the end, perhaps it was the variation and diversity of the piece, and even the entire evening, that made it so great.

Since we’ve touched on most of the general observations in Arts, I’d like to share some specific observations from the tap performance.

In the Tap number, I enjoyed the simplicity of the stage from the beginning. The spotlight hit him and him only, which directed the audience’s attention to the front of the stage where he stood. What, then, excited me was the first step that he executed. I was able to identify the step quickly, because the number required him to start slowly. It was the shuffle! Which is also known as the “brush and spank.” In this step, the dancer strikes the floor with what is referred to as the “toe” part of the foot. Then, he “spanks” it back with the toe again. The end of the step involves planting the foot in two steps: toe down then heal down. Due to the fact that actions speak more loudly than words, I’ve provided a sample of the step down below.

Another aspect I appreciated was the ballet incorporation. Given that I am currently enrolled in a tap class, I found the incorporation interesting, because I’m so unfamiliar with it. What this encourages me to do is take as many dance classes as possible, so I can combine techniques in a performance like this! So yes, I fell for dance, because it has taken an even more prominent part in my life.

First off, you know an article was meant to be read by your eyes when author’s name is Alastair Macaulay…

As we know, the newly renovated City Center is a beautiful place to witness an amazing artistic performance.  However, unfortunately many of these programs are transient.   The American Ballet Theatre returns this week after a 3-year hiatus to the City Center to perform a total of 9 pieces in an variety of four or five.   What distinguishes this program from the rest is its emphasis on freshness, leaving out “standard ballet clichés of familiar stories and displays of conventionally bravura technique.”

Many of the pieces mentioned in the criticism feature impressive moves which we elaborated on during class discussion; other pieces introduced new moves to my mental repertoire.  For instance, during “Private Light,” five couples smooch and caress while the women simultaneously move “on point.”  However, the highlight of the show appears to be the classic “Upper Room” which celebrates its 25th birthday. Performers in sneakers and point shoes manage to both jog as well as perform arabesques and pirouettes.  Unfortunately, the American Ballet Theatre will only be at the City Center until Sunday night.

Arabesque- a posture in which the body is supported on one leg, with the other leg extended horizontally backward.

Pirouettes-an act of spinning on one foot, typically with the raised foot touching the knee of the supporting leg.

Just as our class witnessed with the first 3 performances at the City Center on Tuesday, choreographers often heavily employ music to supplement and enrich dance routines. However, once in a while a program will come along and shatter the norm.  During the majority of “Three to Max,” Ohad Naharin used the effects of focused lighting and simple, thunderous counting in order to exemplify the merger of quick, choppy movements of the dancers.   As the counting pursued, the number of dancers on stage multiplied.   Furthermore, the rhythm of mere words increased along with the intensity of the visual collage, culminating into a beautifully penetrating presentation that left me in awe.

However, Naharin is not the only mastermind who chooses to think outside the box. For the next two weeks, the Tribeca Performing Arts Center will be exhibiting choreographer Dusan Tynek’s “Transparent Walls,” “Widows Walk,” and “Portals,” in which he selectively chooses, unlike many other programers, to mix using live music and recorded tracks.   Such a simple, yet different approach produces a distinct atmosphere for each piece.  For example,  “Transparent Walls,” the first piece on the program, implements a recorded score by Aleksandra Vrebalov; however “Widow’s Walk,” brings an overly exciting dynamism with the aid of a live quartet.  Moreover, “Portals,” uses Cornelius Dufallo’s unrecorded violin skills, which he abandons for Serbian drum.   I can only imagine the parallelism of the sound and rhythm between this piece and “Three to Max.”

I feel as if the choreographers who are able to engineer a uniquely different experience for me are the most successful at keeping me on the edge of my seat during programs such as City Center’s Fall for Dance.