Preston Donovan

Professor Smith

DAN 166 1003

November 22, 2015

Optional Extra Credit

1. Kayla & Kupono * Contemporary – Gravity

The genre looks like modern dance. The song is titles gravity, which emphasizes

weight just as many of their moves like when the male lifts the female and she falls

limp or when he pushes her down while she tries to lift herself. I liked this dance, it

was interesting and the song choice fit their dance. I liked how quick they moved

because it shows how well rehearsed it is.

2. Light Rain, Joffrey Ballet - Choreography by Gerald Arpino

This dance is a strange ballet as shown from the pointe shoes and dances done on

pointe. It’s strange because the dips, dragging. And crawling make it more modern. I

would say the genre is best explained as contemporary ballet. This dance was also

done well and I liked how the men controlled the main female like a rag doll and

seemed to control most of her movements. I thought it looked sort of silly when all of

the background dancers walked together without moving their arms because it

reminded me of a group of robots.

3. Dance Theatre of Harlem in Contested Space

The ladies are wearing pointe shoes while the man have bare feet. I would say this

dance is also contemporary ballet with females being the ballet part and the males the

modern dance part. This is one of the dances that made me ask myself what I was

watching. Sort of strange but I did like the fames moving so quickly on their toes in

the beginning. The males didn’t seem to be necessary and had much less interesting

dances. Without the males I think it would have been better and the genre would then

be Neoclassical ballet.

4. [Routine] Comfort & Adechike - Lyrical Hip Hop

This dance was definitely far from ballet. I would say modern dance or hip hop best

describes this dance. Hip hop is shown because it seems to have more structure than I

expect a modern dance piece would have. I think it’s interesting how a dance can very

easily tell a story by using a simple prop such as the suitcase used. Also though, a

fighting couple is an easy story to tell in a dance. The story matches the music and the

dance does well to combine them further.

5. The dying swan

This is without a doubt ballet. Slow, in the air, on pointe. At first I thought it was

classical ballet but as it went on I do believe the dance is a guy and the comedy used

some untraditional techniques which makes it neoclassical. I thought the dance was

entertaining and I really liked how many feathers fell and continued to fall from the

too-too. The ending was also entertaining at watching the dancer cheer on the crowd

and comically make mistakes and show off. If Mr. Bean was into ballet, this would be

him.

6. Moon Over Jupiter - Choreographer Dwight Rhoden (Work Sample) Complexions ballet

This piece looks like contemporary ballet. Just as in “Dance Theatre of Harlem in

Contested Space,” The females were on pointe and the males were not. There was

some odd bent over dance moves as well as some floor slides which I believe turn this

ballet into contemporary. I didn’t enjoy this piece too much because it didn’t have

much meaning to me nor show any impressive or unique dances. While everything

looked good, there was nothing to make it stand out. The best part was the end when

all the males were on the floor and they curved their bodies at the same time making

waves.

7. SYTYCD S09 (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater - The Hunt)

I would call this piece modern. There aren’t enough turns or ground movements and

not enough exciting moves to make this hip hop but it still felt grounded. For some

reason I thought the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was for ballet which must

be incorrect. This dance was not very interesting either. It was mostly men dancing

with each other and skipping around. Everything was done well but it doesn’t hold

me attention well and I kept expecting something more to happen.

8. Savion Glover - Dancing With The Stars

The intro names this genre; tap dance. The shoes sound support this. I would further

classify it was wing dancing because of the flailing arms and the speed of movement

was quick. I enjoyed this and liked how the beginning of it had no music at all

because I could clearly hear the beat created from the shoes. I liked seeing how quick

the feet moved. Tap dance doesn’t really look that hard and I wouldn’t be sure how I

would tell you someone is better than another, but I know this was done very well.

9. Pilobolus Dance Theatre

I have no idea where to start to give this dance a genre. Shadow dance I would guess.

These shadow dances make me think of movies like night at the museum because the

actors have to pretend to see the giant dinosaur chasing them, just as this dancer

pretend to see and feel a giant hand. These dances are similar to magic shows because

they both are based on illusion. What was this about though? Did God turn a lady into

a dog face and then leave her? Interesting, unique, and strange.

10. So You Think You Can Dance - Top 10 Guys (Hip Hop / Contemporary)

This dance is hip hop and can be shown by the flips these men do together as well as that

the title says hip hop / contemporary. I liked the doors but their use felt somewhat cheesy.

The music was also annoying. The flips and turns looked great but the music takes away a

lot of the performance.

11. Spellbound Contemporary Ballet " Lost For Words"

This dance comes off very modern dance like to me. I do not see the ballet part that the title

gives it. Much of this dance is don’t near the ground and hunched over. All together it

didn’t really feel like a dance because there were so many cuts and transitions to different

moments. If someone put a cool modern dance piece in a blender, pieced it back together

and replaced the audio with a generic beat and voiced over a suicide note it would create

this dance. The dancing looks impressive and well done, but what is going on in the video

editor’s head?

12. S .YTYCD Tanisha Belnap & Rudy Abreu – Hip-Hop Spandex Leggings

The title here says hip hop but I feel jazz dance would also fit this because there are many

isolations done. Thus, I would say the genre is Jazz Funk. The costumes are off but fit

well with the background and make me think on a superhero vs villain battle on a roof

top. This dance looks like it was fun to do. I wish the guy kept his hat on because his

thick mohawk was distracting like food stuck in somebody’s teeth.