I went to see the Dance MOViES commission performance. This piece consisted of five short films, each of which was required to combine dance and moving image technology. At first I was unsure of how I was going to feel about this performance, but I decided that I would take a chance and go see it. Parts of this performance were interesting, whereas others were not.

The first film shown to us was a piece where the screen was partitioned into three different sections. Generally one screen showed an Asian dancer, another showed images of places that appeared to be abandoned, or people running about, or some other image that tended to portray fear, and the third would be a very slow moving image of the dancer. The overall effect on the viewer was one of fear, and the images seemed to portray that of an apocalypse or post apocalyptic world. Featured predominantly in the movie were the dancer’s hands moving about, whether it is his dancing, or doing some action like being put in water. It was not the best of the films, but it did convey its message well.

The second was a film entitled hoops. It consisted of a woman dancing using hoops. She would sometimes spin them around parts of her body. Other times, she would contort he body so that the hoop encircled her. Finally, other times, the hoop would be suspended by cables and she would ride it while it spun. I realize that this description sounds vague and boring, but that is how I felt about it. I found it to be exceptionally weak in terms of meaning and thought it to be a little half-hearted. While I do realize that some skill is required to be able to use a hoop to encircle oneself and move it, I felt as if the piece did not have any meaning or message at all.

The third film was more interesting, yet it had its own set of problems. It was set in an urban environment at night. As cars drove by the scene, they would be blurred so that the only thing the viewer saw was light beams. This was a pretty cool effect. As this went on, the dancers would be walking down the sidewalks and passing each other. Eventually, the dancers would begin. The dancing in this was reminiscent, if not, popping. This part of the film was impressive, and seemed to convey different messages depending on the dancer. For instance, one of them reaches a point in the sidewalk, which he never crosses. He does many moves to make it appear that he would, but then would snap back to his original position. I felt this was trying to convey the idea that we as a people may reach a point that we can never cross, as in technology. After, two of the dancers meet, and begin to push each other while at the same time leaning on each other. This was trying to convey that, whether we like it or not, we as a people need each other to lean on, no matter how much we try and fight it. I felt that this portion of the film was kind of drawn out and poorly filmed, as it looked to be just a bunch of pushing and falling over. After this portion, the film returns to the dancing individually before its end.

The fourth film was my personal favorite. It was about four males in Rio de Janeiro, who would dress up as clowns and juggle at red lights for motorists who were waiting for the light. After, they would go and collect money from motorists who paid. The beginning of the movie consisted of each male talking individually about what they did, and what it meant to them. It was an excellent source of revenue for some. For others, it was the challenge of the idea. The would go about juggling in front of cars blindfolded, standing on towers of boxes ready to implode, or not balanced at all. Their act was quite entertaining to watch, and they were very talented showmen.

The fifth film was much different. Maybe it was because I really liked the fourth, or maybe because I just didn’t like it, but I personally thought the last film was the worst. It consisted of people shaking violently while dressed in ridiculous outfits. If they weren’t shaking, they were rocking back and forth as if in total fear. The title was “Anatomy of Melancholy,” and it was supposed to portray this type of felling, but frankly I didn’t get this. It seemed quite devoid of thought and was quite sporadic and choppy.