Dance Criticism
Review 1
On the 22nd of September I traveled to the Baryshnikov Arts Center, but the
stories I bore witness to originated much further away. Dorothee Munyaneza, who
women who were raped during the genocide of 1994. She and Holland Andrews
diagonally across the stage, crouched softly to pick up a mic while Andrews also slowly
sauntered towards her sound setup further upstage. The voice of a woman telling her
story in her native tongue began to play, Munyaneza translated it emotively into English.
Throughout the performance different women’s experiences marked chapters in the
overall story of how the body and mind are affected when rape is used as an instrument
of war.
Enraged, Munyaneza yelled “Because of you I was smashed into pieces” as she
feverishly ran back and forth across the stage, her firm yet trembling arm pointed at the
audience searching for the culprit of her pain. The relative calm of the recordings and
movement. Such as when she wielded a wooden pestle like a baseball bat and bashed
Andrews was an active vocal and background participant. Although, when both
she and Munyaneza moved together, they no longer operated as two separate entities,
Andrew’s feet with care, creating a tender moment like that between parent and child. It
ended with a crescendo of energy as each pounded a wooden pestle into mortars on
the right side of the stage with their entire body weight singing harmoniously the title of
This piece was courageous in its performance of pain. However, it was clear from
the pervasiveness of music that both Munyaneza and Andrews are deeply entrenched
in the art of sound. Many gestures were repetitive, and the considerable amount of slow
walking, which did not differ considerably in style could challenge an audience
member’s patience. There was less movement incorporated than I would have expected
from reading the program description. I tried then to look more closely at minute
gestures, such as those made by Andrews while she sang, but even with my front row
seat I could not see as clearly as I would have liked with the consistently dim lighting.
without words? What if she had to tell a story without any sound? Where would her
body take her then? I think these challenges would bring out more variety in her
movement patterns and allow her movement vocabulary to expand, rather than
movement being substituted for sound. An increased amount and variety of physicality
would add a layer of complexity to the piece. It would also connect the audience more
viscerally to the effects of rape on the bodies and spirits of the women who so
Ballet has a staunch reputation as a strictly canonized and timeless art form.
Within a centuries-long history, change surely happens, but so slowly it could take a
lifetime to become apparent. With the New York City Ballet’s “30 for 30” program, which
offers $30 tickets to patrons 30 and under, the company is attempting to rally young
audiences and spark interest, and hopefully a lifelong passion, for ballet.
program. I was curious to see how connect to the present he pieces would be.
Christopher Wheeldon’s Polyphonia was the oldest on the program and premiered in
2011. Sixteen years seems like ages in a modern world where news, products, and
photos change with the swipe of a finger. So, what is here and now about the ballet, a
The curtain rose to reveal Maria Kowroski center stage in a steel blue leotard
with Jared Angle directly behind her dressed in deep maroon (designed by Holly
Hynes). Christopher Wheeldon’s Liturgy had begun. Kowroski began a movement, and
Angle followed a moment after, as if the ripple of her motion catalyzed his. Arcs and
circles are integral to the choreography. Even in linear movements there was a soft
roundness, especially in the sweeping leg movements of Kowroski. When the two
moved in unison, whether arching their arms behind or sharply articulating their wrists,
they appeared simultaneous and identical. It was eerie in its exactness, as if the dance
had somehow caused two bodies to be controlled by a single mind. Several times the
pair morphed into a shifting kaleidoscope of shapes. It was difficult to tell whose arms
were whose, but it didn’t matter. In this dance, the two became an increasingly complex
one. The style felt more timeless than “Now”, but there is nothing that precludes now
from including something that would be relevant decades from now. The level of artistic
talent displayed on stage made the piece exude New York City.
While Justin Peck’s The Times Are Racing was the last piece performed on the
program, it was one of the most salient. A piece that was certainly both “Here” and
“Now”! The dancers were dressed in street clothes (designed by Humberto Leon) and
the pace and buoyancy in their movement reminded me of going out on a Friday night.
