The Dance Theatre of Harlem - Essay Example

The Dance Theatre of Harlem When speaking of ballets and their comparison, there is little competition between Bolshoi Ballet's Return of the Firebird and The Dance Theatre of Harlem's Fall River Legend.The fluid and graceful movements of Fall River Legend's dancers bring about a feeling of serine content as they move across the stage. While Return of the Firebird makes one feel of a more jerky and less planned theme.Dealing with such gruesome themes like the Lizzie Borden murders, Harlem's dancers bring to life the happenings of that fateful time so many years ago.

How far we have come when such themes can find their way to the stages of the theatre. In years past such things would be certainly taboo, but this company manages to take a horrifying occurrence in history and bring about the shear beauty that is lying so far below the surface.In stark contrast you find Return of the Firebird. The somewhat docile mood that is set in this ballet seems to reign supreme throughout the performance. The main drawback being a total lack of enthusiasm by the performers who seem to be actually controlled by the strings of a puppet master rather than their own minds.

This garnered a bored feeling as the ballet wore on, seeming to last a lifetime although it was short by many standards.Consuming the stage is the only bright spot throughout Return of the Firebird, Ananiashvili. Without a doubt this person is the show stealer and the only reason to continue watching such horror. The movements are thoughtful and full of grace, even past the less then perfect planning. One finds themselves staring at the wonderful fluid movements as passion is arisen in the dancer.

The supporting members do little to help this master of the dance, but little help is needed.Fall River Legend more than makes up for the loss in Return of the Firebird. The greatly talented staffs of dancers move as one, making the watcher think of a graceful flock of birds evading a predator. The content of these two ballets is no match. The main point of Return of the Firebird seems to be the same old tired love story, terribly overdone in all forms of theatre. When you consider the dark theme that Fall River Legend brings out, you find yourself in a place that few people have gone with the arts.

Drawing from the historical data that is available, the writers were able to portray the events leading up to the murder of Lizzie Borden's parents with great accuracy and a complete and total plot that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats for the entire performance.There is a social issue at stake with this performance as many believe that the performing and dramatizing of terrible murders such as this is in bad taste. The return of this should be that murders like this occur everyday, and many times in far worse circumstances than this.

The media coverage was censored to say the least and the writers of this ballet brought out the thoughts and feelings of all those involved.The failure of the staff in Return of the Firebird makes the comparison between these two ballets no competition. The subtle beauty of Fall River Legend, despite its dark undertones, makes it a winner overall.Work CitedReturn of the Firebird DVD Release Date Feb 11, 2003Dance Theatre of Harlem Fall River Legend DVD Release Date July 23, 2002