The San Diego Trolley Dances

In “Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, Gottschild begins by introducing unique aspects of the Africanist aesthetic including how it embraces differences and instead of the tradition European idea of resolving conflict, Africanist aesthetic presents a question and demonstrates the beauty in accepting conflict. One way in which the Africanist aesthetic differs from European ballet is how they utilize polycentrism, having multiple centers of movement, and polyrhythm, when different body parts keep multiple rhythms. Other ways include the high-affect juxtaposition, changes in mood, movement, or tempo, to the drastically contrasting sharpness and intensity in the movements. Gottschild’s main point in

Alone at the start of “Pavement,” the choreographer Kyle Abraham establishes the distinctive movement language that’s gained him attention. It’s a style in which the body — and by implication, the psyche — is pulled in multiple directions, out of the ground and into it. Sourced in contemporary dance and the street, twisting together aggressive male posturing with the kind of hip-hop moves that summon comparisons to ballet, it expresses confusion with searching, eloquence.

Given that this “visit” was more like a virtual experience, I was still able to access a couple of my senses, just as if I was at the actual exhibition. Through the use of anecdotes and detailed images, I am able to see all of the personal experiences an individual had while practicing a particular dance and what it meant to them. In this exhibition, there are ten different dances displayed, including the: Yup´ik Yurapiaq and the Quyana (Thank You) Song Dance, Yakama Girl’s Fancy Shawl Dance, Cubeo Óyne Dance, Yoreme Pajko’ora Dance, Mapuche Mütrüm Purun, Tlingit Ku.éex ' Entrance Dance, Lakota Men’s Northern Traditional Dance, Seminole Stomp Dance, Hopi Butterfly Dance, and finally, Quechua Danza de Tijeras (Scissor Dance). All parts of the exhibit were insightful, but the two that sparked my interest the most were the Yup´ik Yurapiaq and the Quyana (Thank You) Song Dance and the Quechua Danza de Tijeras (Scissor Dance).

In “Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance”, Gottschild begins by introducing unique aspects of the Africanist aesthetic including how it embraces differences and instead of the traditional European idea of resolving conflict, Africanist aesthetic presents a question and demonstrates the beauty in accepting conflict. One way in which the Africanist aesthetic differs from European ballet is how they utilize polycentrism, having multiple centers of movement, and polyrhythm, when different body parts keep multiple rhythms. Other ways include the high-affect juxtaposition, changes in mood, movement, or tempo, to the drastically contrasting sharpness and intensity in the movements. Gottschild’s main point in her article is to describe how the Africanist aesthetic is much less strict

For the purpose of this project, I have chosen the Puerto Rican Bomba Dancing as my artifact. This artifact is not something you can physically hold in your hands or go to a store and purchase, it is intangible and yet pure. It represents a culture and embodies the idea of freedom. Unlike most dances where the person follows the rhythm, in Bomba dancing, the dancer leads the drummer with the tap of their feet and movement of the hips and shoulders. The parties involved mostly dress in white with the females wearing plantation style outfits and head scarves. The lyrics sung normally evoke a sense of freedom and an escape from the hardships of slavery. (Bomba, n.d.). The most important elements of Bomba Dancing are the lyrics, the drums and the traditional outfits. The combination of these 3 elements truly enhance the experience. Moreover, Bomba dancing is one of those things that the medium of experience should be in person. This is due to it having the potential to take you back in time to the 17th century where you

Watching a video of a dance piece called “The Moroccan Project,” choreographed by Alonzo King was quite impressive. Living in San Francisco and taking dance classes brought me to Lines Ballet which is King’s dance studio. I have seen a great deal of different types of dance at the studio waiting for my Ballet classes and there are some great dancers. It comes as no surprise that Alonzo would have such great dancers. It appears that Alonzo King is exploring different cultures in dance in Contemporary Ballet. His near-perfect choreography is articulate, passionate, and graceful- he brings diversity in dance to San Francisco and other parts of the world. This piece articulates the expression of the two dancers coming together yet dancing apart at times- it is a fusion of several different types of dances into one using video editing to create a story about the coming together of two individuals.

