May O Donnell Video Analysis

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Aimy Day Modern Paper Nancy Lushington May O’Donnell Paper The May O’Donnell video showed various pieces of her company in the CBS network studio. The choreography very much correlated to the combinations our class practices every day in class. Her technique is very specific and each of her movements are very technical. The use of contraction, release and extension is prominent in her technique. In the video, the dance looked like it was very easy to execute but having already been in the technique class all year, it is amazing to know that doing the movements correctly is actually difficult. May O’Donnell constructs her pieces with the use of spacial structure. She organizes her dancers so that different groups are spread out differently throughout the stage and at times she uses all dancers in one singular spacial structure, like a diagonal. She changes the organization on stage frequently so that the audience would be constantly captivated by the rapid action on stage. She also uses many other choreographic tools to keep the attention of the audience and bring contrast to her piece. For example, the dancers in her pieces are usually in different levels when they dance. She also positions them in different directions at…show more content…
They wore unitards so every inch of a dancer’s line is celebrated. Although some had random jewels on it that I thought did not fit the piece, the unitards definitely enhanced the ideas and themes of the dance. She also had dresses for girls and pants and shirts for guys in some pieces. In Nancy’s solo J, she was wearing a costume that had pants with very high slits, which showed off the lines of her legs. I find it interesting how O’Donnell used the unitards to detach a dancer of his or her gender to make all the dancers interchangeable. On the other hand, she also enhances their masculinity or femininity by making them wear clothes that complimented their

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