Dance Critique 2
Strange Fruit
On March 2, 2015 the class watched a piece performed by Dawn Marie Watson. This
Contemporary piece was choreographed by Pearl Primus. Contemporary music, like all music, tells a story and
“Strange Fruit
” happens to be a story of a woman suffering over a lynching.
The music for this piece was quite different. This piece happened to be a poem or spoken word while the performer interacted. Throughout the performance I watched the female dance kick and flopped multiple times to the floor.The dancer also crawled around the space provided various of times. The performer also had facial expressions that set the tone for the theme. The clothing associated seemed as if she was a slave or housemaid during the slave era. The mood created was basically to open one’s eyes to lynchings.
This piece to me is to paint a picture of lynchings and to basically persuade people that there should be no more. I came up with this conclusion because all throughout the piece the female dancer is struggling or suffering because of the lynching. Then once the piece is just about over she does a move/ gesture with her arms that to me symbolizes no more.
The choreographer did an excellent job in showing the suffering of the character in the story. I say this due to the falls to the ground and the way the dancer kicked and laid on the floor. One strength to me would be the technical parts of the performance. The dancers feet were pointed when needed to be and she also used face expression to tell a story.
My overall conclusion of this Contemporary piece ends on a positive note. I would love to watch more piece performed from Pearl Primus. She had an excellent way of putting props together to fit the theme. I would recommend other people to watch if they wanted to see a piece of someone who is suffering a tragedy.
On March 2, 2015 the class watched a piece performed by Dawn Marie Watson. This
Contemporary piece was choreographed by Pearl Primus. Contemporary music, like all music, tells a story and
“Strange Fruit
” happens to be a story of a woman suffering over a lynching.
The music for this piece was quite different. This piece happened to be a poem or spoken word while the performer interacted. Throughout the performance I watched the female dance kick and flopped multiple times to the floor.The dancer also crawled around the space provided various of times. The performer also had facial expressions that set the tone for the theme. The clothing associated seemed as if she was a slave or housemaid during the slave era. The mood created was basically to open one’s eyes to lynchings.
This piece to me is to paint a picture of lynchings and to basically persuade people that there should be no more. I came up with this conclusion because all throughout the piece the female dancer is struggling or suffering because of the lynching. Then once the piece is just about over she does a move/ gesture with her arms that to me symbolizes no more.
The choreographer did an excellent job in showing the suffering of the character in the story. I say this due to the falls to the ground and the way the dancer kicked and laid on the floor. One strength to me would be the technical parts of the performance. The dancers feet were pointed when needed to be and she also used face expression to tell a story.
My overall conclusion of this Contemporary piece ends on a positive note. I would love to watch more piece performed from Pearl Primus. She had an excellent way of putting props together to fit the theme. I would recommend other people to watch if they wanted to see a piece of someone who is suffering a tragedy.