The long awaited class has come and gone - the double dance lesson with Danceexpress's Piret Anus. Having started ballet and dance at the early age of three (but not being considered much good until five years later when her body came to adhere to her wishes and her self confidence grew), Piret is today considered one of Northern Ireland's best dance instructors - and as such I had been very much looking forward to this lesson.
After an introduction to Piret's dance background some questions were asked and then the dancing began; today was to see us learning the basics of the Passo Doble. At this I was a little disappointed to be honest as I had hoped she would do two or three dances with us. However, we partnered up and thus the class began. The first and continuous challenge for me today was to dance as a lead - I find it really quite a task to dance lead, but it had to be done.
The hold and movement of the dance was explained first and sequentially over the ninety minutes or so that followed three phrases/dance sequences were taught - first to the leads and followers separately and then practiced in partnership. The manner of teaching Piret employed was similar in many aspects to other dance classes (discussed in prior weeks) I have experienced; the first and foremost technique used was mimicry (in the active rather than the passive sense) - she showed us the footwork and we imitated, this was reinforced by means of verbal ques such as 'cross forward'...etc and by the counting out of beats 1 to 8 (the Passo Doble is usually danced to music in 2). Whilst all these techniques are the same as other dance classes, things that differed, although small, were for example the reference to other dance styles and techniques in relation to the dance at hand, the lack of imagery used to portray the required moves. Other than this the actual methodology used was similar, although I find that ones personality always impacts on the manner of teaching whether method is similar or different.
The learning of the Passo was quite interesting, and I must say quite revealing of my own stance towards learning to dance - first and foremost I found that I did not really embrace the role to be a lead because it meant I would be missing out on the follower's steps (to compensate I tried to learn both); second I found that I had great difficulty with the lead's required motion as for the passo there is little or no hip movement - although some is permitted in the follower's part the same is not true for the lead; the other element I had difficulty with was that the method of teaching here did not take into consideration the phrasing of the music - as such the dance was initiated on any beat that seemed to fit, not necessarily being the first beat of the musical phrase, coming from a musicology background and having always been taught that the first beat of the dance coincides with the first beat of the musical phrase this attitude very much threw me, and often led me to either loose track of where I was or made me start on when I felt the dance should start which usually had the consequence of collision with my neighbour.
Overall I found the lesson a great experience and definitely gave me an insight into the significance of one's background training and one's character on the learning and teaching of dance - both aspects require methodology, but at the same time neither is free from personal adaptation.
dinsdag 31 maart 2009
vrijdag 27 maart 2009
wk.8 ~ The experience of dance
What do we mean when we say dance allows us to "express" ourselves? Over the past few weeks we have been talking of the effects of dance on our perception portrayal of ourselves - even if that be only a part of ourselves, and how dance liberates us to express our sexuality and sensuality (see for example Leslie Gotfrit (1988) who argues for quite an extreme power in the act of dancing for the creation of female identity).
This week however we are dealing with two authors who have quite opposing views on this matter - namely Phil Jackson (2004) who looks at the clubbing scene in London and argues that clubbing and the experiences which accompany it such as drug use, social expression, etc. enable the person to find in this new sensual landscape an alternative way of being, and that this new found self can be carried over to everyday life. On the other hand we have Suzanne Langer (1953) (whose views have had quite an impact upon the dance world) who takes the stance that dance is merely a representation of emotions but it is not the actual emotion being experienced. As such Jackson can to a certain extent be bracketed with Gotfrit as they both see dance as having transformational powers, whereas Langer offers us the opposite perspective.
Personally I see merit in both of the above stances, however, I feel that both authors are too rigid in their arguments. Langer argues that dance movements are gestural in nature - "All dance motion is gesture, or an element in the exhibition of gesture...but always motivated by the semblance of an expressive movement" [1953:174]. Thus, she goes on to argue, dance is an illusion which has its expressive power in the nature of gesture, which to all intents and purposes is a bodily language we call upon to portray or symbolise our desires, intentions, feelings, etc [p.174-5]. Thus by soliciting the symbolism of gesticulation in dance one is able to portray to the onlooker the desires, feelings, and expectations of everyday life without the need to actually experience these sentiments; as she succinctly puts it "it is actual movement, but virtual expression" [p.178]. As I said I do see a lot of value in Langer's position, and certainly agree that a lot of dance is a mere representation of emotions not a true expression of them - however, I see this argument as applicable only to the dance professional, who is aware and has practiced the art of 'deception' and illusion through invoking gestural symbolism. I feel that if one includes the Saturday evening clubber or the Friday evening amateur salsa dancer - that is any person who dances for personal release and enjoyment - one may find that Langer's theory does not completely hold true. As for these people dance often is an outlet of self-expression.
This is where Jackson comes in, arguing that "the experience of clubbing could be viewed as a form of transferable knowledge. The knowledge generated by clubbing is created when people move from one socio-sensual state to another" [2004:ch.8]. Referring to Bordieu and his idea of habitus - that is one's socially ingrained and habituated ways of being - or as Jackson explains it "it is the bodily actuality of gender relations, class relations, points of reciprocity and morality." [2004:ch.8]. By means of interviews Jackson identifies that the habitus is a deep seated way of being, it is one which resides in our bodily knowledge, one which can not be altered merely through change of ideas or beliefs - the change has to become embodied and part of ones personality. Thus, Jackson argues, that clubbing offers just that, it offers one the physical experience of an alternative way of being, one which once experienced becomes part of the bodily knowledge and may thus be called upon outside of the clubbing scene, as Jackson says "The sensual framework that the civilising process imposed upon us via the habitus is disembodied and replaced [through clubbing] with a far more carnal and expressive experience of self, which revitalises our occupation of the world by making it feel less stale" and that "They [clubbers] use the social, sensual and emotional knowledge uncovered via clubbing to generate a new bodily posture that re-orientates their relationship to and perspective upon the world that lies beyond clubs" [2004:ch.8].
We have here two very different perspectives of dancing and it's effect on the person. Although Langer's view of dance as an idiom which enables the person to symbolise emotions without experiencing them has a certain merit, but to my mind is not wholly applicable to the area of social dancing. Then we get Jackson (and Gotfrit) who argue for the power of dance to liberate the self from everyday social constraints, and to introduce the person to a new way of being. Again this stance has value, but the problem for me here lies that neither Jackson or Gotfrit look at the idioms outside of clubbing, they do not take into account the other areas of dance which could perhaps back their theories, or could prove them as very much a figment of the imagination (although having said that I do not think the latter is true as if one looks at carnival and other areas of transgressive dance behaviour, which clubbing is to an extent, one can make a strong case for the value of these activities in everyday life. I do however think that Jackson has too much of an ideological perspective - his idea of creating an entire new way of being through the experience of clubbing is somewhat far fetched, it may alter once ideas and sense of self, but i do not believe it completely overrides the 'habitus'.
Turning to less debatable topics, salsa class this week was interesting this week. Interesting in that for the first time I had the feeling that my personal dancing "needs" (for want of a better word). I left the class somewhat dissatisfied, having the distinct idea that I could do with at least an other hour. I think this was probably due to the fact that this week's class was very much focused on getting everyone present to the same level - this meant teaching those that have not been attending for some time all the moves we have learned over the past 8 weeks. On the other hand it was useful to re-trace all the moves from day one and to differentiate the intricacies of each of the steps - as such casino, adios, and dile que no were all re-taught, (I also managed to take the opportunity to go over rueda, chica vuelta, and barbossa). One new step was introduced, namely sientala which is like barbossa to the extent that the follower is turned into the arms of the leader, but instead of letting go of the followers right hand and tugging on the left, the leader tightens the hold ensuring the follower is tightly pressed into the leader and then bending the knees creating a near sitting position which is held for 5,6,7. Quite a cute way to finish a dance.
