So You Think You Can Dance 2012 Tour

Tags

2012 Tour, Amelia Lowe, Chehon Wespi-Tschopp, Cole Horibe, Cyrus Spencer, dance, Dance Criticism, Durham Performing Arts Center, Eliana Girard, George Lawrence II, Lindsay Arnold, Matthew Kazmierczak., Season 9, So You Think You Can Dance, SYTYCD, Tiffany Maher, Will Thomas, Witney Carson

Over the course of its nine seasons on-air, Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance has brought high quality dance into the homes of millions. The show features a group of 20 dancers who compete in a variety of dance styles with the hope of being crowned “America’s Favorite Dancer” at season’s end. In the meantime, SYTYCD viewers learn about new dance styles and about how choreographic malleability is the name of the game in the commercial world of dance.

As of season two, the show’s Top 10 (now 12) dancers follow the run of the show with a tour, bringing America’s Favorite routines – and some surprises, too – to theatres and arenas nationwide. This year’s tour featured Season Nine winners Eliana Girard and Chehon Wespi-Tschopp, Audrey Case, Cole Horibe, Cyrus Spencer, George Lawrence II, Lindsay Arnold, Tiffany Maher, Will Thomas, Witney Carson, Amelia Lowe and Matthew Kazmierczak.

Eliana Girard

The Tour

North Carolina’s SYTYCD fans packed the Durham Performing Arts Center on Sunday, December 3^rd, giving the performers frenetic energy for their 28th of 30 performances. The evening’s lineup featured more than 30 duets and group numbers, in addition to a solo from each dancer. While most of the routines were familiar to TV fans, some numbers involved casting swaps and a lessened or increased number of dancers onstage.

Because its content’s widespread familiarity, the SYTYCD Tour presents a rare opportunity to its viewers – the chance to experience a live dance performance like they would a rock concert. In other words, when an audience member enters a theatre already knowing the performers’ repertoire, he or she can more actively respond to – and critique – the show.

That being said, I would LOVE to hear the perspectives of anyone who attended a performance on the SYTYCD 2012 Tour. Please leave me your thoughts in the comment section below!

And now, of course, my personal critique.  I’ll limit myself to just a few important notes below.:

1. Eliana Girard and Chehon Wespi-Tschopp deserved their titles.

Eliana’s articulate hands, feet and facial expressions, and her never-ending extensions made it difficult to watch anyone but her in group numbers. And let’s not forget to mention her pole dancing skills or her ability to get down in a hip-hop number. Okay, Eliana. We see you…and we’re dumbfounded.

Chehon wasn’t an early favorite of mine this season – I was rooting for Cole to win Top Male Dancer – but what Chehon lacked in stylistic novelty he made up for in technique and performance quality. You might remember Chehon’s final solo during Vegas week – those leaps are every bit as impressive in person!

2. Amelia Lowe and Witney Carson made an impact.

I spent much of Season nine thinking that Amelia Lowe was riding on the coattails of her unique image, but it is worth noting that she is a fierce performer. She and Will performed one of my favorite numbers of the evening, “The Lovecats” by The Cure, choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon D’Umo. (below)

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I loved Witney from the beginning of the season and she did not disappoint onstage. I had forgotten about Witney’s duet with SYTYCD Season One winner Nick Lazzarini (maybe due to a lack of chemistry), but I am glad that the tour brought it back, revamped. On tour, Witney performed this Travis Wall number, set to Molomo’s “Sing It Back” with George, and the pair had tangible heat between them.

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3. Lindsay Arnold missed the Hot Tamale Train.

From her lack of energy in group numbers and duets to her uninspired, poorly executed solo (she fell out of a pirouette), Lindsay Arnold’s performance lagged throughout the evening. Though Arnold’s “Gravity” duet with Cole was performed with abandon on television, the dancer played it safe onstage. Arnold’s emotional trauma and clarity of movement were lost as she performed what seemed like a marked version of the routine seen below:

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Arnold’s better moments came in a ballroom trio set to Jennifer Lopez’s “Dance Again,” and in a Paso Doble with Cole set to “Unstoppable” by E.S. Posthumus and choreographed by Jason Gilkison (below).

