DCDanceBlog

I’m struggling with this lately and looking for advice.   At first, I thought, instead of answering, suggesting that the person (let’s call him Joe) go see modern dance.  Now, I feel like it is SO experiential and think Joe should take a modern dance class vs. sitting in an audience.  Both being in a class or an audience will be a huge bias for Joe as he might think whatever style or technique he is watching or doing IS modern dance and the only modern dance.  Still, it seems more informative than sharing a definition.  Dancing communicates through movement, not words.  It is accessible.  It is not “interpretive dance” or some other abstract concept! 

Even the Wikipedia definition doesn’t really say what it is.  I like this sentance though: Modern dance is often performed in bare feet. 

I have answered the question, by speaking to the quality of the movement - groundedness, working with the skeleton, and to the history of the movement - developed out of ballet technique, political response, new language for expression, the need to dance in Greece in a white dress…  I also grapple with explaining the process - I know this is another frustration of many artists… Like, I have a performance on Thursday and a friend was asking me if I practiced my routine enough.  First of all, routine?  It sounds like something cute that I would get a pat on the head for.  Second, it is improvisation, so how do you explain rehearsing that?  I have been working on this improvisation for a year now, with the three I will be performing with in preparation for this performance as well as others in the past and future.  Is that “practicing a routine?” How do you answer when someone asks, “What is modern dance?”  

Boris has part of the answer right here:

Performance happens now, it does not have to secure funding, book a theater or advertise in newspapers. It does not need rehearsal space. It does not need a concept. It does not need to last for more than a second. It does not need to be ephemeral. It does not need flowy pants, tight tops or bare feet. It does not need previews, reviews or even to be seen at all.

We reject the term modern dance, we make art through movement. We dance, we make videos, we make paintings, we make video games, we write, we sculpt, we draw, we act, we sound and we move. We make art. We are artists.

i just heard about a new event organized by dance/metro dc. from jessica hartz, the director:

You asked for it, and now you’re going to get it. Dance/MetroDC has set up a panel made up of 4 local dance critics/writers where the dance community can ask the questions they’ve always wanted to know from the practitioners of this profession.

Mark your calendars for Nov. 14th from 5-7pm for this event, which will be held in Flashpoint’s Mead Theatre Lab.

The panel will include Sarah Kaufman of the Washington Post, Pamela Squires of the Washington Post, Jean Lewis of the Washington Times and Naima Prevots who freelances.

I plan to send a list of questions to panelists before the event so they can get an idea of what the dance community wants to know, and I invite you to submit questions to be given to them. Everyone is still welcome to ask as many questions during the panel as they wish, but I would rather hear directly from you what you want to know rather than trying to guess, so please consider submitting.

Send all questions via email to jhartz@dancemetrodc.org.

The deadline for getting questions to me is Friday, Nov. 2. If you cannot attend this panel, you can still submit questions. Also, try to encourage someone from your organization to attend since this panel could prove to be invaluable. Thanks.

kinda cool.