The dance performance I had the opportunity to see was a rather interesting and thought provoking dance performance by Monica Bill Barnes & Company called Modern Dance and choreographed by Monica Bill Barnes and Anna Bass. It was in several ways a representation of the current American society. It was a performance done by only two females dressed in male suits. The movement in the performance was very locomotive. The female dancers were portraying “masculine” characteristics, so the movement was very agile, quick and athletic. The movements often involved quick leg movements, confident posture and bound movement of the hand that could signify power or charisma. There was a lot of quick movements like jumping, running even fast paced walking and often times bending. The body stance was often stretched wide, with arms stretched out either to the sides or upwards. The body stance was also convex, which I assume was a way to exude masculine confidence. Effort quality depended on the dance piece. Some pieces were more sustained with an indirect movement while others were very quick and direct. I remember one of the pieces just had the dancers running back and …show more content…
People are demanding more fluidity between genders and this dance in my opinion could be categorized under that movement. Like I mentioned earlier the movement of the dance were very quick and fast to show agility, the shoulders were broad to exude confidence and charisma while some of the gestures portrayed aggression. The costumes were male’s suits and some of the dance pieces showed actions that are typically done by men like the proposal. Being the tomboy female that I am who grew up with western ideologies in a not so gender equality friendly nation—Nigeria—I thought this dance was an amazing piece. It portrayed aspects that are seen as masculine but also elements like emotions that are most times categorized as “feminine” rather than