On Friday, November 18th, I attended the Rioult performance to watch the Rioult Dance Company from New York, New York perform a collection of dances for the Stockton community. The event was held in the Stockton Performing Arts Center and the audience eagerly waited for the performance to begin. Even though I was required to attend this event for several of my dance classes, I was excited to see this company dance for the first time. The Rioult Company consists of nine core members and the founder Pascal Rioult, who creates all of the pieces for the company. The choreography of the company is based around the Graham modern dance technique, which focuses on the contraction and release of the spine in movement.

The Rioult performance really surprised me and caught my attention because the company projected images behind the dancers as they performed each piece. The overall theme of the performance was based around nature and the images behind the dancers changed based upon the theme of the dance. I also enjoyed watching the dancers convey the different themes of nature in each piece through the utilization of movement, emotions, costuming, background changes and lighting. The Rioult company did an outstanding job in bringing nature alive and engaging the audience throughout the performance. Overall, I felt as though there was never a dull moment in their dance concert and I would recommend this performance to anyone who is interested in dance or even the arts in general. Hopefully, I will able to see the Rioult Dance Company perform again in the future because I loved watching them dance!