Bryttni Pugh

Rachel Tucker

Modern 1B for Majors

20 April 2015

UNCC Spring Dance Concert 2015 Critique

Gretchen Alterowitz choreographed a contemporary ballet piece called What tread in

solidarity, what lament, one of the four dances performed at the University of North Carolina at

Charlottes 2015 spring dance concert. I have chosen to critique this piece due to the amount of

interpretation and emotion conveyed throughout the performance. The expressive movements,

dim lighting, sorrowful music, and simple costumes drew audience members myself, my

mother, and perhaps many others in, creating space for countless, imaginative stories.

In the beginning, the setting was black with spotlights on incoming dancers in blue and

neutral colored costumes. A solo female dancer appeared on stage, accompanied with haunting

music by Gustav Mahler and Max Richter. Her movements, such as a promenade in pass, were

slow and controlled, and her expression seemed gloomy. A few dancers at a time walked

leisurely onto the stage. Movements transitioned between a solo dancer and a small group of

dancers. Either way they were effortless, clear, passionate, and at a steady pace. Towards the

middle of the dance, blue lighting became visible, and the tempo picked up slightly; however, the

glissades and slides on the floor did not last long because the music grew melancholy. Some

performers stood in sadness while others came from behind and hugged them with their arms

around the others neck and their face either looking at them or buried in their shoulder an

image of crying and comfort. The powerful ending expressed unity; the group of dancers

sneakily shuffled around, one at a time broke apart from the pack, merged back into the group,
and then they inched downstage as a single unit. Each persons eyes focused at the farthest point

in space and walked until the lights shut off as if dreadfully approaching death.

The constant sorrow lead my imagination to perceive several individuals being destroyed

with bystanders that ignore or judge them; others may comfort them or need a shoulder to cry on,

but are still hurt and empty-minded. Eventually, they pass away together because built-up

depression overtakes them. Others may perceive the piece differently as my mother did; she

thought it related to a storm and the performers were rain droplets. However, the program

describes the dance as imprinting presences into history as it happens and treading between

here/now and there/then to examine what it feels like to come together. This relates to the title

What tread in solidarity, what lament because individuals walk certain ways in a group; and it is

sad to see the loss of individuality and struggles to form a happy unit. People will leave their

own marks, and they will feel out the past and present to determine harmony and their own

feelings as a group member whether it be a clique or the human race. The dancers expressed

the switch between here and then by dancing solo (coming out of the group with their own

dance), as a small group, and as a whole. Unfortunately when they came together, sorrow

remained. The dancers did, at times, lay on the floor or just stood still, which emphasizes the

lament, and possibly the exhausting desire to become a whole through individual, unique paths.

Not only did I discover the true meaning behind the piece, but also that simplicity can

display and evoke similar emotions to that of a more complex piece. Additionally, the mournful

music could have been replaced with silence, but instead triggered certain emotions to enhance

the choreography. As an aspiring dancer, I strive to have the level of impeccable technique that

each dancer in Alterowitzs piece had; there were movements that I have been learning in my

classical ballet class, and I hope to improve and perform in a piece as beautiful as this.