The Wolmer's dance troupe in full swing during their 12th season of dance entitled 'Mixed Moods'. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer 'MIXED Moods', the Wolmer's Dance Troupe's 12th season of dance, lived up to its name. It managed to celebrate the vibrancy and joy of youth, while also showing that some of the older dancers are also quite talented.
The choreography was also quite a mixed bag. The most intriguing piece presented was Passive Consumption. This dance was choreographed by Onaje Bell and featured Renee Reid, Akilah Wallace and Kari Douglas, three of the advanced seniors. Passive Consumption is a piece that is worthy of any professional dance troupe, not to mention an amateur one. It highlighted the skills of the choreographer, as well as the three dancers.
The dance stood out from its very beginning, in part because the first segment involved no music. As a result, the silence in the room grew louder as everyone's attention was focused on the dancers, who created their own music with their movements. The second segment maintained a feeling of difference as the song selected, a funky blues piece, had a more dominant melody than rhythm.
The Difference was another dance which spoke of great imagintion on the part of the choreographer, as well as some willingness to be at least a little different. This dance was choreographed by the group's artistic director, Barbara McDaniel. The initial snippet of music selected, the 20th Century Fox theme mixed with Bounty Killer, suggested that the audience was in for quite a show. This promised was fulfilled in the first segment. It seemed to be well on its way to being of the same standard as Passive Consumption when halfway through the first segment it flagged back into the amatuerish.
Nonetheless, The Difference soon caught back its momentum and presented a freshness and vitality which must be commended. Additionally, though the dance focused on reggae, it did not allow itself to be confined to standard dancehall moves, even though they were incorporated.
Dances such as Echo, choreographed by Barbara McDaniel and Roberta Daley, was really nothing more than movements put together to emphasise pretty costumes. This dance was about the clothes, not the dancers. Indeed, the costumes were quite beautiful and colourful. Arlene Richards was in charge of costumes for all the dances, and certainly outdid herself in a season which was populated by beautiful costumes.
Props was another such dance. This dance was another pretty piece to watch. As the name suggested, it used several props, including umbrellas and hoops. It brought images of Las Vegas shows to mind.
Earlier Days was another piece which provided good visual impact, and a bit more. The best thing about this dance was that it was really fun to watch. The longest piece, it had three segments, evoking three of the last four decades of the 20th century. It began with the 1960s, bringing back dances such as the mashed potato, the twist and such moves. It then moved to the '70s. For this segment, some of the parents of the dancers were roped in. This second segment used costumes (extreme Afros and bell bottoms), music and the dance moves brought disco back to life.
The third segment featured the '80s. For that purpose they used the music and dance styles of the man whose signature is written all over that period of pop history, Michael Jackson, especially with mega-hits such as Thriller and Beat It.
Although this segment borrowed heavily from Jackson's videos, it did not deny the choreographers'(Barbara McDaniel and Shanyan Richards) own talent and imagination. It was the best executed of the three.
There were two other dances from the younger members of the group which clearly stood out in terms of the quality of the dancers and the choreography. They were Permission and Clock Works, both choreographed by McDaniel.
