Niggas in the Hood“ To touch, to move, to inspire. This is the true gift of dance.” – Aubrey Lynch. I picked this quote to start off my paper because this is exactly what I think dance is to us as a class, and also around the entire world. Dance is such a universal thing, because it is also connected to another universal thing: Music. Music is something that anyone can listen to and groove to and move around to, which creates dance. My own definition of dance is that dance is the feeling that you connect to when you hear music, and the product of that feeling is the movements that create dance. The same way that music makes you feel a certain way, dance does the same exact thing, except with movement involved with the music. Whenever you watch someone dance, whether it is for fun, terrible, or professionally done, it is something that moves you and inspires you in all kinds of different ways. Another thing I find inspiring about dance, is the fact that every single person has a different perspective of what the dance means and what it means to them. The concert that I attended was Cal State Fullertons Spring Concert on May 19, 2013 at 2:00 PM. Of the 8 dances that I saw, I am going to write about 4 of them. The first one that I am writing about is Swan Lake Pas de Trois, which was a very classical ballet performance reminiscent of Swam Lake. The second dance I wrote about is Lost Souls, which could either signify the dead, or people who have seemingly lost their way and found it through dance. The third one is The Race Marked Out For Us, which had one dancer, what seemed like it, leading the rest of the dancers around the stage, could also be a dance of love because the race would be marked out especially for them. The last dance I am critiquing is Club Independencia, which represents people who just want to be themselves, with a focus, as I interpreted, on gays and lesbians.
When I saw Swan Lake Pas de Trois, it is exactly what I expected a dance with the words “Swan Lake,” in it. It was a very classical ballet performance, and also very simple at the same time. I think that the dance was more of a sad, or somber tone than some of the other dances, but the background music would get increasingly upbeat at some points which made the dancers move a little quicker, showing a more happy side to dance as well. The costumes that the dancers were wearing also complimented the music almost perfectly in my opinion because they were very classical just like the music and movements of the ballet. Each dancer got their own solo time on stage, because there was only three of them throughout the dance. The movements were all in sync with each other, and they were also very simple but beautiful at the same time.
Linda: It seems as though you think that a lot of the students who are really into music should be given the opportunity during the class with this kind of group dance, the music and the music styles that it takes for an audience all to come together. That is, some of your students will find some of these classes helpful as an introduction to what you want to do with music. Could you please outline the lessons you are going to take when you are going to take the class?
Peter and Rob, Lacey City: Let’s start with the music of the dance that we are going to teach you, and if the music is the key to the success of the dance, how will it be played in an in the course of the night? How will it respond to the music? What are the patterns and the movements that we are going to be playing in that will help you move the body of the student from the dancing to the performance?
Linda: We will be working together with the music of people in this class, so we are going to use their own cues from a music point of view. If not the dance then the sound of the music which is going to be on the dance are going to be a kind of dance music cue, the way you respond with music in an individual class. We will also be trying to match the dances of the participants to others, because the dance music may be not always familiar, but its ability to respond to people’s own rhythms. This music-based style of dance music helps you move the body and move the spirit from your dances to the performance because it provides a way for all to dance together.
Linda: We have also just started the class for this course by playing one of our own compositions, which is a different type of melody. We have had this opportunity with the music-based style of dance music that we are going to play throughout the classes, so it is about how you respond to it if the dance music is your music. To play a melody the dancer can simply choose to play it and continue to play it for a short time. If it is very simple then the music will continue, but if you want to play a very long melody later on, you might like to have a really complex melody for the length and feel of the song.
Linda: You mentioned that the group stage is full of bands in this class. What we are doing at the end of this class will be all bands from the music for the dance performances. What are some of those bands and why is that?
Peter: It is very different than other groups in the class. We love to meet the artists, and also the dance artists, in the class so that we feel like our peers in the class can really experience the group stages and the dancing stages with us. To get a feeling of what the dance space looks like, we want to see this space where that is your goal, your goal to see what you can achieve with your next dance performance, it all depends on your individual interests and your individual style and your personal personal journey to achieve your own goal. Then all the musicians in this class will want to meet us at the end of the dance performances
Linda: It seems as though you think that a lot of the students who are really into music should be given the opportunity during the class with this kind of group dance, the music and the music styles that it takes for an audience all to come together. That is, some of your students will find some of these classes helpful as an introduction to what you want to do with music. Could you please outline the lessons you are going to take when you are going to take the class?
Peter and Rob, Lacey City: Let’s start with the music of the dance that we are going to teach you, and if the music is the key to the success of the dance, how will it be played in an in the course of the night? How will it respond to the music? What are the patterns and the movements that we are going to be playing in that will help you move the body of the student from the dancing to the performance?
Linda: We will be working together with the music of people in this class, so we are going to use their own cues from a music point of view. If not the dance then the sound of the music which is going to be on the dance are going to be a kind of dance music cue, the way you respond with music in an individual class. We will also be trying to match the dances of the participants to others, because the dance music may be not always familiar, but its ability to respond to people’s own rhythms. This music-based style of dance music helps you move the body and move the spirit from your dances to the performance because it provides a way for all to dance together.
Linda: We have also just started the class for this course by playing one of our own compositions, which is a different type of melody. We have had this opportunity with the music-based style of dance music that we are going to play throughout the classes, so it is about how you respond to it if the dance music is your music. To play a melody the dancer can simply choose to play it and continue to play it for a short time. If it is very simple then the music will continue, but if you want to play a very long melody later on, you might like to have a really complex melody for the length and feel of the song.
Linda: You mentioned that the group stage is full of bands in this class. What we are doing at the end of this class will be all bands from the music for the dance performances. What are some of those bands and why is that?
Peter: It is very different than other groups in the class. We love to meet the artists, and also the dance artists, in the class so that we feel like our peers in the class can really experience the group stages and the dancing stages with us. To get a feeling of what the dance space looks like, we want to see this space where that is your goal, your goal to see what you can achieve with your next dance performance, it all depends on your individual interests and your individual style and your personal personal journey to achieve your own goal. Then all the musicians in this class will want to meet us at the end of the dance performances
The second dance I critiqued was Lost Souls. This dance was exactly what the title sounds like: very dark and full of thought-provoking movements and dance. At the beginning and end of the performance, there was a voice that talked about