An Organic Experience
A couple of Saturdays ago, I had an incredible experience ... something that heretofore has not been an encounter for me.
That evening, I got an invite to join a friend and attend the final DJD (Decidedly Jazz Danceworks) performance called 'Jam!'. Now, I've heard of DJD before, but never knew much about them other than they were a jazz dance company (and I understood jazz dance to be a form more free and less technical) ... and as much as I love to watch dance performances (I had seasons tickets to the RWB - Royal Winnipeg Ballet - before moving west, and I'm a HUGE musical fan), this never seemed to twig my interest.
That Saturday night I ate my words.
"We're dedicated to preserving the roots of jazz dance through public performance and education. DJD's unique, rooted style of jazz dance has been a major factor in the box office success of our company. Wherever possible our performances combine live jazz music with jazz dance, exploring that extra energy created by musician and dancer," states the website. I would agree from what I witnessed ... this wasn't merely 'jazz dance' that you see every little two-bit dance studio offer; no, this was something much much more.
What I was witness to Saturday night went beyond words ... Chris called it 'organic', and I can come up with no better words. The first act was choreographed - and so full of LIFE, and ENERGY, and zest!! Two of the founders of the company danced with the rest (a company of about 8-10) are in their 40's - one was reed-thin and the other was a 'real' size. (my guess: size 14??) And they were as involved and as alive as the rest of the performers who were in their 20's and 30's. They used jazz - both the jazz I like (like Duke Ellington and other jazz/big-band greats) and the 'jazz I don't' (and I use that term loosely ... sax, trumpet, etc.) ... and after Saturday night, I love it all!!!
The second act was even better ... if that is possible. The second act was improv - and the artistic director would give a word or two to the dancer, and with a simple movement, echoed in a created musical pattern, the two - dancer and musician - created, before our eyes, a mini-masterpiece. And when you add the other instruments (there was a live band: drums, keyboard, bass, sax and trumpet) and their dancers, what we saw was breathless. Never to be repeated, as it came from the moment and emotion. It is my understanding that the music was improved as well - and how they got to fuse it all together into a cohesive whole was 'organic'.
From 8pm to 10:30pm, I sat on the edge of my seat, tapping my toe, and smiling more than I have in a long long time. Both Chris and I left the theatre and could not speak. She has had experience with dance before, and jazz dance before, and she was in awe just like I was. Something Chris told me is that when it comes to more structured and disciplined dance, like ballet, the rules and demands on the dancer are unreal - anorexia and stunted puberty is common. But with jazz, it is a dance and music of the people, so all are represented. Jazz - both music and dance - comes from the soul, from that place in humanity that has no words, but has so much life.
I have to say that no longer do I listen to jazz without envisioning that which has no words. For all my love of the written language, I now also have experience with a part of me (and humanity at large) that ... that ... is. This is something that I had only sensed in the peripheral part of my being existed ... now I KNOW beyond real that it exists, but cannot be connected to in 'normal' terms. It saddens me to know that there are some that will never encounter this awe, this life.
I feel like my little nephew, who has my heart ... WOW ... WOW ... WOW ... And, if I'm here next year ... I'M GETTING SEASONS TICKETS!!!!
That evening, I got an invite to join a friend and attend the final DJD (Decidedly Jazz Danceworks) performance called 'Jam!'. Now, I've heard of DJD before, but never knew much about them other than they were a jazz dance company (and I understood jazz dance to be a form more free and less technical) ... and as much as I love to watch dance performances (I had seasons tickets to the RWB - Royal Winnipeg Ballet - before moving west, and I'm a HUGE musical fan), this never seemed to twig my interest.
That Saturday night I ate my words.
"We're dedicated to preserving the roots of jazz dance through public performance and education. DJD's unique, rooted style of jazz dance has been a major factor in the box office success of our company. Wherever possible our performances combine live jazz music with jazz dance, exploring that extra energy created by musician and dancer," states the website. I would agree from what I witnessed ... this wasn't merely 'jazz dance' that you see every little two-bit dance studio offer; no, this was something much much more.
What I was witness to Saturday night went beyond words ... Chris called it 'organic', and I can come up with no better words. The first act was choreographed - and so full of LIFE, and ENERGY, and zest!! Two of the founders of the company danced with the rest (a company of about 8-10) are in their 40's - one was reed-thin and the other was a 'real' size. (my guess: size 14??) And they were as involved and as alive as the rest of the performers who were in their 20's and 30's. They used jazz - both the jazz I like (like Duke Ellington and other jazz/big-band greats) and the 'jazz I don't' (and I use that term loosely ... sax, trumpet, etc.) ... and after Saturday night, I love it all!!!
The second act was even better ... if that is possible. The second act was improv - and the artistic director would give a word or two to the dancer, and with a simple movement, echoed in a created musical pattern, the two - dancer and musician - created, before our eyes, a mini-masterpiece. And when you add the other instruments (there was a live band: drums, keyboard, bass, sax and trumpet) and their dancers, what we saw was breathless. Never to be repeated, as it came from the moment and emotion. It is my understanding that the music was improved as well - and how they got to fuse it all together into a cohesive whole was 'organic'.
From 8pm to 10:30pm, I sat on the edge of my seat, tapping my toe, and smiling more than I have in a long long time. Both Chris and I left the theatre and could not speak. She has had experience with dance before, and jazz dance before, and she was in awe just like I was. Something Chris told me is that when it comes to more structured and disciplined dance, like ballet, the rules and demands on the dancer are unreal - anorexia and stunted puberty is common. But with jazz, it is a dance and music of the people, so all are represented. Jazz - both music and dance - comes from the soul, from that place in humanity that has no words, but has so much life.
I have to say that no longer do I listen to jazz without envisioning that which has no words. For all my love of the written language, I now also have experience with a part of me (and humanity at large) that ... that ... is. This is something that I had only sensed in the peripheral part of my being existed ... now I KNOW beyond real that it exists, but cannot be connected to in 'normal' terms. It saddens me to know that there are some that will never encounter this awe, this life.
I feel like my little nephew, who has my heart ... WOW ... WOW ... WOW ... And, if I'm here next year ... I'M GETTING SEASONS TICKETS!!!!
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