I went to UNC Charlotte’s dance concert and it taught me that dancers don’t just use their bodies as aesthetic art, but are also able to capture music and rhythm with their movements. Going to this performance was able to show me how dance can truly be seen as a form of art.
This being the first dance performance I’ve been to, I didn’t know exactly what to expect. When the first dance began (a classic ballet piece) I noticed the importance of the music to the dancers and to the story the dancers were telling. Specifically, in this ballet, it seemed the dance and the music went together to convey the narrative of the Nutcracker- the piece’s inspiration. As the showcase continued, I noticed that the dancers themselves contributed to the music of the pieces they were performing. They did this in various ways depending on the styles of the dances. This made the performance as a whole engaging and frankly, astounding.
The first definitive act of dancing as music was during Niche Faulkner’s Koredjuga, “A Minstrel Disruption”. This was an African style dance, inspired by a tradition in African culture where dancers interrupt important ceremonies. To be interrupted by these dancers is seen culturally as an honor rather than a hindrance. The dancers used whistles to convey the idea that they were being disruptive. They also used their bodies and voices as instruments throughout the dance. By using different methods to produce movement and sound, these dancers were able to capture the audience and make the piece feel very authentic.
This strategy was also used in choreographer Kaustavi Sarkar’s dance, “Sensate Technicities: Exploring the Sensory and the Affective”. In this Indian classical dance, the performers used bells in their pants to help produce rhythms throughout the piece. By using a instruments physically attached to the dancers bodies, an audience member was able to tell exactly how precice each dancer was, and feel gripped by the performance.
Finally, the piece choreographed by Janet Schroeder, “7(each her own) =!)” was a fantastic example of bodies as instruments, as the only music in the piece was created by the dancers themselves. This was an amazing piece that demonstrated the ability of dancers to set the tone and pace of a piece, and evoke engagement in the audience.
By attending the Spring Dance Concert at UNCC, I was able to get a better understanding of why dancing is an important cultural art, and why it is so important to support it as such.