Clothes Make The Man (And Dancers Of Both Genders)

Whether it’s swishy skirts, bold colors, or sweater vests; clothes make a lasting impression. World of Dance takes this sentiment to heart by combining fantastic costumes with brilliant routines which are sure to make a lasting impression.

Guys in tuxedos. Girls in shimmery elegant dresses. Immediately, the brain keys on to these visual cues and lets us know that what is coming is supposed to be classy and elegant. The Ballroom Dance Company’s piece “A Daisy in September” and “Wheelenese Waltz” by Contemporary Dance Theatre. The ballroom waltz is very elegant and the grace of the performance is enhanced by the sumptous costumes. The long dresses the ladies wear complement the dance by twirling around the performers. Likewise, the tuxedos make the men in the ballroom piece look classy in a way that simple denim jeans would not.

In contrast, the “Wheelenese Waltz” plays on the audiences expectation for class and elegance. They give it to us--but with humor! The performers all wear tuxedos, their movements are smooth and beautifully choreographed-why then is this performance so amusing? Because their “dance partners” are female dolls attached to the heads of scooters! The choreographers combination of the classic cliché of performance dancing with these zany elements creates a stunning presentation that both entertains and astonishes.

Costumes are a powerful element when creating the mood of a dance, however; they can also aid in telling “the story” of a choreography. The Contemporary Dance Theater performers in “Excerpts From Barefootin’” all wore casual clothing that would have been worn by adolescents during the 1950’s. This clothing, coupled with music and dancing, allows us to picture a group of high school students gossiping and eventually dancing. If the performers had worn business attire from the 1950’s, the setting of the dance’s “storyline” shifts to a business and perhaps more adult environment.

Whether it be the story or the mood, effective costuming is crucial to a successful performance. World of Dance presents a myriad of diverse dance routines; and the costuming of each is as different from the next as the dance steps themselves. Despite their differences, the performances in World of Dance have at least one thing in common: they’re dressed for success!

Just Dance!

I’ve never been much of a dancer. Sure, I love to move and “get my groove on”, but I feel sorry for the other people who have to witness it. I’ve never had the grace and poise of a ballerina, or the precision of a ballroom dancer, and I doubt I ever will. However, going to World of Dance opened my eyes to a beautiful reality: anyone can dance.

The stage was set for an exciting night. The curtain rose on a dense fog illuminated by a full moon looming in the background. In the distance, there arose a quiet tinkling of bells and soft chanting voices. The sounds blended and grew as the dancers transported the audience to another world. I was completely hypnotized. Not only did the movement of the dancers’ bodies capture my attention, but every aspect of the dance, from lighting to set to costumes, created a scene I could never have imagined alone.

When the first number ended, I was amazed to see that each dance number, one after the other, had an identical effect. Some struck me more than others. Some left me puzzled as to exactly what I had just been a part of. Others caused me to cry because I was laughing so hard! From ballet to blow-up dolls, from ethnic dance to romance, from clubbing to barefootin’, each dance was unique and stirred up its own set of emotions.

By the end of the show I was on cloud nine, but also deeply depressed. I had witnessed something amazing, and yet I was overwhelmed with a realization that I could never dance like that. My waltz would be spastic, my ballet shameful, and my ethnic dance would start the next world war. Just as I was about to give in to my personal pity party, the finale began. Together, all the dancers joined in a dance that was meant only for fun. The overall message of the show hit me like a brick. The dancers weren’t trying to say, “Dance like us.” They were trying to say, “Just dance.”

No matter who you are or how much talent you have (which in my case is none at all) you can dance. Dance isn’t only about precision or storytelling; it’s about having fun. My roommate and I were so eager to let loose that we threw a dance party in our bedroom. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones struck with dance fever. Before we knew it, we were involved in an impromptu dance party on the sunroof of Young Hall. Sure we broke three city ordinances and neighbors called to complain about the noise, but it didn’t really matter in the end. What mattered was how my outlook had changed. I’m no longer afraid to let loose and perform silly and possibly slightly embarrassing dance moves. From now on, I’ll just dance.

