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WHAT'S NEWSubscribe to The New Moon, ACTA's Monthly E-Newsletter. See the latest edition of The New Moon Dance That Comes With Family, Village, Court and the Divinities: Eleven Days with the Regional Dance Development Initiative/San Francisco Bay Area
Vishnu Tattva Das, Odissi Dance
Soloist A personal account by Lily Kharrazi, ACTA Editor’s Note – The Regional Dance Development Initiative (RDDI) is a project designed to maximize local and regional support for dance artists by catalyzing existing resources and redefining the relationship between artist, presenter and community. At the center of RDDI/San Francisco Bay Area was the two-week Dance Lab during February 2006, which brought together dance artists, presenters and funders during intensives, roundtables, workshops and exchanges/showings. ACTA served as one in the consortium of partners in this collaborative effort. (See below for a full list of artists, faculty/mentors, partners and funders.) Lily Kharrazi, Program Coordinator for ACTA’s Living Cultures Grants Program, served as one of the faculty/mentors, working with the group of artists in a variety of workshops that covered such topics as articulating work for presentation outside of one’s community to technical assistance workshops for grant writing and audience development. Kharrazi also served as a panelist on the RDDI public discussion on “Cultivating Arts Philanthropy for Ethnic, Traditional and Folk Dance,” at the San Francisco Foundation. One of the roundtables for presenters, facilitated by ACTA Executive Director, Amy Kitchener and WESTAF Program Director Shannon Daut, focused on strategies for presenting traditional and tradition-inspired dance. Some of the topics included working with cultural intermediaries, interpretative approaches, and working with artists to develop markets and audiences. An ambitious laboratory focusing on the needs of traditional and folk dance artists took place February 15-26, 2006, in San Francisco. Propelled by a growing recognition that the shift in demographics will help determine a new American “mainstream,” and that ethnic dance artists could benefit from such a shift, was one impetus for creating the Regional Dance Development Initiative/San Francisco Bay Area (RDDI/SFBA), a project of the National Dance Project/New England Foundation for the Arts and ODC Theater. The Bay Area presented itself as a rich testing ground to explore the complex relationships between artists, presenters and community. It has been one of the most hospitable locations in the country for culturally specific artists as evidenced by the long running San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, now in its 28th year, and the allocation of municipal funds to support it. A number of private family foundations have also played key roles in supporting world dance. Yet despite this leadership, a disproportionate lack of funding and presenting opportunities exist, mirroring the situation for ethnic dance artists throughout the United States. Consider this snapshot of just four of the eleven artists in the workshop: Alseny Soumah is Sou-Sou from Guinea, Africa. A master dancer, choreographer and musician who has traveled and toured with two of Africa’s celebrated national companies throughout the world, Alseny has resided in the United States since 1995. In 2004, he assembled a cast of expatriates who live within the continental U.S. to work alongside community artists, mounting a major work in Oakland. To do so, the resources for airfare and production came from the artist and a few community members. Alseny supports himself by teaching classes. Sabrina Hou is a fourth generation exponent of Kunqu Opera, a classical Chinese art form which has been proclaimed by UNESCO as one of the “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” Among the many challenges she faces as an artist in America, she is driven by a personal charge to perpetuate this tradition outside of its cultural context of her native Bejing. Along with her sister, they have established a school, teaching Chinese-American students this multi layered performance art whose traditional training begins in early childhood. Trained in taiko, shamisen, and Japanese classical dance, in both the U. S. and Japan, Melody Takata is a multidimensional artist whose deep interest in and commitment to traditional arts also informs her contemporary work. As a second generation Japanese-American, she expresses the tension between tradition and innovation which is emblematic of many hyphenated American artists who are biculturally influenced. Melody approaches her work with a great deal of scrutiny and eloquent articulation. Luis Valverde, director of the Peruvian Dance Company, is a dance artist and an ethnographic researcher. He reports that in just one of the 24 regions of Peru, over 700 dances have been documented. He works with community and amateur performers who are made up of Peruvians and non-Peruvians.