Mauro Bigonzetti choreographed the first performance, Deep. This contemporary piece infused African influences that focused on togetherness of the human community. As the dancers brought their arms and legs together in a crossing shape towards their hearts, they expressed love and togetherness. Also, the angular movements with a contrast between sharp and smooth complimented the effortless lifts and breathtaking moments that made the audience wonder how they execute such strength and grace. Also, the choreographer’s use of modern music with a twist of African influences was a great mesh between tradition and modern day.

Daniel Canogar’s video instillation, Asalto Toronto, consists of a projection of pedestrians crawling up and down, approximately, four pillars outside of Union Station at 65 Front Street West. This piece symbolically demonstrates the overcoming of life’s obstacles, while engaging spectators as participants (Nuit Blanche Toronto, 2016). Furthermore, this installation is a form of ethnic dance that demonstrates universality in the struggles individuals face within a community.

On April 14, 2017, my friend and I visited for the first time Salt Lake City Community College dance company’s annual performance. The show was presented at the Grand Theater at the South City Campus of the college. The performance’s name “Moving Words” imply what the audience was about to experience. “Moving Words” consists of 18 different dances and each of those dances brought a unique feeling to the overall performance. I thought that the dancers and choreographers have done an amazing job. However, after seeing all the different dances there were two that stuck together with me, because of the ideas and the morals these dances introduced.

The dance that I will be focusing on is entitled: thinking sensing standing feeling object of attention. The dance, to me, symbolizes the socialization of persons in Western civilization concerning gender roles. In the beginning there are gestures that are separated from emotion and full-embodiment, but as the dance progresses the gestures become more meaningful and recognizable. The lighting starts out very specific and narrow, then the light encompasses the entire stage, and eventually the dancers are silhouetted as they return to a familiar movement motif in the end. The music is mainly instrumental with occasional soft female vocals, and the lyrics suggest emotion, which is interesting because the dancers do not convey emotion until

Although lines, technical form, and tricks were being executed beautifully the Beethoven out played the dancers and I craved the larger dynamic of the group I had seen previously. Once exhaustion set in, I then saw the unison at the end differently each dancer became more authentic, with more to offer the rich context. A line of gestures formed while the dancers added an interesting groove, each finger gun alongside each surrender became a conversation within who is fighting and who’s questioning. The dancers move up stage fading from sight, and we are left with only their silhouettes.

I must say that my hole spring quarter has been dedicated to deepening my overall understanding of West-African dance alone. In preparation this to study with the Urban Bush this summer I wanted to make sure that I was able to develop a stronger foundation in my West-African dance technique this quarter. My Mondays and Wednesday from 2:00-6:30 were dedicated to Professor Parker's ( Makeda- Kumasi) West-African dancing and drumming classes held at UCR. I also seeked outside the classroom to gain a community experience of this dance genre so that I could compare and contrast the similarities and differences I found. My goals were to truly embody the many elements that are associated in this dance genre. In my discoveries I was able to

The setting of this scene is on stage with a dark atmosphere, a monumental rock in the middle, and a pool of water on the floor. In the piece, “Vollmond,” by Pina Bausch, the choreographer expresses the message through the symbol of water, where the dancers are dancing freely in the water to show that water can be fun, but it can also be dangerous.

On February 22nd, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. at the University Theater Shasta Hall in Sacramento State University, a dance performance called "Dark Art Dance" was shown by The Department of Theater and Dance. The performance contained two Acts with one intermission. The first Act included five shorter works, and the second Act involved four shorter works. All pieces from both Acts were all uncommonly well done and gave the crowds a solid impression. Be that as it may, there was one piece called "Rumba Pa'Africa" choreographed by Beatriz Godinez-Muniz was an exceptional piece as a result of how the piece communicated its passions utilizing movements and songs to send an intense message to the gatherings of people about the way of life. Every artist of

The dancing of the Senegalese women in the sabar, manifests as an empowered agency over their own bodies. In the ethnography, Choreographies of African Identities, Francesca Castaldi explains that “the gathering of women in the shape of a circle literally opens up a space filled with their expectations and intent…[t]hus women physically take over the public space of the city, and supported by the gewels ,… reconstitute it as a sabar dancing circle” (80). This emphasizes the agency of the women dancers in this space. Their physical, womanly presence is what stakes claim over and produces the intention of the space, and the music produced by the gewels is only there to support what the dancers are already doing.