Islands Of Desire Analysis

Although all of the performances during the Horizons program were delightful to watch Islands of Desire stood out most. The performance had only two dancers similar to Black Diamond, but unlike Black Diamond the dancers in Islands of Desire had more physical interactions. This made the performance seem like more of a duet with two dancers cooperating to tell one story, rather than two individual dancers moving beautifully on stage at the same time. Islands of Desire had several elements that pushed it to shine past the other pieces including the lighting, the costumes and hair, the movements, and the storyline. The lighting scheme of Islands of Desire was one that would easily catch the eye of any audience member. Rather than simply having spots follow the dancers around or just keeping the entire stage lit, the lighting designers for the piece went down a different route. The spot lights were moving lights that seemed to follow …show more content…
It is clear that the story is about two lovers but the details surrounding that fact are somewhat hazy. It is possible that the lovers were somehow separated and are finding their way back to each other. Or that they were never together but noticed each other from afar and desire is pulling them towards each other. The first case is better supported given the fact that both dancer started on stage dancing together. Then Richard left and Amanda had a solo moment possibly trying to show through her movements that she was missing or longing for something. When Amanda left stage Richard came back on and had a solo as well which was likely intended to show the audience that he was missing someone as well. The two finally reconnected towards the end of the performance where they moved very intimately and their bodies remained very connected. Showing how elated they were to finally be close to one another