Dog Days Are Over Essay

“Perfection is not attainable but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” (Vince Lombardi) A great example of this is Jan Martens The Dog Days Are Over, a dance that features eight dancers who focus on one physical action: jumping. These eight dancers push themselves to the limit in order to achieve perfection, an impossible feat, performing a continuous and tireless movement as they create an physically intense piece.
In a black box theater, the dancers begin standing, shoulder to shoulder, in a horizontal line about center stage, facing and staring directly at the audience. To no music, they slowly begin to bounce up and down, keeping their focus on the audience with their arms straight down at their sides. Quickly, the dancers …show more content…
The dancers begin to jump up and down again with their hands in fists placed in front of their hips. At random moments, they slap their hands on the front of their thighs, immediately moving their elbows up to their shoulders and simultaneously punching and kicking outward as if there is someone standing directly in front of them. During these moments, the dancers try to maintain synchronization as well as keeping the same intensity and effortlessness as before which they struggle to do. Due to the close proximity and the lack of music during this section, we are able to hear their heavy breathing and see the sweat dripping down their bodies.
Throughout the entire dance, the eight dancers work themselves to the limit in order to achieve absolute perfection while executing one physical act: the jump. However, the dancers never reach perfection as they work themselves to the point of exhaustion, proving that we are only human and that it is impossible to achieve absolute excellence. Jan Marten’s The Dog Days Are Over shows how the repetition of one movement over a long course of time will never result in perfection, but can still be truly incredible shown by the effort from all of the dancers in this physically draining