Taking into account what we have been talking about above I can relate to both Jackson and Langer, the movements we a re learning are very much a representation of sentiments, take for example dile que no where the instructor tells the followers you've just been rejected so take the opportunity to look around the room for a more suitable partner - we imagine these sentiments but don't actually experience them. Whilst I feel that the salsa dancing does inspire and motivate me in my sense of self, it does not necessarily alter my way of being in the world.
This week however we are dealing with two authors who have quite opposing views on this matter - namely Phil Jackson (2004) who looks at the clubbing scene in London and argues that clubbing and the experiences which accompany it such as drug use, social expression, etc. enable the person to find in this new sensual landscape an alternative way of being, and that this new found self can be carried over to everyday life. On the other hand we have Suzanne Langer (1953) (whose views have had quite an impact upon the dance world) who takes the stance that dance is merely a representation of emotions but it is not the actual emotion being experienced. As such Jackson can to a certain extent be bracketed with Gotfrit as they both see dance as having transformational powers, whereas Langer offers us the opposite perspective.
Personally I see merit in both of the above stances, however, I feel that both authors are too rigid in their arguments. Langer argues that dance movements are gestural in nature - "All dance motion is gesture, or an element in the exhibition of gesture...but always motivated by the semblance of an expressive movement" [1953:174]. Thus, she goes on to argue, dance is an illusion which has its expressive power in the nature of gesture, which to all intents and purposes is a bodily language we call upon to portray or symbolise our desires, intentions, feelings, etc [p.174-5]. Thus by soliciting the symbolism of gesticulation in dance one is able to portray to the onlooker the desires, feelings, and expectations of everyday life without the need to actually experience these sentiments; as she succinctly puts it "it is actual movement, but virtual expression" [p.178]. As I said I do see a lot of value in Langer's position, and certainly agree that a lot of dance is a mere representation of emotions not a true expression of them - however, I see this argument as applicable only to the dance professional, who is aware and has practiced the art of 'deception' and illusion through invoking gestural symbolism. I feel that if one includes the Saturday evening clubber or the Friday evening amateur salsa dancer - that is any person who dances for personal release and enjoyment - one may find that Langer's theory does not completely hold true. As for these people dance often is an outlet of self-expression.
This is where Jackson comes in, arguing that "the experience of clubbing could be viewed as a form of transferable knowledge. The knowledge generated by clubbing is created when people move from one socio-sensual state to another" [2004:ch.8]. Referring to Bordieu and his idea of habitus - that is one's socially ingrained and habituated ways of being - or as Jackson explains it "it is the bodily actuality of gender relations, class relations, points of reciprocity and morality." [2004:ch.8]. By means of interviews Jackson identifies that the habitus is a deep seated way of being, it is one which resides in our bodily knowledge, one which can not be altered merely through change of ideas or beliefs - the change has to become embodied and part of ones personality. Thus, Jackson argues, that clubbing offers just that, it offers one the physical experience of an alternative way of being, one which once experienced becomes part of the bodily knowledge and may thus be called upon outside of the clubbing scene, as Jackson says "The sensual framework that the civilising process imposed upon us via the habitus is disembodied and replaced [through clubbing] with a far more carnal and expressive experience of self, which revitalises our occupation of the world by making it feel less stale" and that "They [clubbers] use the social, sensual and emotional knowledge uncovered via clubbing to generate a new bodily posture that re-orientates their relationship to and perspective upon the world that lies beyond clubs" [2004:ch.8].
We have here two very different perspectives of dancing and it's effect on the person. Although Langer's view of dance as an idiom which enables the person to symbolise emotions without experiencing them has a certain merit, but to my mind is not wholly applicable to the area of social dancing. Then we get Jackson (and Gotfrit) who argue for the power of dance to liberate the self from everyday social constraints, and to introduce the person to a new way of being. Again this stance has value, but the problem for me here lies that neither Jackson or Gotfrit look at the idioms outside of clubbing, they do not take into account the other areas of dance which could perhaps back their theories, or could prove them as very much a figment of the imagination (although having said that I do not think the latter is true as if one looks at carnival and other areas of transgressive dance behaviour, which clubbing is to an extent, one can make a strong case for the value of these activities in everyday life. I do however think that Jackson has too much of an ideological perspective - his idea of creating an entire new way of being through the experience of clubbing is somewhat far fetched, it may alter once ideas and sense of self, but i do not believe it completely overrides the 'habitus'.
Turning to less debatable topics, salsa class this week was interesting this week. Interesting in that for the first time I had the feeling that my personal dancing "needs" (for want of a better word). I left the class somewhat dissatisfied, having the distinct idea that I could do with at least an other hour. I think this was probably due to the fact that this week's class was very much focused on getting everyone present to the same level - this meant teaching those that have not been attending for some time all the moves we have learned over the past 8 weeks. On the other hand it was useful to re-trace all the moves from day one and to differentiate the intricacies of each of the steps - as such casino, adios, and dile que no were all re-taught, (I also managed to take the opportunity to go over rueda, chica vuelta, and barbossa). One new step was introduced, namely sientala which is like barbossa to the extent that the follower is turned into the arms of the leader, but instead of letting go of the followers right hand and tugging on the left, the leader tightens the hold ensuring the follower is tightly pressed into the leader and then bending the knees creating a near sitting position which is held for 5,6,7. Quite a cute way to finish a dance.
Taking into account what we have been talking about above I can relate to both Jackson and Langer, the movements we a re learning are very much a representation of sentiments, take for example dile que no where the instructor tells the followers you've just been rejected so take the opportunity to look around the room for a more suitable partner - we imagine these sentiments but don't actually experience them. Whilst I feel that the salsa dancing does inspire and motivate me in my sense of self, it does not necessarily alter my way of being in the world.
vrijdag 20 maart 2009
Wk.7 ~ Dance and Transgression
What is transgression? When does it occur? And how is it related to dance?
These questions were at the heart of this week's lecture - and truthfully, also at the centre of my mind over the past week.
Transgression can be seen as the crossing of boundaries - boundaries that have been set by society, one's culture, one's religious affiliations, or one's personal ideas and ethics, or boundaries that are physical. This is discussed in in Chris Jenks's, who argues that transgression is more than the mere pushing of boundaries or conventions, rather it is "a deeply reflexive act of denial and affirmation" [Jenks 2003:2]. It is part of human nature to inflict and impose limits on ourselves and those around us, thus, in today's modern society where life is defined more by what it is not than what it is, the desire to transgress and these confines and limits becomes ever more pervasive - hence the use of the term 'denial', we deny that these confines are put in place and may at times choose to ignore them completely. But why 'affirmation'? Jenks argues that our desire to transgress ultimately leads to the understanding of why we need these limits and thus reaffirms and stabilises them [see Jenks 5-7].
James E.Gibson [1991] then, leads us to the question of the link between transgression and art. Basing his work for a large part on Nietzsche's writing on ritual and the duality of terror and ecstasy which leads to "intoxication" [p.3] (or ritual transgression), Gibson proposes that, as in ritual, transgression is possible in the arts - thus also dance - and that it is necessary for a healthy society as it can "serve as the impetus for healing transformation"[see p.11-12].
Tying this in with Elisabeth Kirtsoglou's [2004] article on the Greek phenomena of the parea (an all female society or friendship group) is interesting. The parea is a group which celebrates femaleness - in all intends and purposes they have a somewhat feministic stance in that they initiate new group members by their presence, their ability to dance, to drink, to be heard, and to have sexual experiences - they basically see themselves as greater than society in that societal norms of behaviour do not apply to them. Thus, the parea is a transgression in itself - it's very beliefs clash with those of society. Thus, if we take Gibson's argument, the parea is necessary in society in order to avoid 'untimely stagnation' - the parea enables each and every female initiate to transgress - but if we take Jenks's idea of affirmation we would be led to believe that every initiate realises the necessity of the boundaries they are pushing - is this true? I don't know, but I do think that the idea of the parea enables many women to satisfy a part of themselves that is usually suppressed.