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4. “I Will Always Love You” stunned the audience.

In a theatre where the energy buzzed all night, a duet set to Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” brought the evening’s first moment of silence. Performed by Witney and Chehon, this number highlighted Ms. Houston’s haunting voice with choreography by Stacey Tookey. I can honestly say that, like Christina Applegate in the video below, I also found myself ready to cry at the end of this performance.

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What was your SYTYCD Tour experience like? Please leave me a comment below!

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So You Think You Can Dance Season 9 Tour

Durham Performing Arts Center, Durham, NC

Sunday, December 2, 2012

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An introduction to Indian dance forms (Part One)

Tags

Bharata Natyam, Bollywood, Indian dance, Kuchipudi, Memorial Hall, Nyan Cat, So You Think You Can Dance, UNC, University of Illinois

During the past few years, I’ve encountered Indian dance forms on a variety of performance platforms – Bharata Natyam (also written as one word – Bharatanatyam) at this year’s American Dance Festival, Kuchipudi during UNC’s 2011-2012 performance season at Memorial Hall, and Odissi during my education at the University of Illinois. In addition to these classical dance forms, Bollywood style dancing has established a presence in my dance-viewing life; this popular form of Indian dance fusion is on everything from So You Think You Can Dance to Internet memes. So, over time, I’ve grown curious. What exactly are the major forms of Indian dance, and how does Bollywood fit into the picture? Thanks to my best friend (the Internet), I’ve now got a much better idea.

Classical Indian dance has five major styles – one to represent each natural element as manifested in the human body. Bharata Natyam represents fire; Odissi, water; Kuchipudi, earth; Mohiniattam, air; and Kathakali, sky or ether.

Today, I’ll focus on Bharata Natyam, Kuchipudi and Bollywood dance, as those are the forms with which I am most familiar. In Part Two, we will learn together about what elements characterize Odissi, Mohinattam and Kathakali. I’ve labeled each dance with the region from which it originates.

Bharata Natyam – Southern India

Ragamala Dance / Photo credit: Ed Block

One of the most popular and widely recognizable classical forms of Indian dance, Bharata Natyam is known for its grace, purity, tenderness and sculpture-like poses. The form incorporates the dramatic art of storytelling, called Abhinaya or Nata, and pure dance movements that represent the rhythms in the music. This element is called Nritta.

The photos at right and below depict Ragamala Dance, one of the Indian Diaspora’s leading dance ensembles, performing an repertory work in the style of Bharata Natyam.

Ragamala Dance / Photo Credit: Hub Wilson

This year’s American Dance Festival presented Ragamala Dance’s “Sacred Earth” in mid-July.  The work incorporated live music and dance, slide projection (as seen in the photo above), and Tamil Sangam poetry.

Kuchipudi – Andhra Pradesh, India / Southern India

Kuchipudi shares many common elements with Bharata Natyam, but has some stylistic differences and dances that are unique to the form.  In Bharata Natyam, there are many lyrical compositions that reflect the desire of the devotee to merge with God; Kuchipudi does not have these, and is generally more virtuosic than its Southern Indian dance counterpart.

Kuchipudi also features the following unique dances:

The Tarangam – In this dance, the dancer balances a water-filled vessel on her head while dancing on a brass plate. This dance symbolizes the mischievous childhood of Lord Krishna. See an example of the Tarangam below.

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Krishna Shabdam – In this number, the dancers showcase their womanly charms. See an example of Krishna Shabdam below.

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Kuchipudi dancers also sometimes enact the role of Satyabhama, the proud and self-assured queen of Lord Krishna, from the dance-drama Bhama Kalapam.

Kuchipudi Dancer Shantala Shivalingappa performs in Shiva Ganga.
Photo credit unknown. From http://www.shantalashivalingappa.com/photogk.html

Dancer Shantala Shivalingappa performed a one-woman Kuchipudi show at UNC’s Memorial Hall in November 2011. Her work, “Shiva Ganga,” is inspired the complementary energies of Shiva, Lord of the Dance, and Ganga, the Goddess of the Sacred River Ganges.

