Essay on Dance Concert Review

The dance performance that I observed was Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella. I saw it at the Ahmanson Theatre on March 3. There were three acts and a prologue with the cast previewing a movie showing what to do during an air raid. This is significant because, at the end of the first act, Cinderella is stuck outside in an air raid and passes out or dies because of the attack. In the first act, the two main scenes were at The Family House and during The Blackout. In the second act, after the air raid and Cinderella falls, the dancers are in the Café de Paris -- dance hall, and then Cinderella and the Pilot are back at the Pilot’s Lodgings. In the third act, the dancers wander through London, on The Streets of London, the London Underground, The Thames Embankment, then A Convalescent Home, and the final scene is at Paddington Station, where Cinderella and the pilot run off together. After watching Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella, I would give it a 3.5 stars out of 4. This is because I was not expecting the way that Matthew Bourne took Cinderella and modified it. As someone who has grown up watching Disney movies on repeat, I did not think of the way that he changed the story. Though the story and dancing were interesting, I think that it got to be a little hard to follow because at one point there was an air raid and the café was ruined, but then the next moment it was back to being a pristine café with a ball going on. Matthew Bourne took Cinderella in a completely different direction, but I think that he presented it in an interesting manner that reimagined my idea of Cinderella. The first dance piece that I will be talking about is the scene in which Cinderella is dancing with the mannequin after everyone else in the house has gone to bed, and then, the mannequin turns into a real person, the pilot, for her to dance with. In this scene, Cinderella was wearing her simple, long, gray skirt, with the white collared shirt and gray button-up sweater. The important part of her costume in this scene is her sparkly heels. These heels she keeps tucked away in a box from her stepfamily because they would probably take them away. In this scene, the only dancers on stage were Cinderella and the mannequin, or the pilot. This dance is a waltz, so the dancers are dancing together, and they are elegant but also stiff to keep their posture. In this piece, the dancers focus on each other because they are trying to portray that they are deeply in love with each other. Since the dancers are trying to be graceful and work together, they keep their posture, tall and strong, to provide them stability and strength for the lifts and the turns. The choreography tells the story of the Cinderella’s and the pilot’s relationship. It shows that they dream of being together, but because of Cinderella’s family and the pilot’s job in the war, they can not be together. I can tell that these dancers are very talented and professional. I was able to see that they have put in the time and effort to make the production run smoothly. Also, they make these dances look easy and that shows how talented these dancers are. The second dance piece that I will be covering is the one when Cinderella was at the café and all of the different men were lining up to dance with her, as she moves from one person to the next, they start following each other and end up all in a line behind each other. At the end of this piece, Cinderella ends up dancing with the pilot, her true love. In this scene, Cinderella has changed into an elegant, flowy dress that she can wear to the ball. Throughout the whole performance, no dancers were in the typical leotard and tights, they were all in costumes that related to their part and the period that the show was set in. Again this dance was a waltz, so the dancers are dancing in unison, but when the suitors are lined up behind each other, there is a delay in their movements, but they are still in unison. These dancers are very skilled because they make these dances look easy. This is hard to do because these dances and the choreography are very technical and skilled. In both dances, they are performing a waltz type of dance, and in our thirties dance, when we spin and kick with our partners, some of their choreography looks like those moves. The dancer's focus is on each other, but Cinderella mostly connects with the pilot. In this scene, the dancers hold a firm position, but they allow for flexibility during turns and dips. The choreography is trying to portray that everyone wants to dance with Cinderella because she is so beautiful, but she only connects with her prince charming, the pilot. In this scene, there are no props used, only the set decorations. I think that this piece was eloquent and executed very well. As a new dancer, I can see the amount of effort that goes into just one scene, and I feel great respect for these dancers who can do whole shows that come out seamlessly to the viewer. From watching this performance, I can learn about the time and patience that goes into learning new choreography. These dancers take months to learn this show, and they also have to learn many different roles. This also takes a lot of practice, in and out of the studio. I think that this performance has also shown me that I need to practice more, but not just quickly, and hop from one part of the dance to another. Even if it was just for fifteen minutes a day, that could help. As long as the practice is quality work, taking it slow at first to get the basics, and then speeding it up until you get it right, I think that will help. Finally, this show has taught me to trust in my memory. You can only practice so much, and if you stress you can forget it, but as long as you can manage that stress then the choreography will come to you. The dancers in this performance do this show many times, so now it comes as a second nature, so I have to trust in my memory so that it can become second nature. Overall, this show was taken a completely different direction than I expected, but it has taught me about trust and patience, virtues that we all need in our lives at some point.