July 31st, 2007 at 10:31 am
Performance Reflection
Have you seen a terrific or horrific dance performance lately? If so, let us hear from you! Who performed? Where? When? Are there any performances we can attend? Ticket price?
What would you like us to know about the choreography, production, technique and your experience? How did you respond to this performance? Write a short concise review here and receive a make-up credit towards your grade.
I’ll start you off by providing a link to the Dance Center of Columbia College’s 2007-08 performance season! Click here to view it ……
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 at 10:31 am and is filed under Beginning II Dance, Intermediate Dance, Orchesis.
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I recently saw the Giordano Dance Company performance at our high school on the 11th. They were unbelievable! Their next performance is at the Harris Theater and the ticket prices range from $50-100. The pieces that they performed were so amazing and death defying to a certain extent. However, some of the choreography I have to say was a little flat because it was repeated a lot and that to me seemed to take away from the piece just a little. The production itself was very well staged and the lighting fit very well with the pieces. I do have to say though that the music seemed to be a bit too loud in the audience especially during ‘Impulse’.I really liked the different tempos that the peices were in and really enjoyed how it was slow and flowy movements and then all of a sudden it changed to fast and sharp movements and I was amazed at all of the stamina that the dancers had. They never once looked tired. As we discussed in class it seemed as if they weren’t even breathing. What I noticed was that to be a dancer in this company you need 1 stamina and 2 trust. There were a lot of lifts and catches that were throughout the performance and there seemed to be several instances that it was almost was a panic moment because it seemed that the girls weren’t going to be caught but the girls stayed absolutely still and trusted their partner to catch them. It was also a great experience to be able have questioned answered by the artistic director. It was also really fun to take class with the company members. I was amazed as to how tiny they were. This was a great experience for all people but it is just amazing to dancers expecially becuase we don’t see those kind of performances all of the time and to see one is amazing.
October 15th, 2007 at 6:52 pmJust a couple of weeks ago I had the chance to go down to the Harris Theater at Millennium park and see Hubbard Street perform. I went down with one of my dance groups and it was really exciting for us because they were only in Chicago for a couple of weeks.
The talent of these dancers is truly phenomenal. Their technique is seamless as their bodies just seem to flow within the music and choreography. It was amazing to see the contrasting choreographic styles danced by the same people and really understand how versatile you have to be to make it in the dance industry.
October 15th, 2007 at 9:37 pmLast week, I got the privlage of seeing the Giordano performance. It was so amazing! I would definitely have to say that Impulse was my favorite piece of the concert because of the intensity that each of the dancers individually brought to the stage! The loud music added to the power of the piece and I sat on the edge of my seat the entire time, not wanting to miss a moment of the action!
My favorite part of impulse would have to be the stradle lift, when one of the female dancers was picked up and thrown to a male dancer in a stradle lift. The strength, endurance, and agilty needed to perform that piece was remarkable, and not once could I tell that any of the dancers were tired.
October 16th, 2007 at 12:06 pmOver the long weekend I visted several colleges in the Midwest. I looked at Grinell which has a dance program but their primary focus is modern. When I looked at the studio there I started talking to these girls and asking them what they thought of the program there. One girl invited me to come see her dance, which she was running a few minutes later. It was her first time coreograping. I was super excited to see it, but it turned out to be a huge disappointment. It was awful.
There were only three girls in it, and they were all doing their own seperate thing. It was so disconnected that there was absolutely now flow or feeling to the peice. Solo work is fine, but I think its important to have one core or base phrase to tie the movement together. Only one of the dancer was good, the other two were just didn’t know how to move.
October 21st, 2007 at 5:09 pmOver the summer, I watched “La Reve” in Las Vegas. It was choreographed by one of Cirque du Soleil’s choreographer and is very similar to “O!” which incorporates synchronized swimming and a stage, but “La Reve” had many more dancing elements than it’s gymnastic counterpart.
“La Reve” was a little hard to for me to interpret conceptually, but because I had taken Beginner’s Dance I by then I was able observe and gape at the techniques, artistry, and displays of power each dancer performed. What I really noticed was their deep grand pliés and how they used every part of their body to carve the negative space. There was also a part of the dance where this man takes a solo, spinning himself in the air with only his legs and using the water on the stage to create a visual effect. It was definitely an amazing show.
I would recommend watching it, but it would require a plane ticket as well.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:22 pmThis weekend i saw the Orchesis Show. It was very beautiful. Each dance had its own meaning and it was portrayed very well. I very much liked the outfits for each of the dances. The garments matched with the flow of the dance. I especially liked coming to see my best friends performe on stage. It made me see just how wonderful of a dancer she really is.
My favorite dance was “14 Dances With the Chairs”
November 19th, 2007 at 10:39 amThe dance was very strong and had an obvious meaning to the title. It showed the dancers dancing in a unicin and had my attention completely.
On friday we had a relaxation,yoga day. This part of dance is my favorite. It really relaxes me and allows me to stretch. In my opinion, relaxing and stretching is very important. It really makes me happy afterwards, as well as puts me in a good mood.
