Spring Show Critique

They first danced together. This piece was a burst of energy for the production. They used the entire stage and had very drastic movements. The two dancers danced very good with each other; they both had large sweeping gestures. After they performed together, they each had a solo. The guy went first and his dance was a very high energy performance. He had incredible leaps and jumps. He used the entire stage and made sure the crowd did not get bored of watching him. I loved this performance because it was so high energy and I felt that if I looked away for a second I would miss something. The girls’ performance was high in energy as well but more mellow. Her movements were very graceful, fluent, and

For over a decade, I stood at the same barre in front of the same mirror, and I watched myself change. Without my knowledge, ballet began to shape me as a person. Because of the grueling hours spent refining my technique, I developed discipline. Despite the hard days of practice, I never gave up. My body learned as well, and my muscles still contain the leanness of a dancer. Whenever someone compliments me on my ability to tie my hair into a bun on the top of my head, I always smile conspiratorially.

Listening to Music class has taught me a new way to listen and enjoy music. I have learned how to differentiate the melodies, rhythms, and instruments in a song. It has also introduced me to different genres in the music world, aside from what is usually played on the radio. I can now attend any concert, listen to any genre, or watch any ballet and easily recognize the many specific aspects the music being played has. Ballets are very interesting to me. The audience is able to enjoy the music being played as it is telling a story, and being acted out through the performer’s body language. In the two ballets, The Rite of Spring and The Nutcracker, a great story is told in both referencing the many great dynamics music has. These two specific ballets are written by different composers, and each one of them have certain conditions they were written under. As well as different receptions, popularity, and development. The Rite of Spring and The Nutcracker’s differences has made some sort of an impact in the performing world back then as well as now.

This semester in dance class I have had a wonderful time and learned a lot of things. We’ve had some great times in dance this semester, like when we were doing our show, “How the Grinch Stole the Nutcracker”, I had a lot of fun. I did many things well but, there was a lot I could work on,too. I remember that in our ‘Ice Skaters’ dance, we would do a Jazz split and I was really good at that! Also,we would do a “tabletop stand-up” thing and I was also really good at that, that part was really fun. In our “Samba” dance we had to make up some poses to do at the beginning, and make sure we remembered to use levels, I was pretty good at doing that! Even though there were many good things I did, there were also many things I wish to work on. I really

Jerome Robbins’s incredible dance history and background is what has left him ranked so highly in the musical theater industry today. From working to dazzle his audiences, Robbins can be held responsible for the industry’s serge in popularity over a short amount of time. It can be said by many that Robbins took a fresh approach to choreography to introduce to the world with a more energetic and dynamic performance to display. Robbins creative work elevated the role of dance in musical theatre, which was claimed to be the industry’s ‘Golden Era’.

I’ve grown up in a ballet studio. Not literally, of course, but it is where I’ve spent the majority of my childhood. Throughout the years, the arts have followed me despite the different places life has taken me. Whether it be dance, acting, or music, performing has always played a role in my life. My experiences both on and off the stage have been rocky and unpredictable, but I wouldn’t trade this thrilling adventure for the world.

For a program in which none of the splendid female principals that make NYCB performances rewarding to attend participated, Sunday afternoon's spring season finale--Concerto Barocco; Agon; The Four Temperaments--proved eminently engaging. No matter how magnificent the ballets on a program may be, having appealing dancers in the cast is essential of course in order to bring them to life. Happily, although no one should be promoted to principal (or soloist) status at the drop of a hat, NYCB currently has several such dancers in its lower ranks.

My mom and I were seated on red felt wooden chairs in the opera box above downstage right; basking in the anticipation of the start of the musical. The smell of the theater was musty, almost like a library. It even had those rays of dust and light that you see in old libraries. Looking onward, I saw the monitor in which Alex Lacamoire, the conductor, directs the actors and musicians. Closer to the balcony, huge metal spotlights hung, all containing the magical power to change a minimalist wooden stage into a bar, then a field, then a closed room in a restaurant, and finally the Weehawken dueling grounds. The feeling of excitement and glee was palpable. I looked at my mother, whose eyes were glued to the stage. In that dim lit arena of instruments,

On May 18 2016, I attended the La Costa Canyon Dance Recital, “A Night At The Movies”. The show was performed by the school’s dance team, Dance Mavs, and was well executed and rehearsed. The show provided an interesting interpretation of famous movies and their impact on the audience. Famous dances and themes were portrayed throughout the night, allowing for not only an entertaining experience, but an extremely memorable one. The amount of work put into the show was evident and allowed the audience to appreciate each dance with more respect and admiration. It is obvious these shows can take a toll on those performing, so it must be all the more rewarding when it turns out as great as the recital did.