The idea of same sex relations (as seen in the parea) always posses a site of controversy in most societies. Coming from a country and culture where homosexuality and bisexuality is part and parcel of everyday life, it has become unthinkable to me that people remain to have a problem with this.
My brother has been happily married for over two years to his partner - a homosexual man from Poland. Every New Year's eve the family would go to a gala dinner-dance where dancing almost serves as a 'palate cleanser' after every course - my brother is a fabulous dancer (he was the first to teach me the chachacha when I was a young girl), but now that he is married he has not been able to enjoy these evenings as he is not able to dance with his husband - this to me doesn't seem right.
Why should people be seen as 'in the wrong' on 'not acting sociably' when they want to dance with their spouse? Why should it matter that it is two males dancing rather than a male and female?
But for reasons far beyond my reach it is unfortunately the case. Same sex dancing is seen as a 'transgression' - it is breaking the rules of social etiquette.
Even though same sex dancing has become permitted in many societies today, it is usually permitted in a specifically designated area - a gay club, or a same sex dance competition - highlighting to me that it still has not become accepted.
But having said that, it is not uncommon to see a group of women together on a dance floor - what is this social stigma we have against men dancing together? why is it a transgression for men to dance together (even in a group), and less so for women? Does the type of dancing make a difference?
Funnily enough, our salsa class falls within this category - there being only one male and numerous females has led to most of us dancing with another female. Is this a transgression? well for me it isn't - although it brings with it issues of body movement and such, but overall there does not seem to be a problem. Now I wonder, would this be the same if the situation had been reversed? I very much doubt it.
Speaking of transgression - I attended a Capoeira workshop this week - something I have always wanted to do. Having some experience of kickboxing behind me the movements of martial arts are not completely foreign to me, however there were certain moves that most definitely required me to overcome some physical boundaries - a fear of those perceived boundaries and the breaking of them led to a great sense of self, a sense of potential capabilities perhaps.
These questions were at the heart of this week's lecture - and truthfully, also at the centre of my mind over the past week.
Transgression can be seen as the crossing of boundaries - boundaries that have been set by society, one's culture, one's religious affiliations, or one's personal ideas and ethics, or boundaries that are physical. This is discussed in in Chris Jenks's, who argues that transgression is more than the mere pushing of boundaries or conventions, rather it is "a deeply reflexive act of denial and affirmation" [Jenks 2003:2]. It is part of human nature to inflict and impose limits on ourselves and those around us, thus, in today's modern society where life is defined more by what it is not than what it is, the desire to transgress and these confines and limits becomes ever more pervasive - hence the use of the term 'denial', we deny that these confines are put in place and may at times choose to ignore them completely. But why 'affirmation'? Jenks argues that our desire to transgress ultimately leads to the understanding of why we need these limits and thus reaffirms and stabilises them [see Jenks 5-7].
James E.Gibson [1991] then, leads us to the question of the link between transgression and art. Basing his work for a large part on Nietzsche's writing on ritual and the duality of terror and ecstasy which leads to "intoxication" [p.3] (or ritual transgression), Gibson proposes that, as in ritual, transgression is possible in the arts - thus also dance - and that it is necessary for a healthy society as it can "serve as the impetus for healing transformation"[see p.11-12].
Tying this in with Elisabeth Kirtsoglou's [2004] article on the Greek phenomena of the parea (an all female society or friendship group) is interesting. The parea is a group which celebrates femaleness - in all intends and purposes they have a somewhat feministic stance in that they initiate new group members by their presence, their ability to dance, to drink, to be heard, and to have sexual experiences - they basically see themselves as greater than society in that societal norms of behaviour do not apply to them. Thus, the parea is a transgression in itself - it's very beliefs clash with those of society. Thus, if we take Gibson's argument, the parea is necessary in society in order to avoid 'untimely stagnation' - the parea enables each and every female initiate to transgress - but if we take Jenks's idea of affirmation we would be led to believe that every initiate realises the necessity of the boundaries they are pushing - is this true? I don't know, but I do think that the idea of the parea enables many women to satisfy a part of themselves that is usually suppressed.
The idea of same sex relations (as seen in the parea) always posses a site of controversy in most societies. Coming from a country and culture where homosexuality and bisexuality is part and parcel of everyday life, it has become unthinkable to me that people remain to have a problem with this.
My brother has been happily married for over two years to his partner - a homosexual man from Poland. Every New Year's eve the family would go to a gala dinner-dance where dancing almost serves as a 'palate cleanser' after every course - my brother is a fabulous dancer (he was the first to teach me the chachacha when I was a young girl), but now that he is married he has not been able to enjoy these evenings as he is not able to dance with his husband - this to me doesn't seem right.
Why should people be seen as 'in the wrong' on 'not acting sociably' when they want to dance with their spouse? Why should it matter that it is two males dancing rather than a male and female?
But for reasons far beyond my reach it is unfortunately the case. Same sex dancing is seen as a 'transgression' - it is breaking the rules of social etiquette.
Even though same sex dancing has become permitted in many societies today, it is usually permitted in a specifically designated area - a gay club, or a same sex dance competition - highlighting to me that it still has not become accepted.
But having said that, it is not uncommon to see a group of women together on a dance floor - what is this social stigma we have against men dancing together? why is it a transgression for men to dance together (even in a group), and less so for women? Does the type of dancing make a difference?
Funnily enough, our salsa class falls within this category - there being only one male and numerous females has led to most of us dancing with another female. Is this a transgression? well for me it isn't - although it brings with it issues of body movement and such, but overall there does not seem to be a problem. Now I wonder, would this be the same if the situation had been reversed? I very much doubt it.
Speaking of transgression - I attended a Capoeira workshop this week - something I have always wanted to do. Having some experience of kickboxing behind me the movements of martial arts are not completely foreign to me, however there were certain moves that most definitely required me to overcome some physical boundaries - a fear of those perceived boundaries and the breaking of them led to a great sense of self, a sense of potential capabilities perhaps.
vrijdag 13 maart 2009
Week 6 ~ gender & therapeutics of dance
Leading on from lasts week's discussion on carnival, we talked for the first part of this week's lecture about calypso; its rituals of reversal and inversion, and it's use of the body, and its element of catharsis. J. Skinner's own research several years ago having been on Calypso (with a focus on Montserrat), we benefitted today from his insights and experiences of the events - with some fantastic photographic images accompanying the talk.
Of course the aspect of gender features greatly in the Carnivalesgue, however its is used again to emphasise this idea if inversion - thus gender often manifests itself in the cross dressing of men as women. Funnily enough this process of role reversal is not seen in the use of the female body at carnival - femininity, or rather female sexuality, seems to be emphasised as bodies bear all and areas perceived as sexual are accentuated.
I have already discussed the therapeutic role of carnival last week when referring to it as 'safety valve' in society. This is probably the most obvious, and perhaps for some the most significant, form of therapy that can be perceived. This whole idea of allowing that which is not permitted in everyday life enables people to 'let off steam' and revel in their 'unacceptable' behaviour. One can only imagine what it is like to let go of all restraint and have no boundaries - it must to quite a significant extent be therapeutic - to the individual as well as society, as society only functions if the individuals 'function'.
Although, a point worth mentioning here is that Carnival is changing somewhat, as children become more involved and the event itself more publicised - seen as a good attraction for tourism. Will this alter the nature and thus the 'benefits' of the celebration?
Moving on from Carnival to Salsa, we see a whole different sort of therapy and gender portrayal at play. Leslie Gotfrit (1988) talks of "going out dancing in clubs" (set in Canada), and how this is often seen as a scene where roles of stereotypical male machismo and female subordinaeity are a play. However, Gotrfrit, rather than giving into these ideas, argues that dancing at night clubs can also offer the opportunity for "embodied resistance" to these stereotypes [pp122-3]. I found it interesting to hear that when the article was used in class the title Women Dancing Back was taken/interpreted as woman dancing back to a lost self or youth, whereas when I read it I interpreted the title very differently - more along the lines of 'dancing back' as in answering back.
