Come see the Momentum Dance Concert on Thursday, March 18th at 7:30 p.m. at Miami Dade College, Kendall Campus at the McCarthy Auditorium, room 6120.
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OnStage is the official concert series of Miami Dade College, Kendall Campus and seeks to exhibit the combined talents of students and faculty in the Music, Theater and Dance Department.
MUSIC, THEATER & DANCE
Miami Dade College-Kendall Campus
11011 SW 104th Street
Miami, FL. 33176
Room: 8221
Phone: 305-237-2282
Website: www.mdc.edu/kendall/mtd
Favorite Quote: Where vision, passion and artistry meet with opportunity.
11011 SW 104th Street
Miami, FL. 33176
Room: 8221
Phone: 305-237-2282
Website: www.mdc.edu/kendall/mtd
Favorite Quote: Where vision, passion and artistry meet with opportunity.
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
On Stage Calendar
* Notice: All performances are presented free (except as noted) and open to the public. Programs, artists and dates are subject to change without notice. To confirm all performances please call 305-237-2282 or 305-237-2203
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• Brass Ensemble
• Celebration Jazz Choir
• Flute Ensemble*
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• String Ensemble
• Theater Production
• Wind Symphony*
• Women's Chorale
• Woodwind Ensemble
* These ensembles can also be taken as non-credit through community education.
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2 comments:
Ashley Kehoe
DAA 1500
MDC ID Y30-65-4258
Jazz Dance 1/Spring 2009-2
Monday & Wednesday 11:15-12:30
Momentum Dance Company Performance
Momentum Dance Company’s performance at the Miami Dade College Kendall
Campus on March 18, 2010 featured the choreography of Delma Iles. The first
performance titled, “Obamanomics,” was a political reference to the recent bank bailout
in which all Americans have been and currently are paying the price for greed on Wall
Street. After the introduction from Ms. Iles, a video beamed images of money on the
stage making strong reference to capitalism, and surprising me with the multimedia
approach to the concept. The music used for the piece was appropriate in that it was
bouncy, lively and reminiscent of the early 1940’s. The piece began with the dancers in
their underwear attempting to fit into clothes that were way too small. The work was
clever, yet the quality of the video weakened the impact and was distracting to the overall
concept. There were a few bubble bursts scenes in which a man holding a single balloon,
(at first) or balloons came out on stage and a ballerina in full tutu and on pointe danced
over to him and popped his balloons one by one. It was appropriate the first time but then
became predictable.
The following piece was titled, “Parsing the Curve,” in which a pregnant dancer
explores movement. There was s single spotlight on the stage and she was wearing her
underwear. Some of the movements reminded me of what I imagined when I was
pregnant and my baby was growing and swimming inside me, as they were fluid, smooth
and elegant. The spotlight was the perfect accompaniment to the dancer on the stage, as
she was able to move in and out of the light, representing different stages of growth and
change. In addition, it was significant to birth as the baby is born out of the darkness and
safety within the mother and into the harsh light and first breath of the world.
The third piece was the last piece I saw and it was a clever series of
improvisational movements revealing the beauty and timing in which dancers explore
space, time and interaction between one another. This was the most engaging piece as the
dancers wore colorful clothes and moved in random ways around each other through each
other and on top of each other. Every space of the stage was used and there was always
something keeping my attention.
I appreciate the pieces selected for this mini-concert, yet I feel it lacked
cohesiveness. The political tone of the first piece did not flow well by the solo by the
pregnant dancer. I think it would have worked better to choose one theme for the entire
concert and to explore different forms of dance and music under the one theme. Bursting
one’s bubble is exactly what the fat cat banking industry has done to all classes of
Americans, except perhaps the extremely wealthy. From foreclosures to layoffs, the
unpredictability can easily be expressed through movement. This may have been a
general-enough subject to explore throughout an entire concert in order to make impact
and provoke thought and change. Using a contrasting series of rapid and slower
movements keep the interest of the audience meanwhile; showcasing the talents of the
performers.
On Friday, March 19 I had the opportunity to go see Yin Mei’s ¬“City of Paper”. It was a modern piece performed by three dancers all of Chinese origins. The structure of the program had a very abstract feeling to it. It went from the beginning of the creation of paper to the height of the Cultural Revolution in which paper was used to control how people thought. It began very slowly with the dancers moving exactly the same at the same slow tempo, to gradually hit a high point where all three dancers where moving at the same time with different movements to a sudden stop, where a message of how a blank piece of paper could create the most beautiful pictures.
The dance though modern, had a very Asian flare to it. The older man in the group, when alone, used a lot of traditional Chinese dance techniques as where the younger male stuck more to modern techniques. However, the slow movements did stymie the audience from really being able to be wowed by dance techniques that could have been a real highlight otherwise. Overall, the theme of paper was apparent in the performance because they were either using a piece of it while dancing or brought the Cultural Revolution to life by showing how society progressed by the use of paper. The digital elements used also helped keep the theme during the performance. All of this was enhanced by the costumes and props they used. Their costumes were very simple from start to finish. To start they had a light silver long sleeve shirt and pants, then towards the end she changed in to a short plain black dress and the younger performer into short black shorts, the older performer changed into more ragged khaki canvas pants and a green long sleeve shirt that looked tattered. It was almost like the other two had been sucked into the Cultural Revolution but he remained true to the life that was before it. Also, in the middle of the production, which was the most memorable part of the show, was when they hung long pieces of white paper all around the stage and as they splashed black paint onto it, representing the propaganda used to slander people. They then reflected images of the people in China, it was truly an amazing part in the show. In all just to see how they kept laying out paper on the stage or held it, was very impressive and helped the idea come to life. The younger male performer had the opportunity to show off his skills and did an amazing job at it.
Yin Mei’s choreography introduced a very different concept compared to what I have seen before. It was a very gentle piece with a big message about something that she experienced firsthand. It was interesting to try and see this from her point of view and not what history books may say. Overall, I wouldn’t say that it was my favorite performance ever, I found it to be too slow but it was memorable nonetheless. From hearing other people reactions, many also though the same as me but there were many others there that were very enthusiastic about the performance. I would say that it succeeded because of how impacting it was.
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