Reviews
Garth Fagan Dance
04/02/08 11:22
On January 26, I went to the Hult Center to see Garth
Fagan Dance, a modern dance company. Garth Fagan, the
leader, was born in Jamaica and got started dancing
when he toured Latin America with Ivy Baxter and the
Jamaican national dance company. He also studied in
New York City with Allen Ailey, Martha Graham and
others. He is well-known for having choreographed The
Lion King. Garth Fagan Dance is in its 37th season.
They are known for core strength, Afro-Carribbean
dance, and speed and precision.
From their website:
"The handsome, exotic, completely concentrated Fagan dancers move as if they were born speaking Fagan's language and they love the feel of it in their bodies," wrote Elizabeth Kendall in Vogue. "The dancers he has trained," said David Vaughan in Ballet Review, "are virtuosi, no doubt about it, and fearless too, able to sustain long adagio balances, to change direction in mid-air, to vary the dynamic of a turn, to stop on a dime."
I thought that the dancing was very good. I was impressed by their core strength, their tummy muscles were strong enough that they could do very fast turns without falling over. They were able to balance for a long time in arabesques, up on releve, almost upside down on one leg with the other leg up in the air.
My favorite piece was called "River Song." It was like a Native American dance. The music had lots of drums and singing, and the costumes looked like Native American costumes with feathers and headdresses. They were designed by Linda King, a member of the confederation Salish and Kootenai Tribe and is famous for beadwork and costume design. It was my favorite because I have always liked Native American music and dancing. They used rhythmic and energetic movements, hopping from foot to foot, bending up and down and turning around.
Another piece I liked was called "Discipline is Freedom." It began like the dancers were doing a class. They were stretching and balancing. My favorite part was when two lines of dancers crossed the stage in an X shape, weaving in and out of each other, doing fast chainee turns while moving their arms up and down so it looked all crazy and weird. Their arms were held out to the sides with their elbows bent, one pointing up and one pointing down. They switched them up and down while doing the turns at the same time.
I was inspired by Garth Fagan Dance because I like to do my own modern dancing. I could see how it was different from Ballet, which is actually a bit more graceful and romantic. Modern dance feels different in my body, I have to think about the movements I'm going to do differently. It feels like you can be more energetic and actually look like you're working hard, which is different from ballet where you have to look like you're not working at all. I like that about ballet, but it can be difficult to such hard stuff and try to make the audience think that it's effortless. Sometimes I feel that modern dance is easier, because it's OK to be athletic.
From their website:
"The handsome, exotic, completely concentrated Fagan dancers move as if they were born speaking Fagan's language and they love the feel of it in their bodies," wrote Elizabeth Kendall in Vogue. "The dancers he has trained," said David Vaughan in Ballet Review, "are virtuosi, no doubt about it, and fearless too, able to sustain long adagio balances, to change direction in mid-air, to vary the dynamic of a turn, to stop on a dime."
I thought that the dancing was very good. I was impressed by their core strength, their tummy muscles were strong enough that they could do very fast turns without falling over. They were able to balance for a long time in arabesques, up on releve, almost upside down on one leg with the other leg up in the air.
My favorite piece was called "River Song." It was like a Native American dance. The music had lots of drums and singing, and the costumes looked like Native American costumes with feathers and headdresses. They were designed by Linda King, a member of the confederation Salish and Kootenai Tribe and is famous for beadwork and costume design. It was my favorite because I have always liked Native American music and dancing. They used rhythmic and energetic movements, hopping from foot to foot, bending up and down and turning around.
Another piece I liked was called "Discipline is Freedom." It began like the dancers were doing a class. They were stretching and balancing. My favorite part was when two lines of dancers crossed the stage in an X shape, weaving in and out of each other, doing fast chainee turns while moving their arms up and down so it looked all crazy and weird. Their arms were held out to the sides with their elbows bent, one pointing up and one pointing down. They switched them up and down while doing the turns at the same time.
I was inspired by Garth Fagan Dance because I like to do my own modern dancing. I could see how it was different from Ballet, which is actually a bit more graceful and romantic. Modern dance feels different in my body, I have to think about the movements I'm going to do differently. It feels like you can be more energetic and actually look like you're working hard, which is different from ballet where you have to look like you're not working at all. I like that about ballet, but it can be difficult to such hard stuff and try to make the audience think that it's effortless. Sometimes I feel that modern dance is easier, because it's OK to be athletic.