Gotfrit's article does have some interesting points, especially about the "role" of women in these settings, one which they impose upon themselves, as well as those imposed on them by means of 'expected behaviour. Her article is very focused on the personal pleasures we find in dancing, the release, the opportunity to act sensually, etc. This got me thinking, within the club scene Gotfrit is referring to, these personal pleasures would probably not be shared by many - especially men (but that's a whole different story). Although Gotfrit makes some great points I am not entirely convinced by everything she argues, I find her too feministic in approach, and i am not sure how well it reflects women's sense of self today - but then it was written over twenty years ago.
Jonathan Skinners article then applies some of Gotfrit's ideas to the sphere of Salsa dancing in Northern Ireland Although not in agreement with Gotfrit's feminist stance, he does see some of the arguments reflected and expressed in the sentiments of the female salsa dancers he speaks to (for example self-regulation and separation of day self/salsa self).
From my own experiences of dancing I guess I could agree to a certain extent with both articles; Skinner's thought that "the dance floor might be an intersection point between desire and resistance, empowerment and self-regulation..." [2008:7] I find to be extremely succinct.
Then from a discussion on salsa we move to the 'doing' of salsa. This week's session saw us attempting Salsa Rueda - were aiming for something like this;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQszYBK-vR8
However, for the moment we'll make do with just the steps that we know. As you can see from the above the Salsa Rueda is danced in a circle with the followers changing partners on given ques - the partner change is achieved by (for us) either an enchufla or a 'dame' which is a dile gue no. The energy and vitality this dance style created in the group today was amazing, and I can finally say that the leaders definitely found there voice today - they were great ques were clear and most were able to be concise and assertive in their movements. The rueda requires quite a lot of strength and tension between the partners, which showed me that the prior problems I was having with leaders was merely due to lack of strength/tension, but today they all seemed to have it.
Of course the aspect of gender features greatly in the Carnivalesgue, however its is used again to emphasise this idea if inversion - thus gender often manifests itself in the cross dressing of men as women. Funnily enough this process of role reversal is not seen in the use of the female body at carnival - femininity, or rather female sexuality, seems to be emphasised as bodies bear all and areas perceived as sexual are accentuated.
I have already discussed the therapeutic role of carnival last week when referring to it as 'safety valve' in society. This is probably the most obvious, and perhaps for some the most significant, form of therapy that can be perceived. This whole idea of allowing that which is not permitted in everyday life enables people to 'let off steam' and revel in their 'unacceptable' behaviour. One can only imagine what it is like to let go of all restraint and have no boundaries - it must to quite a significant extent be therapeutic - to the individual as well as society, as society only functions if the individuals 'function'.
Although, a point worth mentioning here is that Carnival is changing somewhat, as children become more involved and the event itself more publicised - seen as a good attraction for tourism. Will this alter the nature and thus the 'benefits' of the celebration?
Moving on from Carnival to Salsa, we see a whole different sort of therapy and gender portrayal at play. Leslie Gotfrit (1988) talks of "going out dancing in clubs" (set in Canada), and how this is often seen as a scene where roles of stereotypical male machismo and female subordinaeity are a play. However, Gotrfrit, rather than giving into these ideas, argues that dancing at night clubs can also offer the opportunity for "embodied resistance" to these stereotypes [pp122-3]. I found it interesting to hear that when the article was used in class the title Women Dancing Back was taken/interpreted as woman dancing back to a lost self or youth, whereas when I read it I interpreted the title very differently - more along the lines of 'dancing back' as in answering back.
Gotfrit's article does have some interesting points, especially about the "role" of women in these settings, one which they impose upon themselves, as well as those imposed on them by means of 'expected behaviour. Her article is very focused on the personal pleasures we find in dancing, the release, the opportunity to act sensually, etc. This got me thinking, within the club scene Gotfrit is referring to, these personal pleasures would probably not be shared by many - especially men (but that's a whole different story). Although Gotfrit makes some great points I am not entirely convinced by everything she argues, I find her too feministic in approach, and i am not sure how well it reflects women's sense of self today - but then it was written over twenty years ago.
Jonathan Skinners article then applies some of Gotfrit's ideas to the sphere of Salsa dancing in Northern Ireland Although not in agreement with Gotfrit's feminist stance, he does see some of the arguments reflected and expressed in the sentiments of the female salsa dancers he speaks to (for example self-regulation and separation of day self/salsa self).
From my own experiences of dancing I guess I could agree to a certain extent with both articles; Skinner's thought that "the dance floor might be an intersection point between desire and resistance, empowerment and self-regulation..." [2008:7] I find to be extremely succinct.
Then from a discussion on salsa we move to the 'doing' of salsa. This week's session saw us attempting Salsa Rueda - were aiming for something like this;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQszYBK-vR8
However, for the moment we'll make do with just the steps that we know. As you can see from the above the Salsa Rueda is danced in a circle with the followers changing partners on given ques - the partner change is achieved by (for us) either an enchufla or a 'dame' which is a dile gue no. The energy and vitality this dance style created in the group today was amazing, and I can finally say that the leaders definitely found there voice today - they were great ques were clear and most were able to be concise and assertive in their movements. The rueda requires quite a lot of strength and tension between the partners, which showed me that the prior problems I was having with leaders was merely due to lack of strength/tension, but today they all seemed to have it.
vrijdag 6 maart 2009
Week 5 ~ the learning & teaching of dance (prt.2)
After some reflection on our Beat Initiative visit, talks soon turned to the Calypso phenomenon which emerged out of the Trinidadian pre-Lenten Carnival. Unfortunately I have been unable to locate J.Skinner's paper which deals with his own experiences of Calypso and Carnival as performed in Trinidad. However, he provided a quick overview in lecture on Monday and gave us a good idea of the salient features.
In all Carnival celebrations there is an element of inversion of socially accepted (and expected) behaviour; there's an element of parody, of grotesqueness, of exaggeration, of excess - all of which leads Max Gluckman to introduce the idea that there is perhaps a "license in ritual"; does ritual performance permit us to act outside the bounds of everyday behaviour? is there perhaps even an expectation to act differently within the ritual idiom? This would fit in with the whole idea of the safety-valve theory which argues that Carnival acts as a 'safety-valve' within society, it allows for the breaking of social codes of behaviour and 'rules' so that the rest of the year people can adhere to society's confines without the need to rebel.
This idea of 'license in ritual' leads on to the ritual of dancing. Do we perceive dancing as a ritual performance? If so only within the context of the performance space is this license to act 'differently' granted. This can be seen in J.Skinner's article 'At the busk and after dusk' [2003] where the ceroc team decide to 'busk' on a Saturday afternoon out on the street - a time and place very different from the usual place where their dancing takes place. This request to dance outside the usual performance space brought difficulty for several of the group's members who thought it wrong to dance at this time and place; they had set upon themselves a set of rules in which they only permitted themselves to dance (thus act differently) in the usual performance time and space (thus the ritual context) - here the 'license' provided by 'ritual' is greatly exemplified.
Soon the discussion was led to the aspect of embodiment and the question of its significance or importance in the learning process. Nigel Rapport's field work experience, after finding that his theoretical insight were most often preceded by some form if physical involvement, led him to belief that movement could be the "mother of cognition", and that perhaps our movements influence the way, or even what, we think. The significance of learning through embodiment in dance has already been discussed previously and thus I will take it as given for now.
Thus the teaching of dance, as I have experienced it here in Belfast, in Manchester, and in Spain all call upon embodiment to pass on the knowledge of dance movements - muscle memory instilled by means of mimicry is most often utilised, as is the cerebral memory through the use of vocalising the movements; in tandem these two techniques seem to be quite effective.
