Alisha Bernal

Dance IV-4
Artistic Critique-Melissa choreographed by Typhani Harris
The piece Melissa was choreographed by Typhani Harris. The piece was very well
structured. The lighting and costumes both went well with the piece. This piece features all of the
dancers that choreographed that year of the concert. All of the dancers did their movement
perfect to the music. There was a constant change between layering. Overall it was a good piece.
I really liked the costumes in this piece because they were different; they were dresses but
only had one long sleeve. I think the music went really well with the technique also because as
the music sped up the technique also sped up. I also liked the concept of the piece because it was
a dedication from the choreographer to her daughter in Panama, Melissa. The movement in the
piece really helped bring out the story. I really enjoyed when the choreographer was actually
dancing in the beginning of the piece and then she ended up leaving.
The technique in this piece was amazing I believe. I think the way this piece was
choreographed it was well structured. The layering brought a lot of entertainment because it was
cool seeing all of the neat positions they went into. Also there were no boring moments in this
piece because there was always something going on. The jumps added a lot of enthusiasm in the
piece because they did so many different ones. At one moment they all peeled off and improve
and I thought it was nice because they each had their own unique movement that described them.
A question I would ask the choreographer if she had a hard time choreographing with so
many dancers, because of all of the ques they have to hit? Another question would be why she

chose to do the dresses that way with only one sleeve and if it had a meaning behind it? Also I
would ask if the dancers could connect to the meaning of the piece? and if the choreographer
dancing in the piece and then leaving meant her leaving her daughter in Panama?
Some suggestions I would use for this choreography is not having all of the dancers
dance at the same time together the whole time. I would have them come off then come back on.
Another suggestion would be I would them do a lot more partner work then they did because it
was so many dancers so I think it would look neat.
I believe the choreographers intention was to portray her leaving her daughter in
Panama. The piece overall was dedicated to her daughter in Panama. I think she used the dancers
to portray different events that occurred when she went back to visit her in Panama.
I think the choreographer wanted to entertain the audience because of all the jumps,
transitions, and formations that she used. The message was portrayed throughout the piece. The
dancers put a lot of emotion and they helped portray the message well.