I am a doctoral student in the PhD Program in Dance at Temple University, focusing on community interaction. This blog is a collection of musings on dance, community, and much in between. Feel free to comment, leave feedback, share stories. My plan is to keep track of all of it here, perhaps it will serve to ground me and/or inspire me when it's time to write my dissertation (gulp).
Check out my Shelfari! My sister Laura put me on to Shelfari.com last fall. It has a lot of great features, but for me it is simply a nice way to keep track of books that I've read - and more importantly - books I'd like to read. I'm so happy to have just discovered that I can share my reading list with you through this really cool Shelfari widget (see lower right corner of the page). When you scroll your mouse over each book, a pop-up window will appear with detailed information.
I've started to compile a list of books that I'm hoping to read (and possibly add to my permanent collection), which I believe will be of great use to me during my time at Temple and beyond. I'm looking for anything related to dance, community, exchange, travel, research.... anything really!
If you know of some great reads, I'm taking any and all suggestions.
I'm posting the following article and video because it's fun, uplifting, and something I've always wanted to do. The notion of dancing around the world has been on my mind for as long as I can remember, and my dance residency in Ghana 3 years ago definitely fueled the fire.
Though I envision a much different approach for my own world-dance experience, I really like Matt Harding's take on it. He has a few videos (check out his YouTube Channel), and there have been several write-ups about him. I'm posting this one because it includes an interview which gives a little insight into his process:
Sunday, June 24th, 2012 was the 42nd annual NYC Pride March (aka The Gay Pride Parade). I've only seen glimpses of past marches while on my way elsewhere in NYC, and I could tell just from those few passing moments that the event is charged with crazy positive energy and tons of fun.
This year, I had the opportunity to perform in the parade. I jumped at the chance to participate because:
I thought it would be a great way to see the parade - from the inside out;
I thought it would be a fun "New York" thing to do before my imminent move out of the state; and
it's not everyday you get to celebrate life and promote civil rights all while boogying down 40+ city blocks in front of screaming crowds.
So, I did it - and it was awesome.
Photo: Time Warner Cable
The parade lived up to all of my expectations and then some. To experience the parade from the inside as a performer/marcher was so special. The crowd was so appreciative and responsive, and for some reason, the view from the middle of the street made the buildings seem to come alive. It may sound silly, but it was beautiful! I was eager to take time to proactively think about and promote equal rights for all human beings. And to be amongst people who were celebrating their first year of legal marriage, or people who were fighting for the right to just be able to stand by their partner's side in the hospital, made the whole experience so real and so incredibly profound. I was grateful for this wake-up call.
But what really surprised me was the realization that it was such a true and pure form of community interaction through dance. I'm not sure why I wasn't expecting that, I guess I didn't really think about it. I was hired by Time Warner Cable as a parade dancer and assistant choreographer for their float in the parade (they were a parade sponsor this year). Time Warner prides itself on the diversity of its workforce and the support they show all of their employees. This is awesome and I was glad to represent them, but let's face it, we were essentially a corporate dancing advertisement (we were dressed like Cable Technicians for pete's sake).
Photo: Time Warner Cable
So, I wasn't expecting this to be one of those moments when I connect to the community through art. But I was wrong, and I should have known better.
When the ensemble of "cable dancers" boogied and improvised passed the parade goers, they smiled and waved, but when our choreographed routine kicked into gear... they went crazy! The decibel level of cheers and hollers skyrocketed, arms flailed and heads bobbed. And they gave off this wave of appreciation and joy that we were dancing - for them. There was this unspoken understanding that we were all here in this place together for a common reason, and this dance that we were doing was created for them. So, by the time we neared the end of the parade route, covered in sweat, nauseas from the fumes of the truck in front of us, ears ringing from the music blasting around us, weak and tired and dehydrated... we kicked it up 200%. Why? Because at the end of the route, we were met with the largest, most enthusiastic crowd ever. They gave us energy, and we gave it back. We did our improv, we danced our choreographed routine, we made up group dances on the spot, and did it again and again because of this amazing crowd of people. We were deep in an instantaneous exchange with them - an exchange of ideas, energy, enjoyment, and yes... pride!
When people have asked me what constitutes "community interaction through dance", my mind would scan through a million possible scenarios. Now there I have a million and one.
This video captures a moment when we spontaneously made up dances to
entertain the crowd during a pause in the parade's progress down the route.
Community interaction through dance is such an incredibly broad "topic". I envision the posts that will follow in the coming months will be a hodgepodge of event overviews, video, reviews (maybe), general musings, etc. And they'll cover anything from education to performance, creative development to social change, and much more... there's just no limit when it comes to "community"... or dance... or interaction, for that matter.
So, my first post is not specifically about dance. It is about community, and something that is affecting all of the arts today. I came across a Facebook post from an old high school classmate, now a successful musician. It's best if you just read Warren Wolf's post yourself:
"Just read an email from a friend of mine about the sad state of jazz in Baltimore. For those who are interested in knowing what I'm talking about, Baltimore Office of Promotions has funded an festival for years called Artscape. In a nutshell, jazz music has been reduced to 1 artist this year, the Billie Holiday & Chick Webb competitions are no longer happening, no more Baltimore Jazz Alliance stage etc..... The Baltimore Office of Promotions has decided that Jazz isn't a big thing anymore, even though jazz at Artscape has ALWAYS done well. Very sad....and it's not just jazz music, but it's other arts such as dance, as well. My wife was just performing in this festival just two years ago and now dance isn't happening anymore. SMH, arts in Baltimore.....or is it everywhere?"
Well, as you can imagine, the comments came pouring in. The discussion covered everything from the lack of funding for the arts, to the responsibility of the audience, the watering down or lack of accessibility of the art form of Jazz, to the education of the community. These are all common themes heard time and time again in dance. Almost every dance article I've read lately has been about the sorry state that we're in. It is ridiculously depressing, and I don't really want to talk about it. What interests me more is the response, the possibilities, the solutions. And Warren's post actually evoked something uplifting, which is what inspired me to blog about it. It was a recurring comment found throughout the conversation thread. It was a call for action. If something is missing, go out and do it yourself. So, here is Warren's response:
"replying to my own post about arts in Baltimore, so here's a simple solution that I plan on doing, for starters.......on Friday July 20, which is the first day of Artscape (let's hope it doesn't rain) probably around 5:00 or 6:00pm, I will be performing with a few of my friends (drums only, no vibes) somewhere near Penn Station. I'll make sure that my voice is heard and we will be, very much, visible. Gotta make a change!!!!!!"
I wish I could be there to hear those drums (I'll bet people will be dancing... I would!) I asked Warren for permission to write about all this, and for permission to use any video from his event. So, stay tuned for more. I'm really looking forward to seeing how all this turns out, and I'll definitely keep you posted.
