See dance is to contemplate a artistic creation extraordinary and fleeting that uses a instrument that we all have: the body. The dancing body communicates a unique sensation of being human while speaking to us through its bones, its muscles, your skin, your cells.
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But have you ever attended a dance performance and have you ever wondered what it is about? Or did you want to go see a dance but you didn’t know where to start?
For the uninitiated, the dance can be difficult because, like the music, uses non-verbal language. These basics can open the door to enjoying the beauty and complexity of this physical art.
Know the code
There are many types of dance and everyone has different ways of communicating and different codes.
For example, in ballet the body is vertical and straight and the legs and arms move around that upright center. The emphasis is on lightness.
On the contrary, in the contemporary dancethe body contracts and bends and the movement is rooted and close to the ground.
And these are just two of the ways western dance. Each culture has its own way of dance and they all have their own codes.
Some performances are a mix of codes. For example, Bangarra Dance Theater has created a style that combines traditional dance indigenous Australian with the dance and ballet Western contemporaries.
Knowing the code means knowing the basic components, the rules and the framework for action. You have a reference point for what to expect.
Doing a little research also helps.
If you are going to see a balletthere may be a story and you are expected to know it before watching the ballet, unlike plays in which the emotion is the story that is revealed on stage. The companies of ballet They often post this story on their website, or you can search for the work on Wikipedia.
But just like him conceptual art (imagine a painting with a small red spot in the corner on a green background: what does it mean?), the ideas behind many art shows dance They are not immediately obvious. They can be quite abstract.
In this case, read what the choreographer says about the work before seeing it and learn a little about his other works. plays It gives you context and a way to make sense of what you see. You can find interviews with choreographers in various online publications, in websites of companies or search for them in Youtube.
It’s all about the movement
With history or without it, the dance it is, ultimately, a body moving through space. The pleasure of watching dance arises from interacting with the patterns, vocabulary and phrasing of the movement and the energetic quality of the dancers.
You can see the pattern that a body follows moving up or down, crossing the entire stage or remaining in one place. With more than one body on stage, you notice the patterns the group makes, as if you notice the changing configurations of a flock of birds.
The movement vocabulary is the collection of “body words”, or steps, which are repeated and form dance phrases. These may be exclusive to a performance or a choreographer. The way the vocabulary is organized in terms of structure, space, and timing creates the dance.
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The energetic quality of dancers (think soft, light and fluid versus powerful, attacking and heavy) can change the emotion of the dance and its interpretation.
There are not correct or incorrect answers
a show of dance It’s not a murder mystery. When watching dance, you are not trying to discover a singular meaning.
Instead, you are interacting and appreciating all of the factors listed here, as well as the other Arts on display, including sound, designs, lighting and costumes. You may find a different meaning or different elements to appreciate in front of other people.
*PhD Candidate in Dance and Dance History Tutor at the University of Melbourne.