Artistic Directors, Luis Valverde,
of the Peruvian Dance Company and Melody Takata, of Gen Taiko
at the Regional Dance Development Initiative workshop These four artist profiles, like smooth and compact river rocks, only skim the surface of the complex issues involved in the presentation of culturally specific work. If their work were only seen as an aesthetic product, then the discussion would have similarities to other discourses of art critique. What is the intention of the dance? Does the choreography work? But the work of the ethnic dance artist is impossible to divorce from other factors as well, like the communities the dance exists in, or the political realities that drive artists to leave a home country, or issues of race and ethnicity that impact an art form, or visa problems that loom over artists, or a sense of responsibility that comes with the inheritance of an historical form, or the urgency in perpetuating a threatened form, or the spiritual or religious imperative in a dance. And then there is the creative drive of an individual artist who would like to stretch the tradition to create “new” work to consider. Helping the artists articulate the nuances of their individual forms was where the Lab began. In a situation that was reminiscent of a dress rehearsal, artists informally spoke and performed segments of dance for ten minutes. The artists received “first response” feedback, a non judgmental technique of responding to what they presented. This feedback was given by all faculty and lab artists alike. This exercise became the backbone of the lab, providing a “toolbox” of sorts with feedback, vocabulary, phrases and questions that pertained to how their work was received. This same exercise also challenged the faculty to think beyond their comfort zones as well, challenging us to examine ways in which our expertise could benefit each artist. These sessions helped to shape the language that might be used in conjunction with a performances, lecture-demonstrations, classroom teaching, grant writing or for use in promotional material. ********** At one point in the workshop, Charya Cheam Burt, Cambodian classical dancer, led the group through an explanation of the seven hand gestures that are core to the classical canon of her dance style. Her tiny hand moving through space became the carrier of multiple messages about the Cambodian people’s core values, sense of shared beauty and humanity.
Charya Cheam Burt demonstrating
Classical Cambodian This powerful moment was one of many such moments where the role these artists could play as cultural intermediaries seemed to have such clarity. Examining how culturally specific dance can be supported and made available is one way of tackling head–on the thornier issues of confusion about American multiculturalism. The multiple realities that a diverse society implies means that we need to develop tools towards cultural competency. Without cultural competency we run the risk of further fragmentation. In a very real way, the timing of this examination of dance through a cultural lens is happening at a crucial time. These artists can potentially step up and resume a time honored role. They can continue to remind us through their physical storytelling – dance – that they are living links to peoples and far away places that make up the very fabric of our American neighborhoods.
Charya Cheam Burt, a Classical Cambodian dancer in performance. Photo credit: Bonnie Kamin Regional Dance Development Initiative/ San Francisco Bay Area is an initiative of the National Dance Project/NEFA, presented in collaboration with ODC Theater. Partners include Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Fund for Folk Culture, Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), Western Arts Federation (WESTAF), World Arts West and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. RDDI/SFBA Artists Project Director Mentors/Faculty Guest Mentors Funders L.A. Treasures AwardsThe California Traditional Music Society (CTMS) and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) are pleased to announce the Elaine Weissman L.A. Treasures Awards for February 2006. This program supports folk and traditional performing and visual artists with $1,000 in funds for two public performances, workshops or exhibits – one planned by the award recipient, another chosen by the Department of Cultural Affairs and the California Traditional Music Society. An average of three L.A. Treasures Awards are given each month. The next application deadline is April 3, 2006. L.A. Treasures is part of the Traditional Arts Program at the California
Traditional Music Society, which provides support, develops activities,
and acts as a resource for artists and organizations throughout the
county. The program connects folk artists with resources through gatherings,
workshops, an e-mail listserv, and funding opportunities. The program
is funded by the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department. Allyson Allen To support a workshop on African American doll-making on February 15, 2006 at His Sheltering Arms Resource Center, Los Angeles. (City Council District 15). Los Angeles Latvian Men's Choir To support a performance of Latvian choral music on April 21, 2006, at the Latvian Community Center, 1955 Riverside Dr., Los Angeles. (City Council District 13). On Ensemble To support performances of Japanese taiko music on March 31, 2006 at 8:00 .pm., and April 1, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. at the David Henry Hwang Theater, 120 N. Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles (City Council District 9).
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