The Variety of Dance

I came into the World of Dance concert thinking that I already knew everything there is to know about dance; I was very wrong. The first Romanian piece provided a sense of immediate professionalism. The dancers, all in perfect formation, performed with elegance, stomping and yelling in a synchronic manner. I was immediately sucked into the performance.

The World of Dance concert’s variety of dance types, costumes and musical numbers continually amazed me. I was intrigued with the immense variety of numbers chosen to represent the BYU dance team. Seeing the difference between ballet and contemporary; foreign and ballroom helped me understand the wide range of art that “dance” covers. Even the slight differences between ballroom numbers, such as the scooter performance, kept the concert lively and interesting. The assortment of numbers kept members of the audience on the edge of their seats, never knowing what was coming next.

The experience I had at World of Dance made me consider how many aspects of art I know nothing about. I began to rethink previously formed opinions, looking at art holistically, with a more open perspective. I then took this idea to another level, considering how many aspects of society and life I had never experienced or just outright knew nothing about. I began to think of the little art background I had, the little knowledge I had of foreign culture, the little knowledge I had even with politics in my own area. Watching this concert inspired me to decide to learn more about aspects of society I have little knowledge of at this time.

This concert, as a whole, helped me change my attitude concerning dance. Seeing the vast perspective covered in World of Dance as well as the interesting little twists added to many performances helped me better recognize many wonders of dance that I never knew about. Going to World of Dance introduced me to the importance of looking at dance, art and anything else I may not know much about, in a better way: more openly.

The Curious Dance of Inspiration

            As I watched the different performances, I was captivated, I was thoroughly impressed, and despite my limited technical knowledge in an artistic area like dance, I really enjoyed it. I was really interested in what made it so interesting, and why I was moved by a couple of the particular performances. Why is it that dancing is able to inspire us, or bring out certain feelings?

From an individual perspective, one of the pieces that stuck out to me was the last dance performed by the ballroom team. This dance had me set on the edge of my seat, not because it was suspenseful, or I thought that something monumental was going to occur, but simply because of the way that their style and flow were literally entrancing. I went home that night and thought about what it was that made that dance stick out to me so much, but I don’t think that I came to a final reason. One speculative answer could be that their bodies moved in a direct parallel to my feelings and imagination as the music played, but I don’t know if I can settle with the answer that it was just feeling that grasped my attention. Nor did it feel like some eerie supernatural experience though. I thought that it might have been some relation to experiences that I’ve had, but if it is, it’s too multifarious for me to understand. I know that there is some logical answer for my admiration but it will probably take more experience to come to a solid conclusion.

Obviously the love of art like this is something shared by many people so I considered why the beauty of dance is understood by almost everyone. Howard Gardner is a developmental psychologist and a professor at Harvard. He came up with a theory back in the 1980’s that I find applicable to this question. He discusses how there are multiple intelligences, instead of just the traditionally valued western ‘logical-mathematic’ kind, there exist other categories of understanding and knowledge that can be learned. In his book “Changing Minds” he references the way that everyone we meet has something that they can teach us. The dancers that were in the World of Dance undoubtedly possess the spatial and bodily-kinesthetic knowledge Gardner talks about.  We all have varying degrees of understanding in different intelligences and often this determines our ability to relate to expressions of knowledge like the ones exhibited. I think that this is a useful theory in understanding the way that we relate to art such as dance. Although, maybe we are just predetermined to think of certain movements of the body as beautiful, I've heard of studies that have attempted to confirm ideas similar to this. Is special movement a value learned from society or intrinsic to being human?

In conclusion, this was an experience that got me thinking about what makes something beautiful, and how it is interpreted. I will definitely be attending a couple more performances like this one, with the hope that my ability to interpret and understand becomes greater. 

