Deangelo Aviles

Crandall

Dance Company

22 October 2019

Dance Critique #1

Dance has become one of the catalysts in human culture since the establishment of ancient

civilizations to the modern era, becoming one of the methods for emoting society as a whole. The

art form was originally intended for communication for ceremonial rituals and celebrations, but

later transformed into a much broader aspect played in media, schools, and as a professional

career. Examining further on, the Granger High School showcased students from both junior high

and high school, performing inside Granger’s main auditorium, filled with the performers’ close

relatives and friends, differing of all ages. Conclusively observing the performance, the dance

concert exceeded my expectations tremendously, due to the variety of genres shown like jazz,

contemporary, hip-hop, along with the amount of devotion towards each dance, implementing

different messages from self-confidence to family destruction, and the components of fitness each

dancer possessed in agility, flexibility, and muscular strength. Comparing the performance to Ballet

West’s “The Nutcracker”, the level of difficulty of the dances were medium, along with the dancers

having sickled feet and having less training in ballet, the performances maintained a steady balance

of uniformity and technicality throughout the concert.

In my in-depth evaluation, I will be assessing two high school dance classes/companies,

grabbing my attention emotionally. The first dance coming from Granger High School and the

second one coming from Kearns High School. Genuinely, both dances conveyed their message

strongly and left a profound effect on the audience. For Granger’s dance “Be Not Afeard”, I was
intrigued by the amount of partner work, modern movements, and physical strength utilized

throughout the whole piece. For example, the dancers executed moves like the side-aerial, and lifts,

requiring energy that was forced and provided heaviness throughout the piece. The choreographer,

Luis Ortiz intent for the dance was maybe a family break-up, showing the drastic effects on how

family needs each other. Throughout the whole piece, you can hear every little detail, and how the

dancers breathed through the whole piece, showcasing real emotions in the piece.

Analyzing Kearns High, the dance was called “The Subterfuge of Lady Macbeth”, in which

the whole dance was an inspiration of the story, Macbeth by William Shakespeare. The first

approach that brought my attention was the duet between Lady Macbeth and King Duncan. They

used styles like Tango and Contemporary to help convey their message, using energy qualities like

vibratory and staccato movements, while still maintaining the flow of the dance.

Overall, the Dance concert evaluated the different dances performed in pop culture. To jazz,

to old skool hip-hop, the showcase exceeded my expectations highly. I loved how the showcase

showed a balance between contemporary and energetic dance styles, rounding the performance as

a whole in order to raise charity for Sub for Santas.