Review of Cedar Lake Dance Company - Research Paper Example

The Artistic Director is Benoit-Swan Pouffer and the website gives a good impression of his somewhat radical approach to the medium of ballet. A short clip entitled “Street” by Erez Sabag is a masterful example of how dance is integrated with modern video technology. The music is a series of low chords, somewhat edgy and jarring in nature, and this is set against a dark and forbidding street scene. The first movement is just the slow passing of automobiles, and then the dancer walks on in a slouching posture with face hidden in a “hoodie” jacket.

This chimes very well with contemporary music video culture, and at first it is not obvious that what follows will  be an episode of dance. When the dancer suddenly switches into an explosion of jerky dance movements, at lightning speed and with high energy, a feeling of excitement and released tension is conveyed, only to resolve back into the sullen walking down the darkened street.  Viewers will not forget this image, and it is no doubt intentional that it represents the surprising contribution and memorable contribution that ballet can make to modern culture.

A potentially useful feature of the website is the blog, complete with hyperlinks and buttons for facebook and twitter. This blog offers photographs but very little commentary, and there is very little evidence that it is being used interactively by the public. This is something that the company should perhaps work more on, because artistic marketing in the internet age is increasingly. being done with full involvement of fans and supporters, who create viral