Saturday I attended EviDANCE which used to be known as World of Dance. I'm not sure if dance concerts can be considered media but I'd like to think that they do. This concert in particular attempted to share a message to the audience. They were discribing what dance is. In the process they used large screens that you think are backdrops at first but are actually images projected onto a canvas. Each of their performances was assigned to one of four catagories. Whimsical, romantic, mysterious, and life. For each introduction into the catagories, the screen was used to display it. It was beautifully done. The message they conveyed to us was that dance can be a part of life and life can be in dance. I'm not a huge dance fan but I think it's fun. I've taken Social Dance 180 and I enjoy dancing around my room by myself. But this performance was inspiring. It made me feel like I could do great things. I cried almost four times during this performance. While I was walking home I felt like I was on cloud nine. Attending performances like that is like stepping into another world, escaping life and its dullness, to be thrust into a world of beauty and inspiration. The magical combination of music, dance, and images impacted me strongly. Before the concert even started I felt more at peace. I was sitting by myself, attending the concert alone as I am want to do, surrounded by people I did not know. The sound of chatter around the large room was loud and rumbled in my ears but I did not hear it. The music in the background was what I focused on. Playing over the speakers was music from the Lord of the Rings. It was calm and serene. I closed my eyes and let myself relaxed. Every stressor and pessimistic thought lifted away from me, and I became a figure of stillness in that room full of noise.
Performances are one of the greatest forms of media and they are my way of escape.
While I was working on an assignment for this class, I noticed that the synonym for entertainment was 'diversion' and 'distraction.' In some ways these two words have a negative connotation but they can also be viewed as positive. In this instance my positive diversion from life was music and dance. But instead of making me feel wasted and dead inside like some entertainment leaves you, this distraction left me feeling empowered.