Bollywood – ?

Bollywood dance is a blend of many different Eastern dance styles, such as belly-dancing, Kathak and Indian folk dance, in addition to Western styles like modern, contemporary and jazz. The form’s exact definition, geographic roots and stylistic characteristics are difficult to verify, but a few things are certain:

1. Bollywood dances are often romantic and/or playful.

2. The performers’ costumes strongly determine the overall feel that a dance will have in the scope of a Bollywood film.

3. Bollywood dance has found its way into American popular media.

Below is a clip of SYTYCD Season 4, in which dancers Katee Shean and Joshua Allen perform the show’s first ever Bollywood routine.

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The following clip features Bollywood dance sequences from the 2006 Telugu film, “Ashok“.

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And now, the same dance sequences set to the tune of the Internet meme, “Nyan Cat.”

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I hope you learned something; I know I did! Stay tuned for Part Two to learn more about Odissi, Mohiniattam and Kathakali.

Doug Elkins and Friends’ Fräulein Maria

Tags

American Dance Festival, Ballet, dance, Doug Elkins, Fraulein Maria, Hamlet, hip-hop, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Martha Graham, Modern, musical, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Shakespeare, Sound of Music

Doug Elkins and Friends kicked off this season’s ADF mainstage performances last Thursday with a guilty pleasure-indulgent, one-time performance of Fräulein Maria that won’t soon be forgotten.

Doug Elkins and Friends / Photo Credit: Christopher Roesing

This evening-length work, which premiered at the ADF in the summer of 2009, saluted Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music,” navigating the landscape of a familiar story with a comedic edge. Elkins’ work broke the fourth wall of the theater almost immediately, as an emcee conducted the audience in a round of “Do-Re-Mi” and then summoned an invisible Richard Rodgers onstage to speak about his musical masterpiece. In addition, audience members played a key role throughout the evening both physically and energetically; dancers played to  audience members by joking with them, offering crackers to them and even climbing over seated patrons at one point. That must have been what Hammerstein meant by “the hills are alive.” Yuk yuk.

And that’s the kind of tongue-in-cheek humor that permeated the night. From a bell ringer who slowly morphed into Quasimodo to a Mother Superior who channeled Mother of Modern Dance Martha Graham, Elkins’ work was rife with cultural commentary and literary allusions. Even Shakespeare’s Hamlet made its way into the piece as Maria was instructed, “Get thee to a nunnery,” before leaving the Captain’s home. And for the dancers in the audience, Elkins planted jokes in the work that were specific to dance culture – a well-placed Times Step and a marked petit allegro inspired waves of laughter in the audience.

Doug Elkins and Friends / Photo Credit Christopher Roesing

Among the dance styles featured in Fräulein Maria were modern, tap, stepping, waving, voguing, B-boying and ballet, each of which was performed with technical prowess. But even better than the technique were the animation and commitment with which each dancer attacked his or her choreography. The performers sustained high movement integrity while keeping their moods lighthearted; it was clear that Elkins’ dancers let themselves truly enjoy performing together. And it seemed that the dancers especially enjoyed performing non-traditional gender roles.

Nun quintet / Photo credit: Christopher Roesing

Elkins’ cast featured male nuns, a male Maria and a male Liesl (the eldest von Trapp daughter), in addition to same-sex and opposite-sex couples portraying Maria and the Captain. A duet set to “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” featured two male dancers performing particularly scandalous choreography; Elkins’ commitment to outrageous sexual humor made this scene particularly unforgettable, despite its fierce competition from just about every other number in the show.

There wasn’t a single moment during Thursday’s performance where the audience was disengaged, and that’s saying something. Simply put, Fräulein Maria is a knockout of a dance composition. If you get a chance to see it live, take it!

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Have you seen the show? Let me know your favorite part!

