Marl Crlkasa

uAnC1200
Ashley MoLL
03 !uly 2014
!"#$ &'()$ *$+,-+.'()$/ 01)$+23 ,+-. 4-(53+6)3


l wenL Lo see 8lrle-Woodbury uance Company dance performance durlng Lhe uLah ArLs
lesLlval on 27
Lh
!une 2014. l have never seen a llve dance performance ln my llfe before, even
Lhough l llke Lo waLch danclng aL home. 1he performance sLarLed around 6:00pm, and lL was a
nlce breezy day. 1he sLage was ouLslde, and l saw LhaL Lhere was a large audlence waLchlng Lhe
performance. My boyfrlend and l slL on Lhe seaLs and became a parL of Lhe audlence.

LxcerpL from ConsLrucL" was Lhe flfLh performance LhaL nlghL. l pald aLLenLlon Lo Lhe
sLage Lo absorb all of Lhe dancers' movemenLs and floor paLLerns Lo undersLand whaL Lhey
wanLed Lo say. unforLunaly, l dld noL undersLand well. Maybe l was Loo busy Lo Lake noLes for
Lhe asslgnmenL. l [usL could noL engage ln anoLher performance. 1hls LxcerpL from ConsLrucL"
caughL my aLLenLlon, flnally.
1he muslc was slow and nosLalglc. 1he rhyLhm of Lhe muslc was walLz. 1he muslc, whlch
was used for earller performances, was noL famlllar Lo me. AcLually, l dld noL llke Lhe muslc. l
have very sLrong llkes and dlsllkes ln muslc. Maybe Lhls ls Lhe reason why l could noL focus on
Lhe earller performances. l felL rellef when l sLarLed hearlng 1.2.3, 1.2.3," rhyLhm.

Lach lndlvldual dancer was wearlng dlfferenL color of cosLume. 8ed, green, blue, - mosL
of Lhe colors were prlmary colors. Wearlng dlfferenL color cosLumes helped me Lo follow each
dancer. 1he shape of Lhe cosLume, Lhe Lops were square shlrLs and Lhe boLLoms were loose
panLs wlLh elasLlc walsLs. lL looked llke 80's deslgn. 1here were Lhree men and women on Lhe
sLage. 1he dancers made Lwo groups for maklng a palrs durlng Lhe performance. When Lhey
were ln Lwo groups, one group sLayed ln lefL of Lhe fronL sLage and Lhe oLher sLayed rlghL of Lhe
back of Lhe sLage. When Lhey danced ln a palrs, Lhey used Lhe mlddle of Lhe sLage and moved
from slde Lo slde. lL was fun Lo waLch colorful ob[ecLs movlng and merglng. 1he nosLalglc muslc
and 80's cosLumes revlved my memory of Lhe 80's. l was ln hlgh school and l was young.

l noLlced Lhe dancers dld noL move from Lhelr poslLlon unLlll anoLher dancer Louched
Lhem. lL looked llke Lhey were walLlng for a cue. Cne color doL moved and Louched anoLher
color doL Lhen, anoLher doL sLarLed movlng. 1hls paLLern was repeaLed many Llmes. 1he
movemenL was slow aL Lhe flrsL, and goL fasLer and fasLer. 1he color doLs were busy.
l wanLed Lo waLch Lhe dance longer, buL Lhe dancers sLarLed golng back behlnd Lhe
sLage, so l knew Lhe performance was over. 1he slxLh dance sLarLed, buL l dld noL pay aLLenLlon
well, because l wanLed Lo flnd Lhe reason why l was lnLeresLed ln Lhe work. lL was hard for me
Lo descrlbe lL for myself. l llke Lo waLch balleL on ?ouLube. lor example, l can Lell exacLly Lhe
reason why l llked Lhe dancer and Lhe works when l see uylng Swan". l can see Lhe sadness
from Lhe dylng swan. 1he swan flaps her wlngs Lo shlne ln Lhe lasL momenL and dles ln grace.
8uL lL was hard Lo undersLand whaL Lhe modern dance work Lrled Lo Lell me. l LhoughL lf l
undersLand Lhe dance movemenLs beLLer, l could undersLand Lhe performance deeply. l was
frusLraLed, because l felL LhaL l was sLupld. l dld noL undersLand Lhe meanlng aL all!" l lefL my
seaL wlLh my boyfrlend when all performances were done, and l already could noL remember
Lhe resL of Lhe performance, excepL Lhe #3, LxcerpL from ConsLrucL".
l was Laklng noLes for Lhe asslgnmenL, buL l could noL wrlLe Lhe LlLle of Lhe work whlch l
llked. 1here was a man named uanlel on Lhe sLage and he was announclng Lhe LlLle of Lhe works
and Lhe muslc, every Llme Lhe performance sLarLed. l had Lo conLacL hlm Lo ask for Lhe LlLle of
Lhe works. l wenL behlnd Lhe sLage Lo flnd hlm. l goL permlsslon Lo geL lnLo Lhe SLaff Cnly" area
so l could ask hlm. l lnLroduced myself Lo hlm. l am a sLudenL of SLCC, l came here Lo waLch Lhe
dance for my asslgnmenL, and l dld noL undersLand Lhe meanlng of Lhe dance". Pe Lold me LhaL
l do noL have Lo undersLand Lhe meanlng, [usL feel someLhlng when l waLch Lhe dance. l felL
sLalely afLer l heard LhaL. 8ecause l was Loo busy Lo flnd Lhe meanlng of Lhe works and
performance, and l could noL pay much aLLenLlon how l felL. Pe also sald ?ou flnd llke or dlsllke
when you smell flowers. lL ls llke LhaL." l remembered uanlel Lold us from Lhe sLage before Lhe
performance sLarLed, LhaL do noL Lake vldeo because of Lhe copy rlghLs, and en[oy Lhe dance aL
Lhe momenL Lhrough eyes. l LhoughL Maybe dance ls llke a snowflake. 1here ls no same slze
and shape of Lhe snowflake and lL melLs away. And a new snowflake falls from Lhe sky.", afLer
he Lold us. klndly, uanlel gave me all of hls noLes whlch he used on Lhe sLage. l Lhanked hlm
and l lefL.

l wenL back Lo home and checked Lhe noLes he gave me. LxcerpL from ConsLrucL (2014)
lnsplred by our consLrucLed vlrLual ldenLlLles - vldeo porLlon - sLop moLlon." lL was funny,
because l knew mosL of whaL Lhe dance was for unconsclously. l do noL have Lo worry whaL l
can geL from Lhe dance nexL Llme. lL ls also Ck Lo declde Lo llke or noL llke Lhe dance, because of
Lhe muslc. l Lhlnk Lhere ls no llmlLaLlon when you waLch dance.
l also found ouL laLer LhaL, uanlel was Mr. uanlel Charon, Lhe arLlsLlc dlrecLor of Lhe uance Company.