'Porgy and Bess' has never been thought of as a dance show, and yet it's filled with dance. It uses dance to punctuate the action, or as background, or as atmosphere; even when it's front and center, it isn't crucial.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I was a dancer for many years. I was a premier dancer with 'Porgy and Bess,' the opera. And I taught dance some, in different places.
When I first was exposed to 'Porgy and Bess' many, many years ago, I was blown away by it - loved the music, overwhelmed by the production at the Met that I saw, and thought I want to play Bess someday. But I also knew they were stereotypes that were considered racist.
Dance is one of the most revealing art forms.
Dance is just like film in that it allows for thoughts in movement.
The dance can reveal everything mysterious that is hidden in music, and it has the additional merit of being human and palpable. Dancing is poetry with arms and legs.
I see dance being used as communication between body and soul, to express what it too deep to find for words.
Partner dancing is a cultured act.
Dancehall is just like hip-hop in that it doesn't always talk about bling; it talks about conscious issues.
Every act I see, their whole act is choreographed. I'm sick of seeing these dancers. The only reason they have them is they don't have enough talent to get people dancing themselves.
We don't dance because we can't dance. Our shows, production-wise, are always quite minimal. We always try and keep it more about us having fun and stay away from gimmicks.