Celebration in Cairo
As dancers, we are well aware of the expressive qualities of art. Our artistic medium requires only the human body, the most personal of instruments. With it we give form to our emotions: joy, passion, longing, strength and excitement. These feelings flow from our hearts, through our torsos and out our limbs. Released into the glow of the stage lights, they are manifested in performance. Dance has allowed many of us to express ourselves as individuals. What dancer has not felt that they channel their inner being through their dance?
But while our performance is our own, dance forms (Raqs Sharqi, Flamenco, Hip Hop etc.) are not simply individual expressions. They developed through common effort. As such, they don’t just reflect the individual, but the time, the place, and the society in which the style evolved. Just as ‘the blues’ was birthed out of the African-American experience (1), dance forms spring from the collective experience and values of a group. Through dance, entire societies express something of who they are, and who they are shapes where, when, and how they dance. (2).
Dancing the Debke in Bahrain
We often practice and refine the how of dance in the studio. Many of us have dug past the surface to learn the where of our chosen form, the places and events in which people experience it. We may have even begun to understand the why. But seldom do we go beyond the edges of the dance itself to simply learn about the people who perform it. What do they care about? How do they live their daily lives? How do they view themselves as a people? How do they relate to each other? How have events of history shaped them and their society? Sometimes we may think that this is beyond our scope. But these are the subjects that complete the picture, that reveal the possible meanings the dance has to the people who perform it. The meaning of dance lies where the lives of real people intersect with it. As Yeats famously said, “How can we know the dancer from the dance?” (3)
This is why it is vital for any artist to understand the culture and the context in which a dance has evolved. Not so that we can faithfully copy the dance of someone half a world away, but so that we come to a fuller understanding of the depth of meaning contained in it, so that we are aware of those upon whose shoulders we stand, and ultimately, so we can interpret the layers of meaning that we are adding to it. Without the knowledge of how movement and meaning interact, we will not be fully aware of the meaning that we create. Understanding this nexus provides us with the tools to consciously evolve our art and ourselves, to manifest in our performance the ideas, emotions, and the meanings we value, and to honor those who wore the path upon which we travel.
Footnotes:
1. Titon, p. 169
2. For a discussion of dance as it relates to culture see Snyder.
3. Yeats, p.224
References:
Snyder, Allegra Fuller. “Examining the Dance Event from a World Perspective.” New York University. Grand Salon, Rewick Gallery, New York City, NY. 12 April 1983. Lecture.
Titon, Jeff Todd. Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World’s Peoples. Ed. Jeff Todd Titon. 3rd Ed. Bellmont: Wadsworth Group/Thomson Learning, 2002. Print.
Yeats, W.B., “Among School Children,” Collected Poems, 2nd. ed., London, Macmillan, 1950, p. 224,
Tags: Academic, Artistry & Culture
