Linda Xiong
Acts of Wilderness During the performance of Acts of Wilderness I saw how yoga benefits dancing in many ways. Many people think of yoga and think of stretching and prana (to breathe) but yoga is more complex than this. Yoga consists of many poses that stretch and relax the entire body. The dancers rely on flexibility, balance and proper alignment of the body. The Three Bridges Park was a perfect area for the Wild Space Dance Company to execute their performance because they were able to use the environment to their advantage to show off the relationship between nature and the wild beasts that live among us. The dancers’ displayed Asana many times in their routines. Their focus was to open up their chest and extend their limbs which showed elegance in their acts. From the top of their head to the tips of their toes, they showed excellent composure that reveals how hard they have trained. Though I’ve never been to a performance that was done in silent, we as the audience was able to interpret what the dancers were trying to execute accordingly to their body language. In each act we saw time and time again how posture was important to the poses that were being done. As they Uttan, or extend forward or back, and jumped up or down, their balance helped them from falling off the hill or into the pond. This showed that the dancers had many practices before and built strength in their legs and back for support. This also shows the practice of Niyama, one of the eight limbs of yoga. In order to do this, they have to use dharnana (concentration) on their body and mind to express their animal character to the audience. I was amazed at how long the performers