AUDIENCE REACTIONS:
"I thought that the first two pieces were so much about the world and grief and loss and saying goodbye and trying to join the rest of the world when you don’t feel like it. I just thought it was amazing and so true."
-Sandra Caffo (on ARMS and No Consolation), Squirrel Hill
"This evening I enjoyed the show. There was so much energy. The dancers were absolutely fabulous and I’m glad I came."
-Bailey McCreery, Oakmont
"It was shocking how in one motion how much anger or violence could be displayed, how one slight motion can say so much. I thought it was significant that it was mostly arms and from the torso up, rather than as most dancers using their legs most of the time."
-Judi Galardi (on ARMS), Pointe Breeze
"Sometimes I didn’t know which was leading the music or the movement. They were so entwined. I liked how sometimes there wasn’t any music at all. There was just sort of an emptiness which seemed to kind of be repeated in the dance."
-Jane Fishman, Savannah, GA
"I actually saw the first two pieces Behind the Curtain and it was interesting seeing them again in the real performance atmosphere with costumes and lighting. I felt like the intimacy was a little bit diminished because there was all the separation between the artists and the performance. I really had an emotional reaction to the Donald Byrd performance the first time and I didn’t have it as much this time."
-Peter Pawlowski, Bloomfield
"I really enjoyed the performance. It was my first time being here, seeing the show. And my daughter who is three, she really enjoyed it as well. She got up and started doing the dance moves as well. It was really wonderful. It was an emotional piece (No Consolation)."
-Saudia Pepper and daughter, Desirae Nicole Nance, North Side
"I was struck by the whole range of emotions, so well expressed. Its like being hit by a tsunami of emotion to watch the performance. I think to call it dance is woefully inadequate because its singing, its movement of the whole body but its voice, its sound, its such a performance, its acting. I think dance is just not a good enough word to describe the performance. It was mesmerizing. It was phenomenal."
-Sven Hosford, Brookline
"...In No Consolation, the idea of struggle and the will to keep going, and the feeling that it’s the people you surround yourself with that keep you up or keep you down."
-Katherine, Clarion
"The second piece really moved me. It almost made me cry. I could feel the pain and the stress in the piece. I really enjoyed it."
Nikki, Monroeville
1 comment:
usually i dont like plays, especially so here in Pittsburgh. sitting so close to the actors in the theatre i cannot suspend my belief when watching them. they are just people mouthing words. i dont see the characters.
i was pleasantly surprised tonight, sitting so close. i found it to be much more rewarding to see the dancers, hear them breathe etc..
beth's piece was a balanced counterpoint to the first two performances. i found it interesting how the costumes built a physical place. i would be interested to know at what stage in the choreographic design the costumes came along. the piece would not have been the same without them. and so the music and the sonic landscape it created. i am surprised, i have to say, to read the prose poem that was the seed for the piece. not at all what i expected it to be.
i wish in donald byrd's piece there would have been more loss, more despair. which i know is a funny thing to say. loss is a singularly personal experience and one that never truly leaves you. i wanted to feel that more in that performance. not a question of acting, maybe just of feeling.
'duet' was also, to me, about loss due to miscommunication and the sadness that results because of that.
it was an impressive first time to see the dance alloy and its dancers. i hope to continue.
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