Dancing with Dada Masilo

So, as most of you know, Denison has this epically wonderful program called the Vail Series that brings in artists every semester to perform and teach. Most of the time, these artists are musicians. This semester, however, we were fortunate enough to have Dada Masilo, a dancer from South Africa. Dada's specialty is taking classic stories (Swan Lake, Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, and Carmen) and dancing them in completely new ways. Swan Lake is a blend of classical ballet with African dance; Romeo and Juliet is ballet with contemporary; Hamlet is contemporary dance, postmodern dance, and acting; Carmen is flamenco and contemporary dance. Many of these combinations do not "work." That is, they do not blend cohesively. But that is what has made Masilo, at age 27, one of the youngest innovators in dance ever.

Friday night was the performance in Swasey chapel. Dada was dancing with Lulu Mlangeni- fellow South African dancer and winner of So You Think You Can Dance, South Africa. Dada opened the show with a piece entitled "The World, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things." It started with a monologue chastising people who objectify others, who make cat-calls and comments at passersby (apparently this is quite common in Johannesburg). She ended with the monologue with, "Don't call me bitch, slut, whore. I am not your baby. I am not public property." This message stuck with me the entire show, especially considering how sexually-charged many of the pieces were.

"The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things"

"Swan Lake"

The highlight of the show, for me, was Carmen. It was completely and totally awesome. I wrote a paper for Movement Analysis that described Dada's solo in extreme detail, using academic smart-sounding dance terms. So, yeah, that was awesome. Dada and Lulu also performed excerpts from Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. It was the greatest.

After the show, there was a huge, fancy reception in the Welsh Hills Room (about the fanciest venue on campus, for those who don't know). There was tons of finger food, as well as free booze(!!!!!) for everyone of age. So, I got drunk on the university's dime. I know you're jealous. I also got to meet Dada and Lulu in person. I never would have guessed watching them, but they are both quite petite. Lulu is about 5'2" and Dada is under 5'. They dance like giants, though. So, after the reception (and quasi-drunken conversations with a few professors), I headed home.

Bright and early the next morning, Dada gave a master class in the dance building. There were 50 or so people there, so it was quite crowded. There was not space to practice the steps before we split into groups to do the combinations. As such, the movements were all a little rough for me (and for pretty much everyone else, too). That, and we were throwing our bodies violently at the floor at a ridiculous pace for two hours. Basically, I am completely covered in bruises still, 3 days later. I have finally gotten over the soreness, but that took until yesterday. Totally worth it. I want to practice all her moves until I can nail them, because they are some sweet moves.

She had an audition to cast students in a reproduction of her full-length Swan Lake, which I am looking forward to seeing. I couldn't audition because my schedule is insane. Damn you, MCAT!!! But I do get to take another class from Dada on Thursday. Looking forward to the awesomeness, but not the pain. So. Much. Pain.


TL;DR: Dada Masilo is the shit and you should all be jealous that I got to watch her perform/meet her/take class from her.

Video of Dada's version of Swan Lake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fChZR04ZYa4