Fix Me Jesus
Describe how each relevant element is used.
Dance: The dancers move in rigid positions, as if they are not yet human and somehow incomplete. There are two performers on stage for the majority of the time.
Position: They two dancers, one male and one female are constantly in each other's arms. Their positions create stiff angles with their bodies and the floor. As the number progresses, the body positions become less rigid and more natural.
Movement: The movements of the two dancers seem to mimic prayer. They are reminiscent of classical ballet but at the same time there is a rigidity rather than a fluidity.
Mise-en-scene: For the majority of the time, the two dancers stand in the center of the stage. Only when they separate from one another does the scene extend past this center stage.
Music: The music of the dance is operatic. There is a predominant female singer and the vocals make the instruments almost inaudible.
b. Which elements in that medium are difficult to recognize? Why?
The most difficult to recognize would be movement and position because it is hard to discern the two and to separate them as unique portions of the performance.
c. Which elements in that medium elicit the most response from you? Why?
The positions of the dancers and the expression elicit the most response from me. Seeing the expressions on the faces of the performers makes the viewer experience the same kind of religious excitement that the dancers are supposed to feel.
Find the repetition. For each element, describe how the most obvious uses of it are repeated.
a. What are the exact replications and the variations?
Several movements are repeated throughout the performance. Frequently, the arms of the dancers stretch out and up towards the sky. Variations of this are when the male dancer lowers his arms and uses them either to pet the female dancer or to impede her own movements.
b. What patterns are created across the work?
The patterns of movement that are created in the work serve to tell a story. Frequently, the female dancer performs actions which are similar to prayer. The male dancer embraces her and then walks away, as if defying her faith. The pattern of behavior is that the man accepts and then rejects the faith that she is offering.
3. What are the most emphasized areas of the work? Describe them.
The most emphasized areas of the work are the obvious religious emphasis of the performance.
a. What surrounds these areas that makes them stand out?
The movements in the dance that obviously resemble the traditional motions of prayer would make it clear that the religious components of the dance are supposed to be made clear to the viewer.
4. How is the work balanced?
a. Where in the work do you start to feel yourself getting anxious and/or curious?
The most interesting part of the performance is when the male dancer walks away from the female. The viewer cannot see this moment without considering it…
