The Month of Dance

So I decided at the beginning of this year that I would focus more on dance. I want to take classes again. But in the meantime, I've been able to watch many dance performances. February was the month for dance at the Kennedy Center and I saw a show almost every week starting in the last weekend of January.

First I saw American Ballet Theatre's Romeo and Juliet. I saw the production with my co-worker. My absolute favorite scene was in the crypt. It was also a little morbid though since Romeo thought Juliet was dead and yet proceeded to dance with her as if she was alive. In truth that is what made it incredible: Romeo was dancing a full on pas de deux with a limp body. Sadly, I can't find a clip of it online, but this is a clip of the balcony scene performed by two of ABT's finest at La Scalla in Milan. I also hadn't realized that large sections of the score had been used in the production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe that was performed at my dance studio. The music filled my mind with fond memories of dancing as a youthful girl.

The next week I went with a few friends to see the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. It's a dance company with primarily black dancers. I counted only two white people in the entire company. The choreography is contemporary. The company performed the legendary "Revelations" as well as a couple of other pieces. I felt inspired by the athleticism and passion of the dancers. It was also noticeable that while they danced with passion and fierceness, they were perfectly in control--which made the performance all the more powerful.

The next week I saw the Mariinsky Ballet perform The Sleeping Beauty. In all honesty, and as harsh it may sound, I was only wowed by the orchestra's performance of Tchaikovsky's music. There were some beautiful costumes, humorous numbers and beautiful dancing, but I felt absolutely no wow factor. It was actually a struggle to get to this ballet because it was during DC's Snowpocalypse II. I left feeling a little bored and sad for the wasted effort.

The next week I saw one of the most incredible performances I've ever seen in my life. I saw the Bolshoi Ballet perform Spartacus. The performance compared to when I saw the Dance Theater of Harlem as a young girl. I was competely wowed--and I noticed I was not the only one. Almost the entire audience stayed for at least 10 minutes at the final curtain giving a standing ovation to the company. Unlike the Mariinsky Ballet with perfect technique but a boring performance, the Bolshoi Ballet had perfect technique and polished acting skills. The dancers told a powerful story through movement of a slave's struggle for freedom and justice. It was like watching a movie where you become so enraptured that you feel like you're in the story yourself. Even now, I get giddy thinking about the special treat it was to see this performance. The man who played Spartacus had springs for legs that sent him flying with such ease on every jump. I loved the feeling of the audience too. The show was great and it was evident that everyone who was there enjoyed it. We all experienced something marvelous together.

I ended the month of dance by seeing the Suzanne Farrell Ballet's "Ballet Across America." The company performed pieces by George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. It was fun for me to see the performance of Apollo by Balanchine because I remembered learning part of the piece during a master class at a ballet competition. I will have to remember to give more credit to the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, because they really are a treasure here in DC. The Balanchine Foundation maintains a certain level of quality when they release choreography to be performed. So the fact that the Suzanne Farrell Ballet meets that standard earns a lot of credit in the dance world.

Oh how I love the art of dance. The body is such a beautiful gift from God and I love that we can use it to express ourselves and create such beautiful and powerful movement.


beck