Think You Can Dance?
Published: 28/01/2010 by Deborah Levine
I'm a big believer in dance as a cultural expression and diversity resource. The recent death of choreographer Merce Cunningham at age 90 should rightly lead us to reflect on the abstract style he created and the era he represented. He came from a time where the dance was distanced from the audience. Cunningham collected prestige, accolades and awards with the numerous achievements of his lifetime. There was a respectful and awesome silence during his performances. There was none of the hooting and hollering of 3,000 people circus in Hollywood's Kodak Theater for the show, So You Think You Can Dance.
Now that I've given Cunningham his due, I would like to confess that I did not enjoy his work. He and his long time partner, composer John Cage, were creatures of an abstract, post-modern mode of music and dance. For me, their relationship between music and dance was so separate as to be non-existent at times. Cunningham's work was for many, dance at its purest, unhindered by story or music. He appealed to those who appreciated the purity of geometrical, abstract lines and the celebration of the impersonal, and the beauty of seemingly random patterns.
When I was young, it was common knowledge that Cunningham was a student of Martha Graham, a deeply emotional and highly emotive dancer. Graham was a theatrical figure and her work was full of fire, turmoil and drama. Graham's technique was built on the 'contraction' of the gut. For many of us Graham fans, Merce Cunningham was almost entirely cerebral. I never made the transition.
Despite the lack of meeting of minds, I do honor Cunningham for his longevity in a business that is a burn out from the get go. Injuries, poverty, modest visibility are the norm for most. The joke about dancers earning a living waiting on tables in New York City was no joke. Most non-dancers cannot imagine the discipline and the class work it takes to perform even the one-minute solo on this TV show. I can count on the fingers of one hand the famous choreographers who lasted as long as Cunningham.
Today's dance audience has been schooled to be less purist and more diverse. You can see the trend in action with the vast array of dance forms explored in the TV show, So You Think You can Dance. Besides being great entertainment, the show is a cultural anthropologist's dream. Bollywood, Broadway, Disco, ballroom, hip hop, jazz, classical and contemporary, the show is a walking encyclopedia of dance. The judges and choreographers are risk takers, exploring virtually every styles regardless of sometimes spotty success. (I could do without the attempts at Russian folk dance.)
Today's emphasis on personalities leaves Cunningham's approach a bit on the sidelines. We are no longer the audience he attracted. Dance may be hard to quantify and explain but it goes to the heart of a people. Dance styles are mini-cultures in themselves and they change with the times, the people, the technology. They may occupy a similar stage, but they have their own language, philosophy and traditions. And don't mess with them. Just think how well dance expressed gang fights in West Side Story, that is, if you're of the right generation to have seen West Side Story.
That's why it's so unbelievable that the young dancers of So You think You Can Dance master a different dance style a week. I couldn't even make the leap from Graham to Cunningham; trust me, my attempts were laughable. Yet, this show has featured a hip hop dancer doing the Viennese waltz, break dancer doing contemporary style and a Latin ballroom expert getting funky. What a metaphor for diversity! Plunge in, learn fast, and be bold in learning a new culture. With their abilities to cross the cultures of dance, these dancers earned the hoots and hollers, and hopefully will earn a living and be as memorable as Merce Cunningham.
Deborah Levine is a Diversity Pro with more than 25 years experience, numerous diversity degrees and various honors. She specializes in building diverse teams & leaders and consults for government agencies, nonprofits, corporations, educational institutions and youth organizations.
Brought up in the British colony of Bermuda, she was inserted into America in grade school. The coping skills of an immigrant are easy to spot, as is the island softness in her voice. Her varied background includes Harvard University, New York's garment district, a dance company, office manager, media liaison, conference planner and motivational speaker.
Deborah is an award-winning author whose publications range from global leadership guides for professionals to diversity stories for children. She is Editor of the online American Diversity Report which is read in every state in the US and in 70 countries, averaging 1,000 unique viewers daily. Deborah's blogs are a popular feature. They are thoughtful, amusing and fair, as she believes in poking everyone equally.
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