J Skinner, in his article 'Think like a duck: become the duck' [undated] points us to the use of metaphor in the teaching of dance movements. The use of imagery and metaphor may be very effective in order to explain a certain body motion, however it is only effective if all present understand and are able to visualise the metaphor invoked. If a student is from a different social or cultural background the images/metaphors used may not be helpful at all, but rather lead to the exclusion of this student. Thus metaphor is only useful if all those being taught share the teacher's understanding of it.
The session was ended with a short questionnaire concerning our own experiences of learning to dance. I must say I have never enjoyed these sort of questions which require you to actually express what it is you feel about a certain experience - as with the ethnography of dance (or music for that matter) it is extremely difficult to express in writing something which is experienced in and with the body. However it did give me food for thought, and made me more aware of the teaching methods employed in the next Salsa class. [An interesting aspect which emerged out of the questionnaire was that the personality of the instructor was of utmost importance - something which I was perhaps not expecting, but once I thought about it it actually did ring true to my own experiences also].
We have a breakthrough! The Wednesday salsa class could be argued to have been one of the most successful classes yet, and this was due to the fact that we were finally 'dancing'. After another step was added to our repertoire, namely enchufla [followers (as per usual starting with the right foot: back, forward (veering towards left), side, side (whilst pivoting anticlockwise 90 degrees), cross forward, together] which then leads on into the dile que no, something along the lines of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jb8LRMPMfs (I'm not sure about the guy's arm movement at the start - I'm all for being enthusiastic but this is a bit much;)).
Practicing this took up most of the class, however it was worth it - after several rounds and several tempos there seemed to be a shift in the movement of some of the class members' movements, and as the instructor said "now it's starting to feel like dancing" - there seemed to emerge a certain fluidity in the movement which had priorly been some what disjunct. People seemed to be embodying their acquired knowledge rather than actively thinking of each step.
I had another dancing experience I encountered this week was that of a Brazilian Bumba Boi (or Boi meu Bumba) which is an altogether different experience - the dance steps are not intricate, rather they seem an elaborated version of three steps forward, pause, three steps back; however, I had great difficulty with getting my body to move in the way required, it required a certainty, legs in quite a wide stance, body sort of bent down, and in bear feet - the flat of the foot being used to tap the fourth beat (pause). Focus is on the legs rather than on hips (which should have already signalled to me i'd find it difficult. An interesting experience, requiring me to step out of my comfort zone were I to fully participate in the dance.
In all Carnival celebrations there is an element of inversion of socially accepted (and expected) behaviour; there's an element of parody, of grotesqueness, of exaggeration, of excess - all of which leads Max Gluckman to introduce the idea that there is perhaps a "license in ritual"; does ritual performance permit us to act outside the bounds of everyday behaviour? is there perhaps even an expectation to act differently within the ritual idiom? This would fit in with the whole idea of the safety-valve theory which argues that Carnival acts as a 'safety-valve' within society, it allows for the breaking of social codes of behaviour and 'rules' so that the rest of the year people can adhere to society's confines without the need to rebel.
This idea of 'license in ritual' leads on to the ritual of dancing. Do we perceive dancing as a ritual performance? If so only within the context of the performance space is this license to act 'differently' granted. This can be seen in J.Skinner's article 'At the busk and after dusk' [2003] where the ceroc team decide to 'busk' on a Saturday afternoon out on the street - a time and place very different from the usual place where their dancing takes place. This request to dance outside the usual performance space brought difficulty for several of the group's members who thought it wrong to dance at this time and place; they had set upon themselves a set of rules in which they only permitted themselves to dance (thus act differently) in the usual performance time and space (thus the ritual context) - here the 'license' provided by 'ritual' is greatly exemplified.
Soon the discussion was led to the aspect of embodiment and the question of its significance or importance in the learning process. Nigel Rapport's field work experience, after finding that his theoretical insight were most often preceded by some form if physical involvement, led him to belief that movement could be the "mother of cognition", and that perhaps our movements influence the way, or even what, we think. The significance of learning through embodiment in dance has already been discussed previously and thus I will take it as given for now.
Thus the teaching of dance, as I have experienced it here in Belfast, in Manchester, and in Spain all call upon embodiment to pass on the knowledge of dance movements - muscle memory instilled by means of mimicry is most often utilised, as is the cerebral memory through the use of vocalising the movements; in tandem these two techniques seem to be quite effective.
J Skinner, in his article 'Think like a duck: become the duck' [undated] points us to the use of metaphor in the teaching of dance movements. The use of imagery and metaphor may be very effective in order to explain a certain body motion, however it is only effective if all present understand and are able to visualise the metaphor invoked. If a student is from a different social or cultural background the images/metaphors used may not be helpful at all, but rather lead to the exclusion of this student. Thus metaphor is only useful if all those being taught share the teacher's understanding of it.
The session was ended with a short questionnaire concerning our own experiences of learning to dance. I must say I have never enjoyed these sort of questions which require you to actually express what it is you feel about a certain experience - as with the ethnography of dance (or music for that matter) it is extremely difficult to express in writing something which is experienced in and with the body. However it did give me food for thought, and made me more aware of the teaching methods employed in the next Salsa class. [An interesting aspect which emerged out of the questionnaire was that the personality of the instructor was of utmost importance - something which I was perhaps not expecting, but once I thought about it it actually did ring true to my own experiences also].
We have a breakthrough! The Wednesday salsa class could be argued to have been one of the most successful classes yet, and this was due to the fact that we were finally 'dancing'. After another step was added to our repertoire, namely enchufla [followers (as per usual starting with the right foot: back, forward (veering towards left), side, side (whilst pivoting anticlockwise 90 degrees), cross forward, together] which then leads on into the dile que no, something along the lines of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jb8LRMPMfs (I'm not sure about the guy's arm movement at the start - I'm all for being enthusiastic but this is a bit much;)).
Practicing this took up most of the class, however it was worth it - after several rounds and several tempos there seemed to be a shift in the movement of some of the class members' movements, and as the instructor said "now it's starting to feel like dancing" - there seemed to emerge a certain fluidity in the movement which had priorly been some what disjunct. People seemed to be embodying their acquired knowledge rather than actively thinking of each step.
I had another dancing experience I encountered this week was that of a Brazilian Bumba Boi (or Boi meu Bumba) which is an altogether different experience - the dance steps are not intricate, rather they seem an elaborated version of three steps forward, pause, three steps back; however, I had great difficulty with getting my body to move in the way required, it required a certainty, legs in quite a wide stance, body sort of bent down, and in bear feet - the flat of the foot being used to tap the fourth beat (pause). Focus is on the legs rather than on hips (which should have already signalled to me i'd find it difficult. An interesting experience, requiring me to step out of my comfort zone were I to fully participate in the dance.
vrijdag 27 februari 2009
Week 4 ~ Out and about
This week saw a change from the usual routine as we headed to Belfast's 'Beat Initiative' - an organisation, set up in 1994, which aims to bring a two carnival parades to Belfast each year. Met initially with some hostility by various sectors of the Nortern Irish community, the Beat Initiative is now a thriving arts centre which provides creative opportunities for people from all sectors to get involved in. An important aspect of this organisation is the working with different groups and thus initiating good relations between communities.
These Carnivalesque parades might seem out of place in a climate such as Northern Ireland - but this is precisely the point; by introducing a phenomenon which was not part of the Northern Irish cultural sphere one enables the bridging of social schisms - the very fact that 'carnival' was foreign and didn't belong to any part of the Northern Irish community it had no past or connotations associated with it, thus it was open to everyone.
It is interesting to see how carnival is being utilised here - and one could well argue that it is not far from the roots of the carnival concept as originally conceived in Brazil itself (the carnival of Bahia forming the template on which The Beat Initiative based its carnival parade concept).
