Bringin' it Back

The Judson Era, and Postmodern Dance was a time of avant-garde, out of the box, who cares what anyone else thinks? There was absolutely no intent, why dance to the music? Is this even dance? You don't have to be a "dancer" to dance! Who needs a theatre anyway? Let's dance wherever we want! And we're sure as heck not trying to entertain you, or anyone else.

I personally am not a huge fan of postmodern dance. I thank Mark Morris for doing what he did. He brought the dance world back to structure, back to the dance and the music go together. "Morris' musicality is both immediately obvious and long established, his dances often prasied or blamed for their scrupulous attention to score" (Phillips).  He thought dancers should be trained. "But Morris' work has no plot to narrate or dogma to preach; rather, his basic pps help to enact an innocent weirdness, neither condescending nor irrelevant, that permeates just as surely Milhuad's Music" (Phillips).

I would say Mr. Morris and I have very similar views on what being a dancer means. He believes the training of a dancer is very important. The mindset of a trained dancer is much different than the mind of an average person. There is just something about being a dancer, whether its living to move, or the way in which we have all been brought up. The discipline, the hard work, the disappointments, we all have that in common. When you start allowing anyone to dance, then you lose the sense of allegiance and camaraderie that exists between fellow dancers. Also, I love the connection Mr. Morris makes to the music. I don't see the point of dancing to music if you are going to find no connection at all. I love to see every accent, beat, moment, given the proper movement. I believe that great musicality is one of the things that makes a dance stand out.