Reflection on Athleticism of Mercyhurst's Musical Team
I went to Mercyhurst's music festival they hosted throughout the week of November 18, 2021. It was an interesting experience and performance that I haven't seen live before. The actors were graceful, balanced and athletic while the directors did well with the limited budget to organize fitting costumes and useful props.
As an athlete with great interest in athletic development and performance, the athletic ability of the actors fascinated me more than anything. Their movement across the stage while jumping and bounding was impressive as it takes power to generate height and a strong cardiovascular system to be able to do that for even 15 seconds. These actors had segments of a couple minutes with short breaks in between. Next they did many movements up on their toes while not losing balance, for example different variations of a pirouette. I was impressed with not only their core strength and their body awareness but also their ankle strength. The actors held and moved in and out of these positions effortlessly. In soccer ankle injuries are very common. Although relatively minor as they keep players out for usually a week or two, they persist and prevent players from playing at their best and from gaining momentum in their performances. While I was watching the musical, I couldn't help but think about the potential benefits of incorporating ballet training for athletes, specifically soccer players. The goal would be to increase ankle strength and flexibility with the ultimate goal of reducing injuries.
The musical itself I didn't enjoy much as it was slow-moving and there was no dialogue. There was a big onus on the audience to interpret what was going on in the play as there was just movement, dancing and minimal hand gestures. I'm sure some people enjoy this as it lets the imagination run wild however, for myself perhaps I was too entrenched in the gracefulness of the actors to have energy to pick up on the plot.
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