The Better Part of Dance

Spencer Tolson

Katherine Cowley

Writing 150 Honors: Writing and Rhetoric

21 September 2010

The Better Part of Dance

The only part of the World of Dance show I was excited about was that it only cost two dollars with my freshman pass. I showed up, expecting to have to fight my sleeplessness of the night before with tooth and nail. However, from the first performance, I was enthralled. The costumes, moves, and music of all the performances captured my attention. My weariness disappeared as fast as the dancers were moving their feet and slapping their sticks. I absolutely loved all the variety of all the dances. ‘World of Dance’ was an appropriate name for the show. My favorite piece was ‘Kaboom.’ It featured only six dancers, which stood out from other dances. Also, instead of reminding me of a dance maybe performed in a warm bar on a cold night in Russia, I was reminded of a night in New York City. It was so interesting how the music and the choice of background could influence my feelings like that. The background had several tall building with lights on in the windows, as if it was nighttime. Also, the music was fast and very appropriate for the type of dance. It was the dance that influenced me the most. The dancers looked like they were having fun. Smiling at each other, and smiling at the audience, I could not help but smile myself. It was just a fun, upbeat dance. I wanted to get up and start dancing myself. The choice of costumes for this dance was also very appropriate for it. Classy dress ups matched it up. Another thing that struck me was that dance can be serious or hilarious. Much of the foreign dance was intense and serious. I felt the dancers took their role seriously and tried to portray their parts with respect for the country the dance was from. The other end of the spectrum was also reached when male dancers led their blown up counterparts through the steps on scooters. I truly loved how this performance led me to serious dances, funny dances, and classy dances. I think I will keep an eye out now for performances such as these for my own viewing.

I want to dance.

Having lived in culturally deprived Cookeville, Tennessee the past six years of my life, I have to state that my former experiences viewing dance performances were barely memorable. Thankfully, my opinions on dance have been changed after viewing World of Dance. BYU's performers in this performance blew me away. I had no idea that dancing could affect my emotions as much as it did during this show. Throughout the relatively short performance, I felt moved in all directions. One dance brought back memories which put me on the verge of tears. Another dance caused me to cry, but from laughter. Within a short hour and a half, I was taken aback by the range of feelings I experienced.

In one number, BYU's male dancers leapt upon their women doll-clad scooters(a hard concept to describe), gliding across the stage with poise, romancing them throughout the piece. I was doubled over at one point, enjoying every minute of it. My respect for dance also grew during this piece because I have no recollection of ever viewing a dance that made me laugh. I realized all the ways that dance can portray feelings and affect others.

I was also impressed by the mood that changed from number to number. The first piece set the perfect tone to grab the audience's attention. The combination of the large moon looming on the backdrop, the smoke creeping across the stage, and the sound of bells jingling gave me chills. The transitions from the different genres of songs were also extremely effective. The changes from classical ballet pieces to contemporary swing numbers to international dances made every five minutes a new adventure.

I'm glad I had the chance to attend this event and I certainly would like to attend more. I also would like to be a BYU contemporary dancer, but we all know that will never happen.

A Newfound Appreciation

Right after I had walked into the De Jong Concert Hall on Friday night and got settled into my seat, a prayer was said that the dancers would be able to portray the message through their dancing that they intended to portray. Given my lack of background in dance, I’m not sure if I fully understood the message, but I was thoroughly impressed nevertheless! Other than watching So You Think You Can Dance on TV, I had never been exposed to the art of dance. I always thought that it was kind of overrated, and that everyone could get up on a stage and move their feet and arms. I was mistaken.

From the second the International Folk Dance Ensemble took the stage, I was in awe. Their precision and accuracy was dead-on and their form was mesmerizing. I could not believe how well each dancer coordinated with the dancer next to him. Even during the fast paced parts of the song, each arm and leg would rise and fall with the same abrupt movements.

My attention was held throughout the next several songs and after watching a Romanian dance, ballet number, and contemporary piece, I began to realize how much variety there is in dance. There is so much creativity involved. You can dance to a slow, heartfelt piece, or jump around in bright colored costumes to a song by Gladys Knight. You can dance to a song that didn’t originate in our country, or as demonstrates in the Wheelenese Waltz, you can even dance with a scooter!

After viewing all fourteen numbers, I sat in my seat and decided that the money in my budget I have set aside for entertainment very well might be used to attend dance concerts in the future. I am glad that the first dance performance I was able to attend was World of Dance so I could get a feel for the variety of different dance forms there are.