Fighting Dance Discrimination with Dance Literacy

If you are a dancer, you know what is feels like to be a part of the "forgotten art form."

Granted, it is tough being an artist of any sort, but within the family of performing arts, dance has notoriously been at the end of the line.  Dance only recently graduated from PE (where is still lives for some dance departments) within the last 50 years.  Yes, we are more than exercise.  Gasp!

I teach within the California Community College system and am very, very proud to be a faculty member at Moorpark College.  I love teaching. I love it so much it hurts sometimes.  (Yes, teaching has made me cry-- more than once!)

And, it particularly hurts in times of budget cuts and "restructuring." 

Currently, community dance departments are under the gun to rewrite their curriculum in order to essentially "save" their departments.  This comes in the demand for leveled courses within each genre, with different learning objective and different content for each.

Hmmmmm.  A good challenge for this recently born area of academic study.  Because, of course the arts are ultimately immeasurable.  At least, not in the same way that you can assess a student's ability to add 2 + 2 (hint: it's 4).  In dance 2 + 2 might equal 5 or 6 or 0, depending on the aesthetic and artistic goal of the creator.  Soooo. . .

Tonight I sat down at my computer to decipher for the "non dancer" how I can determine whether a dancer is Level I, II, III or IV.  And, here is the hitch: It is not just mechanics.  It is not as simple as someone performing a single, double then triple pirouette.  Every dancer knows this, as does every audience member at a performance.  But, where is the language to effectively describe the difference?

I believe this lack of language, this lack of literacy within (and without) the field is what is ultimately holding dance back as celebrated field of academic study.  So, what am I going to do about it?

Well, shucks. I'm am going to find the words.  Then I'm going to use them, and then I am going to teach them.  I will teach them so often that they become household phrases!  I will teach them until they are used on billboards, in puns and as Facebook status updates!  Yes, the dance language will prevail!

But, back to the issue at hand. . . These d@mn course outlines of record. 

I sat down, I got quiet, and then I got honest and this is what I came up with.

Level I performance is about gross motor skills. Can you be on the correct foot at the correct time in the correct space?  If you can, then you are a level I dancer.

Level II performance is about coordination and increased complexity, strength, control and endurance.  Can you be on the correct foot at the correct time in the correct place EVEN when it gets tricky AND when it lasts for longer than 2 minutes?

Level III performance is about adding depth to your performance.  Can you do all the stuff you did before AND even more complex patterns WHILE modulating your dynamic energy so there is "texture" and "character" in your performance? Haha! That's the rub. 

Level IV performance is about doing ALL of the above AND helping others out in the meantime.  Can you do all that you need to do AND see the big picture? Take it for the team?  Make the whole better even if it means you may not get to be the star?  Can you do all of this, while still cultivating variety and subtlety in your performance?  And most importantly can you do this without acting like a jerk?

Of course, I couldn't put that last part about being a jerk on the formal state document (but I wanted to!). So there you have it. If you were to take dance performance 4 times from me, THAT is what I would want to see in you.  Of course. . . now I need to get the rest of the state on my band wagon.

Wish me luck!

(P.S. I realize that this post does nothing to address the fact that students learn dance and it various aspects (physical, emotional, energetic, character) at different paces-- but since the state budget doesn't care about that, I have decided to leave that topic for another time.)

Stillness vs Holding

A quick note about the difference between being still and holding. . .

This came to me while in seated meditation today.  Being dance instructor I am constantly moving.  And even as a "regular person" I find I am always on the go (and, I imagine you are too). Performing seated meditation is of course very still. But today I made the connection that seated meditation while still is not a held position.

The distinction between these two ideas is beautifully articulated in dance notation (The Language of Dance©). Holding is represented my a small circle. It basically means that one should hold or retain one's shape or orientation in space.  It is an exact place, measured by external means.  HOLD!  One might as well say FREEZE! Because holding can often feel bound and caught.  The concept of stillness in dance notation is represented by the same circle (as used for holding or retention) with a "v" shape emanating outward from the top of the circle, expressing outward flow.

It looks like this:

Now it may look a little silly at first.  I, for one, think it looks a wee bit like an old TV or an alien with antennae, but I have come to understand that it is the most beautiful notation representation of stillness I can imagine.  You see, I realized while sitting in my chair that I was still, but I didn't have to hold. I didn't have to be frozen in space.  And, as long as I was breathing I wasn't frozen in space. The breath going in and out of my lungs gave a subtle rise and fall to the energy of my stillness.  So, although my external body was mostly still my inner workings never still.  By breathing I was able to continue growing, expanding and experiencing while being stationary. The subtle shifts of the ribcage, spine, collar bones and neck became my outward flow and thus my opening. 

As I sit in meditation I often notice a build up of tension. I think of it like a residue: forgotten holding somewhere in my body. But, if I allow my breath to flow into that space, I remove the holding and replace it with stillness. The tension and pain disappears, the discomfort dissipates. . . And all without me "moving." 

Recently I have yearned desperately to be still. I couldn't identify why for a long time. But I think I realize now that I want to be still, because I want to experience the flow within the stillness. I want to take the time to let go of the residual holding that can feel lifeless and life sucking.  Stillness allows me to go inward so I naturally emanate outward. Each inhale a gift, each exhale a sigh of relief.

Try it if you like, and may you find the blessing of stillness too.