i’m headed to minneapolis tomorrow for a wedding. someone forwarded me this link to the walker art center there, a contemporary art museum that also has a theatre showing dance a performance art. it looks terrific and hopefully we’ll get a chance to go.
the website is great–colorful and dynamic and fresh; check it out.
Presents
S.O.S! We’re S.O.L!
“Send us to St. Mary’s” Happy Hour
Support Contradiction Dance’s December Performances
@ St. Mary’s College!
Food & Drink Specials • Meet the Dancers
Wednesday, November 28 7-9 pm
Tryst Coffeehouse•bar•lounge
2459 18th Street NW (Adam’s Morgan)
$15 Donation
RSVP: contradictiondance@mac.com • 240.475.7570
Can’t make it? You can still contribute!
Mail Donations to:
Contradiction Dance • 2211 Washington Ave #101 • Silver Spring, MD 20910
About Contradiction Dance
Contradiction Dance is a place where theatre meets dance meets pop-culture. The company’s vision is to make dances that report on, reflect, and question the world in which we live. Nurtured on the belief that artists and audience members communicate in a dialogue through the chosen medium, Contradiction Dance fosters discussion, reflection, and change through live performance and dance education.
Founded in 2006 by Artistic Director, Kelly Mayfield, Contradiction Dance blends several dance forms (modern, hip-hop, tap, and jazz elements) with aspects of storytelling, and theatre. This eclectic mix, fused by the direct purpose of theme, allows the company to create an exchange between art and life for audiences, performers, and collaborators. The company members are not simply dancers, they are artists; each contributes greatly to the process and the final product. Each has invested in their message, the desire to share it, and the study, practice and performance of the craft they bring to Contradiction Dance. For more information or to book a performance, workshop, or master class, please contact: Kelly Mayfield at contradictiondance@mac.com.
daniel burkholder has an interesting post on his blog right now about being an elitist. if i understand correctly, he’s arguing that anyone w/ specialized knowledge is, by nature, elitist:
As soon as we begin to acquire specialized knowledge and communicate with others with similar knowledge we begin to leave people out of the conversation. Individually or privately this may not be much of a problem, but when we present a performance and some members of the audience don’t “get it”, aren’t we leaving them out? Could we have made it easier for them “to get”? But, if I go to a model train convention, or a neurology conference, I’m pretty much out of luck in both of these cases.
Is it my responsibility to acquire knowledge if I’m interested? Both? How many entry points are necessary before a community has done its share to be welcoming? Is it everyone’s job to be an entry point for a general audience?
it’s a good topic and an interesting argument. frankly, though, i disagree in a couple ways.
first, b/c i think that the term elitist implies not only specialized knowledge, but also the attitude that it’s ok, or even good, for the knowledge to remain locked within a closed circle of people. elitism is snobbery, it’s the idea that some people don’t deserve or can’t appreciate that knowledge. and i’m not sure that’s what daniel means to say.
but even if his premise is simply that it’s a fact that only a certain few will appreciate something–dance, in this case–and shouldn’t be viewed as a problem, i still don’t agree. but that’s a matter of opinion, not logic, i think. i can appreciate that daniel is not interested in spending his limited energy educating the public, or trying to reach people who aren’t listening. he’d probably rather be making dances, whether the general public gets them or not. for me, though, dance–unlike model trains or neurology–is a form of communication. i dance because i love to move, to feel free in space, but if i’m going to perform or make dances, i am communicating, and i want the average person to be able to understand me. that’s just my nature–i’m a natural advocate, and if i feel i’ve discovered something interesting or enlightening or freeing, i want to share it with others. not just with a select few: with anyone.
like i said, that’s just me. it’s a matter of choice and individual style. but i’m not alone. daniel’s post may be in response to an ongoing discussion on this blog and others about the audience, and what they are owed by performers. i think a lot of dancers want their work to be understood by average people. in a way, the average folks keep us honest. i’m not fully sure i trust the art world to really know what’s beautiful or effective, to tell the truth.
a last plug for trying to expand the circle of appreciators: if we don’t try to get more people interested in modern dance, who’s going to be watching in ten years?
this is great! it’s by robbie kinter (in the back), a longtime contact improviser and serious musician down in richmond. my only comment: too short! for me, at least. but i guess a soundbite is all that’s needed.
i got back last night from a trip home. it was great in many ways, but one thing that sticks in my mind is how terrific my town is. it’s a college town and thus has a bit more to offer than your average north carolina burg–in fact, a lot of locals move back after college to settle for a while, some permanently. i’ve done a few stints of my own over the past 10-15 years, and still have a lot of friends there. so it’s always fun to be home and hang out and see what folks are up to. there are a lot of creative people there, not just my friends but a whole host of hip/hippie young people with strong interests.
