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Re: PM SESSION: Cross-pollination with Native American dance community
Posted:
Dec 20, 2005 9:40 PM
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Notes from the Cultural Dance Gathering
Friday, November 4, 2005
Perpich Center for Arts Education
submitted by Derek Phillips
Attendees: Barbara Bezat, Patricia Brown, Mary Kay Conway, Barbara Cox, Kristine de Sacramento, Amy Frimpong, Nora Jenneman, Maria LaNavé, Debra Leigh, Sara McCaul, Jane Peck, Derek Phillips, Leili Pritschet, Bob Young Walser, Nan Zosel
Debra shared “Upside-Down Goldilocks” as a discussion starter and posed the question “What is the norm?”
“Upside-Down Goldilocks” is from the Bears’ perspective and presents their values. They are like us. Their privacy has been violated. They are only asking for respect. Many rules or laws are two-sided; they are not fair to both sides at the same time. What is the norm in dance culture? Some stories perpetuate stereotypes.
The media presents us with the norm - such as ballet or jazz - or the idea that we should notice something because it is different. The dancer is often subordinate to the dance. The norm is situated in the moment, as when people are dancing. It is different with performance-oriented dance. The norm in the press is what they choose to review. What’s the norm in Minnesota in the big sense? Small communities are excluded in the press’s view of the norm. There are boundaries around each community.
Having a norm creates tension. There is value to having pure, highly codified dance forms and keeping them pure. Having a norm encourages the public to put all forms together or confuse them. There is also a tension between academic/artistic dance and popular/entertainment dance. People also have varying relationships to ethnic-based dance vs. formalized performance. Economics also plays a role: who benefits from dance being normalized? Who makes money? Cultural dance forms are difficult to categorize because they are marginalized. How do we move from dance within a culture to dance that moves a culture?
There is a place for collaboration, but cultures also need to stand on their own.
There are many different countries in Africa, and many different cultures and languages within each country. This information gets lost and needs to be explained. We’re participating in cultural illiteracy.
You represent your history by your presence. Accept responsibility for yourself. How to move with them? What’s the pulse used to set pattern? There is no courage in keeping quiet.
The dominant culture works from assumptions and doesn’t look at the diversity within. How do we consider/value what good dance is?
The first thing that is needed is an audience. Where do we get it? Money is also needed. Where do we get it? We need to develop an audience that understands what we are doing. We need to get a broader based audience and funding.
We need to be able to speak the language that helps those outside a culture understand the work. Cultural fear prevents many connections - go back to the source. It is easy to not pay attention to climbing on the shoulders of others and pulling others up. There are problems with the larger structure. It questions a dancer because they don’t fit the norm. Dancers who have passion, but little technique.
How dance is reviewed? – technique vs. expression. How do we change the view of the majority who looks at dance as technique? We need to develop our own reviewers for publications. It is difficult to keep dance writing out there. Reviews come in the back door. More previews are needed. The dialogue about dance is missing in reviews. Reviews are used as previews to draw an audience.
There is a problem of dancers feeling beat down, especially African-Americans. Are there other experiences? Age is a factor as well. African-Americans don’t dance ballet or jazz at home, only in the studio. Street dancing is different. The gift of loving your dance can’t be graded or judged. Technique can. Dance forms have grouped technique together and those criteria don’t apply to all forms. There isn’t much credit given to having spirit but not technique
There are two levels of conversation: 1) white people are higher up the ladder and experience dance “in the head.” 2) Black people are primarily concerned about access and acceptance. We need to begin looking at privilege and race. Should I be doing this or are there better ways? Do I have enough information to move forward? Cultural supremacy has been the source of frustration when we wish to make things different. We need to get a handle of the access piece. But how? Feeling isolated creates the fear of breaking down the entry point.
Many people dance because someone gave them permission to dance and inspired them to join. The entry happens in very small steps. Minneapolis/St Paul was closed dance community, which explains why many independent dancers started companies. What happens if you give up? We have to infiltrate collectively. You have to use the system - grant writing is different kind of art form. Can individuals from different cultural backgrounds connect and support each other? Is the creation of a new dance alliance, website or clearinghouse a possibility? Could Springboard for the Arts be helpful? An information collector should go out into communities.
How do dance teams fit into the picture? So much dance work is performance oriented. The educational component is not represented and others are invisible. How we frame the question with different cultural communities is important. Other cultures look at art and artists differently. They don’t see them as separate entities. They are much more a part of what naturally occurs in the community.
Debra offers a four-hour anti-racism workshop for up to 50 people. She is willing to donate her services.
Possible resources: Metro Council, Springboard for the Arts
For the future:
- Debra’s anti-racism workshop
- Regular gatherings, possibly monthly. Draw in more people and build the network
- Changing the norm.
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