Let's stalkDANCE
Dear Readers:
At the writing of this article I am 3 days past my deadline and so I have no idea if this will make it to you in November or December. Whichever it is, I hope you are enjoying this holiday season; the celebrations of the spirit through dance and song, and the meaningfulness of family time. May your season be blessed, however you celebrate!
As long as I have been writing for Dancer, I seem to let the deadlines slip up and me. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina I really lost track of time. My studio, my church and my community pulled together to send relief supplies and people. My husband was deployed along the Mississippi coast for the first seven days of search and recovery. Of course it was nothing like what we suffered last year in a direct sense, but it was equally as emotional because we had a feeling of not being able to do enough.
So, here I sit, late with my article and overflowing with things I want to address, but drained of the energy to do so. I will save my "article idea list" for a time of clearer mental function and instead share with you a book I am reading. The Erick Hawkins Modern Dance Technique by Renata Celichowska is my latest dance book of interest. I am not even certain why I am drawn to learning about Hawkins at this juncture in my life. Honestly, I never took note of him as a dancer or teacher except that he was a beautiful man to look at and seemed to have a very passionate energy, even in pictures.
There is something very powerful about the male body in motion. Perhaps it because men are so reserved in their emotional expressions and we are not used to seeing their power expressed on stage. Sure, we see men in motion underneath pads, helmets, cleats, baggy shorts, etc. but with the exception of the occasional beach volley game, we rarely see the male physical dynamic exposed and vulnerable. Even in dance, if we limit ourselves to ballet, we have men in blousy garments, playing chivalrous roles of fantasy that are choreographed, and not necessarily heartfelt by the performer. The roles are certainly no longer an expression of men in society.
In this book Hawkins is quoted from "The Body Is a Clear Place," telling why he pursued his own discovery of expressive dance technique,
"What originally inspired me to discover a new body discipline was the desire to train the body to a responsiveness that would express that essential delight of men and women together and all the wonderful psychological implications that the success of such a union implies. I could not find an existing body vocabulary that could satisfy my vision. Existing dance vocabulary struck me as cold, insipid, unresponsive, or aggressive and unyielding. Beautiful dancing is then, finally, always about love, told with love, which is the most heightened perception, with effortless, free flowing muscles that can both feel and love."
Hawkins believed that "nothing is ever separated from any other relationship in the world." I think I dance that way and I know that I teach that way. I have never believed that dance was something different or special, but instead something that was essential. When else and where else do we study our relationship to the world and how we move inside it, if we do not experience dance? And why, can the powers that be, not see the essential nature of the study of movement and its ultimate positive outcomes on the forming of an individual's healthy perspective on life, living, love and happiness. I have said before that "dance could save the world." Lofty, and never to be realized, but most definitely, the truth.
Hawkins apparently was a strange sort of man and quite the boundary breaker. I find it interesting that it was paradoxical to society for him to speak or dance of the truths of this world and to expose emotion so fervently. This just illustrates how entrapped our society was and continues to be in the idealism and fantasy of how things should appear. No, I think it is better to see things as they are and try to restructure them by capitalizing on the good that can be found in everything and everyone. Now, that sounds idealistic!
I will go back now and watch videos of Hawkins' performances with a greater appreciation and interest level. I will read some more about him and probably incorporate his ideas into my classes. His own technique was Graham-based, as is mine from college studies, so I do not feel his technique is so far removed, but reading his ideology gives me a feeling of confirmation in how I view dance, life and ultimately, how I wish to portray that to the young people I teach.
Kathryn Austin owns the Centre for Dance & the Performing Arts and Geared to Dance in Winter Garden, Florida. She is a Registered Dance Educator and a certified and licensed instructor of Focus on Healing, The Lebed Method, which is a program for assisting with breast cancer recovery patients and other patients dealing with chronic issues. Austin has a BFA and MA in Dance. Dance teachers, students, professionals and enthusiasts may send questions to Kathryn Austin, R.D.E. via email at kaustin2@cfl.rr.com or snail mail at PO BOX 771518, Winter Garden, FL 34777.