ODC Dance Company's A Pleasant Looking Woman In Sensible Clothes
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ODC is a collective dance company in San Francisco whose mission is to inspire and engage their audience and community. To carry out this mission, ODC communicates social values to its audience and emphasizes the importance of social issues through the varied works of innovative choreographers, like Bertha Way. ODC Dance Company's "A Pleasant Looking Woman In Sensible Clothes." choreographed by Bertha Way expresses the message of broken relationships and emotional suffering due to political decisions, using trademark moves: floor work and turning in circles, in the Contemporary Modern dance style. Way’s method of connecting the audience to the dance piece is done through her well-choreographed dance movements and use of physical theatre. The historical context of the piece plays a large role in communicating the message because the piece was presented to the public in…show more content… The dependency of the dance movements of the two dancers created a sense of a strong bond, which is eventually destroyed. A third party, the creators of war, destroy the bond. The creator of war in this historical context is the government. The grief experienced by the audience of this piece further emphasizes the effect of the dance on the public. The audience, after watching the show, can understand how politics can hurt families. The piece can incite the audience to action to solve social issues, like war, to avoid further distress on the public, which achieves ODC’s mission of engaging its audience. Brenda Way, as an inspiring choreographer of ODC’s dance company, is a model for her young dancers since she encourages them to advocate for what they believe in. For this reason, in the near future, there might be similar works to her, making Brenda an influential