I always
found this very curious about dance:
Often,
in music, now, with its industry, the goal is to produce and perform as much as
possible. Make, perform, and sell music everywhere!
With
poetry, the goal is to write, publish. Make more poetry, write it down, and
sell it! Perform it, sell it…
But
with dance, the goal is a little different. With dance, the goal is to dance:
to be dancing. You are not evaluated on your product, but on your ability to
dance, or more importantly, your dance practice. The goal, then, is to dance
everyday – and as much of the day as possible.
If you
produce dance, then you are enacting choreography. If you are performing, then
you are a performer. If you are thinking and writing about dance, then you are
a critic or theorist. But, in dance, we do not really make something to sell. We
are players in the artistic existence of dance.
The
possible product, “the performance”, requires immense amounts of work and
strain—and is organized by many players. (A solo show is rare and strenuous…)
The dancer
is a kind of artist, like a classical musician, who is a player in a larger
game of art. He is not a necessarily a producer of a product. And his practice must continue to grow and evolve—his
practice must be expansive and prolific. The accumulation of accomplishments,
of shows and collaborative work, are artifacts of his practice. But what is important,
is not that he has performed great roles, but how those roles have evolved him,
and how he continues to work with himself and others.
The dancer
is not “about” the accumulation of “paintings, poems, or shows” – but, he is “about”
his practice. Dance is a nonverbal endeavor of the soul, spirit, intellect, and
physical virtuosity—it is not a product, but a task.
The
task is to keep dancing, as much as possible, and keep evolving.
The task
is to dance—anyway or anyhow possible, by all means necessary.
Create
a space and time to dance, performance, video, or just in a park or studio, and
dance!
