Ballet

I learned that the Ecuadorian culture is supportive. In many of their dances, they lifted each other up. They had to depend on the others in order for them to strive. If one person didn’t do the right thing, the whole dance would be messed up. This can translate to their culture as well. If people start to do the wrong thing, then others will follow and it will throw off the entire culture. In order for a culture to be successful, everyone needs to work together and value each other. There was one dance where the men were dressed as women in order to show that they respect women and what they do. This goes to show that they are willing to respect one another which gives them a stronger sense of community. I also learned that their culture uses many bright colors in their outfits. These people are able to express themselves through what they are wearing—and that is very powerful.

My favorite dance was the one with the pole and ribbons. I believe it was a dance to honor the gods, but I can’t remember. I liked this one the most because I think it further proves the point I just made. If one person did the wrong move, then the whole dance would’ve been thrown off. They all had to work together and follow one another in order to be successful. Another one of my favorite dances was the one with the deer. I understood the story they were trying to tell with this dance more than the others. It was different, but I liked that I could understand what was going on. I also liked the music. It really set the mood of the story the dancers were trying to tell. I hadn’t heard some of the instruments in person before and I thought it was very interesting. I could tell that everyone had passion in what they were doing, which made this fun to watch.

Dance can serve as a universal form of nonverbal communication because everyone understands emotions. The dancers and musicians were able to tell the stories to everyone because of the emotion they showed on their face. If they were smiling, then we know that it is happy. If they were more serious, than it is clear that something happened—and it might not be good. The sound also tells us what is happening. When the music was upbeat, we can assume that something good is happening and a happy tone appears. If the music is slow, then the tone is serious or even sad. All of these elements work together to tell a story. Not all of us are able to understand the language or the history of different cultures within Ecuador, but the dances allow us to understand part of what is going on. When we all watch something together, we are sharing those feelings and can understand each other.

Overall, I enjoyed their performance. I wish I could’ve understood more of what the introduction and conclusion meant, but I enjoyed seeing all of the different outfits and props. I respect these people for the work that they put in to make this performance so fun to watch; I applaud them for also being able to jump so much without falling to the ground—their calves must be very strong.