The search for what makes a choreo great goes on…
February 9th 2009 04:49
Kadu & Larissa performing a Gafieira Routine at the SSC 09
I made a lot of notes on the other nights of the congress about this, the look for what makes a great choreography is better when you have so many goods examples. Good choreographers try to open their dancers’ heads to put one thing inside: formations, keep the formations. There are two parts of the brilliance here, first is the creation of the formations by the designer of the routine, the second is the execution of them by the performers. These are so very important and proportional to how many people you have on stage, great formations can almost make a great choreo by itself. So do not think your leader is being annoying when he keeps yelling for you to keep your spot. It’s very visible, especially in a stage like the SSC where the public is seeing all from above.
Formations are a bit tied up to themes and costumes.
Themes and costumes, these two are extremely important. To create a theme is a great idea for groups and even couples. They are not essential to people with a high technical ability but they are very good when you have a group of people that are good dancers and would look neat together. You don’t have to have amazing dancers to create an amazing choreo, lots of people and movement distracts people from individual details.
Thriller from Juan Rando Academy was awesome, great show. On top of excellent costumes, good move on stage, lots of people, technical ability, they used the stage as part of the show, seating on the edge, leaving a limb, a head and some other body parts fall to the sides.
Another choreo that was as good was the one from Latin X. Another group of pirates and they said “Arrrrrrrrrrrrrr” looking fierce. They did something very nice using formations, a boat. They formed a boat with their bodies and it moved in the water with their rowing and body movements. Very simple and great solution: a piece of brilliance.
The Pirates from Thursday, the ones I mentioned in a previous post, were from Spin City and the company came back on Friday with a group of Vampires as entertaining as they were on the day before. Same use of rehearsed facial expressions that made it all very entertaining to watch. Both routines were clean and with a good level of dancing, not one bit boring.
Talking about not boring there is always Tony Lara and Dani de Francesco. I love their themes, costumes, movement on stage. Tony came as a magician in one of their routines, and they actually did some amazing magic. I have no idea how; changing full costumes in seconds, making things disappear and appear. That is a great congress for you: the unexpected is part of the show!
Last I will say about the costumes is just a cautionary word about props and make up, dancing is very tied to facial expressions, it’s not only about body movement, one smile can change it all, the face gives away the feelings and soul of the dancer, so hats and masks, and heavy make up, can look great but they hide the face, I always like it better when they are used only for a short time and then taken off. The maker really has to consider if it is worth to keep it. I loved the New Zealand Kids, both choreos were great, very clean and so good to watch, but I would have liked them even more if the masks and hats were dropped midway of the music, I was longing to see the kids faces and expressions…
There is a secret of great shows, something you cannot quantify, categorise, it’s impossible to simply create it. Its something that tells a lot about all that is behind stage and the dancers very soul… the feeling… dancers transmit it all on stage: their passion, their energy, love for dancing, how much fun they are having, how tired they are, it’s all there. The mood is almost touchable. Energy: that is how I call it.
It’s what Johnny Vasquez gives away whenever he steps on stage. A full amount of energy. That is what Kaytee a single male dancer from India used to hold the public for a whole music with nothing but himself. My eyes were glued to him all the time and he was dancing as I’ve seen a lot of people dancing. What made the difference was his energy.
Some people just stand out and are even a bit unfair to their dance colleagues as they don’t let us look much beyond them. I made a note of two girls that invaded the stage, the first stole the scene with an x factor, she was charming, a tall brunette woman from Kokoloco, Canberra. The second was pure attitude, good attitude, a blond girl from Latitude Dance, Melbourne. Ladies, you’ve made the show!
Kaytee Social Dancing at The SSC 09
Another way to transmit energy is to exchange it with the public; it works every time with high and light music and routines. Ask for the public to clap, to scream, to participate, you will have to give a lot of energy to be able to have a response. Amy Mills, the Samba queen from LDA is great with her high pitched screams, the public go wild with her, of course that has to do with her smile, her energy, her amazing body, her shaking technique like no other. She is a girl with no soft bits but I’ve seen more than one man go soft-kneed watching her samba… I loved the costumes the samba girls from LDA were wearing this year, something like strips of cloth tied around the body… a high appeal to the male imagination.
One more tip for everyone, no-one can get the public looking to the floor. The Sydney Salsa Congress stage is a bit tricky in that sense. Because everyone is high up it is important that the dancers look up not only directly in front of them. I’ve never seen a performance that had people looking to the floor to be considered good. If you don’t learn anything else about performances, remember one thing: look up, smile, give your energy and love. The rest isn’t that important.
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