History of the Event, Dance Now!

Khloe DiBiase
2/9/14
G. Hambrick
Dance 170-001
Dance Now!
Dance Now was an event compiled of thirteen separate performances. Dr. Yoav Kaddar was the artistic director, and is also the assistant professor of dance here at WVU. This production was overall a great production. It offered exciting performances and creative work by students and faculty, and hosted thrilling dance by students of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School as well as a performance by the Motown Strutters. While most of the performances were done by amateurs, they all showed great talent with promising futures in dance. The wide range of ages of the dancers is what stood out the most. This event showed that no matter your age, everyone is a dancer. Artists such as Martha Clarke,
Felix Blaska, Robby Barnett, and Holly Williams also worked with the students and faculty to bring it all together. The first dance, Brandenburg, caught me off guard. Choreography by Holly Williams did not show much difficulty, but was well rehearsed. The dancers used the stage to its entirety and sometimes ran from one side of the stage to the other, sometimes in pattern. I saw a lot of geometric shapes as we have talked about in lecture. The light designers use of different colored lights made it easier for the audience to distinguish the message, or lack thereof. The costumes were mostly short and raggedy, which made them look old. This was the case for most of the performances.
Another performance I didn’t expect, To This Day. The previously recorded music was from a
YouTube video by Shane Koyczan. This piece was about different forms of abuse and how it affects

people as well as touching on how people are quick to judge and don’t take time to understand. The dancers were mostly spread out while each took their turn dancing as if the part of the story was about them. For example, a girl started to walk as if she was walking a tight rope, as the music talked about tight ropes and being made fun of. She spun her hair and head around as if she was sick of being made fun of. This performance touched the audience most I believe, based off the reactions when it ended.
Most performances made the audience laugh at the end, or would leave them in a happy state. This performance, however, did the opposite. It did not make anyone laugh or smile, but left them speechless. This piece made people think about their own lives, and made the audience connect with the message presented. Shows like this one happen to be my favorite. The connection between speaker and audience is essential, and these performers and directors executed it flawlessly.
As changes are made, each performance comes with its own music and message. If the dancers and choreographers changed, then so would the production. The dances would be different; the message may still be the same but may be presented differently. It is interesting to see these differences after already seeing it performed once. The beauty of dance and production is the message and how it is presented. It is the director’s job to make sure it’s there and can be connected with via the dancers and audience. Overall I would strongly suggest seeing this each year and see these changes and compare.
You could either learn something new, or pick up on things you did not connect with the first time.