Event #2: Performance at Memorial Hall

This past Wednesday, I chose to attend a performance at Memorial Hall, Orpheus et Eurydice. It was basically a re-enactment of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orpheus, a great poet, fell deeply in love with Eurydice. However, Eurydice died from a snake bite, and her spirit went to the underworld. Hence, Orpheus went to the underworld to get the love of his life back. Once there, Hades allows Orpheus to return to the earth from the underworld with his wife only if he does not look back during the journey, but Orpheus looks back, and Eurydice disappears forever.

I think Orpheus et Eurydice would have to be one of the most fascinating performances that I have seen yet. The dancers did an amazing job at re-enacting the story of Orpheus and Eurydice from Greek mythology. Expressions of the dancers were the most important thing in this performance. Most of the times the expressions of the dancers were very intense, but at times, they were really funny. At the beginning, they all just screamed really loud, which I think represented the frustration and anger of Orpheus. Later on in the performance, they just made these really weird and sad noises portraying the feelings of Orpheus after losing Eurydice. One of the dancers really caught my attention, because I could tell that she had really put in a lot of effort. There were hardly any conversations in this performance; hence, she had to express everything using her body to convey the message to us. The audience really seemed to enjoy the performance. I, being a member of the audience, was really immovable throughout the entire performance. The most interesting part was when one of the dancers, playing the role of Eurydice came into the audience, and was literally just crossing over seats and people sitting in those seats. That really caught the attention of all the members of the audience.

Overall, I think this was a wonderful experience. I was a little skeptical at first about attending a performance, because I didn’t think that I would enjoy it. The dancers were just incredible. They in fact got a standing ovation at the end. I came back and told my roommate about the performance and she wants to go see one soon now. So, I might be going before long to see another performance at Memorial Hall.