Bryttni Pugh

Dils

DANC 4110-001

27 November 2017

Finis Omnium

Finis Omnium is a twelve-minute modern piece choreographed by E.E. Balcos and

accompanied by an instrumental score of Christophe Beck. The piece is comprised of eight female

dancers, all of whom are involved in partner work, in quartets, and as a full group. Their

individualized costumes included an integration of braided hair, bare feet, dark red and blue face

paint (i.e. dots or lines), torn red and blue shirts or crop tops, shredded belts, and tight-fitting blue

leggings with strips of red or blue visible in lacerations. The accompaniment and movement, as

well as the lighting and costuming, use aesthetic principles of design and the elements of time,

space, and energy to create various relationships.

The instrumental score includes the piano, harp, violin, tuba, cymbals, and drums. There

are also brief moments of non-lexical vocables as well as spectral sounds that add a subtle layer to

its musical counterparts. The score begins at a slow and steady tempo with the piano then abruptly

accelerates after one minute with the addition of the drums. In short durations in-between the fast-

paced portion of the composition, there are moments of silence. The tempo decelerates as the harp

is introduced and continues at a sedate tempo until the melodic sound gradually faints to a silence.

The violin begins to crescendo and intensifies as the low-pitched tuba becomes present. The fast

tempo is then interrupted and slowed down with a prominent violin, which induces screeching

sounds. Non-lexical vocalizations and rumbling of the drums are quick to take place as they are

soon quieted by a haunting violin. An abrupt, high-pitched screech initiates the re-emergence of
the fast tempo which continues steadily with a crescendo of rapid violin. All of the instruments are

then heard at a brisk yet choppy pace until there is a temporary calm. Interchanging the intensity,

a loud drum, high-pitched violin, and low-pitched tuba go posthaste, pause to allow a violin screech

to be heard, and a deep beat of the drum ends the score.

All eight female dancers open the piece, facing towards the black traveler and their backs

to the audience. With audible breath, they turn to look at the audience three times, bringing more

of their upper and lower body with them each time. With the abrupt change in music, the dancers

move in a pulsing contraction, execute multiple turns, vary from low to high levels, balance on

strongly supported legs, and change focal points. As the score settles to a slow tempo, the dancers

are laying on the floor and begin to crawl leisurely with limbs giving out, contractions, and a

downcast facial expression. They sink into the surface of the earth, and, at irregular intervals, lift

their upper bodies two times then execute coccyx balances, reaching and looking towards the light

shining down from stage left. During a fifth reach, they stand and four females walk to the other

four from behind, pulling their arms into their own and running in a crouched position. The four

partnerships body surf and perform inversions over one another at a low level before standing and

grabbing the space across their bodies. With suspension, the dancers sway their right arms back

and forth then proceed to interlock with their partnerships. One partner from each pair forms a

curved shape and gives away their weight while the other supports by only the interlocked arm.

The pairs begin to show resistance by pushing against their partners body until gentle and

continuous physical contact separates them into two groups one remaining downstage left and

one exiting downstage right.

The remaining quartet curves over different body parts individually, showing pain within

their frowns and furrowed eyebrows. With strength and aggression, they punch back with their
elbows, change directions in their proceeding turns and jumps, balance, and swiftly strike their

arms and hands into the space in front of them. Stumbling backwards upstage left, they form a

cluster and use large circular arm motions to touch, push, and assist the others as well as navigate

between low and medium levels. The dancers sharply throw random numbers into their movements

such as ten, five, two, and zero, walking downstage right with an inseparable focus. As their

movement decelerates, the other quartet enters from stage right and approach the other group from

behind. They eventually make eye contact in a crow-like pose, and the prior quartet exits stage left

which gives a wide range of space for the others. Actively traveling on the diagonal from upstage

right to downstage left, the second quartet turn and land with ease and resistance. They charge the

perimeter of the stage with initiation from their elbows until a rebound force from their forehead

leaves their hands shaking and their focus directed towards the other quartet.

Facing groups, four dancers run and jump onto their prior partner, using physical contact

and negative space to interact (i.e. inversions, pushing, rolling, and lifting). Negative space

continues to be utilized at an unhurried pace with two of the pairs making a cluster. Once the violin

screeches, elbow and swaying arm forces are exerted, and the dancers face downstage right with

one forced arch and visible deep breaths. Different pairs are created by lifting another partner on

medium and high levels, and two pairs are taken offstage. One pair remains motionless in a

reaching position and another is persistent with ongoing physical connections. A startling drum

cues the motionless dancers to jump and forcefully smack and grab each others hands whilst the

two remaining pairs enter the stage with elbow-initiated runs. There are four combinations of

suspended and brisk movement that the four pairs alternate executing up to the moment a single

female stands and looks downstage right. Seven females group together on the opposite side with

a forced arch, awaiting the lone dancer to run and jump onto the uppermost portion of their
kinespheres. At a faster tempo, the eight dancers repeated the movement sequence from the first

quartet, and then powerfully crouch with fists and horizontal, parallel arms, peeking their stern

focus through the space in-between.