November 19th, 2007 at 10:44 amWe have learned many of the popular techniques that are used all around the world. Its very fun and i would love to do another unit of it.
When I saw John Leherer in performance, I was amazed. I felt so grateful that we got the chance to see them at our high school!! I was so impressed by the variety of pieces that they had. The pieces in the beginning were very intense and sharp moving, like Impulse. Later in the show they did pieces that were more funny and brought out their personalities. Aside from their talent, I have to say, I think that I enjoyed this company the most because they put 130% into every dance that they did, and like I said earlier, they were able to do varieties of pieces, which meant that they were able to switch their moods and movement patterns quickly and efficently. Every piece looked like their first, in that the energy never went down or was modified by the way that they were feeling. Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to see them; I can’t wait till the next time that we get to see them!
November 26th, 2007 at 6:46 pmSince I sprained my ankle I was only able to dance in two of the four Nucracker performances last weekend. As depressing as this was, I was given the opportunity to actaully watch the show with the audience. It really gave me a different perspective, because I’ve spent most of my time watching it from the wings.
December 3rd, 2007 at 3:26 pmAlthough I know most of the movement by heart, It was great to see it as a member of the audience. I never realized how beautiful the costumes and scenery are. They looked so professional, (oh and a lot of dancers did too….:-(). The only other Nucracker production I’ve seen is the Joffery’s, but out of local shows, I imagine Barrington’s is one of the best. Although one negative comment about the Nucracker Ballet as a whole, is that I think it get a little long, for people who don’t normally watch ballet. If you’re a dancer, you truly appriciate the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier, but sometimes I find my self thinking their pa des du goes by to slow. But other than that, the dancing was fabulous, the scenery beautiful and the costumes truly profesional looking.
Yesterday in the activity i liked sitting out and watching the other group have there turn. I was suprised to see that only a few dancers did there own thing and that the majority of the girls all followed each other. It was neat to see how people used change of level and space of the floor. I wonder what this activity would be like if we used the platforms? Still to see if people would follow each other in chages of levels. Also when the second group went i thought they were all going to come to a stoping point because when then were in a large group and one person stopped they all had to. It was unique and cool to see the people that went around them and trough them jsut so that they could move at some point.
December 14th, 2007 at 10:04 amA few weeks ago I went to see the Rockettes. The synchronization of the entire show amazes me. With over a dozen girls the timing was practically perfect. The Rockettes demonstrate a variety of movements that make the pieces flow very well together. The dances covered everything from sharp movement to slow ballet. With such a large amount of girls, it is difficult to make the piece look together. All of the dancers are pretty much the same height, which helps make the kicks look cleaner. These girls mastered all of the dances and kept their energy up throughout the whole entire show. The energy was so high that I never would have thought they just had a quick change. This show is definitaly worth seeing.
January 6th, 2008 at 5:57 pmOver winter break, I went to two jazz classes taught by a guest artist from River North. It was my first time dancing in a while, and it was a great way to get back into the swing of things as orchesis is about to start up again. It was so much fun to take a low profile class and not have to worry about techniquie things. I admit the music wasn’t the best, as several songs were from Britney’s newest album, but overall I had a great time, and I’m excited for orchesis to start again. I also think that it would be fun if we took more classes as a company. I know it’s difficult with our size, but once in a while it would offer a change of pace from our standard warm ups.
January 6th, 2008 at 6:39 pmI have season tickets to the Joffrey ballet. A month or so back I was able to see their rendition of Giselle. I new a vague outline of the story because my studio had done a version of Giselle a year or so before I joined the company. Our seats are in row H so we’re eight rows from the stage. It was absolutely amazing. I could see the sweat dripping off the dancers. I had a perfect view of their feet. I was shocked by how much I enjoyed the performance. The beginning was a bit slow, but one of the male soloists had worked at my studio so it was really cool getting to see someone you’ve personally met be up on such a prominent stage dancing with a well known company. Then when you get to the second act, the white act, with the Willies I was just amazed. The corps work in that ballet is actually extremely difficult and the dancers were together in every way. There arms and heads and legs were at the same angles and the lines were beautiful. The dancer who played Giselle was phenomenal. Her performance was one of the best ballet performances I’ve ever seen. You could see her passion for dance in every movement executed. I love dancing ballet, but sometimes I have trouble sitting through a full length ballet because it makes me want to dance, but I was enraptured through almost the entire play. It’s one of my favorite dance experiences. I can’t wait for the next Joffrey show.
January 10th, 2008 at 12:41 amI got to go to the So You think You can Dance tour. I really enjoyed this because it really exposed you to many forms of dance. My favorite dance was between a male and a female. They did not get into a fist fight but through their actions they protrayed that they were mad with each other.
March 31st, 2008 at 10:42 pmIf you ever have a chance to see this show live it is amazing. The dancers are really good at getting the audience to get ingaged with their movements.