The Junior and Senior class of 2015, with the direction of Ms. Eubanks, superbly choreographed and performed Anointed for Agency. This ensemble reflected the emotions and expressions of anger and strife brought about their personal experiences with racial, gender, and class inequalities. Discrimination being an illness that has plagued every generation, including Dr. King’s era during the civil rights movement, inspired the portrayal of the speech “How Long Not Long set into interpretive movement.
Sixteen count movement phrases reflected the emphases of free and bound movements performed in a modern dance style arranged to Bach Concerto in A Minor. Personal reflection of experiences and circumstances laced with discrimination, as a young Latina woman, allowed me to engage this piece with great passion and emotion. In my short eighteen years of life, I have come to know how impotent and challenging racial, gender, and social class disparities can be. The most frustrating feeling one can face is the feeling of wanting to achieve more, but not having the means or opportunities due to conditions out of ones control.
As I performed in The Assembly, The Cause, and The Protest parts of The Anointed Agency I reflected these emotions of bondage as a way of nonverbal protest in light of current abuse of power and violence against minorities everywhere. The repetition, cannon, and retrograde devices incorporated expressed, in my opinion, the never-ending battle against the discrimination motif. Being a dancer striving for excellence as I evaluate any performance I always feel I could improve. Yet, I believe that being so personally connected to this piece allowed me to exceed my expectations.
Reviewing my accuracy, I feel I performed all the elements of the combination in correct order, with proper facings and body shapes, along with accurate timing. While performing the assigned elements and combinations my technical proficiency was strong and done at a high standard level. All the elements of the compositional task were performed with clarity and I used all possible body movements. I consider that my energy level was appropriate and showed my ability to perform combinations correctly in sync with beat.
As I mentioned before, I believe this was one of my best performances. However, I feel that my transitions could have been smoother. During the performance I found it difficult to smoothly transition on and off stage because of overcrowding at entrance and exit spots. Fortunately, most dancer collisions occurred behind curtains and out of audience sight. In view of this, I feel I exercised excellent self-control while reflecting uninterrupted energy and focus. Overall I believe this was a great dance learning experience.
Connecting reflective emotion interpretations to body movement as an expressive and nonviolent protest form helped me choose the focus for my senior exit project. The idea for Sancocho Rhythm was birthed while reflecting on the reoccurring struggle to overcome racial oppressions through the ages. In this piece I hope to portray the overcoming spirit of the Afro-Latino community set to a multicultural tempo that incorporates traditional and modern styles of dance. My desire is to educate and ignite the activist spirit of all that hunger for social justice through dance.
