Swan Lake Response

For my additional performance viewing, I attended a dance concert at The Ohio State University. Gene’s Goings was choreographed by Rodney A. Brown. Performed by a group of Ohio State dancers, Gene’s Goings was brought to life at Emerson Auditorium. The piece was choreographed to Ritual Union by Little Dragon and Suite for Ma Dukes by Miguel Atwood Ferguson and Carols Ion. Overall, Gene’s Goings was a Journey that used the blending of images such as planting seeds, growing, and traveling to create a story for the audience.

As the story unfolded, more intricate parts were noticed. For example, there was a leader on the Journey, which was the featured soloist throughout the piece of art. She had a distinct costume on and the other dancers seemed to follow her and mimic her movements. There seemed to be female dominance on this Journey that was clearly present with only 4 males on the stage throughout the entire piece. The tribal music gave it an African feel, later emphasized by the grand hip rotations and grounded feel to the dancing. All of this was possible due to the use of a constant flip.

Along with this, the entire piece had a funky and original feel to it. The costumes worn were normal, pedestrian clothing tit lots of neon colors. The girls had a constant blue and purple pattern, which pulled everyone together and gave the piece a feeling of unity. This also brought about a very vibrant and colorful vibe. Big movements using every part of the body portrayed the group of dancers changing along the Journey and growing into new people. Once they reached their destination, they were completely new individuals.

Some of the movements remained throughout the piece, but as the Journey continued, new repetitive movements were also introduced. The group of 4 men in the beginning of the piece was acting as the starting force that began the Journey. The part where they were making sounds and building off of each other’s movements was the chain reaction that started the voyage. I also noticed that they were reappearing throughout the piece. After I noticed this, I realized that they came into the choreography once a new, signature movement was introduced.

This represented the next step on their Journey. In the end, once the Journey was completed, the group of travelers exited the stage with their signature hip rotations and therefore ended their Journey in a similar fashion that they started it with. Commonplace was also performed in Emerson Auditorium. This piece was choreographed by Susan Hadley in 1996. The music being danced to was Forgotten Peoples by Evolve Tourism, but performed by the Estonian Chamber Choir. The music was in a foreign language and therefore required the audience to develop their own storyline for the performance.

This piece was definitely a narrative, symbolizing a ritual of women in all places and times. The costumes worn were simple, black dresses, which gave the piece a very dim and dark setting. Each dress was unique with slightly different designs, showing the individual personalities of the women in this so-called community. The designs ere extremely modest, which gave the dance somewhat of a religious feel to it. At the same time, I got the vibe of some sort of witchcraft happening, symbolic of struggle and pain occurring among the women.

The group of women almost resembled a sisterhood, Journeying through struggles and supporting each other along the way. The choreography had the group of all women moving together and in complete unison at the beginning of the piece. As the dance processed, there were many more levels and formations, including a circle where a single woman would be in the center while the remaining women stood around her as support. Partnering was a big aspect of this piece as the women carried and suspended one another as an act of creating.

While in this circle, movements including shaking, convulsing, and seizing were happening to represent death, sickness, abuse, and any type of struggle that women go through. This was a very emotional part of the piece because the women carried each other and supported one another. This showed courage and belonging as no one was left out or neglected because of their problems and struggles. The movement displayed was very intricate and detailed as the women moved together on their Journey of support and love.