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Stacey Roman

DANC 1500
Instructor Roseanne Banchero
December 14, 2017
The Fair Fall Dance Gathering

On November 17, 2017 my friends and I had made plans to do the unexpected. Rather

than staying home, going out to eat, or watch a movie on a Friday night, we decided to go to the

Grand Theater at South City Campus, Salt Lake City, Utah. This was the opening night of the

Fall Dance Gathering presented by the Salt Lake Community College Dance Company.

Entering the theater, we watched the performance of the SLCC Dance Company, Malavika

Singh from Odissi: A Classical Indian Dance Form, Utah Tap Cooperative, and WoFa Afro-

Fusion Dance. As the night started we were initially in awe of Dance Company. Throughout the

night the excitement began to calm down. As we began to think this was all there was, the other

groups performed pieces that was different from what we mostly saw. In my opinion I believe

the two pieces that stood out to me was Durga Stuti by Malavika Singh and Ive been thinking by

WoFa Afro-Fusion Dance.

At the beginning of Durga Stuti stood Malavika Singh in the middle of the stage. She was

dressed in traditional clothing from the culture she was representing: India. The energy of the

piece has a variety of slow and delicacy to quick and strong. This dance required balance and

strength to carry out some steps. Her characters attitude changed with the dynamics of the

music. Singhs arms would move swiftly while her legs would remain strong and moved with the

same swiftness. Her knees remained in a slight bent position that followed with an articulated

pelvis to support her movement. There were partial times in Durga Stuti where her knees bent
inwards. Her upper body posed strong yet relaxed. Her movements ranged from subtle to large

impactful movements. These position of the body and the movements Singh displayed provided

a new form of dance compared to the classical ballet the SLCC Dance Company held at the

beginning. In the program provided to all the attendees we were able to read the background to

the piece. In the words of Singh, [An] Ode to Golden Durga in which her beauty and grace are

described. She is the 10 armed one who destroyed the buffalo demon Mahishasura. I believe the

background provided connected well with the piece presented. There were moments the

performer embodied grace and beauty with her smile and movements. She moved in a delicate

form of ease. The moment where her movements became stronger and her expression became

warrior-like had displayed the strength of the women in the story. There were impactful

movements where one can imagine the strength it took the destroy the buffalo demon. Overall it

was a great cultural piece to witness.

Ive been thinking by Wofa Afro-Fusion Dance was another type of cultural piece that

contained more than one performer. The performers all shared the equal amount of energy into

their movements. In class we discussed much of the form one should be in for Afro-Jazz. All the

performers had the broken neck, articulated pelvis, bent knees, and remained in a parallel

position. They made their movements big and loud along with the music. They moved around

each other with ease as individuals and displayed team work when the next step in the piece

required all to be in a position to carry one another. The dancers had to feel the music to

understand when each step should take place. There were moments where one part of the body

had a different rhythm than the other part of the body. African music tends to be polyrhythmic

which created the dancers movement to be polycentric. The performance for most of the time

had an upbeat tempo and energy. There was aggression where one had to be strong and impactful
in their movement. In African dance it feels as if it was wanting to welcome everyone yet later

on in the piece it felt as one wanted to leave and the others did not want someone to leave the

group. They wanted to keep the family as a whole and not leave anyone out. There is

individualism but at the end of the day they can all come together and be one.

From the both piece I witnessed it felt great diving into another culture. The classical

American pieces provided by the other groups such as SLCC Dance Company and Utah Tap

Cooperative also helped me learn more about the typical American culture. The two pieces I

found memorable had some of the technique from each other. Despite the different culture there

were moments their moves were delicate or forceful. The dancers felt the music and knew how

to move with it. The polycentrism the performers had were remarkable.

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