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Doug Elkins and Friends’ Fräulein Maria 

Conceived and Choreographed by: Doug Elkins

Directed by: Barbara Karger and Michael Preston

Presented by: The American Dance Festival

Durham Performing Arts Center, Durham, NC

June 14, 2012

http://www.americandancefestival.org/

Ballet everywhere

Tags

ABC Family, Arts, Ballet, Ballet West, dance, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, fine arts, NYC Ballet, So You Think You Can Dance, The CW

Ballet is popping up everywhere lately – and with a much cheaper price tag than usual.  Below is some information about where you can see ballet this summer from the comfort of your living room.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes – “Man on Fire” 

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes recently released their video for “Man on Fire.” The music video features NYC residents doing various forms of physical performance; from a young cheerleading squad to the NYC Ballet, this video provides a refreshingly imperfect picture of local performance culture.

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Breaking Pointe – A new series on the CW / Premiered Thursday, May 31st, 8/7c

Breaking Pointe chronicles Salt Lake City’s Ballet West, giving an intimate, behind-the-scenes view of a professional ballet company. If you watched the show last night, leave me a comment to let me know your thoughts!

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 Bunheads – A new series on ABC Family / Premieres Monday, June 11th, 9/8c

You’ll see from the clip below that ABC Family’s Bunheads is aimed at a younger audience than the CW’s Breaking Pointe. I’m not stoked about it because it looks to be  a TV version of the constantly recycled dance movie plot (main character struggles and somehow wins a competition to save a dance studio/go to school, etc. and finds love and friends on the way), but I hope that it will surprise me. I’m also interested to see if any innovative choreography comes out of this show, or if the dance scenes will be more like the clip below.

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So You Think You Can Dance – Season 9

Everyone knows that SYTYCD rocks the house year after year, and Season 9 will be no exception. But what I’m really excited for is Season 22-ish, when this babydoll gets to audition for real. This child understands dance improvisation like it ain’t no thang.

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Modern Daydreams

Tags

Baha Men, dance, dogs, exercise, Fine Art, media, Modern dance, Modern Daydreams, office, OK Go, Site-specific, square dancing

@BodyVox recently introduced me to the “Modern Daydreams” video series on Youtube and I love it! Each episode turns an everyday activity into a modern dance masterwork; the whole series is a great example of site-specific work. Check out the series below, and please enjoy the companion videos I’ve selected for each episode!

1. Modern Daydreams 1: Deere John

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Companion: Tractor Square Dancing

Yes, this is a real thing…AND IT’S AWESOME.

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2. Modern Daydreams 2: Unleashed

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Companion: Baha Men – Who Let the Dogs Out?

Can you tell I’m a child of the ’90s?

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3. Modern Daydreams 3: Treadmill Softly

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Companion: OK Go – Here It Goes Again

If you’ve never seen this music video, you’ve been missing out.

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4. Modern Daydreams 4: Islands in the Sky

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Companion: Caterpillar Freestyle

See also: Things I wish my car could do.

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Which episode is your favorite and why? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Dance is cool.

Tags

Ballet, dance, Fine Art, hip-hop, Japan, New York City Ballet, pointe shoes, Power Rangers, YouTube

I’ve come across lots of cool dance videos lately, so I wanted to share them with all of you! Enjoy!

1. Unusually Cool Japanese Dance

 I’m not sure what’s so unusual about it being cool, but I’ll let it slide.

2. TRON Dance

This video features Japan’s most famous dance crew, Wrecking Crew Orchestra in a TRON-themed performance. Just try to figure out how they create their illusions…and then please enlighten me.

3.  New York City Ballet “Pointe Shoes”

This video is a short, informative documentary that explains why a perfect pointe shoe is imperative to a ballerina’s success.

4. Hip Hop Kido

And now, let’s take a moment to remember how cool the original Power Rangers were. You’ll notice some locking at the beginning of his combo.

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What did you think of these videos? Leave me a comment to let me know!

