enCounter Culture

On Sunday night I had the distinct pleasure of going to see a collection of Stanford dancers in dv8’s enCounter Culture. The groups were dancing under the umbrella of urban/hip hop style but individually they ranged from break-dancers, to straight hip hop, to step.
This was the first dance show I have been able to attend at Stanford, so the experience was very exciting for me. The show began with the Troposomatic Break-dance Crew. The program explained them as “a high-energy dance group that performs with unmatched style, creativity, and flare.” I must say the energy was incredibly low and the style was easily matched by the other break-dance crew. Unlike many of the other groups that would perform, Troposomatic did not include a theatrical element in their performance, but rather focused on the dancing. Unfortunately, sometimes they seemed a bit too focused on the dancing, in that they seemed to be counting very strictly, their bodies were not in sync with one anothers, and they seemed to lack an awareness of the amount of space that they had, both with each other and with the stage. Many times during a flip or a twist, I was absolutely positive that one of them would fall of the stage. Although individually the dancers each brought in a unique energy, together they seemed to have a hard time understanding each other’s energy.
The pace and energy began picking up after the first act. CSAG (Consortium of Small Asian Girls) was very good, and yes, I did look up the word “consortium” when I returned home because I wasn’t sure that it fit; it does. The group was very together they used the entire stage without making me want to call an ambulance, and they had great outfits.
The show continued with some very nice performances. A middle school guest group came in and showed up some of the seasoned college dancers. Alliance Streetdance used an interesting theme of mannequins and robotic motions, coupled with a medley of current hip-hop hits. I wasn’t always sure that the music matched the theme, like when Flo-Rida’s Low came on I was fairly certain that they were using it more for the audience connection to the popular song rather than to maintain the integrity of their motions. Perhaps it is also that I was just tired of the song, seeing as how every group before this had used it in their medleys of current hip-hop hits. I thought Jam Pac’d was the most well performed of all urban/hip-hop groups. They had beautiful face paint and theatrical presence. It was clear that the dance was telling a love story of two of the dancers. They were aware of each other of their space and their piece was, to me, as eloquent as an Ezra Pound poem. The audience favorite was hands down Armageddon Crew. This group of break-dancers only had two dancers. They worked very well together and told a martial arts infused story, that was incredibly compelling, however cheesy. The two understood each others’ bodies and were just plain talented. It was ridiculously cool to see someone spin on his head or hop around on his head.
I think the dance groups that came out really showed how much hard work they’ve put in all year and just created a show that was very alluring and engaging for an audience to watch. I’m not quite convinced that I “enCountered culture” but it was definitely a very good experience!