I attended two dance events this past weekend and was really struck by the differences in both performance. I walked away thinking about why the one on Friday had been so inspiring and moving and the Saturday performance made me embarrassed for the performers, and wanting to leave at intermission. A dear colleague of mine defined the Saturday night experience as dated. She asked me how does this kind of dated dancing come out of dance education? How are we as teachers helping our students not to approach their art making in this way? Lots of technique and beautiful dancers, but very familiar movement. I continue to think about the evening and I think overly stylized and devoid of any dancer’s personal relationship with the movement is what really bothered me.
I am currently spending a week with the Dance Exchange in DC where we are investigating very personal ideas to create movement individually and collectively. There is collaboration and constant dialogue with deep reflection about what is being seen, what the intention of the dance is and why we are doing this. Liz Lerman spoke yesterday and said we have to make our movement have meaning otherwise we are still dancing in the days of postmodernism, executing steps and sequences. Which circled me back to my weekend of viewing dance.
Friday night I could clearly see how every moment of the movement meant something for the dancers and was also given insight into the choreographers very collaborative process of development. So how are we are dance educators giving our students permission to be personal in their dance making?