The Ailey Citigroup Theater was the place to be on Thursday, February 26, 2009. A Harkness Dance Festival performance of the Douglas Dunn & Dancers Company, took place in the small theater, which was filled to capacity by an engaged audience. The performance was quite unexpected for say and it held the audience in an amused wonder. Douglas Dunn & Dancers made the brains of the audience run throughout this performance in order to decipher the true meaning of quirks in the dances: or if there was any meaning to them at all. The performance on Thursday was only one small portion of the company’s repertoire. If you are ready to experience a new perspective of dance and are open to exotic interpretations of the original modern and ballet forms, come and see a Harkness Performance/Douglas Dunn & Dancers.

Douglas Dunn & Dancers performed two pieces for the audience. The first piece was Then Boss In Man? This was a most peculiar performance. No matter how long and hard you watch the dancers in this piece; there is no obvious meaning that just pops out to the audience. Everyone interprets this piece in his or her own way. To put it plainly, the piece started off weird and did not change. In the beginning of the piece, there were two dancers: a young woman, and an old man. They were doing the same routine, however not on the same level. To someone in the audience, this could have had a significant impact or meaning. To the majority, however, it just looked unprepared and silly. The old man was not doing the routine wrongly, however he just could not prefect the moves due to old age. In a dance routine, it is pleasing when there is a connection between the dancers. This piece just did not have that feeling.

Not only was there no connection in the piece, but there were odd moves and combinations in the performance that actually denoted the dancers skills. Dance moves that were not pretty or elegant to watch were put into this piece. At the end of the piece, the old man came out in a green monster suit and started chasing the other dancers around the stage. What significance or meaning did this monster have to the performance? Good question. This quirk was completely random and shocked the audience, being more weird than funny. When the second piece, Pulcinella, started after intermission, the audience was surprised that the dancers could do more than jump around and run across the stage in an unattractive manner.

The second piece, Pulcinella, was dramatically better than the first piece. It had actual modern and ballet dance moves, rather than the awkward moves performed in the first piece. The piece truly showed off the dancers techniques and talents. However, even though Pulcinella was elegant, had emotion, and was nice to watch, it still did not have that feeling of connection. The dancers would be doing beautiful combinations but never at the same time. There would be seven dancers on stage at the same time, doing completely different routines as if they were competing in solo competitions. There was too much chaos during this piece and no unity.

Overall the Harkness Dance Performance- Douglass Dunn & Dancers was a confusing show. I am sure that there were points being made throughout the performance, however they were not made clear enough for the audience to follow. The lack of unity was disappointing because by working together for so long, the dancers should have at least some connection, if not in their dancing, in their emotions towards each other while performing. The question to ask oneself is whether or not these flaws, such as the lack of unity and awkward moves, were put into the performance purposely and for what reason.