Conetmporary dance team from Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University (BYU) contemporary dancers in association with International Music and Arts Society began their journey to showcase their talents in Mumbai, Hydrabad, Chennai, New Delhi and now they were in Bangalore on the 2^nd August. BYU contemporary dance team presented to us “Rhythms of life” in Chowdiah memorial hall (malleshwaram). They were a 16 member troupe who took away the hearts of the audience and impressed the crowed. 

Their theme was divided into 10 different pieces of dances where they showed different rhythms of life and how things go about in life. Each and every piece began with a small video which explained what they will be dancing, so there is no room for a compere here! This was something i loved in this show very professional and neatly done without any technical problems or errors.

Looking into each and every piece of theirs
1) All in a day- Explores the commonality of work in evryones daily lives. Be it man or woman, child or adult, we are all workers. We are all moving through the world, working and defining ourselves. In this piece got in a concept of village workers to common man, where farming and the animal part of farming was depicted in its best.

2) Fling Flang Flung- captures the nostalgia and lure of partner dancing from days gone by, with clever twists and surprises for modern times. You will find yourself tapping your toe and bouncing in your seat as the dancers "fling" and are "flung" around the floor. The chairs were used as props here. 8 dancers managed the four chairs and played with the prop in a brilliant way. This was a pretty and cute item. it was more of a lovy dovy dance. the partners looked cute together. As the dance i was off my seats.

3) Dance of remembrance, from woman, the pioneer- A tribute to women of faith and courage everywhere, "dance of remembrance" opens hearts to the struggle and emotional torment women and parents experience when they lose a child. Moving between the hope of life and the reality of death, a mother resolves with faith to finish her earthly journey in spite of the loss of a child she leaves behind on the windswept plains. The costumes in this dance were classic. The woman uses her costume itself as a prop to depict the child and the death of the child. This item particularly reminded me of one of my performance as a mother and i see my child raped by her own father. Was moved by this performance.

4) Life's a bench- whether it's a party on the bayou or western hoedown, "life is a bench" celebrates what it means to be a community. Though intricate rhythms and interviewing floor patterns, the dancers meet, greet and "set a spell". Playfully the enjoy each others company, ducking, rolling, and jumping in highly orchestrated free for all that's filled with surprising moments. I just love the way they used and managed the props. The jaw drop part of this dance was four dancers rolling together with one bench. Amazing floor work. Here is a small glimps of the part of the dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFVe21ba7TY&feature=youtu.be

5) Chakra- is based on the tantric and yogic traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The whell-like vortices in the body are explored as energy centers of the body, central to the transmission of energy. The imbalances of modern society serve a sthe frame of reference for this work, making a commentary on the disequilibrium that is systematic to our modern world. I have nothing to say about this dance sequence. Im out of words this was the best until now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4OWVBvVQ-g&feature=youtu.be

A member in the audience says "This is the first time im watching something like this and i feel its very difficult to understand what they are depicting as the movements are pretty fast. I like their concepts and they are doing it well but i feel instead of the video before every performance a compere explaining would be easier for us to understand"

6) Do not remove under penalty of law- a proven, laugh out loud romp performed to dvorak's hungarian dancers. You will never look at your mattress the same way again. Here they used materessess as props and danced with it. they formed shapes out of it, and used it as a chair etc. The also stood behind it danced with funny faces which gave audience a gag. Here is a small glimps of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZHP8n9FNYk&feature=youtu.be

7)Thought of you-  You may have seen this animated youtube phenomen. "thought of you" is a pensive love story beautifully expressed by two figures, a man and a woman dancing to express the complexities of relationships. This was a wonderful clip which will touch our hearts in a way.

8) Upon the mountain the grip of poverty- Reflections of the black Diaspora from their original homeland and the community formed in the new world a celebration of life in all aspects. The whole sequence was danced by just two guys. The managed the stage so well that such a huge stage never looked empty even for a minute.

9) Steppin- all groups have dance steps that they perform together for the pure joy of celebration of life. This dance blends the unity and power of a military corps with urban sensibilities of African-American community. This was in the form of a tap dance and the synchrony was eye catch. its so hard to do this with 16 people. Ther had been a lot of practice and energy put into this as they dint use any music and they were their own music. In such a huge auditorium of a 1000 audience capacity imagine the energy it takes to reach the audience sitting in the last row. A bow down to them. Super realistic performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg-NicjmdHI&feature=youtu.be

 10) Excerpts form pilgrimage- In this exuberant dance dancers move and grove to the nostalgic sounds of Neil Diamond. It started of with a duet and slowly after time passes all the 14 joined on the stage and moved. In the duet part the lifts were eye catchy, clean and smooth. She looked so happy and light on top there.

A member in the audience says "i have seen a lot of American contemporary dancers, specially in Belgium they were amazing and are the same now i dont find any difference. The only difference i find is that something like this is taking place for the first time in bangalore and im proud about it. Loved the show."

This show would not have been a great success without the splendid lighting effects. Also the Sponsors FASTRACK and WORLD OF TITAN.