So
far this month, we’ve focused our attention on famous ballets. What happens
when you combine aspects of ballet and modern dance? The result is a stunning
production choreographed by Twyla Tharp to the music of Philip Glass.
In the Upper Room premiered in
1986 and breaks down the barrier that began to form between ballet and modern
dance in the twentieth century. Tharp incorporates two groups of dancers—modern
dancers wearing tennis shoes and ballet dancers wearing pointe shoes. She
referred to her modern dancers as “stompers” and the ballet dancers as the
“bomb squad.” In the Upper Room incorporates
a variety of dance types including boxing, yoga, ballet, and tap, set to the
minimalistic music of Philip Glass. Costumes and lighting add to the
experience, dancers moving in and out of a heavenly, fog-filled stage.
Below
you can watch a few excerpts from In the
Upper Room. What do you think? Do you prefer this type of modern dance over
some of the more traditional ballets we talked about earlier this month?
