Dorothy Jemison's The Bonnie And Clyde Ballet

The Bonnie and Clyde ballet was excellent. It was performed at the Dorothy Jemison Theater. The theater had elevated seats so everyone could see the stage which is helpful. At first I was kind of confused with what was going in the play, but after reading the program book where they described the scenes. This helped me understand the ballet and the meaning behind it. The ballet included elements to enhance the ballet. These elements included sound, video, and props. The Bonnie and Clyde ballet was great because it stayed with the time period. The set design, music, video, and lighting fit in the time period. It made the ballet of Bonnie and Clyde more believable. The music was jazz music which was popular during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Even

The video help set the atmosphere because it set up the setting. Some examples would include when the stock market crashed they showed a video of how life was like during that time. It was also ironic that the ballet happened on October 29 the same day when the stock market crashed. This helps set up the next scene. Another example would include when Clyde goes to jail for the first time. They show a video of people getting arrested back then and what life was like in prison in that time period. Then it shows the guys dancing and breaking rocks just like the video. The video also helped showed how notorious the Barrow Gang was in their time period. It showed how dangerous they were and how popular. I also liked how the video show their pictures and how the dancers recreated the photoshoot. In the original photoshoot the dancers tried to actually match their clothing styles. It showed how popular they were with the American population. They showed original newspapers of them and their actual pictures. I liked that because it showed that the ballet stuck to the story of Bonnie and

Some props they used as a part of their dances. An example would include when Clyde is in prison and they used the hammers to dance with them. They also used the cell door as a prop to add to their dancing. Clyde and Bonnie used the cell door in their dance number. Bonnie used the cell to help her jump across or she would slide down the cell door. The chain gang numbered showed how the dancers how to dance as one because they were chained as one. I thought that dance scene was really great. Also the car that Bonnie and Clyde stole was a prop they used in the ballet to dance with. At the end when Bonnie and Clyde were on the run from the police they perform a dance where they use the car to help them dance. The Bonnie and Clyde ballet performance was excellent because they had different elements to help you feel like you were in that time period. Some of the elements that stood out that were really good where the music, the videos, and the props. I think the Alabama Ballet did a great job of turning Bonnie and Clyde into a ballet. At first I did not think that it was going to be good, but they stuck to the story and the dancing was easily to follow the