The pathways used by the dancers were very remedial. The direction of the movement always seemed to move upstage right then back down to downstage left. The speed of not just the movement of the dancers, but the whole play in general was high beat and high tempo as well as some parts becoming super dramatic. The rhythmic patterns of the material performed were to a beat while being sung. There was a pulse in every song the dancers/actors were executing. But, there was not one off beat movement or part, that I could notice anyways, throughout the production. The overall piece of the performance was marvelous, I enjoyed sitting and watching. My favorite thing about this play was that the actors actually interacted with the crowd and didn’t just treat the audience like they weren’t there. I think that the director/choreographer was trying to put the message of it doesn’t matter what you look like, as long as you can act/dance/perform to the best of your abilities. Also, the performance was well put together and obviously had some time put into

Dance has always been a part of my life, and it was always fun to look back at old pictures and reminisce about all of the dance issues I had when I was younger. But as I got older and better, the growing stopped. I wasn’t learning as much new stuff, just perfecting old choreography. Ballet has never been my favorite dance style, my studio is more invested in lyrical and performance styles, like tap, jazz, and musical theatre. I originally only wanted to take ballet here because I wanted to be in the Nutcracker because it was something my studio doesn’t do. But this class brought me back to ballet basics, and I have seen major growth in my ballet technique, enough for my mom to notice. I’ve gotten a lot stronger at certain ballet barre warm

Just recently I went to view the Dance Plus Spring performance on Saturday April 23rd, 2016. Overall, the show was unique and exciting at the same time. Each of the performances were very different and they conveyed their own separate messages and themes, which made them all so exciting and fun to watch. The performance that I will be critiquing in this paper is “Excerpts from The Rambler.” Choreographed by Joe Goode and Melecio Estrella, this piece was performed in a proscenium stage because the whole idea was to have the entire audience engaged and have them view and understand the message they were trying to communicate.

Sunday afternoon, the Dickinson College Choir and Collegium performed their spring concert, We Sing for Joy: A Choral Revelry in Life’s Ordinary and Extraordinary Riches, at the First United Church of Christ in Carlisle, Pa.. Rebecca Ostermann, who joined the Dickinson Music Department Faculty in 2016 in a position of Adjunct Faculty in Music, conducted the spring concert. Contributing Faculty member in Music Brian Rotz served as the accompanist on the piano and the organ. While explaining the concert’s program, Ostermann, who joined Dickinson’s music department in 2016, discussed her motives for choosing the theme of joy. “I just ask that you actually listen to the music,” she said, “and let it speak for itself.”

On September 30, 2016, I attended the musical Spring Awakening, by Steven Sater. The musical production was performed by the West Georgia Theater Company and directed by Shelly Elman. The production was definitely something to remember, but after it was over I felt slightly relieved. Personally I wouldn't recommend anyone to go see this Spring Awakening performance. Each scene brought different emotions about such as confusion, disbelief, astonishment, humor, and shock. When arriving to the musical I was a bit excited, because I was hearing about the content that was supposedly being displayed on stage and I thought this musical was definitely going to be interesting. Towards the end of the musical the title went from Spring Awakening to Falling

Our performance was good in the beginning. The one thing that was confusing is how we were supposed to get in line before going on stage. We needed more time to practice with other choir and fully understand where we all need to go. When we sang in the beginning with 6th period on the side, the two songs were sang were in harmony and in a good pitch. The solos were great. Each one was performed wonderfully and was well rehearsed. We choose altos to do some of the duets with the sopranos which made a the song not to high but not to low. The dance was ok but it was very hard to do while on the risers. It was hard to sing while trying to remember the dance moves, due to so little time in learning the dance. When we needed to turn around, it