Thursday, October 27, 2011

Haze

Tonight was the first concert in my subscription to the Kennedy Center's contemporary dance season.  The Beijing Dance Theatre performed HazeHere's a snippet from a performance earlier this summer:





Tonight's performance, overall, was very beautiful, and there were some striking moments.  The themes of alienation and falling, however, became tiresome after a while -- by the end I longed for more lyricism and stability.  The springy floor contributed to the message, but it also seemed to undermine the dancers' ability to stay together -- which may also have been part of the message, but sometimes it just came off as sloppy.

(When I failed to give a standing ovation, the woman next to me -- who was clearly in raptures -- asked me what I thought of the piece.  I told her I thought there was too much falling down.  She asked if I was a dancer and, when I said no, told me in a voice full of judgement just how difficult all that falling was to perform.  Pearls before swine, etc.)

I'm really excited about the rest of the contemporary dance season.  I had season's tickets last year and saw some really beautiful performances (also some really strange ones).  This season promises to be even more fun, since this time a friend of mine from law school has gotten tickets with me, so I have someone to go with.  Plus, there are some new restaurants in the neighborhood that will make pre-theatre dinners much more enjoyable!  (Tonight we had some tasty kebabs, hummus and couscous at Roti.)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Running around and falling down... I've seen that before, like when all my kids were little... These people did it with their toes pointed though. I give 'em credit for that. Bet they have bruises. Lady

Ashley said...

Ditto Lady. Seriously, when they all finally stood up and started jumping together in the middle of the stage it reminded me of Teya jumping in her bed. :)