Dance Critique

Dance Critique

Introduction

The dream is a dance adapted from ‘a Midsummer Night by William Shakespeare choreographed by Frederick Ashton and Felix Mendelssohn. The dream or ballet initially premiered in 1964 at the Royal Opera Ballet. The main purpose of creating the choreography was to mark the 400^th anniversary since Shakespeare was born. Ashton achieved this by creating a dance filled with graceful moves, costumes and colour to show his audience the intended message. In this case, the intended message of the choreographer was enhanced through the movement of the characters, the lighting incorporated and materials placed on stage to enhance the storyline. Ashton relied on the individual performance of each of the ballad students who danced like fairies to strengthen his message. The dance is a narrative which combines many different styles that arises from the effective relationships between the dancers and the audiences. Even though ‘the dream’ is one of the most loved dances globally, it embodies ambience, brilliance and enigma as it aims to use artistic designs to increase its audiences for instance through the use of colour and costumes.

Description

While watching the dance, my level of admiration for ‘The dream’ increased due to the rhythm, choreography and more importantly, dance relationships of the performers. Rhythm is one aspect that is captivating from the dance as Ashton focuses on the two lovers Titania and Oberon. In this case, Ashton incorporated random rhythm as the two characters are introduced during the start of the dance. It seemed logical to incorporate this rhythm since romance is usually unplanned for and leads to positive and negative relations. As the dance progresses, progressive rhythm is incorporated in the dance to show the changes that occur among Titania and Oberon. According to (), progressive rhythm is a technique that contains the repetition of elements to explain the creation of an artwork. It seems that Ashton aims to cut the original narrative and create curiosity among his audiences. From the start of the first act, the ballet seems that it will be a memorable one, especially due to the strong cast Ashton incorporated to entertain his audiences.

In the second act, Balanchine adds the ballet students, their friends and relatives. The choreographed dance among the ballet students was in synchrony showing how particular and stellar he was for his performances. As they choreographed, Ashton adds a music hall touch in an attempt to influence the attitude of his audience. During the performance, the ballet students speak in different idioms and words which symbolize their diverse but unique personalities despite having the same goal. Also, the rhythm changes in this act where Mendelssohn’s music is changed. Such ideological changes relate to the audience as it coincides with the mood being expressed by the characters. In this case, the energy is projected from the performers to the audiences as one hears clapping and cheers from a distance. This occurs due to the type of rhythm that is stressed by performed syllables. In this case, performing in harmony indicates togetherness and unity. The audience can connect with such positive messages hence the clapping and cheering. All in all, Ashton created a magnificent and interesting choreographed dance.

Analysis

Wonderfully and exquisite dance scenes show the ingenuity of Ashton as the dance progresses. For instance, the ballet children dance like fairies representing a collective attitude. They move at a fast speed yet make quiet-loud noises within the stage indicating their intention to be heard as well as understood. The footwork can only be described as ‘eerie exciting’ as well as inexplicably complex. From their dances, Oberon manages to put Titania to bed as they perform a ‘delightful yet brilliant duet through the different arm and hand positioning. Such dances intended to promote the theme of love. In this case, love can happen at any age and emotions are better felt through individual performances, especially the movement. More importantly, the ‘fairies’ were placed at strategic locations across the stage with a major concentration in the centre to emphasize the romance between Titania and Oberon.

Evaluation

As a one-act ballet that was adapted from A midsummer night’s dream from Shakespeare, Fredrick Ashton intended to mark the 400^th anniversary of the birth of Shakespeare. To achieve this, he trimmed his plot, focusing on the fairies ballet and romance between Athenians. His audience understood him better through the costumes that his characters wore. For instance, since the story focused on Athenians that came from the jungle, these characters wore rubber skins which represented their traditional heritage.

Source: The New York Times

In this picture, Asthan utilizes dark lighting to show how the Athenians were not developed since they lived in the forest. However, they were strong people, as portrayed by the man in the picture.

Also, the fairy dance was done by ballerinas, who created a graceful dance that mesmerized the audience. From the dresses to the shoes, each item speaks a different message as well as sending a different message about the intent of the choreographer.

Source: DanceTabs

To showcase his message, Asthan utilizes low key lighting to improve the displays of the costumes. The choreography was also perfected through the luminous stage as these fairies danced gracefully.

The purpose of a costume in dance is to express the artistic vision of a choreographer. According to (), whenever the vision of the artist is enhanced, the audience can relate to an art piece through their life experiences. This occurs when the costumes worn by the actors relate to the mood as well as the theme of the audience. This is achieved better through the movement of the participants in the dance. In this case, the type of clothing indicates the nature of the message and the mood that the choreographer wants to promote. In this case, the costumes worn by the characters were made from jerseys, silk and lycra to represent modernism.

On the other hand, the Athenian characters wore heavy silk clothing as a symbol of the environment they grew in, which is in the case is the archaic age. Not only is the material important, but also the colour is essential in expressing the interest of the choreographer. Audiences were mesmerized through the costume colours of the participants. This is due to some costumes playing the role of isolating specific characters to promote their performances. Colours can influence the type of emotions, including how the audiences respond to a particular dance (). All in all, colours and costumes complement the body and shape of dancers as well as expressing the message of the choreographer.

To conclude, ‘the dream’ is a presentation of a combination of memorable scenes acted by strong casts and performances. After watching ‘the dream,’  my level of admiration for Ashton increased due to the type of dances and choreography incorporated in the dance. As noted earlier, the purpose of ‘the dream’ was to help celebrate the 400^th year since the birth of Shakespeare. To achieve this, Ashton shortened the original play from Shakespeare to focus on the story of romance and the significance of proper acts in a dance to help express the interests of the producer and choreographer. In this way, Ashton’s dance can be considered an excellent dance filled with intriguing characters and movements to show the intended message.