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Analysis on eMotion in Motion

Crystal Recio
Dance 1100
Marsha Pabalis






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I attended the eMotion in Motion dance on Friday April 11
th
presented by Salt Lake
Community College Dance Company. This performance took place at the Grand Theatre in
South City Campus in Salt Lake City. As I walked in the dimly lighted theatre memories rushed
into my head. The Grand Theatre is the same place where my older sister graduated from nursing
school. This time was only my second time coming to this theatre and everything was just as I
remembered it small, warm, cozy, and welcoming.
There were eighteen dances in total in this program, and two of them were dance-for-
camera. Ive never heard or seen this type of dance before, so I thought it was very interesting.
The program was directed by Tess Boone, and the faculty and featured guest choreographers
consisted of Tess Boone, Lorin Hansen, Ro Malaga, Courtney Norris, and Erica Womack.
Though there were eighteen dances, I will only talk about the two that I enjoyed. Im nervous to
write this because Im not the best analyst, especially when it comes to dances.
The first dance I will talk about, which was the fifth in the program, was called Afraid to
Fall. It was a solo dance danced by Heather Haycock, choreographed by an unknown person (the
pamphlet didnt say who choreographed), and the music was by Wim Mertens. The dance started
with dimmed lights and the dancer in the middle of the stage. The music now started. It was
instrumental, slow, melodic and kind of entrancing. The background was blank, but colored
lights slowly came to life giving the stage color and existence. The lights helped brighten the
stage a little, letting the audience see the dancer more clearly. Her makeup was simple and her
hair pulled up into a bun. She was wearing a light purple flowy dress that looked simple and
beautiful. It was tight until it got to the waist then it turned flowy, and the sleeves were thick
spaghetti straps. She didnt have any special dance shoes on just probably dance paws.
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As I focused more on the music and the dancing, it all made me feel kind of sorrowful
and gloomy. It was the way the slow music played and how she danced. Her movement was slow
and fluid, yet strong. She used all of her space on stage upstage, downstage, stage left, and
stage right. Into all this movement she incorporated arabesques, pirouettes, relevs, piques,
jumps, leaps, and even some flips. The dancer also used all her levels on stage. She went from
high up into the air to low on the ground. She had many beautiful leg extension and beautiful
arms. Her arms moved gracefully like tall grass blowing in the wind. She made all that she did
look effortless. The dancer must have made a lot of beautiful shapes with her body. This reminds
us how remarkable the human body really is.
My interpretation of this dance was about not wanting to give up or fail. The name of the
dance is Afraid to Fall which is why I got that impression. But, it wasnt only the title. The way
the music played and the way the dancer moved made me feel like she was going through a lot of
emotion. There was fearfulness but also a persistence to keep on going. And like I said earlier, it
made me feel sad and kind of empty, but I also felt hope. I just really enjoyed this dance.
Now the second dance, which was the sixth in the program, that I will talk about was
called Terminal. It was a group dance choreographed by Laura Espinoza and had music by Wim
Mertens. The group all together consisted of twelve dancers three of which were men. The
women wore flowy black dresses (similar style of dress as in Afraid to Fall) and the men wore
black tight shorts and shirts. And again, just probably wore dance paws for their feet. The
women had simple makeup from what I can tell in the dull lighting, and their hair was pulled up
into a bun. I believe the simplicity of the costumes and makeup was right for this dance, because
this dance felt raw.
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For this dance, the stage did have props. There were three large, black blocks on stage.
The stage started off dark, but then dull lights emerged giving the stage light, and made the
dancers appear out of nowhere like ghosts. The background was plain and blank. Only light
shown on it. It looked like a wall in a room that has only been lit by a small candle. The music
for this dance was slow with a man singing in the background in a different language, and he
sounded sad. The dancer used their space very well they were far from each other and then
close to each other. They also used the entire stage and moved all over it.
Their movement had flow and fluidity, especially their arms. The dancers used their arms
a lot Im sure they used most of the basic arm positions, and just made many beautiful shapes
with their arms. They did use the blocks on stage. They would stand on it, sit on it, and dance
around it. They definitely incorporated a lot of level changes with being on the floor and with
their small leaps and the blocks helped make the level changes more apparent for the audience.
The dancers also had some nice turns (like pirouettes, pique turns, soutenus, and chaines), which
they made look so easy especially on a crowded stage. I really felt the emotion they had on
stage because their movements were so expressive and powerful. I was honestly captivated.
For this dance my interpretation was kind of gloomy. The title of the dance is Terminal,
and the first thought that came into my head was, Oh! An airport terminal!. But, then I
remembered that terminal can also mean lethal/deadly/fatal. This made a lot more sense once the
music and dancing started. Like I said earlier, the music and singing sounded very sad. It made
me feel sad and lonely. And the way the dancers moved was with strength and determination, but
also with pain and sadness. My first thought of the dance was that I believed it was about ponder
and change. And as I saw more of it I also believed that it could be about a major end of
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something or to something, but with a new beginning not far off. So, for me it was about change
and an end, but also about hope of a new beginning.
Overall, the program was nice. The eighteen dances did show a lot of different types of
emotions I think, hence the title, eMotion in Motion. I believe the program was meant to show
the audience how emotions can be interpreted, shown, and defined through dance movement of
the body. I really enjoyed the show. Especially the graceful, fluid movements of the dancers
bodies. It made me love dance even more and to appreciate the amazing human body that I have
and all that it is capable of doing. Ive always loved dancing, and now I can appreciate it more.
Im just surprised that the two dances that I chose were both sad ones, but those ones were the
ones that spoke to me. And both were beautiful as was everything in the program.