Personal Aesthetic Tends to Surround

¶ … personal aesthetic tends to surround color and texture; the idea of a sunset coming through the clouds, or the sensual experience of the first Spring rainstorm and the smell of the soil in the mornings when the dew just begins to evaporate. This, for me, is noticing and celebrating the natural world and bleeds over into the way I dress, the jewelry I purchase, and especially the way I decorate my living space.

I am fairly omnivorous when it comes to music and entertainment -- there are various levels of excellence one can find in something as simple as a sit-com, different movies, the theater, symphony, jazz, opera, etc. The music and the story tend to move me emotionally -- for instance, in the opera La Boheme, there is a scene in which 4 characters are singing at the same time, all with different emotions. Simple folk music is also attractive to me, particularly when it focuses on themes that deal with human equality.

Part 2 - My personal dance aesthetic is probably best described as fluid and empathetic. Dance should communicate emotion, and much like the color, texture and style of a painting; or the instrumentation of music, dance must also communicate using the human body (or bodies) in a way that allows the audience to have an emotional experience and connection to the piece. By using the terms fluid and empathetic, I tend to focus more on evolving movement that comes from what I consider to be my inner core.

Part 3 -- the Rite of Spring was certainly controversial when it premiered the primitive sounds of the orchestra and the costumes unlike anything the audience had experienced before. Yet, even though the music is used in a number of movies (for example, the first Fantasia), if one reads about the piece one finds that it is really more a celebration of paganism and primitive Slavic peoples (Kelly, 1999). 1.

Nijinsky, the choreographer for the Joffrey Ballet selection, seems to focus on the older tradition of Russian ballet in that there is a central person (soloist) and the other dancers reflecting stringent, non-fluid movements that are almost geometric and remind one, in some ways, of dances seen in typical American Indian productions. The soloist, for the first part of the scene Danse Sacral is relatively quiet, almost mime-like. About halfway through the soloist also imitates fear and the use of geometric lines to create a brooding and primitive setting. 2.

Pina Bausch's interpretation of the piece is more primal in some ways with obvious sexual gyrations from the troupe while the soloists, one male and female, transverse the stage almost "tasking" the different temptations. Costumes in this are simple, men bare chested in black tights, women in white shifts except for the red sacrificial "virgin." Interesting was also the lack of facial expression on all the characters, almost as if the characters were, in fact, not really human, but more ethers from Mother Nature.

The wild abandonment of the female soloist, who finally bares her breast in an almost orgasmic frenzy moving from male to male with motions that seem fluid but primal. 3. Emanuel Gat's interpretation is the most contemporary interpretation of the three. Instead of focusing on a soloist and troupe, the scene opens with 3 couples, who, at times leave the central red box (lights) to work with the sacrificial virgin.

The men are bald and all characters in black, the women have long, unbraided hair so that in the red light, the only real images we see are the skin on the dancers. The choreography, though, seemed less primitive and almost as if the characters were dancing in a 1920s speakeasy or Cabaret show. Responses To Alyssa -- I particularly enjoyed your noting of the changing of partners, styles, and motions in the Stravinsky.

You correctly pointed out the complications in the Gat piece, but I wondered which you thought communicated Stravinsky's intent. I also loved that you express so well your personal comfort in simple and beautiful open spaces. To Nichole -- it was nice to hear that.