Women were occasionally partnered with other women, as others were paired more
traditionally. I was also ecstatic to diversity of race after several pieces that felt too white
to be reflective of the current character of New York City. Tiler Peck and Amar Ramasar
were magnetic when they danced together. They embodied a playful compatibility
characteristic of modern romance. Once, they even thrust the other dancers off in a vain
attempt to gain alone time. This reminded me of an attempt of a young couple to find
“Four pairs in purple” was my first thought as Polyphonia got under way. The
stage erupted into chaos as each pair attacked its own choreography. Their shadows
danced across the back wall and made the scene contain even more unrestrained
disorder. There were moments of reprieve as seemingly random pairs would fall in sync
with one another. Throughout, there was a distinct connection between the dance and
music, uniformity and lightness was traded eagerly for disorder and dissonance
(composed by Gyorgy Ligeti). At one point a pair waltzed across the stage, providing
equal parts comedy and confusion as it stuck out in contrast to other sections of the
choreography, from a tense pas de deux to four unified or erratic pairs. The diversity in
emotion and turmoil is indicative of the current social climate, and dressing all in purple
is similar to the “New York” style of dressing in all black. At times I attempted to
decipher what the piece was about. The color purple? I decided that was good enough
for me.
Alexei Ratmansky’s Odessa is a love story, with what sounds like Spanish
influence in the music (by Leonid Desyatnikov) and a hint of flamenco hidden in some
violence, was in contrast with the rest of the program and made the piece feel forced.
While drama is very twenty-first century, it didn’t feel very now or New York.
The New York City Ballet almost lived up to the title of this program. The pieces
overall brimmed with energy and emotion. However, I think it is fair to challenge the
ballet to promote diversity, in not only their dancers, but their musicians, composers and
two works by women “Here/Now” did not include any chorepraphers or composers who
were people of color or women. Where are they? I know they exist. Then, the real
question is, when will the New York City Ballet care enough to hire them?
Review 3
Creator’s Note
This project “Opinion of a Hungry Crowd” was made in response to two performances at
the Danspace project titled “A Shared Evening: Jasmine Hearn / Mariana Valencia”
which took place on October 14th 2017. The first two pages of my response are
referencing shook with content and direction by Jasmine Hearn, adn the last two about
Yugoslavia by Mariana Valencia. The cutting of red construction paper into letters by
I was also interested in how when writing one tries to find the words to put on paper. In
this project I literally had to find the words and paste them down.
When writing about dance someone else’s work is integral to the written piece, in the
same way that other writers’ words and phrases were integral to my piece, in addition to
the movement.
Neuroscientists discovered that the act of recalling changes the memory itself. In fact,
the more you recall a memory the more changes accumulate, like a long game of
telephone. So, in this piece I was dealing with the frailty of my own memory to connect
phrases to things I saw in the work. I also acknowledge that these writers’ words likely
reshaped what I thought in retrospect about the dance works. For example, the
February issue of the Barnard Bulletin had many pieces about love, and self love. I
noticed that I started to think of shook in the context of the bond the women shared and
the love and respect for the black female body that the piece exuded. I think if I had not
been looking through the Valentine’s Day issue that my response would have turned out
much differently.
While others influenced this work with their written thoughts, these are mine
nonetheless.
Magazines Used
Barnard Bulletin February 2017
Barnard Bulletin October 2017
Food & Wine September 2017
Food & Wine October 2017
Time Magazine, September 25th 2017
Review 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL7Y7Y_enAg
The Greatest?
Jacey Kinnaird
I recently heard the slew of hip hop dance class videos available online as “junk food”,
and I get it. I can sit in front of a screen for hours just watching and letting YouTube take
me along for a ride (come on, I know you’ve done it too). But, I think that binging dance
videos on the internet is more like comfort food than junk food. There is something
gained as a viewer and there isn’t anything wrong with the consumption. The videos
give dance visibility, and for some creators a stream of revenue. The increasingly
accessible internet allows free access to dance viewing and even learning. For
example, this 12 year old girl taught herself how to dance dubstep in only 8 months just
Kyle Hanagami, a choreographer, taught a free masters class at the Millennium Dance
Complex in L.A. to Sia’s “The Greatest”. With an upbeat tempo and inspirational
message, it’s no surprise that plenty of dancers and choreographers have gravitated to
What does a closer look at this viral hip-hop video to Sia’s “The Greatest” reveal? And
The cinematographer, Ryan Parma films in single unbroken takes for each group and
keeps the majority of the dancers’ bodies in the frame. This provides a realistic and
complete view of the dance. I can also imagine that Hanagami is the one clapping
before the performances, preparing me for the initiation of movement and abundance of
raw energy. This piece has a lyrical emphasis as the movements and words are closely
entwined, for example, the dancers cover their eyes to Sia’s phrase “I close my eyes”.