April 22nd’s #DanceChat …in case you missed it

Tags

Ballet, Ballet Preljocaj, dance, DanceChat, discussion, Twitter

Below is a transcript from yesterday’s #DanceChat, in which we discussed our preferences as viewers of live and pre-recorded dance performance. A big thank you to @ClaraAB2 and @NobleDisposal for participating!

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Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

Today’s #DanceChat has begun! We’re discussing viewing dance -what elements of dance we find to be engaging & what turns us off as viewers.

As a reminder, be sure to tag all of your posts with #DanceChat so everyone participating can read them.

To begin, how do you watch the majority of the dance you see? Onstage? Online? On TV? #DanceChat

Ian Noble ‏ @NobleDisposal

@AScho3 definitely watching live, although I definitely catch youtube videos sometimes #DanceChat

Clara B. ‏ @ClaraAB2

I’d say mostly on stage or on TV, especially shows like DWTS and SYTYCD. #DanceChat

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

@NobleDisposal I have been watching a lot of dance on stage lately, but I am definitely a TV dance junkie #DanceChat

@NobleDisposal Do you find the youtube dance clips as engaging as you find live dance? Why or why not? #DanceChat

Ian Noble ‏ @NobleDisposal

@AScho3 To me, dance is a lot like baseball or hockey in that I don’t get the same feeling unless it’s live, especially w/ physical choreography.

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

A dance has many elements – choreography, audio, costumes, props, scenery, special effects, etc. We’ll talk about choreo first.#DanceChat

A piece of dance choreography can tell a clear story or be more abstract – what kind of dance do you prefer? #DanceChat

 I like less narrative work; I love to figure out the role of each dancer onstage & see relationships develop between dancers. #DanceChat

Clara B. ‏ @ClaraAB2

@AScho3 Definitely a story, unless the choreography is very intricate and intriguing. But a story makes it easier to connect.#DanceChat

Ian Noble ‏ @NobleDisposal

@AScho3 I prefer abstract: the primal nature of dance suits itself for me to inspire emotion moreso than a story. #dancechat

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

@ClaraAB2 What would make choreography intriguing enough for you that you wouldn’t need a story? What in the movement helps you connect?

Clara B. ‏ @ClaraAB2

@AScho3 Something that makes you wonder how they did it, good chemistry in the duo/group, and/or choreo that clearly connects to the music.

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

@NobleDisposal You said that the primal nature of dance inspires emotion in you. What if you are watching a classical ballet? #DanceChat

Ian Noble ‏ @NobleDisposal

@AScho3 I’ve seen ballets, nothing super duper professional, and outside of admiring technique, it isn’t my favorite style. #dancechat

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

@NobleDisposal I’m w/you on finding it difficult to connect to classical ballets, no matter how aesthetically pleasing they are.#DanceChat

@NobleDisposal Have you seen any contemporary ballet? I’m curious about if you connect to that style or not. #DanceChat

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

For those of you unfamiliar with contemporary ballet, the style has roots in classical ballet movement vocabulary but has more abstract choreography. In other words, it doesn’t tell a clear story from start to finish. #DanceChat

Ian Noble ‏ @NobleDisposal

@AScho3 Count me as unfamiliar. Who are the big names in contemporary ballet? #dancechat

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

@NobleDisposal A lot of major ballet companies perform contemporary ballet work in addition to classical repertory.#DanceChat

Ian Noble ‏ @NobleDisposal

@AScho3 Would they perform a classic work in a contemporary style? Hip Swan Lake? or do they have entirely new works? #DanceChat

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

@NobleDisposal The sky is the limit. I just saw a contemporary version of Snow White by Ballet Preljocaj that blew my mind.#DanceChat

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

@NobleDisposal Check out this video of the death lamentation scene from the show to see what I mean. #DanceChat

 

Ian Noble ‏ @NobleDisposal

@AScho3 I’m digging this, although I didn’t know it was legal to dance with dead bodies. Give her a rest dog. #Dancechat

