dance

Nov 5th 2010
Dance Critique “Beyond the Reflection”

On Thursday October 28th at Cardinal Carter Academy of the Arts the grade twelve’s performed their ISU pieces in the theater. It was 3:30p.m after school hours. The piece I chose to critique was called, “Beyond the Reflection.” This piece was done to the song called Primavera. Adelaide Batuk, Julianna Bissessar and Jacalyn choreographed this piece. The dancers were Josephine Di Cosmo, P.J. Elisha, Melanie Ferrara, Lauren Paul and Chelsea Santoli.

In the piece Beyond the Reflection, most of the choreography was contemporary style of dance. The female dancers wore white dresses with their hair down, each in a slightly different way. The male dancer wore a white shirt and black bottoms. This group used mirrors that hung from above the stage and hovered across centre stage. They also used black curtains that were hung over the mirrors at different times in the dance. This contemporary piece had five dancers; four girls and one boy. The piece had white lighting for most of the dance. It also has some blue lighting. The choreographer chose to use top lighting and side lighting, as well as floods and spot lights.

The choreographers used many of the elements in their creative piece. They used energy, time, space and shape throughout their dance. The energy of this piece was calm but fierce. The music (primavera) was slow and soft but the dance moves were strong and powerful. The choreographers used a mixture of energy qualities. They used suspension various times in their dance. For example, the dancers did a grand battement to the front and held it in a continuous motion to second, where it then grew and was lowered. Another energy type that was used was swing. The dancers used this motion as they ran across the stage swinging their arms back and forth like a runner. They raised their arms and then used a fast motion on the way down due to gravity. Sustained was another energy quality used in this piece. One of the dancers forcefully threw her arms up high in front of her and then smoothed out the motion that continued to reach forward with a sudden burst of energy. Percussive moments were also shown through out the piece, with sharp arms and legs extending. Collapse was also used in this dance. When the dancers dropped to the floor and dropped their heads they were doing a collapsed movement. In the dance another element was used; this was time. The dance was completed in a 4/4 time signature and had accents on the down beats. The music was steady like a pulse in sections of the song and sub-diving pulse in other sections. The third element used in this piece was space. The dancers used many levels. High levels when they did a split leap, medium levels when they were standing straight and low levels when they dropped to the floor. The dancers were also given small movements such a hand rolls. They were also given medium and large movements when they ran across the stage and did various jumps. The last element that was used in the piece was shape. Many shapes were used. Spacing was either lines, scattered, or groups. The movements the dancers demonstrated were straight, curved, angular, symmetrical and asymmetrical. They used straight lines and straight legs on kicks. They used curved arms on pirouettes. Angular legs when they were bending low to form a strong stance. They also showed symmetrical positions in side jetes and asymmetrical movements as they ran across the stage.

The piece Beyond the Reflection had many different ways of interpreting the piece. The choreographers demonstrated the struggles and hardships in a persons life. They choreographed movement that showed the battle of their insecurities and the people that will help them along the way. They wanted to do this piece because dancers struggle with this situation all the time. They never believe their good enough or can truly make it big, but the reality is that everyone can conquer through hard times and achieve miracles. The mood of this piece was powerful and uplifting even though the song was slower. The dancers used strong movements to show they can achieve anything and come threw and recognize the positive qualities they have.

I thought this piece was presented beautifully. The dancers had great technique and also strong and passionate emotion, threw their steps and in their performance. The choreographers did a fantastic job with the choreography and the staging of the performance. I thought the costumes suited the piece and the mirrors were used apparently. The energy behind the piece and was incredible. I also really enjoyed the use of the male dancer. The three choreographers used him to his advantage and showed both males and females have life struggles and both can conquered them. This piece was very well done, and I think it was a strong and deep story line to perform apiece on. The lighting and staging was effective, as well as the movement used in this piece. I really enjoyed this piece and saw many creative movements throughout it.