Due to the flu virus, I wasn't able to blog on time.
Last Wednesday, June 20, 2007, we went to watch the 2nd part of the "Art in Action". The dance workshop was, I think, better than the 1st one, music. I don't know if it was because I appreciated dance better than classical music or because they were just more prepared or maybe it was because of the speaker.
Let's just put it this way, the dance "workshop" was better than the music workshop for a number of factors.
1. The speaker was good. He made a connection we the audience and didn't just stand there as if he was just reading from a script. Also, he spoke in the vernacular if he couldn't express himself in English
. He also made the effort to try and be funny. I think that's good because that kept me awake. It made him interesting to listen to.
2. They were interesting to watch. I was particularly interested in watching the Indian dance. I don't know how the dancer did that but it was good, in a weird sort of way. I could imagine how hard she rehearsed for that dance.
3.I like dances. I like dancing. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed that we won't be able to dance in class (sorry miss!). Sure, I'm not a very good dancer, I don't think I'm even slightly good at it but there's just something about dancing that makes me enjoy it so much. Well maybe with the exception of cheer dancing; that would literally break your bones, unless you're really flexible. Dancing is a bit hard at first. You have to learn a few steps, memorize them, be able to execute them in a way that people would recognize that you're actually dancing and not just doing some weird poses. After that, you have to learn a few more steps and add them to the first ones and the whole process sort of starts all over again. The thing is that its hard to remember everything, the sequence of the steps, your position for a certain set of steps, things like that. You need to have presence of mind and of course, you have to keep to the beat of the music. But learning how to do the dance isn't enough. When performing, you have to give it your all, otherwise it wouldn't look good. No matter how complicated and new and different your choreography is, unless you don't put your heart into it, it wouldn't matter. It would just look crappy. Don't you just wonder why some people look so effortless when their dancing and you just stare at them in awe because their so good? I think its because they love what their doing and their really passionate about it.
When the speaker went up stage, he said something like, "Imagine a world without dance" (and then he started mentioning the sexbomb dancers and the ASF dancers which was funny). I'd have to say, a world without dance would be boring. Dancing makes you express yourself beyond words, which is limited. With dancing, you can express how happy you are, how much sadness you feel, how passionate you are about something. With dance, you can stand your ground against something, as with the transition from classical dance to modern dance. To be honest, I like the modern dance better. I don't know why but I'm not really in to classical music/dance.
Anyway, during the dance workshop, more than half of it was spent on a lecture about dance. Its benefits, the different genres, and the elements of dance. I was actually starting to get annoyed that the lecture was taking so long. I wanted to see the dance is actually danced, not hear about how its danced. But I guess to appreciate the dance more, you would have to learn about its history first.
Of all the dances performed during the workshop, the ones I liked best were the modern dance (they danced "Imagine"), and the Indian dance. I also liked the Maglalatik (I never thought it was a war dance! That was just about the last thing that would cross my mind watching that dance).
I liked the modern dance because, for me, it was so emotional. You can feel the essence of the song they are dancing to but its like the dance is a different entity all on its own. Its a bit hard to explain....but anyway. The Indian dance, I liked it mainly because I haven't seen anything quite like it. It was a totally new experience for me, watching that performed. I really don't know how she did that move with the shoulders. That must've been hard to practice.