Dance Case

Most people love to dance. Ruth St. Denis once said, “I see dance being used as communication between body and soul, to express what is too deep to find for words.” I attended two wonderful dance performances called Jennifer Morley’s “Literal Translation” and Tamara Thomas’ “The Nation Building Series.” Both expressed issues of pluralism and difference through a variety gestures and movements. I was able to connect with this event and at the same time I was inspired by the dancers to look deeper inside myself to find my purpose in life.

The first dance series I saw was Jennifer Morley’s “Literal Translation.” The dancers’ were mostly Caucasian consisting of males and females. The dancers’ costumes weren’t elaborate at all. In the opening, the characters were wearing all white with their hoods up. They stayed in comfortable clothing like tights and capris with plain colored shirts like gray or red. The movement style between the male and female was very intimate and personal. They held each other closely and made intense eye contact with each other. There was also a lot of sensual and spiritual movement among the women dancers. The spotlight followed the characters with every move. The big screen behind the dancers was red which I think represented the heart because the dance performance was mostly about heartbreak and heartache.

“Literal Translation” presented some ideas of pluralism and diversity. In Section I, I saw an example of diversity. The dancers’ seemed to be “searching” for something. Each individual seemed to be searching for something different but at the same time they were all connecting to each other at some level. Each dancer would almost come into contact with another dancer and then would hurriedly run away to do their own thing. Section III called “Pet Peeves” represents pluralism because pluralism is centered on dialogue. It’s about being able to take criticism from others. Pluralism involves the responsibility of commitment and being able to understand one another. In “Pet Peeves,” the dancers complain about each other’s “bad odor” and tell one another to use deodorant! I think this represents pluralism because the characters’ need to take the criticism from one another in order to get along. They have to learn to listen to one another if they are going to be around each other.

Section VI called Mismatched is about a heterosexual couple whose relationship isn’t working. This couple was “mismatched” because they are fighting with each other. It shows them being frustrated which causes them to push each other away. They are too diverse to be into a relationship which causes both of them heartache. The Literal Translation is that, “She had to give up herself.” In Section V called “Know Me Better” two girls danced in both an exotic and sensual