Love and All That Jazz Looking at Love LOVE SONGS BY TIM RUSHTON What’s this dance about? You guessed it—LOVE! In this working rehearsal, you’ll see Danish Dance Theatre explore a range of experiences and emotions connected to love. As in real life, searching for love doesn’t always come easy. There are moments of attraction, but also rejection. Dancers sometimes connect in meaningful and passionate ways, but at other moments, they seem distanced from one another, even lonely. The dance is one work separated by an intermission in the middle. Throughout both sections of Love Songs, the whole company remains on stage even when they aren’t dancing. As the movement alternates from solos to duets to groups, you’ll hear jazz classics recorded by Danish singing artist Caroline Henderson.
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Making Music Matter
dancers showing different performance energy. The piece starts with a male dancer’s smooth, flowing movement which is later contrasted by another dancer’s sharp, jerky movement. Looking at the piece as a whole, you will notice sections that are high-energy with fast-paced dancing, and other sections that are more calm and quiet.
Music is an important part of this performance. You’ll hear popular singer Caroline Henderson provide a musical playlist of love songs made popular by American jazz singers Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughn. The lyrics of the songs evoke feelings associated with romantic relationships.
the way dancers interact during duets. Sometimes the couples embrace tenderly, holding each other tight. At other times, they hang on to one another only briefly, touching in passing, or have only one point of contact while their bodies stretch in opposite directions. What do you think the choreographer is trying to communicate with these different types of touch?
LISTEN FOR... “Love’s full of waiting, and love’s bittersweet.” “I’m gonna love you, come rain or come shine.” “Listen to me! Why is everything so hazy? Isn’t that he, or am I going crazy?” “Don’t change a hair for me, not if you care for me. Stay, little valentine, stay.”
The most intimate duet in Love Songs is performed to the song “My Funny Valentine.” The lyrics are about loving someone without wanting to change a single thing about them. In this duet, watch how the choreography demonstrates the feeling of letting go and trusting in one another. Each of the dancers supports the weight of the other during the duet, and in one spectacular moment, the man catches his partner as she leaps toward him, arms and legs outstretched. Watch how the duet ends with a surprisingly tender embrace.
The whole company dances in unison. Why do you think they are wearing everyday clothes?
During this passionate embrace, notice the proximity of their faces and the way the male dancer holds the woman tight to his chest while looking in her eyes. Watch for other more frustrated interactions, including those of a woman desperate for the attentions of the same man throughout the performance.
PHOTO BY BJARKE ØRSTED
A Special Duet
PHOTO BY BJARKE ØRSTED