Dance Appreciation Viewing Assignment

Mihir Shukla 1. A: abstract B: ballet C: contemporary D: distraught E: emotional F: frenzied G: graceful H: harmonious I: integrated J: joyous K: kinetic L: loving M: manipulative (body-wise) N: nimble O: organized P: peaceful Q: qualitative R: resonance S: separation T: transient U: ubiquitous V: “Virtuosity” (Unit 1 term) W: willful X: xeransis Y: youthful Z: zealous 2. A limit does not exist within the vast pool of terminology which could be utilized to depict this beautifully choreographed dance piece by Benjamin Millepied.
My impression was first molded by the organization of this dance; how it is divided into three portions, all equally responsible for the delivery of its emotions, as well as its overall message. This work begins with the lone male soloist, and in accorance the kinetic aspects of his dance, it can be interpreted that he is somewhat distraught. Furthermore, there are several manuevers and bodily manipulations within the form of this dance, its abstractness also defines its contemporary nature.
As the second portion of this dance unfolds, it can be stated that a sense of love enters the floor with the beautiful female soloist; her graceful, willful movements enhance the dance as it seems to take on a more zealous temperament. Ultimately, the third aspect of this dance, the duet – Pas de Deux, shows transiency to a more harmonious movement, as the resonance between the two soloists is apparent. This ballet allows for both peace and chaos, it can be thought of as a representation of life itself, with its transitions from different moods shown through the movements of the dancers. . Within our reading this week there are many quotations that represent the true nature of dance relative to its multiple forms and styles.

Of all the statements provided, the statement which was the most representative of this particular dance, in my view, was written by Walter Sorell; it stated, “Movement is the essence of life, dance its ultimate expression . … The artist creates out of the world that has made him in order to remake it according to the image of his inner world. I believe that this statement signifies and validates the emotions which emerged throughout the course of this dance work. As this dance transitioned through its multiple stages, each soloist experessed his/her emotions at each particular instant of the dance, with both the slightest, as well as the greatest of movements; it can be seen that dancers have to exaggerate and embellish their movements in order to speechlessly deliberate on their feelings and decisions – as did these dancers, both alone and as one.
As I aformentioned, dance is a representation of life itself, and these dancers have shown their “inner worlds” (Walter Sorell) within their physical reality, bounded by time and space, but emotionally and artistically unbounded, as their movements seemingly defied gravity.