Modern Dance Performance Review And Reflection
H. L. Mencken once said, 'It doesn't take a majority to make a rebellion: it takes only a few determined leaders and a sound cause. ' In the history of modern dance, this may remind many dancers of two important people, Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis. These two were the very first to separate from the classical ballet. Their action resulted in a new era of dance history, which is the American modern dance movement in the 1920s. Most of the leaders that were involved in this movement wanted to form a dance that could express emotions that ballet was limited to such as passion, fear, joy, or grief. In addition to Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis; Martha Graham, and Katherine Dunham contributed to the history of Modern dance.
Martha Graham was able to open new components of emotional expression in dancing. She was also known as the mother of Modern Dance, made a language of movement that expressed strong emotions and also started many traditions such as expressive movements of the body to tell a dramatic story, different music, lighting, stage design, and costumes. Another important pioneer was Katherine Dunham, she was able to add original dance movements and develop a practical system which expanded the boundaries of Modern dance.
Later on, in the 1960s new dancers such as Trisha Brown, Yvonne Rainer, and others started to incorporate repetition, spontaneity, minimalism, speech or singing and film. As a result, Twyla Tharp reintroduced academic virtuosity, rhythm, musicality and dramatic narrative to her dance style. Modern dance has been reevaluated many times throughout the years and is continuing to change as a new generation of choreographers appears.
On October 24th, Nova Southeastern University had a Dance Art sage to Modern Dance in dedication to Edward Villella. One of the performances that caught my attention when I attended the dress rehearsal at 1:00 pm in the performance Arts studio was the duet with Adam Weiner, both dancers were wearing brown (men). This performance started on the floor and included Spotting. According to Dance Teacher, Mary Hunt states that 'Spotting is a dance technique that requires dancers to turn the head quickly around during a turn so that the eyes remain focused on the same location or where they are going. It is important because it keeps a dancer from becoming too dizzy during pirouettes and it gives their turns a sharpness. It is also a way to balance and keep track of where the body is in space. ”
According to Vaganova, a trained choreographer, and teacher Nikolai Kabaniaev, student dancers should keep their focus on a particular object that is in the location they are going. As they turn they should return their focus on that object as quickly as possible, the head should not be delayed and the spot should be the lead. In addition, Jorge Esquivel, former principal dancer with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba and now a teacher at Francisco Ballet School, mentions that the eyes should be high so that the neck is extended and straight. If the eye is low it will cause the head to go down throwing off the axis of rotation. Based on this research Adam Weiner and his partner executed spotting perfectly.
This performance also included both partners to move in-sync across the floor, it was as if they were reading each other’s mind. According to Psychology Today, this is possible if they practice, have a good relationship with each other and are in agreement. They were also moving swiftly or gracefully across the floor. I would also say that both of them had great trust in each other because it involved hopping on each other and knowing that the other person will catch him. Also, it included one partner lifting the other so that one was horizontal and the one standing was vertical. Their bodies complemented each other by creating shapes. They showed a great amount of core strength by being able to lift each other and remain steady. Their toes were always pointed. By pointing the toes it helps all the muscles in the leg engage effectively. It also helps with flexibility, extension, and turnout.
This dance performance was about two dancers trying to tell the history of modern dance, and how it changed over time by incorporating the old style of dance with their style. For example, while they were performing they had a big screen showing the dance from long ago and how they changed it to fit today’s modern dance. This is fascinating because we get to see how and why we are learning these different movements in class. We have learned how to make use of our partner’s positive space, which is around them, to make different shapes, and also how to move with our partner as if we know what they are doing. Being able to incorporate this in their dance allowed both the dancer’s movement to flow so that it could create a beautiful performance. Secondly, we learned a lot about being able to spot and how it helps us not to get dizzy when we are doing different things across the floor such as Chaney turns and other combinations with turns.
Thirdly, we learned how to shift our weights on different feet from the toes to the metatarsal so we could get a lightness or smoothness, like a feather, when moving across the floor. Fourthly, being able to release our weight into to our supporting leg when one foot is off the floor to keep our balance was demonstrated differently in this performance because when the one dancer lifts the other dancer, the one lifting him had to be able to release his weight into his feet so that he could be able to lift the dancer while maintaining his balance. In addition, this performance has also taught me how our warm-up exercises are beneficial because they help us to build core body strength that will help us with different dance movements. Finally, our course stresses how we should always point our toes when we are dancing and now I understand why because it helps with flexibility and also it helps the dance piece to be executed beautifully.
