Concert 2: what an interesting evening! I loved how the Songbooks put the audience directly inside. The whole first act was fascinating and enjoyable to watch. I really appreciate the risks that were taken. In contrast, the second half was a bit less entrancing and low-energy, but still very beautiful and talented.

Wow, what a fantastic performance! I’ve never really seen a purely contemporary dance show before, so this was a new and refreshing experience for me that really opened my eyes to a new form of art. It definitely made me more conscience of how expressive movements can be, and the capabilities of the human body. I felt completely absorbed into their passionate, beautiful world of dance!

I tried really hard to enjoy the video, but, like many others have stated, I loved the music, and disliked the video. I found it to be distracting, especially when people started laughing at it (which really is just shameful and embarrassing). The video made me feel disconnected from the music, and really quite hopeless, whereas the purpose of the music was a celebratory connection with nature. I often found myself closing my eyes, staring at the ground, and doodling in order to avoid watching.

That being said, I still enjoyed the performance for the music’s sake. The orchestra was extremely talented, and I applaud their performance of a breathtaking piece of music.

Wow, what a performance! It was truly breathtaking.

As the show began, everything seemed so bizarre – the repetitive jarring movements, the non-traditional sound, the changing pace – everything! The actors tweaked mundane activities such as walking, speaking, standing, reading, or typing ever so slightly, making them fascinating. Simultaneously, they attacked each action with such precision that I did not doubt the intent or necessity – they just seemed normal and fitting. Traditional theatre and cinema have made us accustomed to seeing projections of reality in performances, but by transforming what initially seemed abnormal into normal, Einstein on the Beach transformed its art into a part of life.

The pace really caught me off guard a few times. Someone or something would be moving so slowly that I would look somewhere else, and then when I would look back, the someone or something would be completely changed. I guess the show really demonstrated how small/slow changes can make a huge difference, especially when we’re not paying attention.

I loved how themes reemerged throughout it. For example, using age as a contrast – the old judge and the young judge (a child playing an adult’s part), the grown women as school girls (adults playing children’s parts), the gun next to the lollipop, and boy in one glass box and the man in the other, etc. People’s ages were blurred just like how time was blurred. The recurring themes in the music, dance, and words really tied the whole thing together.

Love surpasses all time and space – it is limitless. This is the ending message of the show, and I don’t think a traditional opera could have communicated that message in the same way. Traditionally, love would be shown through interactions or narrative, but Einstein on the Beach shows something else, for which I have two ideas (and these are just my ideas – I’d love to hear everyone else’s!): either that A) despite everything we’ve seen here – despite altering our perceptions of time and space – the limitless of love still cannot be rightly expressed, or that B) when the limits of time and space are castaway (like in the show), love become comprehensible.

But anyway, I’ve rambled long enough, so in conclusion – phenomenal show! It was an honor to have seen it.