There are 5 groups of dancers, and each performs the same minute long dance slightly
differently. For example, the first duet begins with pantomimed choking and the second
with a slow lean into one another (groups 2 and 5).
I appreciate how much effort I see on the screen. The dancers showcase their intense
athleticism and “stamina”, an important repeated lyric that lends to the physically
demanding choreography . As Ryan Vettel takes the floor he has already soaked
through his purple shirt with sweat. He shifts from an aggressive run in place to a
horizontal movement he initiates with his head in a way that’s thrilling to watch. His
extensions are full, his movements alternate between fluid and sharp exactly as the
choreography intends, and he throws his body into the dance with such commitment
Jade Chynoweth demands attention in each of the groups she dances in (1 and 5).
While on one hand I’m jealous of her ripped abs, on the other I also can’t imagine
seeing her not dancing. Dancing seems like her natural mode of being. She is the hard
hitting lead in group 1, and a remarkably observant and connected partner in group 5.
I proudly binge watch viral hip-hop dance videos and fantasize about jumping into a
class. These videos go viral because viewers form a connection to them. Watch for
What is dance? I asked my mom the same question as she laughed at me for
minoring in dance when I am not a “dancer.” She thought about her answer for a
moment, and then retorted “Moving to music.” Her succinct response reminded me of
Arlene Croce’s rumination “If it moves, I’m interested; if it moves to music, I’m in love!”
A few weeks later I was working out in my college gym, Sia blasting in my
headphones, when I abruptly wondered, am I dancing? Well, I was moving. More than
that, I was moving to music just as my mom had described. Is there a difference
between exercise and dance, and where then is the boundary between them? I have
both in the same broad style category of hip-hop. My first class at Buffalo N.Y.’s Bike or
Bar (clever isn’t it?) was titled “Rachet Twerking in the Dark” (the style originates from
In the first song alone, we completed at least 50 squats to the booming beat of
the song. Are squats dance? I watched the instructor, Bianca (who developed this
program herself), throughout the class to better understand how to produce the desired
own body to include movements I did not even know possible. Frankly, I did not know
they were achievable because no one had ever showed me and, to be honest, I had
never tried to learn. In addition to dancers, many athletes spend years honing their
understanding of the physics of their own body. Both athletes and dancers attempt to
I concluded that dance based fitness classes blur the edges of performance and
I then attended the “Absolute Beginner Hip-Hop” class at Ailey Extension in New
York City. As my friend made fun of me at the front desk, once again for being a dance
minor who can’t dance, the staff asserted that “Everyone can dance!” I pointed out that
everyone can dance, but not everyone can dance well. She agreed and we made our
At the beginning of Robin Dunn’s class we laid down for a mindfulness exercise,
stretched out legs like I did when I ran track, completed a core exercise circuit, and held
yoga poses for the warm-up. To me, these movements were all borrowed from other
exercise and dance. The two classes I experienced were very much alike, even if this
isn’t always the case in all styles of dance and exercise modalities.
In order to examine the relationship of all exercise to dance, let’s compare two
dance.
Is there a significant difference between the squat of a modern dancer and the
squat of a professional crossfit athlete? Take modern dance legend Martha Graham
and consider the similarities between these two photos. Their chests are vertical and
their knees are out. Their arms are angled, albeit differently. Which is dance? Which
isn’t? Why? What preconceived opinions are you bringing to the images?
It is well understood that dance is at the very least a form of aerobic exercise, as
evident by the sheen of sweat and panting visible during the curtain call of a
performance. But why isn’t exercise called dance? Aesthetics? Standards? The squat
has certain standards of form in fitness, but its standards are more for safety and
functionality than aesthetics. Does the intent of the movement matter and categorize a
movement as either exercise or dance? It does not, as Alastair Macaulay observed and
noted in “The Fluid Dance That is Grand Central” where he describes the mundane
sidewalk dance” in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities. These
examples show that even movement not intended as dance can be labeled and
observed as such.
However, as I drew closer to where I thought it might be, I was unable to find a
Photo Credit
https://www.icp.org/exhibitions
https://www.instagram.com/brookeence/?hl=en