Analytical Statement: Beyond Bondage

Analytical Statement This piece is called “Beyond Bondage” and it tells the story of two african slaves--who are unknowingly each others’ sisters, and one of them is a slave master’s daughter--and a slave master who watches over them with a condescending attitude because of his egotistical nature. My role in this piece was acting as the slave master, and I watched over my two group members as they danced. Along with this, I whip and belittle the two during the dance to convey a sense of cruelty in my character. I use multiple gestures to show my control over the two, from moving their entire bodies to controlling their arms. I liked how I didn’t need to dance that much as I watch over the two, although there has been some critique on how …show more content…
I disliked that as a slave master, I had to really convey the mean spirit one usually has as I am not a very expressive person. I tend to get nervous when people are watching, so it is difficult for me to convey some sort of emotion during the presentation. I connected to this role by embracing a mean demeanor during the dance. I kept my arms crossed with an angry expression on my face to portray what I imagine a typical slave master to look like to this audience. My biggest challenge for this piece is to remember all of the moves in succession and conveying emotions during the presentation, as this requires extensive practicing and it requires me to stay after school or arrive early to get the practice in. My greatest accomplishment, however, is performing the moves correctly and remembering them in the correct order. This is something I would consider a personal victory even if my group members think otherwise. I don’t really perform that well in Dance class and I just perform to get by, so this is a true …show more content…
Jalynn is feisty and tries to protect her sister by fighting off me, the slave master. This only ends in her punishment, however. The other one, Jermiah, is docile and after discovering that I’m her father, wants to please me by doing my bidding in an attempt to earn my love and acceptance. I am initially harsh and cruel towards the african slave girls, and I attempt to separate the two by all means necessary through whipping, pushing, and pulling. I later become fascinated by their culture and become influenced by their dancing. I also have a change of heart as I reconcile with my daughter and I wish to make amends for my past behavior towards her and her mother. I eventually set the slave girls free at the end of the piece. By doing this, the slave master has reinvented himself and has a new outlook on africans and in life. He later raises his white children to not belittle africans for their heritage and primitive culture, but to be fascinated by it and understand it. The story ends, from my perspective, with the slave master letting go of his condescending nature and inner hatred of africans and decides to let the sisters be free after coming to terms with the differences between the two races of white and