Lena Laurila Banks-Smith, Cheryl Modern Dance I 4-28-14 Dance Critique: Authentic Kinetic Saturday evening I attended Pasadena

City Colleges Authentic Kinetic concert in Saxon Auditorium. The dancers exuded professionalism, although they were still able to crack a smile every once in a while. All the dancers knew the choreography and presented it with confidence. I was blown away by the pieces I saw and immediately wanted to get back into the studio to work on my own choreography. I was inspired, wanting to challenge myself with movements I have not yet tried. Quite a few of the pieces made important social commentary such as animal preservation seen in Roberta Shaws Interference choreography and female oppression in Alicia Moseleys Mariposas dance. A variety of modern dance vocabulary was integrated to create complex phrases. The collaboration between Jessica Figueroa and Jesus Mora on The Unfortunate Battle was absolutely incredible. I found the piece to be heavily emotionally charged as a childs loss of innocence was depicted. The dancers started out in all white dresses as a girl cuddled her childhood teddy bear, in a flash the dresses and other dancers garments were stained with blood relating to the impurity that befell them. The musical accompaniment revealed tension, it was dark as dancers fought against each other. I was fully enraptured the entire performance, watching athletic jumps and falls to the floor. Throughout the performances there was much floor work. Dancers exploded with energy, passion, facial expressions. Each dancer connected to one another and they worked well in sync together. There were some duets throughout performance, solos, and most prevalent; larger groups. They pushed their way through space, flexing their feet and traveled across the floor frequently. They were placed in complex formations at times. In watching the performances I saw movements or phrases being repeated throughout a piece as well as timing of movements provided a domino effect. The movements created in these pieces, especially the floor work

showcased the strength of the dancers cores and how important total body strength is in dance. Many of the dances used movement of the spine, adding curvature, contracting as well as hand gestures were heavily prevalent. The choreography allowed the dancers to work with gravity and they moved in all directions, pointing on the diagonal, facing downstage, and upstage. My Reverie a solo piece choreographed by Ashley Acuna, showcased light and airy movement. As she leaped across the floor and jumped through the air she always landed softly on her feet. Her turns were gracefully as she wore a black leotard with a pink tutu like skirt. For her music, Ashley chose an instrumental cello and piano piece that worked well with her choreography. As I sat viewing the performances I thought to myself I want to dance like those on the stage, I wanted to express myself, get involved and I wanted to know how I could find myself performing alongside them.