One can not talk about Brazil without mentioning the flamboyant pre-Lenten festival of carnival. Carnival is celebrated throughout the country; however, it’s most extravagant rendition can be seen to take place in the city of Rio de Janeiro. By the early decades of the twentieth century escolas de samba (samba schools) were being formed in the city of Rio. These schools were in a way an extension of the community parading groups or blocos of the poorer neighbourhoods, although they synthesised the pageantry like structure of the elite male parading societies of the mid 1800s with the samba of the blocos. The schools drew members from far and wide, were professionally managed, and funded by the city’s tourism department. It was thus that carnival came to be seen as the “true” expression of the “mixed” identity of Brazil and its racial democracy [Sheriff 1999:12-15]. The use of African-Brazilian music and dance as well the abandoned and demonstrative interaction between peoples of all classes, reasserts the imagery of samba as the ideological Brazilian racial democracy (however, there are those that see carnival as the way “Brazil ought to be”, not how it actually is [Sheriff 1999:22]). This sentiment allows one to argue that, although only for a short amount of time, the festival of carnival offers the segregated society of Rio to cast aside the distinctions of class and social status, and emerge as a people united as one by the spirit of the festivities. Seen in this context the embodiment of music and dance brings about the levelling of differences, creating a sphere of neutrality or equality - which was and is precisely the aim of the Beat Initiative when they instigated the Belfast Carnival Centre in the 1990s, ot bring together a devided community.
These Carnivalesque parades might seem out of place in a climate such as Northern Ireland - but this is precisely the point; by introducing a phenomenon which was not part of the Northern Irish cultural sphere one enables the bridging of social schisms - the very fact that 'carnival' was foreign and didn't belong to any part of the Northern Irish community it had no past or connotations associated with it, thus it was open to everyone.
It is interesting to see how carnival is being utilised here - and one could well argue that it is not far from the roots of the carnival concept as originally conceived in Brazil itself (the carnival of Bahia forming the template on which The Beat Initiative based its carnival parade concept).
One can not talk about Brazil without mentioning the flamboyant pre-Lenten festival of carnival. Carnival is celebrated throughout the country; however, it’s most extravagant rendition can be seen to take place in the city of Rio de Janeiro. By the early decades of the twentieth century escolas de samba (samba schools) were being formed in the city of Rio. These schools were in a way an extension of the community parading groups or blocos of the poorer neighbourhoods, although they synthesised the pageantry like structure of the elite male parading societies of the mid 1800s with the samba of the blocos. The schools drew members from far and wide, were professionally managed, and funded by the city’s tourism department. It was thus that carnival came to be seen as the “true” expression of the “mixed” identity of Brazil and its racial democracy [Sheriff 1999:12-15]. The use of African-Brazilian music and dance as well the abandoned and demonstrative interaction between peoples of all classes, reasserts the imagery of samba as the ideological Brazilian racial democracy (however, there are those that see carnival as the way “Brazil ought to be”, not how it actually is [Sheriff 1999:22]). This sentiment allows one to argue that, although only for a short amount of time, the festival of carnival offers the segregated society of Rio to cast aside the distinctions of class and social status, and emerge as a people united as one by the spirit of the festivities. Seen in this context the embodiment of music and dance brings about the levelling of differences, creating a sphere of neutrality or equality - which was and is precisely the aim of the Beat Initiative when they instigated the Belfast Carnival Centre in the 1990s, ot bring together a devided community.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7A4c1JxfQY
After our visit to the carnival we were all energised and ready for some dancing - unfortunately it would be another two days until our Salsa class with Bea.
Wednesday brought another great salsa class, I think there had been a rescheduling or merge of classes as there seemed to be alot more people this week than any before. The class went very well and everybody seemed to be getting fairly comfortable with set-up and steps. We ran through the 'dile que no' steps as well as the mambo - both introduced the week before - and spent the rest of the session just 'dancing', that is trying to sequentially fit in all the steps which had been taught over the past few weeks. I must say, although the ewnrgy and atmosphere was great, I still hads some problems with trying to anticipate what the leaders wanted me (the follower) to do, and more than once went into a 'rumba' step when a 'chica vuelta' was apparantly meant.
That evening several of us had organised to meet at 7pm in order to take the train to Hollywood (NI) to attend a beginners ballroom class hosted by 'Ballroom Blitz'. It has to be said, we arrived late, so we had to jump in straight away - it was the chacha which was being dealt with today. I don't know how this happened but somehow I ended up leading, which was deffinately a new experience for me - especially where the chacha is concerned, a dance which I was taught quite a long time ago (I remember when I first danced this dance with my brother who is very tall and tended to take rather large steps - i was always exhausted after trying to match his footwork). I found it very odd having to mirror the movements I was used to - not so much with the footwork but especially when it came to the arm/hand movement which accentuates the 'newyorker' step, having to really fight the urge to throw out my left arm.
Overall I very much enjoyed the dance class - although an extra half hour or so for freestyle/practice would not have been overdoing it. The class was very regimented and not alot of personalisation was possible but for the teaching of footwork it was very effective. Compared to the ceroc of last week I guess I probably enjoyed that better, solely for the lively and exuberant atmosphere and provided opportunity of practice/freestyle.
vrijdag 20 februari 2009
Week 3 ~ Initiation into the world of Ceroc
7.15pm on the 18th of Febuary and I found myself walking down Stranmillis towards the Belfast Boat Club - we were going Ceroc dancing! I remember vividly about four months ago when I had stumbled upon the Ceroc website when I was looking for some ancing in the area and had thought it to be some sort of cult group! But I am glad to say that my perceptions of it had been very wrong.
So, I get down to the venue and meet up with the others of the module, there were six of us if I remeber correctly. After paying the fee and having received my Ceroc membership card (there was no choice in the matter) we sat and talked at the side waiting for the class to begin.
A few minutes later we all are asked (by the lady with the head-set) to move onto the dance floor, there was quite a large crowd - there must have been well over fourty people there, and not that unbalanced male/female wise which came as a huge surprise to me. Anyway, the class begins by the 'instructor' showing us the basic 'swing' move, after a quick run through of that she says "everyone get a partner" - of course this is the dreaded moment as all the regulars move towards their usual partner, and the new recruits look around slightly nervously, however the tension was soon eased as everyone partnered up and repeted the basic move in tandem. As per usual I am totally engrossed in the movement and fail to hear that the ladies are supposed to move up (clockwise) four partners, however I am soon shuffled along and find myself faced by a new dance partner - the instructor talks us through the moves once more "swing to the left"..etc.; again we are urged to move down four partners and the 'ritual' is repeated. One of the things I had greatest difficulty with was that there was no set foot pattern to the moves, stepping out was stepping out, whether that was with the left or the right foot didn't seem to matter.
To be honest my first thoughts were that this was the oddest experience - the females moving from partner to partner, the men staying in the same spot simply observing as the women walk past until the fourth stops infront of them and introduces herself. But once you looked past this it was actually rather great. There was no seperation of regulars and new comers, rather the more experienced helped out the new comers whilst the dance itself broke the 'ice' so to speak as it was fairly hands on.
Two more 'basic' moves were taught in the same manner and then followed the practice, or more accurately, the 'freestyle' time. My own experience of this has always been that those with regular partners stay on the floor and that those who are new to the scene stand at the sidelines and observe. However this was not the case here; as I moved across the floor with the intention of going and find the others, I soon found myself in the midst of the twirling and twisting bodies, myself twisting and twirling with a more experienced dancer - and this appeared to be not the exception but the norm; the men asked the ladies to dance without hesitation. I was amazed at how relaxed, free, and exuberant an environment this was - every one was there for the same purpose, to dance!
Though this was to be both for enjoyment as well as informational purposes, I have to confess that there was alot more participation going on on my part than there was observation, but then isn't that the best way to gain knowledge?
