Jazz Dance Paper

Cassie Smith

April 16, 2010

Between Heaven and Earth

Over spring break, I attended the performance of “Between Heaven and Earth” by H.T. Chen and Dancers of New York City. The performance took place on Friday, March 19, 2010, at 8:00 pm. The production was performed at Florida Atlantic University. Before the performance began, the curtain was down. To begin, all the lights were turned down and then the curtain opened.

In the first half of the performance, traditional and contemporary dance was portrayed. It was telling a story of the caged being within, as he brings an abstracted lion to life. The central character was the lion, and everyone kind of seemed to focus on him. The lion, played by Renouard Gee was very dominant whenever he was on stage. He was a kind of older man and the story focuses on his character so his movements are more rigid and solid, representing courage and grace.

Many of the different sections in this piece were sort of odd, it was supposed to depict what it means to be human, animal, fanciful, and majestic. I did notice many of the movements we use in class. The dancers feet were always very pointed or in a flexed position. I noticed many lifts, kicks and leaps. Much of the pieces weren’t really synchronized and each dancer would have their own individual choreography.

The second half of the performance was vastly different than the first. In the first half, the dances were very aggressive with much loud, intense music. The second half was more soft and graceful. This half was to represent imagination and daydreams. It didn’t really follow a storyline but the different sections created a dream-like scenario.

One part that really stood out to me that I enjoyed was the section called “Cluster.” In this section, the six dancers lined up to create a whole, like the petals of a flower. They used a ripple effect and moved their arms in an elegant way.

Each piece was presented differently when it came to a matter...