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

@NobleDisposal She’s not dead, just poisoned! Completely legal.#DanceChat

Ian Noble ‏ @NobleDisposal

@AScho3 Wait, she’s not dead! #DanceChat #MajorSpoilerAlert

Ian Noble ‏ @NobleDisposal

@ClaraAB2 @AScho3 What kind of story do you like to see with dance? SYTYCD is very narrative driven, but the routines are shorter.#DanceChat

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

@NobleDisposal @ClaraAB2 When I watch SYTYCD, I like to see dancers throw themselves into a routine wholeheartedly #DanceChat

@NobleDisposal @ClaraAB2 I like when a choreographer gives me the general idea of the story, but doesn’t spoon feed it to me.#DanceChat

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

What about you @ClaraAB2 ? What kind of stories do you like to see in dance choreography? #DanceChat

Clara B. ‏ @ClaraAB2

@AScho3 I love personal, heartfelt stories poured out into dance. A favorite SYTYCD piece was Mia Michaels’ piece about her dad. #DanceChat

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

@ClaraAB2 Allow me a moment to refresh my memory… This one? #DanceChat

Clara B. ‏ @ClaraAB2

@AScho3 YES! It’s so beautiful. I cry every time. #DanceChat

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

@ClaraAB2 Daddy-daughter stuff always makes me cry. Even in Finding Nemo. haha. This piece is really sweet, I agree. #DanceChat

@ClaraAB2 I feel like it would be easier for me to connect to this emotionally if I saw it live, though. #DanceChat

@ClaraAB2 I think for me it’s about the set up with the characters. Even though Mia talks about the meaning before the dance, I find it hard to jump to that place emotionally if I haven’t seen a connection develop b/w the dancers on stage. #DanceChat

Clara B. ‏ @ClaraAB2

@AScho3 I can see that. I love seeing live dance but don’t always have the option. This still works for me most of the time.#DanceChat

 Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

@ClaraAB2 For sure. I’m SO glad there is so much dance on TV now. It’s nice to see the artform finally getting the media attention it deserves! #DanceChat

Clara B. ‏ @ClaraAB2

@AScho3 Totally agree! Plus a decent variety of styles are shown, so it can reach a wider audience. #DanceChat

Ian Noble ‏ @NobleDisposal

@AScho3 @ClaraAB2 Is there an optimal size of group for you to reach that connection? Solos, duets, flash mobs? #dancechat

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

@NobleDisposal Flash mobs for sure. Haha. Duets and Trios make it easier to establish clear relationships between dancers, I think.#DanceChat

Alyssa Schoeneman ‏ @AScho3

Yikes! It looks like our hour is up already! Thanks to @ClaraAB2 and@NobleDisposal for participating in today’s #DanceChat.

 Clara B. ‏ @ClaraAB2

@AScho3 No problem. I enjoyed this #DanceChat. Thanks for the great questions!

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If you’ve got an opinion about something we discussed yesterday but weren’t able to participate in the live chat, please leave me a comment to let me know! I’d love to hear what more of you have to say!

#DanceChat returns Sunday, April 22nd!

Tags

dance, Movies, Social Media, TV, Twitter

As you may know from my About the site page, I started this blog because I want to generate discussions about real issues and recurring themes in the dance world.

This week will mark our fifth #DanceChat on Twitter! The topic will be Viewing Dance: What kind of dance do you like to watch and why? This #DanceChat will focus on our preferences as viewers of dance – both onstage and on video. We will discuss different styles of dance and what things within those dance styles we find to be attractive or repellent. Think about what elements of a dance work engage and excite you, and what things cause you to tune out mid-performance.

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If you have never participated in a Twitter chat before, here’s how it works:

1. Everyone who would like to participate signs onto Twitter at the same time.

Our chat will be at 3 PM EST (2 PM CST, etc.) this Sunday, April 22nd. The chat will last one hour.

2. A moderator (me) will choose a topic for each week’s chat. That person will pose questions related to that topic throughout the course of the hour, and will Re-Tweet relevant responses.

My Twitter handle is @Ascho3, just like my blog address. Be sure to follow me so you can get all of the updates from the chat.

