Martha Graham Dance Company's Political Dance Project

Nicholas Horn

Mrs. Hailey

IB Dance

September 7, 2012

"Summer Assignment"

Martha Graham Dance Company's Political Dance Project

Description: This dance kind of reflected on lifes struggles a significant amount. Started off with a single woman in the middle of the dance studio, who showed a sense of pain in her movement and how she manovered herself across the floor in various ways. The music in the background really set the modd of the dacne because it's sad, sowro way of ryhtme which also made it clear that lifes setbacks around that period of time really had an affect on the people of the world. As the dance went on, I noticed other dancers started to appear on the dance floor to really reflect the Political struggles and conflicts. These dancers acted as if they were getting shot, with the sound in the background acting as a gunshot. It came to my attentionthat the dancers were all feeling the same way around this point in time. I felt as if they they didn't have a purpose in life. All Of a sudden the mood and tone changed from one moment to the next. The music continued to interpret their moves. Two men were moving as if the were poor, in which I could xome to that conclusion because of the lyrics of the song played in the background. These people indeed did not have a place to call home. As far as costumes were concerned, woman appeared to be wearing leotards, along with guys, but towards the end, I saw that they were actually wearing casual like clothes.

Analysis: I would defiantly characterize this as ballet because of the structure of their dancing. From the high leaps, to the creation of movements that express ones pain. I also found it to be tap as well towards the end. Notice how the choreographer combines the two different dance styles to express a critical message that became clear as crystal throughout the video. It Tells the story of the struggle and pain of many individuals.

Evauluation: Me perosonally I enjoyed the dance to the up most. I feel as if the choreographer did her thing on it all. The critical movements in this dance really depicted the mood of the dance. I would like to point out that I loved the transition of movents. That meaning, towards the end of the dance, I felt as if it changed the tone and mood and meaning of the dance. I find the theme of this dance to be, "Struggle without a path". The people viewed int this video were feeling some type of way. The choreorepher sort of grasped my attention, by their distinct movements and costume arrangements to go along with that. It was as if I were expericneing pain and struggle just like they did, because that's how strong of a meaning it was indeed.

Alvin Aliey South Africa Dance Theater of Harlem

Description: The dance setting of this was on stage in from of an audience. The intent, & elegant movements depicted that they were were on a quest or journey to explore life as it is. There were three people presented in this dance. There were two woman and one guy. Costumes were rather dashy. The man in this dance had on what I call compressions, and no shirt. The two ladies had on what it appeared to be bathing suits of some kind. I found it to be that they only stayed on one level, which was standing. Throughout the dance I noticed they were kind of prancing across the stage a significant amount. As they were prancing, I noticed the man and woman were somewhat holding hands and grasping each others attention to the fullest. The music presented in this dance played a significant role in the distinct meaning of the dance. I indeed saw a significant amount of repetition. Looking at the fact they showed a lot prancing, leaps, and and the interpretation of each others movements, it kind of supported my conclusion of them experiencing a journey of some kind.

Analysis: I look at this dance as a mixture of Jazz, and ballet. I really analyzed the movements of the dancer to come to this conclusion. I find this dance to have two distint meanings/ messages/, because of the movements depicted in the dance. Could this be a journey/quest of some kind? Or could be a two woman fighting over a guy the both would like to spend their life with? I made this assumption after I whatched the video about 10 times. The choreographer went about this dance in a positive mannor rather than it being sad and negative.

Evaluate: I feel as if the Choreogrpher was very creative in the making of this beautiful dance. I believ it took a great amount of thinking and time to create