I recently attended two dance performances—one at Cornell’s Schwartz Center and the other at the downtown State Theater. The two performances could not have been more different, not only in content but in audience response.
On October 2, the Schwartz Center presented Trajal Harrel’s Quartet for the End of Time. Following a ten-minute slideshow of random pictures, the show consisted of four dancers entering the stage, lying down, taking off and meticulously folding their clothes, getting up and leaving the stage—only to return and repeat the motions countless times. It finally ended with a clip from an obscure film.
I was apparently misled when I was told that I would be attending a dance performance, since no dancing occurred. While I sat wondering if this was some kind of practical joke, my fellow audience members did not even stay long enough to find out. Never I seen so many people leave during a show. Though I was not thrilled that I wasted almost two hours of my time (not to mention $25), I still think that those involved in the show deserved more respect. (Read a Daily Sun review.)
Although I was reluctant to attend another dance show, a good friend convinced me to attend a performance by modern dance company Ailey II at the State Theater. The twelve-person company, part of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, performed four pieces: “The External Knot,” “Takademe,” “Fragile,” and the iconic “Revelations,” which was choreographed by founder of the dance theater, Alvin Ailey, in 1960.
The energy and talent of the dancers and the beauty of the choreography dazzled the audience, so much so that the standing ovation lasted over five minutes. Following the ovation, the dancers performed an encore to the sound of the audience clapping in unison. I have never experienced such vivacity in an audience, especially not at a dance performance. It seemed that each person left the State with a smile—and I certainly left with a restored faith in dance.
— Jamie Leonard ’09