Running Head: METAPHOR CRITICISM OF FIX YOU DANCE

Metaphor Criticism of Fix You Dance

Madeleine Fiello
Carroll University

Running Head: METAPHOR CRITICISM OF FIX YOU DANCE

Dance has always been an important part of culture throughout history. Although the
purposes of dance are limitless, some examples include education, religion, and theatre
(Adshead-Lansdale & Layson, 2006). Aside from the purposes, there are also countless
categories of dance styles, and the list constantly increases. Some examples include ballet, tap,
and hip-hop (Bedinghaus, 2014). For the purpose of this criticism, I will expand upon the style
of contemporary dance, also known as contemporary ballet or post-modern dance.
Contemporary dance is a mixture of modern dance and ballet (Bedinghaus, 2014). This style is
versatile, often improvised, and usually danced with bare feet. Floorwork is prominently used by
the dancers to portray a story through their movements (Bedinghaus, 2014). Since contemporary
dance tells a story and is quite emotive, dances and choreographers often use this form of
expression to convey their own life stories (del Pilar Naranjo Rico, 2016). In order to observe
how contemporary dance can be used by choreographers to cope with lifes difficulties, I will
analyze a contemporary dance to find metaphors related to the choreographers life. The
metaphors in this routine are represented through the dancers movements, a dancers hair, song
choice and the stage lighting.
The contemporary dance to be analyzed is a piece called Fix You, choreographed by
Travis Wall and performed by Robert Roldan and Allison Holker. The dance was performed on
the reality show So You Think You Can Dance on July 14, 2010 and viewed by an audience of 5
million. The dancers performed to the song Fix You by Coldplay. Robert wore a plaid shirt
and khaki shorts while Allison wore a light pink dress and her hair braided against her head.
Both dancers had bare feet during the routine. Lastly, the lighting on the stage began completely
white, and at the end of the dance the stage was entirely blue. Travis Wall created the routine to
reflect his struggle of helping his mom through a major surgery. He advised the dancers, every
step we do in this routine is a story telling moment (kantaton, 2010).

Running Head: METAPHOR CRITICISM OF FIX YOU DANCE

I will use metaphor criticism in order to analyze this artifact and apply it to what is
already known about the rhetoric of dance. The goal of this process is to determine the rhetors
goal as a result of using the metaphor(s). A metaphor, by definition, is a kind of depiction
equating one thing with another (King 2016). Each metaphor has two parts: a tenor and a
vehicle. The tenor is the subject that is described and the vehicle is the alternative way in which
the rhetor and audience view it.
The first object with a deeper meaning is Allisons hairstyle. Her hair was braided and
pinned against her head, appearing as if her hair was much shorter. With this, the stylists wanted
to portray how frail and sickly the mother figure was. Therefore, the tenor in this metaphor is the
illness of the mother and the vehicle is the dancers hair. Travis, the choreographer, planned for
Allisons hair to be shown this way in order to demonstrate how ill his mother was and how
much she needed him. In this way, the audience can relate to the dancer or, in a literal sense,
Walls mother. Chances are, the majority of them know someone that went through a
circumstance similar to Walls mother. As a result of this connection between the audience and
the dancer, the audience can better grasp the true meaning of the dance.
A second metaphor throughout the routine is the stage lighting. In the beginning, the
light was entirely white, which represents the mothers purity. Thus, the tenor is the mothers
purity and the vehicle is the white light. At the very end of the routine the lighting onstage
became blue. The vehicle of the blue light represents the tenor of the strength the pair gained
through this experience as well as their inner peace. Through this clever use of lighting, the
audience can experience the feelings that Wall and his mother felt during the time of her health
issues. Furthermore, the audience can reflect on their own experiences and feelings with similar
situations. In addition, Wall can reflect on his journey with his mother through this metaphor.

Running Head: METAPHOR CRITICISM OF FIX YOU DANCE

He can also be proud of the strength he has gained through this experience. In this way he can
find some closure with their struggle.
The dancers also display a deeper meaning through their movements. The first metaphor
dance move is done when Allison jumped into the air and Robert came from behind to catch her.
This vehicle represents the tenor of Walls mother undergoing the major surgery and his ability to
support her through one of the toughest times in her life. As Allison jumped, she flipped
backwards so her head headed towards the ground as gravity pulled her down. After Robert
caught her, he walked forward with her in his arms. This represents the pair moving forward
together after this difficult time. Through this representation, the audience feels fear for Allison
as she takes this dangerous jump, just as Travis feared for his mother during her surgery. In this
way, Travis succeeds at making the audience relate to his experience, even if some had never
gone through an experience such as this.
Next, at the end of the routine, Allison appeared as if she had trouble walking, so Robert
lifted her onto his own feet and walked with her. This vehicle represents Travis helping his
mother do tasks that most people take for granted, such as walking. In addition, Robert and
Allison gazed ahead of them, both with a look of hope and peace on their faces. As this part of
the routine developed, the lighting on stage also became blue, representing the peace they felt.
This part of the dance was very powerful for the audience to witness. They watched the journey
of the mother and Wall throughout the dance, and experienced the relief Travis had felt when his
mother survived the surgery, as well as the hope for her recovery. This segment of the routine is
powerful for Travis as well, since he got to see where he and his mother are now from the
perspective of an audience member.
Lastly, the song choice, as a metaphor, evokes emotion from the audience and dancers.
The song choice is a vehicle for the tenor of Walls desire to heal his mother and prevent her
from dealing with such a difficult issue. The song Fix You by Coldplay played throughout the

Running Head: METAPHOR CRITICISM OF FIX YOU DANCE

entire routine. Often throughout the routine, the lead singer sings, And I will try to fix you
(Martin, 2005). This clearly represents the helplessness that Wall feels as his mother has to deal
with her health issues. He demonstrated his powerlessness to heal her through his use of the
song, although he tried to fix her by supporting her and helping her recover. Being that this is a
popular song, the audience can successfully relate the lyrics to Walls story as they are most
likely familiar to it.
By using these metaphors in the dance routine he created, Travis Wall reflected on the
journey he took with his mother during her major surgery. Watching back his journey as a part
of the audience, he gained strength and closure from the experience about which he created the
Fix You dance routine. Walls routine reassures himself that he did the right thing with helping
his mother through her surgery and was a good son to her. Furthermore, he created a piece in
which the audience could relate to and feel the emotions that he felt.
In studying the metaphors used in dance, we discover how coping from a difficult
situation is achieved. As seen in the Fix You dance and Travis Walls experience, closure can
be gained through movements, lighting, and music in dance. This is an important concept since
coping from a tragic situation can be challenging for some. With this new knowledge, many
people can now channel their upset or depressed emotions caused by illness or a death of a loved
one into dance.
References
Adshead-Lansdale, J. & Layson, J. (2006). Dance History: An Introduction. Routledge.
Bedinghaus, T. (2014, November 15). Types of Dance. Retrieved from
http://dance.about.com/od/typesofdance/tp/Dance_Types.htm
del Pilar Naranjo Rico, M. (2016). The Handy E-Book of Contemporary Dance History.
Available from http://www.contemporary-dance.org/e-book-of-contemporarydance- history.html
kantaton. (2010, July 20). Fix-you contemporary dance. [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnguqsMQmg4

Running Head: METAPHOR CRITICISM OF FIX YOU DANCE

King, B. (2016). Metaphor Criticism. Personal Collection of B. King, Carroll University,

Waukesha, WI.
Martin, C. (2005). Fix you [Recorded by Coldplay]. On X&Y [CD]. London: Parlophone.