Urban Nights Dance Fusion 2008 Review

            On Saturday, April 5, 2008, I had the great opportunity to attend Urban Nights Dance Fusion 2008. Stanford’s Cardinal Ballet Company organized the wonderful event, which celebrated an assortment of dance styles.  Whether it was the intense tiptoeing of ballerinas or the smooth knock of tap dancers, the choreography articulated compelling volumes of emotion and thrill to the audience. Over the years, my unfamiliarity with the arts has prevented me from fully understanding and appreciating the complexities and diversity of the arts. Nonetheless, Saturday’s show, in all of its controlled vehemence, stirred a rather unpronounced part of me.

            Though the ballet performances were the most captivating, personally speaking, I will say that the other dance styles gave a refreshing flavor to the overall show. For instance, the group of swingers exploded on the stage with their energetic performance, which included flipping and dangling dance partners in air. Also, in a hot salsa routine, two partners showcased impressive individual moves while convening to produce a rhythmic fluidity of twirls and hip-twisting. In both cases, the difficulty and flashiness of the dance routines demanded wide eyes and hanging jaws, for any art form is based on transcendence and uniqueness.

            I really felt myself extending beyond my artistic comfort zone when the show opened with these graceful bodies flying across the stage. Watching a ballet concert, I felt as though I was partaking in a “cultured” occasion, which I usually associated with upper-class people. Because of my working class background, my family and I had more urgent matters on our mind than ballet concerts. Sitting among classmates, I realized how privileged I am to be at an institution like Stanford, where I can see professionally done shows for free. Otherwise, without my friends, I would have felt out-of-placed, and a feeling of exclusion would have ruined the experience.

            What distinguishes dance from any other art form, from my inadequate experience and observation, is that the intricacy and talent is expressed through strong body language in the form of elaborate steps and gestures. In fact, the use of every body part made the movements of the ballerinas that much more powerful. Arms were outreached in the air as if praying to a divine being and pivoted spins turned a dancer into a stable whirlwind. With a soft soundtrack to compliment the choreography, the ballerinas used agile pounces and kicks as outlets of their emotion, which in turn I translated as inspiration. Because every single move had a purpose and every dancer moved deliberately in and out of sync with one another, there emerged this world on stage that was conducive to consonance and dissonance. Sometimes, it appeared as though dancers were acting alone randomly, but in the grand scheme of things, the choreography seemed to be taming disorder for a greater effect. Once again, the recurrence of this choreographic choice to seem chaotic but orderly at times and crowd approval reiterated the fact that every move had a particular function. The coupling of concord and conflict effectively provoked a burning passion for dance within me. My inexperience with the arts made the show even more outstanding, for I did not know what to expect but enlightenment.