Title: Sevillana Corraleras-A Spanish Dance from Seville, Spain Introduction: I am in an intro dance class at Queens College in the Fall of 2012 semester. I am working towards my Computer Science Degree. This class is made up of 28 students. We have studied “Contra Dance”, Merengue and Salsa now we have studied Sevillanas Corraleras, or simply Sevillanas. This essay will be a dance review on “La Novia baila sevillanas el dia el dia de su boda.
The costumes accredited to Jess Gersz were extremely flashy, and looked like it could have been worn out on a normal day, and not just this dance. “Dance Dance Dance” is a dance that serves a purpose of entertainment, with an underlying message that makes the audience think about and question that certain type of dancing (which is entertainment, such as competition or cheering). The one segment of the piece that totally stood out to me was the part of the show where there was a microphone passed to one of the girls, and a couple dancers were throwing out t-shirts to the audience. It was at this point where I realized how this piece was created to create a mockery of competition dancing. The dancers come along the sides of the audience in the aisles and begin to cheer to ‘pump up’ the audience.
It was an interesting twist to their story and helped tie in what had happened in the previous scene. A technique that I noticed that the actors used was “blocking”. As an audience Jaques 1 member in previous performances I had never really noticed how actors use the entire stage. Since in class we have been working a lot with blocking and how it can be used, I thought about it how I could learn from the actor’s use of blocking. Another technique that I took note of was the actor’s ability to create the scenery of where he or she was.
On the other hand there were many dancers who came out in the beginning who perform dancers that looked completely familiar, particularly the women who took their place on the ground. They all came out and did a progression of turns, similar to the one we have practiced in class, where we do turns with our arms in bent positions that mimicked a spiral. Another move I saw performed a lot during the introduction was the simple long strides with bent knees and straight arms that we perform across the studio in class. I always thought that was meant to
I have decided that when I perform, it is for me. Every decision, moment, and mistake is a learning experience. I learn most about myself when I am performing. I have faced fear and allowed my nerves to push me further. Walking off a stage, folding a microphone stand, or simply unlacing my shoes after a performance, for me, is done in a trance because I have left every ounce of my heart, spirit, nerves, and myself within the performance.
Dance is a unique sport because it combines the grit and sweat of sporting events, such as track and field, with the style and extravagance of a fashion show (D.Fowler, 2000). With such an atypical style, dance can be found in various forms. Dance can be entertainment, tradition, recreation, a competitive event, or even a simple act of joy. So should dance be classified as a sport....or what? Many people believe that dance is a "cute" activity that is "fun" but shouldn't be taken seriously.
The controversial topic of whether dance should be considered a sport has gone on for many years but the answer is clear –it is a sport. Dancers deserve more recognition and should not come in second, under any circumstances, to other athletes. Dancers are on teams and they compete against others just like football teams, basketball teams or soccer teams. Dance requires physical strength and flexibility as well as endurance, stamina, practice and teamwork. Therefore, dancers should be treated and viewed as hardworking, talented athletes and nothing less.
As the power of dance took over me, I felt the butterflies in my stomach fly away. Pretty soon I knew the steps by heart, but here comes the tricky part: we have to perform this piece in small groups in front of the judges. “Ok, numbers one through five come up,” said one of the judges, and as I looked at the audition number I received, I was suddenly nervous again; I was number two. My mind was telling me that I couldn’t do it, but I knew I could. With determination and perseverance, I made it through the dance moves perfectly.
In the class, I have appreciated many dance compositions of different periods. Swan Lake was my favorite. Although I only saw the interesting version which were performed by all male dancers, the music and the movement attracted me deeply. Thus, I was eager to see the formal version. As a result, I rented the CD of Swan Lake from the library last Thursday and planned to watch it in a romantic atmosphere, even though Swan Lake was not written in the Romantic Period.
In my exploration of drawing I would like to explore the detail of the body and feet while dancing. I want to capture the value of the colours to capture the different lighting on a stage. I would like to focus on the texture of the costume and shoes that are on the figure. In painting I would like to focus more on the colour and value of the image working with transparency and the idea of showing the skin as the lighter part of the image and having the costuming in a darker tone. My personal experiences with drawing and painting are from previous folios, is that with drawing is more likely to turn out better than the painting.