3. All participants in the chat will include the same hashtag (#) in each post, so all of the posts will be organized chronologically under that hashtag.

Our hashtag will be #DanceChat.

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Again, this week’s topic will be Viewing Dance: What kind of dance do you like to watch and why? I’d like to hear perspectives from people with varying dance backgrounds, so please encourage all of your friends to participate!

I really need your help spreading the word; the more people that participate, the more we can all learn! Please use the sharing buttons at the bottom of this post, and be sure to include the following details:

1. This chat is this Sunday, April 22nd at 3 PM EST (2 CST)

2. #DanceChat

3. Moderated by @Ascho3

4. This chat is for EVERYONE.

So, your post may look something like this:

Hey friends! Join me, @Ascho3 and other cool cats in an awesome #DanceChat this Sunday at 3 PM EST (2 CST). Check out Dance in Real Life to learn more!

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Thanks in advance for your help! I can’t wait to talk to all of you on Sunday!

Ballet Preljocaj’s Snow White: a review in brief

Tags

Ballet, Contemporary ballet, fairy tales, fine arts, Modern dance, Snow White

Last Wednesday, April 4th, I had the opportunity to see Ballet Preljocaj’s Snow White (or Blanche Neige, as it is known in the company’s native French) at Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill, NC. In lieu of a full review of the show, I’d like to highlight specific things that the show did well – specifically, the ways that this production rose above the sometimes predictable shortcomings of classical ballets.

Snow White takes a bite of the Queen's poison apple

Characterization

Ballet Preljocaj’s Snow White featured two dancers as black cats, seven as dwarfs, and a soloist as a boar throughout the course of the performance. The dancers adapted their movements to mirror the nuanced behavior of their respective characters; the cats moved with agility and grace, infused with a certain cat-like curiosity, while the dwarfs moved with a heaviness, toiling away at their work but infusing humor into the show at choice moments.

Though Snow White is by no means the only ballet with non-human characters, contemporary ballet inherently allows more choreographic freedom; in other words, choreographers are not limited to strictly classical ballet movement vocabulary. In this case, the inclusion of modern dance, aerial, acrobatic and robotic movement made the dancers more believable in their fantastic roles.

Watch the video below to see what I mean. You’ll see the cats at 1:10 and again at 1:48 in the live mirror scene. The Dwarfs appear at 2:10 as they scale their coal mine.

Lamentation

Classical ballet productions like Romeo and Juliet, Giselle and Don Juan (among many others) feature dances of death and lamentation, but the accompanying sets of choreography often cheese up the heavy emotions they aim to convey. See what I mean in this over-dramatized excerpt from Romeo and Juliet.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPGhMeez-ZQ]

Ballet Preljocaj Choreographer Angelin Preljocaj used the death lamentation scene in Snow White as an opportunity for a genuinely emotional pas de deux. Dancer Nagisa Shirai, who danced the role of Snow White, remained passive for about seven minutes as her partner Fabrizio Clemente lead her through turns, lifts and inversions.

You have to see it to believe it:

Pacing

Though Ballet Preljocaj’s production of Snow White ran for nearly two hours with no intermission, the show consistently kept audience members engaged. Often when I watch classical ballets, I find that party scenes, wedding scenes and the like often drag on for what seems like forever. But this phenomenon is not unexplained; because classical ballet choreographers (or re-constructors) try to uphold the structural integrity of any given ballet, they tend to use the respective ballet’s complete musical score. While this is practice is admirable, it sometimes results in overkill (and a bored audience!).

Snow White kept its audience and its dancers engaged at all times. Here, Snow White dances with the Prince.

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Have you seen the show? What else about this production deserves recognition? Leave me a comment to let me know!

Dracula: danse macabre

Tags

acting, Ballet, contemporary, Dance theater, Dracula, True Blood, Twilight, Vampires

Between the Twilight Series and shows like True Blood, vampires have been in the spotlight a lot lately – but they aren’t often seen in the dance world. Until now, that is.

