Music And Dance In The Film 'High Strung'

Taking the Stage by Storm Undoubtedly, music and dance fit together like peanut butter and jelly. Dancing without the beat, rhythm and flow of music feels empty and meaningless. In the 2016 American film High Strung, main characters Johnnie, a street-performing violinist, and Ruby, a scholarly ballerina, collaborate with the help of a rising hip-hop dance group to create an extraordinary blend of sound and movement, combining multiple unlikely forms of music and dance in order to win a competition. The silent, serene stage sets a calming yet mysterious scene. Suddenly, the rhythmic pounding of a single drum lures dark storm clouds to the edges of the stage. Once these clouds, heavy and gray, have cast their shadow over the audience, a soothing breeze streams from the violin. This gentle yet threatening wind, a precursor for the storm brewing, gives the audience a chance to speculate and prepare for what lies ahead--the calm before the storm.

Her elegance flows through each of her long limbs like that of a rose’s petals, and as the rain falls harder, the first boom of thunder falls upon the crowd. This awakening, brought forth by bold, flamboyant, flagrant movements coming from the new set of dancers, contrasts from the previous gracefulness of ballet. The confused audience can begin to smell the stormy, earthy air, hear the cracking thunder, feel the eeriness of the windy violin and watch as the storm begins to come together, full