One thing I did pick up on (on my several tours of the floor in the arms of yet another dance partner) was that the Ceroc space was very much one of male/female hierarchy, as one of my partners said that evening "it is one of the few occasions we actually get to tell you what to do" - the 'you' referring to women, this was emphasised by another who said "you have to let me lead".
But I would argue that any couple dance, in order to be executed succesfully anyway, requires this hierarchy. I am a very independent and strong female, but couple dancing is one of the few occasions where I welcome the man taking the lead (or so I thought I did, but perhaps the above quote shows that I find it more difficult to let go than I imagined!). Recently I have come to question whether the male is perhaps more adept at leading a dance? or is that just my preconceived idea of what couple dancing entails? The reason I started to query this is due to the salsa workshops which take place on wednesdays. As mentioned in week 1's blog the females greatly outnumber the males in these workshops and as a result some of the females have had to become leaders, but I have found that the female leaders just don't 'lead' strongely enough - they are not assertive in their movements and thus make it difficult for the followers to interpret what their intended steps are. But this could well be due to the fact that they are beginners and uncertain; as there is only one male in the class it is difficult to compare male/female leads.
Getting back to the Ceroc evening; after the freestyle came the 'intermediate' dance class, which was intended for those who had been attending Ceroc for eight to ten weeks or more. Whilst this class was going on the beginners were taken by the 'taxi-dancers' (these are experienced ceroc dancers whose responsibility it is to ensure the new-comers know what to do) to practice the three basic steps moves once again - I would say that I found this the least enjoyable of the eveing, it was just too long to spend on such basic moves. However, after the intermediate class was over there was another freestyle session. Again no hesitation on the males' part to ask the women to dance.
The overall experience, I have to say, was fantastic. The whole atmosphere in the place was just so welcoming and lively, and what I really enjoyed was that everyone there was there for dancing! There seemed to be an atmosphere of camraderie, all present were there to enjoy themselves. If dance is a language then this evening the conversations were flowing, and on a personal level this evening re-awakened a part of me that had been silenced for quite some time.
Week 3 ~ Dancing and the teaching of dance
Into our third week and we've come to the teaching of dance, a topic which will be dealt with in week five also thus I will not delve in too deep just yet.
The reading material I looked at for the class in question presented three ethnographers' view points of what they perceive constitutes the 'correct' way of undertaking ethnographic research.
Commencing with Helen Thomas's article, which focuses specifically on dance ethnography, we get a great insight into the the issues relating to this type of research. By introducing us to various dance forms, customs, and events by means of case studies, we can perceive what challenges the ethnographer faces when it comes to description and representation. Thomas highlights to us the influence feminism had on the social sciences, but especially within the anthropoligical idiom, leading eventually (alongside postmodernism) to a self-reflexive ethnographic method, that is one in wich the ethnographic narrative is not merely a representation of an 'other' but rather a narrative of the researchers' attempts to represent others and themselves [see Thomas 2003:70-5]. Thus, by looking at several studies undertaken by dance ethnographers (with particular attention to Sklar(1991) and Ness (1992)) we come to learn the importance of self reflexive participant-observer methodologies, as Thomas argues "movement analysis by itself could not give rise to an understanding of both content and the form of the dancers' inner-focus; instead conceptual and kinaesthetic frameworks had to be combined" [Thomas 2003:84], by including the researcher in the event or act she/he is researching the opportunity for gaining insight into embodied knowledge is all the greater, as is the possibility of self-reflexivity.
Thomas's article was nicely supported by the two which followed; Jill Flanders Crosby applies the above approach to her ethnography of Jazz and Ghanaian Dance, as does Roy Dilley to his ethnography of cultural forms of learning with a focus on his experience as a novice weaver with the Mabube of Tukulor, Senegal. Whilst Crosby's article points to the "deep physical understandings" [1997:65] she gained by using participation as her research method, Dilley's article wants to examine how learning is a cultural conception, and as such uses apprenticeship to uncover theories of learning.
Both being inspiring articles, they left me sith some questions: How much deeper is the knoweledge gained through participation? And how do teaching methods affect the level of knowledge gained? Moreover can one teach oneself, or does embodied knowledge have to come from an 'expert' source?
If I consider these questions in relation to my own experiences would it reveal something of the European conception of learning?
Two days after the class relating to the above, and with these questions still very much in my mind, I found myself in our Salsa workshop - a class which uses both active mimesis (something Dilley referred to) as well as aural instruction to teach us the intricacies of cuban salsa - and I came to wonder whether there would be a difference in my learning the moves if I solely observed the class, would I be able to execute the movements several days later if I merely watched and not participated? To be honest I had answered my own question quite instantaniously, NO! And thus commenced the workshop.
I was slightly dissapointed at first as we seemed to be beginning not from where we left off last week, but rather from the very start! We seemed to be back at walking through the basic casino step. What's going on? But I soon learnt that this was for the benefit of those who had not attended last week. So after several run throughs of the casino step, we moved on to some new moves: the mambo, and the dile que no - the prior being very similar to the casino step except for the couple stepping in tandem with eachother (thus starting with same foot) and the stance being one very similar to a 'relaxed' ballroom hold; the latter steo being somewhat more intricate I find it difficult to verbalize, thus if you want it explained check the following (the 'dile que no' is approximately half way down). http://www.salsaracing.com/steps.asp
So after including these two steps in our repertoire we now had a go at practicing all four in combination with eachother, this was a challenge not because of the steps themselves but (speaking as follower) it was often difficult to interpret which step one's partner was intending to do.
Over all it turned out to be a great worshop session, and a fairly productive one at that.
donderdag 12 februari 2009
Week 2 ~ Dance histories
This week's material was focused on the history of dance mainly from the swing era. The 1900s was a time where the social climate was far from easy, and one where racial and class segregation was the norm rather than the excpetion.
Paul Cressey [1968 (1932)] provides us with an overview of the social climate of the USA during the early to mid 1900s when mass urbanisation brought people from thoughout the country to urban centres such as Chicago, LA, and New York. Believing that these evolving urban centres brought with them many challenges to the expression of peoples' identity and personality, Cressey set about to research the dance-hall climate in Chicago in 1925, for according to him "among the recreational institutions of the American city none perhaps reveals with as much clarity as many of the perplexing problems which make difficult the wholesome expression of human nature in the urban setting as does the public dance hall" [1968: ix]. Cressey goes on to provide insightful descriptions and observations of the dance-hall climate; the 'taxi-dancers' (women paid for a dance) that work there; and the patrons that attend the event; as well as a typology of dance-halls present at that time (he identifies fourteen). Overall I find that the article provides for interesting reading, however I find it difficult to bring it into dialogue with other material and experiences as Cressey is not proposing any theory or debatable statements - he is merely identifying what the social climate of the dance-halls represented at that time. Lewis Erenberg's [1998] article also focusing on the swing era in the US and provides a beautifull overview of how the era itself came about. Erenberg looks at this time in history from a mostly musical perspective - namely looking at how jazz came to be replaced by swing. He poses the argument that swing came to break down the boundaries of segregation, that it "represented a cultural phenomenon that bridged the significant gap between races and classes" present within American society at that time. The key of swing was that it integrated African derived rhythms, and thus dance movements, into a performance genre which appealed to both American and African-American youths. With this new music, and the signing of the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the new youths of America were called on to have fun, party, and experiment - this led to a surge in dance venues and with that the pushing of societal boundaries through music and dance; amongst which were the jive, jitterbug and the lindyhop.
Having read this material I couldn't help wondering whether the dances at that time really did have the effects mentioned in the social climate at that time - did swing really break down bariers? Is dance able to bridge the gap between a divided community? Personally I have seen how powerful music and dance can be in the bringing together of people, that it enables people to forget about the norms and regulations impossed by society - but how long does this 'power last'? Does the experience of 'spontanious communitas', to use Turner's phrase, extend beyond the moment of the event? This question continues to puzzle me, for if one is to believe Erenberg one would think that once swing appeared on the scene all social segregation was abonlished - however we all know this is far from actuality. But on the other hand, it could well be arguable that the dancing together of people whom outside the dance-hall may never have interacted could lower the sense of 'difference' between them - that through sharing that time and space of leisure activity a sence of camraderie is initiated.