For two nights only – tonight (April 6th) at 8 PM, and tomorrow (April 7th) and 8 PM, draMAStic dance works presents Dracula: dance macabre at Onancock, Virginia’s North Street Playhouse.

Last night, I spoke with draMAStic dance works Director Mary Stiegelbauer and Dracula cast member Dwight L. Trice Jr. about the cast’s creative process, and about what to expect from the show. Read on to learn more!

 

Alyssa Schoeneman: Mary, what made you want to produce this show?

Mary Stiegelbauer: After my first show, Intrigue – a mystery on marley, I was trying to think of something that would have as much meat in the story, and that I would be able to give my dancers for character development. I have always loved Bram Stoker’s novel, “Dracula”. I took what stood out to me from the novel and turned it into a show.

AS: Dwight, can you talk a bit about the production and your role in it?

Dwight L. Trice Jr.: The production is called Dracula: danse macabre, which translates to Dracula: dance of death. I am Jonathan Harker, a lawyer who comes to Transylvania to help Dracula buy land in London. He gets trapped and falls prey to three seductive brides of Dracula. It is the romantic role.

AS: Talk a bit about the rehearsal process. What has it been like?

MS: It definitely has not been the easiest. I work with a lot of dancers who are from out-of-town, so coordinating work schedules has been difficult. I saw most dancers for two rehearsals before we started tech week this past Monday.

DT:  The rehearsal process was intense; I had four rehearsals total before tech week.  I would go up to Virginia (from North Carolina) for a weekend and then be off for a few weeks, and I would learn and review material from video posted on Facebook in the meantime. It was tough having a lot thrown at me at once, but that is a big part of being in a professional company. You need to be capable of going home, learning your choreography and coming back ready to work.

MS: I also have three student dancers who are my interns…I have been able to work with them the most. That was something I did on purpose, because I knew they would be the ones who needed the most rehearsal.

AS: What has been the most difficult aspect of being in the show/producing the show?

DT: The show itself is very cardio-based. The most interesting part of the process for me was being lifted. As a male dancer, I have never had the opportunity to be the flyer in any kind of movement. In this piece, because there are four strong males, we are throwing each other around a lot.

MS: We are doing a big scene where you can’t see Dracula in the mirror; we prerecorded dancer Ranele Winter in the mirror and we are projecting her image onto a TV…but the TV overheats and malfunctions. We also had to get the timing perfect so Ranele’s dancing matched the video exactly. That has been our biggest hurdle so far.

AS: What has been the most enjoyable part of the process?

DT: I have always been interested in the vampire world and Dracula, so being a non-vampire and seeing the transformation of people into vampires in the show is pretty cool. I also love the combination of acting, contemporary and ballet in the production, and being able to work with people from all over the country. We have dancers from New York, Michigan, Virginia and North Carolina in the show.

MS: I specifically hired dancers who just love to dance, and who want to be part of the process…people who I knew would want to have creative input. Being around people who love this process as much as I do has been amazing; this cast is incredible, and they work really hard for me.

AS: What do you hope the audience takes away from the performance?

DT: I hope the audience gets an idea of what dance theater is – the ability to tell a story through movement and to build characters that people can relate to.

MS: I hope that audience members leave with an appreciation for this art form. I hope they are entertained and that seeing this show makes them want to go see more art.

AS: What’s next for the company?

MS: It is funny, everyone has been asking me that lately. Right now, I have a few ideas, but nothing is permanent because a few theaters are interested in producing Dracula. Some are also interested in producing Intrigue again. Maybe we will do something new next Spring. I tend to leave a year between our big shows. 

DT: I would love to work with this company again in the future. We don’t know what the next show will be, but some of us are pushing for Alice in Wonderland. This company has a lot of room to grow and could go really far.

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Dracula: danse macabre

Tickets: $12 for adults and $8 for students.

Call The North Street Playhouse at 757-787-2050 for tickets or order your tickets online:

 Friday, April 6, 2012 at 8:00

Saturday, April 7, 2012 at 8:00

Check out draMAStic dance works on Facebook!