Can you recall the most amazing dance performance that you ever saw? I’ll bet that most of you can. Mine? I went to see the Bolshoi when they came to Chicago and I saw an absolutely perfect balance in arabeque–it was flawless. And it seemed to last forever. And just when I couldn’t believe she was holding it that long on pointe, she brought the leg to passé and then extended it out to the side in a slow développé–without coming down. And without wavering one bit.
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Every once in a while there is a moment where you witness something that defies the laws of gravity–or pushes back against the rules of motion. You know that what you are seeing is something special. Something extraordinary.
It is these moments that make the art so fascinating to watch. When you are a dancer, moments like these actually come to define your career. You can feel them on either end of the performance. That is one of the most amazing things about it.
I can’t begin to describe the feeling of watching that performance, and I am ashamed to say that I don’t recall the dancer’s name. But I do know that I will never forget what I saw. It will be with me forever.
If you have had that experience on either end, I’d love to hear about it…
There have been a few moments in my life where I thought: THIS is why we do it, THIS is why I love it. My absolute nr. 1 memory was a show by the Norwegian choreographer Jo Stromgren, “a dance tribute to the art of football”. In the end of the show, there’s a series of “pictures” made by the dancers, created by strong lights blending the audience completely, then turning off for like 2 seconds, just enough for the eye to catch the picture formed on stage. The positions of the dancers were amazing – so of balance, they probably fell after lights go back on, but in that one instant moment, everything was frozen.
I had goosebumps from head to toe, and it is one of those moments I remember perfectly – even though it’s been 10 years.
I wrote about Jo Stromgren in my blog not so long ago.
Thanks for sharing that moment Henrik! From the way you described it–I can actually “see” it!
There have been two moments in dance that I will never forget. The first was watching Mikhail Baryshnikov when I was a young teenager. I hadn’t even considered dancing at that point, but watching him dance was awe inspiring. The height of his leaps was amazing. The discipline of his dance was incredible. That performance changed my concept of dance forever.
About 1 year later, I saw some street dancers who were amazing. It was the early 80s and popping and ticking ruled the streets. I saw a few guys “robot” and I stopped and watched for probably a half an hour. It was then that I realized that dance, whether trained in the best ballet companies in the world or in the streets of the west side of Chicago is dance, and when it is done well it is not a result of the training, but a result of the heart.
Two years later I joined the dance troupe at OPRF and had a great time dancing for the next three years. I’m sure I wasn’t very good, I had no training other than what I received at school (although I think Ms. Diana Ivas could have taught a monkey to dance… she was an awesome instructor), but I really enjoyed it.
And I have loved dance ever since.
Paul…I too remember the first time I saw Baryshnikov…I couldn’t believe how high he was jumping either! It was amazing. You might want to check out my “10 Questions With…” section and look at Arsene’s post…krumping is a pretty unique form of dance that you might be able to appreciate.
And by the way…as a dancer, you weren’t bad! : ) I remember!