A Successful Dance Experiment

When a bunch of people get together because they think it might be fun to perform as a dance group on stage, you have to be wary.  Called “Dance Experiment,” it is the brain child of Saya April Hillman who owns a digital media company, Mac ‘n Cheese, and whose video work has been recognized at film festivals internationally.

Saya had encouraged 16 people who liked the challenge of exercise and dance to join her with the scary goal of performing in front of an audience.  

I went to the theater to see the show as a loving grandma who would sit through this amateur hour because that’s what grandmas do.  Natalie, 17, still in high school was younger than the others who were on their way into their very different professions.  Natalie and Saya are cousins, thus her invitation into this disparate group.  

I expected a dance recital but it was a rounded program starting with a video describing the effort, introducing the dancers (two brave young men among the young women) and documenting their progress as they worked with the professional choreographer, Christina Audrey Chen.  Even as amateurs the women moved with natural grace. The young men were wooden stick figures.  As the lessons and exercises progressed, surprising  to me, the men were starting to blend in.  

The video paused, the theater went dark.  Music.  And here on stage were the dancers.  Excitement!  They were good!  The choreography was intriguing.  Even funny.  At one point, there were two rows of bodies on the floor with one person lying across each.  And these logs rolled over and over moving the body to the end.  OK so it wasn’t dancing.  It was entertaining.  It worked with the music.

Back to the video for more exposition.  Intermittently we saw four live dance routines.  The dancers in their black pants and royal blue tee shirts blended into a unit.  Not quite. One young lady tugged her tee shirt down as she bounded up from the floor.  I wasn’t looking at her but the tiny movement was so disruptive it grabbed my attention.   An interesting lesson, there.  Dancers, not one false move!  

Each of the routines was different and delightful.  Truly an accomplishment for 17 raw recruits.

I watched the flow of the bodies as a group.  I watched them individually.  But there was an energy on the floor that kept pulling me back to this one dancer.  The chorographer recognized her electricity and had placed her front and center.  As the routines shifted the bodies to different spaces on the floor, there was still that one dynamic dancer who drew the eye.  She was DANCING.  

OK.  It was our Natalie.

----Florence

Comments

[Penny]

Oooo! I felt the energy of the dancers and the placement of the performances - and the pride of a grandmother. Bravo!

[Ellen]

Ohhh Honey ... Atta girl Natalie :-)

You will never regret dancing ... a happy joy of life ...