Here's to new experiences

Last night, Amy, Lacey, Hannah, and I attended the Alaska Dance Theatre's Winter Repertory Concert (previously known as Mobius). This is something that Hannah and Amy did seemingly yearly, as our friend Briana Sullivan is one of the primary dancers in the production. Even though she is no longer a part of the company, she still was participating as a guest of the program. Regardless, as I said, this was old hat for two of our four, but I've never been to any thing remotely of this sort. Never been to the Nutcracker, never been to any sort of dance performance. I was a bit hesitant, because I was convinced it wasn't exactly my thing.

But...

I loved it.

I was incredibly impressed by the whole production, and found a whole new level of respect for dance and its ability to convey emotions and story with absolutely no words behind it. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and this managed to expand on that idea to the nth degree. The care and consideration put into each movement was astounding, just watching the dancers on stage was a revelation to me.

Quick tangent, one thought that went through my head while watching the dancers on stage was how I don't think I can do anything as well as they dance. The sheer talent and coordination it takes to pull off something like that, I just don't have that. It made me think about how I wish I had that creative spirit, and how I wish I was in that type of field. Watching something of that sort trivializes what I do to a degree - I sit at a desk and make sure your TV, Internet, Cellular Phone, and Local/Long Distance services are getting to you and at a fair price. These people create beauty. Needless to say, I'm envious and wildly impressed.

Back to the actual performance, just a couple of notes about what stood out.

First off, Briana was incredible. Hannah and Amy had raved about her dancing before, but if anything they underhyped her - she clearly stood out on stage, and after watching her perform it made perfect sense that she was the person out front and center on the opening piece. I wish she had a solo piece this year, because I know she would have absolutely nailed it.

Second off, the only times that Briana did not stand out was when Brittney Otevrel performed. Brittney was flat out genius, and with the most subtle of movements she could convey so much emotion. She also performed my favorite piece of the entire evening - her solo as the blind person in the second act of El Dia de los Muertos, and was the primary dancer in what I thought was the overall best segment, the section named Sueno.

Thirdly, the music in El Dia de los Muertos was pretty much amazing. They were songs off of the self titled album by "post-punk bluegrass" band Devil Makes Three, and it made Muertos stand out even more as the most stylistically different of all of the pieces. One thing to note was that all of the musical pieces selected were excellent and unexpected.

Finally, the segment named Someone is Speaking. This entire section was an interpretation of various Beatles songs (including Eleanor Rigby, Lovely Rita, Here, There and Everywhere, No One, Let it Be, and Broken Hearted People), and everything from the choreography to the costume design was incredible. Besides Muertos, I think it worked as a storytelling piece better than anything else.

It was an incredible experience, and really works as motivation to get out there and try new things. I never once thought to go to dance performances, but Mobius definitely made me think differently. What else could I be missing out on? What else is out there that I think I wouldn't like but would actually have a great time at? I'm sure there is plenty, I just hope they are half as good as the time I had at Mobius.