it’s totally different from here. the whole “career” thing isn’t really an issue. yes, some people have job goals, long term objectives that they’re working towards on a 9-5 schedule. but there are also a lot of slackers there who aren’t interested in the consumerist lifestyle, the 40 hour workweek in some dismal cubicle. instead, they’re making money from somewhat menial jobs and are spending the rest of their time hanging out, doing cool activities with friends, and following their interests. that’s the part that i find the most interesting. people are engaged in really cool things: creating and expanding a “recyclry,” where old bike parts are combined to create new bicycles–if you work there for 15 hours, one of those bikes can be yours! or developing a community garden, using the extra land in a local park. painting. doing landscaping for local businesses that’s based on specific principles that incorporate native plants. setting up a “fashion show,” curated and staffed by local notables. hosting a large “totally free market” on saturdays, where people can bring their old stuff and get new stuff, all for free.
et cetera. a lot of these things are based on ideas of an alternative lifestyle, which does speak to me mightily. but what i’m most impressed with at this moment is how people who have been essentially slackers, not particularly ambitious, can wind up doing really cool things that end up being quite impressive! little by little, these folks are becoming experts in their fields, though i bet they didn’t intend to wind up that way. but all they did was to follow their interests. they stuck with what interested them, and it took them places.
that emphasizes something i saw on the fridge of one of my good friends this weekend: persistence is the secret to success.
i love it. you mean there’s no magic formula? you mean it’s not all or nothing, either you’re born w/ it or you’re out of luck?
the scene: eastern market area, capitol hill, morning
we’re up at 9:30 on this chilly morning–9:30! that’s early. wearing hoodies and black pants and trying to figure out our next steps. the 3 of us want to do a small improv performance outdoors somewhere around here. it’s our new thing: site specific improv, impromptu, semi-regularly. we’ve got a vague structure, and now all we need is a setting.
one of us spies a park with bushes and benches and we decide to use it as our site. after a few more adjustments and discussions, we start. apart, we’re moving slowly, internally, morning mood. gradually we come together into a line that we move in and out of, duets and solos and trios. big and small movements. finally we end on a bench, we three, in a stillness that we hold, hold, hold, then shift into a last position. done. and in silence we troop off to the street, to coffee and pastry and laughter.
that felt good.
the scene: marvin bar and restaurant, 14th and u, late evening
we’re here getting lively, chatting up the folks, drinking and smiling. it’s a pickup place full of new faces, bodies smooshed up against each other in this hip new spot. somehow we fall in with a serbian crowd, a bunch of fun-havers, laughers, smokers. and then this serbian guy comes up to one of us, about to flirt, then squints and says, “hey, i saw you this morning! you were dancing–near the market, right?” and we smile in recognition. “yes, it was you!” he says. “i’ve never seen that before. yes, the guys playing jazz, musicians, but not dancing!”
he saw us! spied us through the bushes. he caught our impromptu performance! we are amazingly tickled, laughing, so psyched and flattered that we were watched. it’s so hard to tell who notices these kinds of performances, you know?
and we decide that’s our whole point. to keep dancing, performing in out-of-the-way places, doing it regularly. so that eventually people will start to wonder what they’ve seen, may even mention it to each other: “i saw the coolest thing today–these chicks dancing on the street!” “oh yeah? i saw something like that last week, but across town…” something like that. something that breaks up the monotony of regular dc life, that adds a bit of low-key mysterious zing, a bit of hand-crafted art to someone’s day.
this is cool…i just stumbled upon this review of gesel mason’s show, “no boundaries: dancing the visions of contemporary black choreographers,” in the new york times. wow!
it’s not a wholly positive review, but all in all i’d say it’s pretty great.
as usual, nothing to say, only things to share. a special person showed me this beautiful choreography the other day.
Any recommendations of whose class to take and where?
i attended the panel event with local dance critics at flashpoint yesterday. it was ok, not amazing, but i’m glad dance/metro dc put it on and it was great to finally see what the reviewers look like.
the room was packed and the atmosphere didn’t surprise me when i walked in late: plaintive dancers were trying to make their cases for more supportive reviews, while the critics alternated between defensive stonewalling and a plea for understanding about what criticism really is. it definitely reinforced to me the fact that critics are not our friends. they’re not our enemies either, but they’re not here to be supportive of the dc dance community per se. their goal is simply to tell the truth as they see it. and since they are human and flawed and also still learning, their truth may not be what we recognize as the truth.
another thought…
in the audience, i saw folks i vaguely recognized
then realized i’d never seen her with her hair down
or her in street clothes.
it was interesting to see how people looked when they’re in the real world
the choices they made
and for a moment i felt like that must be the real them
just as my short skirt and heels were the real me.
but they aren’t, they aren’t -
that’s one side of myself,
but a more real side is me in dance clothes
stretching to communicate more clearly
rolling and softening and reaching.
at that moment, with that realization, i loved these dancers,
loved our common love for dance.
that’s why we were there
and do what we do:
because we can communicate without words, and we want to do it better;
because dance is a way to express our souls through movement, unlike anything else.
we’re there because of a common love for dance.
probably sarah kaufman doesn’t love dance like that
we can’t expect her to be someone she’s not.
image: detail of installation by Bronwyn Lace