Performance Scavenger Hunt Part 4! 1. There were eight dances in Stardust, a dance concert choreographed by David Rousseve. The first dance was called “Nature Boy” and had no music, however there was text which was written by Eden Ahbez. “When I Fall in Love” was the title of the second dance. This dance was written by Victor Popular and Edward Heyman and the music is from Chappell and Co. , Inc. (ASCAP and Intersong-USA, Inc. The third dance was called “Sweet Lorraine” which had music from EMI Mills Music, Inc. “You Call it Madness (But I Call it Love) was the fourth dance.
This dance had music from Edwin H. Morris & Company. The next dance was called “Ave Maria” and was written by J. S. Bach. After that was a dance called “Mona Lisa” which had music from Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC. “Reach For Tomorrow” was the second to last dance and had music from Catherine Hinen Music, and Patti Washington Music. “Stardust” was the last dance, and had music from EMI Mills Music, Inc along with Songs of Peer, Ltd. The lighting director was Katelan Braymer, and the lighting designer was Christopher Kuhl. Leah Piehl was the costume designer.
In Stardust, there were multiple dances with high intensity, and others that were lighter which contrasted with the high intensity feel. The first few dances started with mostly sustained movements with the dancers dancing in unison while the boy’s text messages were displayed on the screen. The end of the performance juxtaposed the beginning and had much more quick movements with dancers doing individual movements across the stage. The music throughout the performance also was a juxtaposition. When there were texts on the screen about the boy feeling ? ike no one understood him, the dancers would collapse and curve their bodies.
Later in the performance, the dance movements changed with the change in the boy’s feelings and emotions. For example, there were parts where the boy’s text messages would be about him yearning for love and romance, and the dance movements would be much more light and have higher levels with leaps and jumps. This dance performance was a statement about today’s society and young people’s relationship with the internet and social media.
Stardust was about a young gay African American male who lost his mom and was living with his ill grandfather. There were text messages displayed on the screen and the dancers expressed the boy’s feelings that were behind the text messages. These text messages were the boy writing to a random telephone number. The boy often felt very lost in the world and wanted a relationship and to be loved. The boy depicted in this dance performance would write text messages to the random phone number saying things like, “Dear God, why does no one love me? Like the boy, many young people today heavily rely on the internet and social media to feel connected to other people and no longer have many in-person relationships.
There was a piece in the performance where two women were standing in front center stage screaming in each other’s faces. They stood there still and were staring at each other, then would scream at the top of their lungs. They would stop and laugh and then scream again. This piece represented the boy’s feelings, along with other people today who struggle with finding their identity.
Throughout the performance, the boy would be dreaming of romance. He was always searching for love. During these parts where he would be imaging what it would be like to be in love, the music changed to older style music such as King Cole. The feeling was very light and ?the dancers moved with grace. The dancers danced in duets and solos rather than in the large group to represent the image of being in a relationship. Later in the performance, the boy’s grandfather passes away. He is placed in a foster home and has a foster father who is sexually and physically abusive.
This was apparent through the boy’s text messages on the screen explaining what happened, but also through the dancers movements that went along with the text messages. At this part of the dance, the dancers were moving quickly and curving their bodies inward to express how the boy felt trapped and confused. The boy was earlier sexually abused by another man. He began writing about how romance in the movies and in the media is not real and how he now sees what love really is like. In comparison to this scene, there was a piece that had a butterfly flying projected on the screen behind the dancers.
This was a part where they boy was feeling free and was no longer feeling trapped. During this part, the dancers had much softer and indirect movements. Overall, I really enjoyed this performance. I liked the statement it was making about our society today and how people struggle with finding their identity, and how it is harder with the internet throwing information at us constantly about what love and relationships are supposed to be like. I enjoyed the performance because I felt like I could relate to the story. It also struck me emotionally because I felt for the boy and for others who struggle with similar issues each day.
