Modern Dance

I made a last minute decision to go see a dance performance this afternoon. I was feeling so adventurous I decided to just show up and not call ahead of time for ticket availability. Worse case scenario, I would wind up hanging out in Berkeley for a few hours. I'm glad there were tickets. I don't like Berkeley as much as I used to.

The performance was at the university. All the students looked so young and don't even get me started on the 'fashion.' It brought back memories of my freshman year. Oh, the memories. hahahah

For a couple of years, I've planned to go see an Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater concert. I never got around to it for one reason or another. I definitely missed out all those years.

The program consisted of:

Hidden Rites (1973; music by Patrice Sciortino; choreography by Alvin Ailey; restaged by Masazumi Chaya*)

Love Stories (2004; music by Stevie Wonder; original composition composed and produced by Darrin Ross; choreography by Judith Jamison with Robert Battle and Rennie Harris*)

Revelations (1960; traditional spirituals and gospel music; choreography by Alvin Ailey)

Needless to say, the performances were beautiful. Fun. Hidden Rites was very modern. Love Stories with Stevie Wonder music?! Great. A hip-hop thing going on. I was feeling it. Revelations was excellent, and what a lot of people in the audience (repeat attendees) were looking forward to.

In school I had a very snobby attitude as far as degrees were concerned. This attitude strengthened by a lot of hard work and countless sleepless nights to complete the workload. I, and my classmates, literally lived in the lab. Some of the guys used to sleep under the table. Therefore, you could not convince me that dance was worthy of a degree. One evening when things were not making sense anymore because we'd been working non-stop for too long, we took a break. We went to see a friend perform who was taking a dance class in the Arts building. It wasn't just him dancing, it was a rehearsel for the dancers year end show.

I still remember a ballet solo by this girl, who was, plain and simple, not attractive. She started her solo. By the time she was done she was not only the most beautiful woman in the place, she helped me to see the beauty of the arts and respect them. I was moved to tears.

Then it was back to the lab, each of us had chosen our poison. ;)