Stop Being so Good

As I sit in Lea's apartment, watching the last of the sun's rays die, hearing soccer fans yelling from the bar down the street, I can't help but think, "Um, that was freaking awesome." What's so awesome? Take your pick:

Savion Glover's "Bare Soundz"- I saw his performance last night at the Theatre de la Ville. The show was staged very simply, just Savion Glover and two other (equally talented if not equally charismatic) tap dancers standing on top of wooden platforms. Their energy and rhythms were absolutely fantastic, especially when they did a rapid improv sequence, and the audience was blown away. The best way I can describe Savion Glover's dancing is to compare the precision of his feet to a seismograph and the movement of his arms to a drunk dinosaur. He also sang a little, and had really warm, nice voice. All in all...awesome.

"Kaguyahime"- This ballet was performed by the Ballet company of the Opera National de Paris at the Opera Bastille. The lighting and stage effects were unlike anything I had ever seen (at one point the marly on the floor was lifted and dragged to make walls on the sides of the stage). The ballet is based on a Japanese folk tale about a moon goddess who comes to earth. She wants to bring peace, but unfortunately she is so beautiful that people go to war in order to possess her. The dancers were split into two opposing groups, one wearing black and the other white. The musicians were also divided (Japanese musicians playing traditional drums in white and French musicians playing Western instruments in black). The solos, duets, and group dances were intricately choreographed and involved a lot complicated lifts and partner work. The movement style was very slippery/fluid, yet deliberate and strong. It was definitely one of the most beautiful and unique (and awesome)dance pieces I've ever seen.

In terms of audiences...
The audience at Bare Soundz was very similar to that of the Ballet de l'Opera National de Paris. The closest seats were primarily older/middle-aged men and women, and as you went back the average age decreased from about 55 to 25. And although there was some racial diversity (notably, more people of African descent at Bare Soundz and more people of Asian descent at Kaguhahime), both audiences were still overwhelmingly Caucasian. I was also surprised to see so many English and American tourists at both performances.

To sum up: Dance is awesome. Possibly more awesome (though certainly less accessable) than the World Cup.