The movement performed by the eight female dancers was primarily in relation to the

music and initiated from musical cues, corresponding in intensity. An entrance, lift, change in

pace, and act of suspension generally appeared as there was an abrupt shift in the instrument being

played and as a non-lexical vocal or instrumental note was held or long-lasting. However, the

movement did not always reflect the score as there were moments of contrast. For example, the

first set of partnerships contrasted the slow tempo and prolonged spectral sounds as the dancers

quickly body surfed or inverted over one another. The second and third set of partnerships

corresponded with the music as both the musical score and the choreography was fast paced and

chaotic. Though, there was not a moment where the instruments played at a fast tempo and the

movement was slow. The dancers seamlessly heightened their intensity with energy as the score

heightened in intensity with loudness or pitch and rapid notes.

The dancers remained physically and/or energetically connected throughout the piece in

their various relationship sizes. They physically connected primarily with their appendicular

skeleton and infrequently contacted the surface of the back and core. When limbs were only

contiguous with the surrounding space, the dancers shared vitality and were in unison. The

partnering, quartets, and full group utilized the entirety of the space on the stage with an emphasis

on traveling along the stage diagonals, although the space appeared infinite with the black

background and carefully focused light. The lighting consisted of interchanging blue, red, and

white colors that reflected on the dancers sides and appeared from a high level above their bodies.

Additionally, the lights were vibrant when haze was present and created rays of light that cast onto
the dancers. Haze emerged in large clouds from upstage left and right, bursting onto stage twice

throughout the performance and lingering onstage throughout.

Finis Omnium is a performance of the social idea that the world is perceived to be a binary

place where people need to pick one side or the other; but, to resolve conflicts and find the peace

that is so often searched for, people need to work as a whole in terms of respect and understanding.

With aggression and without cooperation, people simply approach and battle death instead of a

satisfactory life.

At the beginning of the piece, the dancers turn around as if frightened of the death that

awaits them due to a lack of joint action. They are a whole in the sense that they are all a part of

the human race, trying to combat any emerging issue; but, they crawl in personal agony and

eventually fight a member within the group. Finis Omnium means the end of all in Latin, which

is a melancholic view of the future of human race if humans remain uncooperative, aggressive,

and surrounded with binary thinking. Binary thinking is a reality of two mutually exclusive

categories that leads to quick, irrational decisions and action when a dialogue is engaged

between the emotional and rational parts of the brain (Baer, 2017). The two categories are

represented by the one-on-one contact in the partnerships as well as the two quartets who tend to

form quickly after the pairs fight and continuously contact another in the opposing group in an

aggressive manner (i.e. the forces of pushing, grabbing, and pulling).

According to Juhant, cooperation is the beginning of all biology and the basis of life

(2013, page 50). The ongoing creation of human life could not persist if one does not become

aware of potential opportunities to cooperate. Within the last partnership in the piece, the two

opposing individuals within the pair assisted each other in various ways unlike the first pairing.
They did not know there were possible ways of active communication and then continued to work

together to lift each other up and heal their individualized wounds with newfound strength.

Death quickly approaches if one is in the narrow-mind of a binary thinker and not in the

mind of an open-mind that embraces what life has to offer. Schommers states the essential point

that a man can live his whole life without struggle or battle or war but not a minute without

cooperation. Without the coordinated cooperation of its cells his body would be a single cancerous

tumour (2002, page 18). Similar to the dancers at the end of Finis Omnium, one should come

together with the group, give a barrier to negative energy with space to understand, and fight death

together to live an unabridged life of respect and peace.

 References

Baer, Mark B. When Binary Thinking is Involved, Polarization Follows. Psychology Today,

Sussex Publishers, 27 Jan. 2017, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/empathy-and-

relationships/201701/when-binary-thinking-is-involved-polarization-follows

Juhant, Janez. From Ethical Person to Dialogical Society: Challenges of Global Society. LIT

Verlag Mnster, 2013.

Wolfram, Schommers. What is Life?: Scientific Approaches and Philosophical Position. World

Scientific, 2002.