Another Amazing Dance

If you liked the Chinese Swan Lake,here is another example of just how far dance can be pushed. This time there is another dimension: all the dancers are deaf. More information can be found here, but take a look first.

Comments

Anonymous said…

I was transfixed. A complete stillness came over me - as I watched, the peace and truth inherent in this beautiful performance had sunk deep into my soul. Thank you.

I know from my own experience of both deafness and dance there is inexplicable heightened perception of the vibration of life.
The knowing and being 'in time' with others that I am sometimes aware of is a blessing.
When I watch dance I see when dancers feel rather than hear the music and I am far more aware of the 'essence' of individual dancers and of the overall meaning of a piece than I was when I was younger and hearing.
I am sometimes overcome with a spiritual awareness in the middle of a dance piece. In this dance there is for me a reiteration of the 'oneness' of humanity- and the individual movements making one 'wave' really fascinate me and stretch my mind.
Tais' beautiful face shows such love and gratitude at being one and a part of the dance. The dance of life. There is true acceptance and serenity.
The last dance clip you shared with us also had a profound affect upon me. I didn't at the time have the courage to make comment but would like to know if others felt/noticed the extraordinary moment of truth almost as strong as a 'knowing' moment in prayer. I revisited it many times with wonder. It is when she is balanced en pointe on his head. There is a known moment of communication between them that I still don't understand.
Thank you for sharing such thought provoking beauty with us.

5 August 2008 at 12:08

Kelvin Wright said…

Thanks for this very insightful post. Next time you are looking at Youtube, there are other shots of this dance troupe in action (do searches for 1000 hand buddha or for deaf Chinese dancers) including some variations of this routine using different lighting - some quite stunning. There is also a video of them rehearsing - most interesting.

I was aware that the dancers in the other clip must have extraordinary communication. A friend of my daughter Catherine is a dancer, and was flabbergasted that the ballerina would take such risks with her ankles as dancing en pointe on a soft and moving surface - impossible risks unless the second by second communication between the partners was almost psychically strong and instantaneous.
She also mentioned that the particular turn executed while on the guy's head was extremely difficult to do while on a hard stable floor, but verging on the impossible on a moving surface. Would you agree?

5 August 2008 at 22:18

Anonymous said…

For obvious reasons there is something very eastern in the organisation of this dance. The precision and timing is similiar in spirit albeit on a much smaller scale as the displays that are given at large political gatherings where coloured squares of board are held by individuals in a sports stadium or similiar to make pictures of people (someone like chairman Mao comes to mind) or things. Of course in this display the skill level is stratospheric in comparison.

There is an essence or spirit of the individual subsumed by the collective for a greater expressive spectacle which is particular to the eastern mind and culture and a genre that they do very well.

The precision and execution was exquisite, formidable and beautiful in a detached and unemotional way.

An astonishing piece of artistry!

5 August 2008 at 23:30

Anonymous said…

What a wonderously beautiful thing - thanks, Kelvin!

6 August 2008 at 18:28

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