(no subject)
For those who aren't on myspace, here is the paper that I wrote for Pilates.
Clayton Savage
Pilates
4/11/06
The dance that I chose to specifically critique was the final dance in the first act, called, “Kept.” I felt like this was the most representative of the dances within all of the previous dances within this first act. The musical title was “Kept” and the choreographer was named Jennifer Archibald. This lighting was the redeeming factor of every performer in this performance. From this dance, I gathered a since of womanhood and the ability to rise above. Because the title of the movement was Kept, I thought of a woman who appeared to be a kept woman to society but to herself was a slave within society. The lighting exemplified this by keeping dark lighting in spite of the advances within these characters.
It was obvious that the style of dance was modern. And that the obvious theme was female oppression even in our modern times. The choreographer utilized the entire stage very well and incorporated theatrics very well. Something that I felt was lacking from all of the performances was energy. From the very beginning, I noticed that all of the dancers fell short of allowing the energy to flow through them from beginning to end. As an actor through high school, I was always taught to force energy to flow through our entire body in order to deliver our best possible performance. Watching these performances from the beginning, I watched these dancers whom I have watched since high school; lose this energy while I was watching them perform. I felt like every single person on stage was lacking every sense of energy that would be needed on stage in front of hundreds of people. Even in Pilates, we are taught to keep the energy engaged and flowing as we are working. While I was watching the dance show, I got the sense that energy was not engaged simply by seeing the faces of the dancers. Even the person who seemed to be the most important (Tanesha Sumerset, who was also the choreographer for a couple of the dances) completely lacked this facial engagement. You could tell that the dancers were well-rehearsed for the performance but it truly seemed like they lacked passion for what they did.
Despite the imperfections, I thought the choreography and the theme of the piece rose above. I thought that the costumes really added to the piece and showed the true oppression of women. I loved the title because it implied that Kept women are thought to be living in true luxury but they are the women who are the most oppressed and controlled. I felt that the music and choreography tied everything together and unified the piece. The music was the most powerful part of the choreography (sadly), and gave me goose bumps through most of the piece. I would definitely see the dance concert again to see who has improved and also to see great dance in our small city.
Clayton Savage
Pilates
4/11/06
The dance that I chose to specifically critique was the final dance in the first act, called, “Kept.” I felt like this was the most representative of the dances within all of the previous dances within this first act. The musical title was “Kept” and the choreographer was named Jennifer Archibald. This lighting was the redeeming factor of every performer in this performance. From this dance, I gathered a since of womanhood and the ability to rise above. Because the title of the movement was Kept, I thought of a woman who appeared to be a kept woman to society but to herself was a slave within society. The lighting exemplified this by keeping dark lighting in spite of the advances within these characters.
It was obvious that the style of dance was modern. And that the obvious theme was female oppression even in our modern times. The choreographer utilized the entire stage very well and incorporated theatrics very well. Something that I felt was lacking from all of the performances was energy. From the very beginning, I noticed that all of the dancers fell short of allowing the energy to flow through them from beginning to end. As an actor through high school, I was always taught to force energy to flow through our entire body in order to deliver our best possible performance. Watching these performances from the beginning, I watched these dancers whom I have watched since high school; lose this energy while I was watching them perform. I felt like every single person on stage was lacking every sense of energy that would be needed on stage in front of hundreds of people. Even in Pilates, we are taught to keep the energy engaged and flowing as we are working. While I was watching the dance show, I got the sense that energy was not engaged simply by seeing the faces of the dancers. Even the person who seemed to be the most important (Tanesha Sumerset, who was also the choreographer for a couple of the dances) completely lacked this facial engagement. You could tell that the dancers were well-rehearsed for the performance but it truly seemed like they lacked passion for what they did.
Despite the imperfections, I thought the choreography and the theme of the piece rose above. I thought that the costumes really added to the piece and showed the true oppression of women. I loved the title because it implied that Kept women are thought to be living in true luxury but they are the women who are the most oppressed and controlled. I felt that the music and choreography tied everything together and unified the piece. The music was the most powerful part of the choreography (sadly), and gave me goose bumps through most of the piece. I would definitely see the dance concert again to see who has improved and also to see great dance in our small city.