By way of talking about Ceroc (also referred to as today's version of jive which is not far from the truth in my opinion, altough if you watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am3jbZv5un8 you can see that it is alot less bouncy than jive and includes some ballroom moves), we landed on another topic which raised the issue of globalisation and the diffusion of dance movements/steps across geographical boundaries. Gottschild [2000] argues that there are elements of African derived dance movements in almost all of todays dances. I am not sure that this is not somewhat of an exaggeration, but I do belief that the cross-pollination of dance styles is inevitable in todays highly mobile and interconnected world.
This week's salsa workshop was absolutely fantastic. There being only four or five leaders amongst us this week we spent the session focusing on the follower's move and learnt the chica vuelta - basically an underarma right hand turn which occurs on beats 4 to 6 - as well as the 'rumba' step - which envolves both dancers stepping sideways instead of backwars and forwards, the step is signalled to the follower by means of the leader holding on the the left hand instead of letiing go on the last beat of the preceding bar. We danced in a circle dividing the leaders amongst us and those without partner going it solo. There was a great energy in the room this week and people seemd alot more at ease and 'up for the challenge' so to speak.
For those who just cant keep still and want to try their hand at some jive here's a link which is, to be honest, pretty funny - "school of cool"? are you serious??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKBNbKWCPII
And for those who want to practice their cuban salsa...here's what it should look like!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6jSioQ5MWc
woensdag 4 februari 2009
Week 1 ~ introduction
Monday the 2nd of Feb. brought with it the first lecture of ESA3011 - that is The Anth. of Modern Social Dance. To be honest I had absolutely no idea what to expect of the module; I'm glad to say I was pleasantly surprised by what I heard and experienced. The lecture itself was mostly focused on providing an overview of the module itself and the elements it entailed, the expectations of us, and the aims of the lecturer.
The second half was dedicated to the readings of H. Wulff, P.Spencer, W. James, and J.Skinner - the reading were intended to provide an overwiew of the actual field of dance anthropology; it's main teachings and problems, it's areas of enquiry, and methodologies used by those in the field. As none of us had yet read the readings there was very little discussion possible. However, after having read some of the readings later in the week one point in particular intrigued me; that was that most of the authers argued for 'dance', or bodily movement/gesture, to be the 'mother' of all language - that any other form of communication can be regarded as a derivative of "dance" [See James 2004, and Wullf 2001]. It is an argument I find very interesting and would like to learn more about.
Another aspect which compelled me was that of the aestheticisation of everyday/ "street" [Skinner2008] movents - that is how the everyday processes and actions we go through can be identified in the movements of dance. It is a point I have never really thought about, but one which I can honestly not argue against.
The workshop (or 'dance ensemble') which forms part of this module is to take place on every Wednesday of the week; and as such today saw its initiation. The dence ensemble, lead by Ms. B. Prentiss, is to focus on the teaching of salsa (Cuban style) - taking us from beginners to (hopefully) advanced over the duration of 12 weeks.
Today's session introduced the different styles of salsa (of which there are many - divided mainly into two categories: Casino, or Line. In the prior the partnership between the two dancers is equally divided, in the latter the male/lead dancer becomes the centre around which the follower travels in a linear format. The Casino style can be sub-categorised into Cuban, Miami, and Columbian style; the Line format encapsulating L.A., New York, an Puerto Rico styles.) and explained the style we would be aiming to learn and comprehend. Thus, Ms. B will be teaching us the Cuban (casino) style in which the partners both travel around a central space which exists between them; the hold is rather relaxed and functional with the leader holding the follower's right hand by placing thumb in the palm - both palms facing (more or less) downwards. And so we progressed into our first salsa lesson - the remainder of the class being focused on the teaching of the basic step for both leaders and followers. [As the dancers mirror eachother's movement here, the step woulod be the same for each, just the leg used would not i.e. the leaders starting with left, the followers with right.]
The rhythm for salsa is always counted in eight - thus the steps being as follows: Back Forward Forward Pause - Forward Back Back Pause.
Having danced some latin and ballroom myself before (several years ago) this class brought back many many memories. It was also fun to see how the teaching methods differ or are similar. One of the apsects I found particularly interesting was to see how differently individuals cope with learning to move to rhythm, and how each finds certain aspects easier than others. For me the main difficulty was that of hearing the 'one' in the intricate rhythms of the salsa music, as well as the constant changing of parners -which although alot of fun, it posed a challenge at the same time. An aspect I have not touched on is that of the male/female balance in the group - which is non-existent; the females greatly outnumbering the males (of which there are only three). Thus more often than not the dancing parner is of the same sex; to me it didn't seem to pose any problems, but it may be too early to comment on the significance of this.
The second half was dedicated to the readings of H. Wulff, P.Spencer, W. James, and J.Skinner - the reading were intended to provide an overwiew of the actual field of dance anthropology; it's main teachings and problems, it's areas of enquiry, and methodologies used by those in the field. As none of us had yet read the readings there was very little discussion possible. However, after having read some of the readings later in the week one point in particular intrigued me; that was that most of the authers argued for 'dance', or bodily movement/gesture, to be the 'mother' of all language - that any other form of communication can be regarded as a derivative of "dance" [See James 2004, and Wullf 2001]. It is an argument I find very interesting and would like to learn more about.
Another aspect which compelled me was that of the aestheticisation of everyday/ "street" [Skinner2008] movents - that is how the everyday processes and actions we go through can be identified in the movements of dance. It is a point I have never really thought about, but one which I can honestly not argue against.
The workshop (or 'dance ensemble') which forms part of this module is to take place on every Wednesday of the week; and as such today saw its initiation. The dence ensemble, lead by Ms. B. Prentiss, is to focus on the teaching of salsa (Cuban style) - taking us from beginners to (hopefully) advanced over the duration of 12 weeks.
Today's session introduced the different styles of salsa (of which there are many - divided mainly into two categories: Casino, or Line. In the prior the partnership between the two dancers is equally divided, in the latter the male/lead dancer becomes the centre around which the follower travels in a linear format. The Casino style can be sub-categorised into Cuban, Miami, and Columbian style; the Line format encapsulating L.A., New York, an Puerto Rico styles.) and explained the style we would be aiming to learn and comprehend. Thus, Ms. B will be teaching us the Cuban (casino) style in which the partners both travel around a central space which exists between them; the hold is rather relaxed and functional with the leader holding the follower's right hand by placing thumb in the palm - both palms facing (more or less) downwards. And so we progressed into our first salsa lesson - the remainder of the class being focused on the teaching of the basic step for both leaders and followers. [As the dancers mirror eachother's movement here, the step woulod be the same for each, just the leg used would not i.e. the leaders starting with left, the followers with right.]
The rhythm for salsa is always counted in eight - thus the steps being as follows: Back Forward Forward Pause - Forward Back Back Pause.
Having danced some latin and ballroom myself before (several years ago) this class brought back many many memories. It was also fun to see how the teaching methods differ or are similar. One of the apsects I found particularly interesting was to see how differently individuals cope with learning to move to rhythm, and how each finds certain aspects easier than others. For me the main difficulty was that of hearing the 'one' in the intricate rhythms of the salsa music, as well as the constant changing of parners -which although alot of fun, it posed a challenge at the same time. An aspect I have not touched on is that of the male/female balance in the group - which is non-existent; the females greatly outnumbering the males (of which there are only three). Thus more often than not the dancing parner is of the same sex; to me it didn't seem to pose any problems, but it may be too early to comment on the significance of this.
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