August 2021 – NEXTSTEPPAD

Have you forgotten why you love dance?

Many of us eat, breathe and sleep dance, and we can lose sight of the beauty and passion that drew us to the art form in the first place. Do you remember the first time you knew you had to dance? Perhaps it was in the grocery store or in your grandmother’s living room. Do you remember the first time you watched dance or saw a live performance? I still leave the theater wanting to dance down the aisle. Maybe you remember your first recital or costume. We each have our own love stories, full of joys, frustrations, disappointments and triumphs.

From personal experience, I can say that dance and I have had our trials and tribulations. My relationship with dance has left me feeling neglected, insecure and defeated. It has also given me immense joy, pride and gratitude. Through it all, dance has always been something I can rely on – an escape, a coping mechanism, an authentic form of self-expression. Furthermore, my relationship to dance/movement therapy has had its up and downs. Being a dance/movement therapist has been rewarding and validating, but becoming a dance/movement therapist was challenging to say the least. Becoming who you were meant to be is never easy, but it was the best decision I ever made for my professional career.

This month’s article is dedicated to our love affair with dance and the many ways movement and dance inform our personal, not just professional, lives. Here are my 10 favorite inspirational quotes (with my take-a-ways) that make me fall in love with dance all over again.

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” -Vivian Greene (Dance can teach us patience, understanding, and appreciation.)

“Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music.” -George Carlin (Dance for yourself.)

“I see dance being used as communication between body and soul, to express what it too deep to find for words.” -Ruth St. Denis (Dance can help us express and emote.)

“When a body moves, it’s the most revealing thing. Dance for me a minute, and I’ll tell you who you are.” -Mikhail Baryshnikov (Dance is a true form of expression.)

“There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.” -Vicki Baum (Dance to feel joy.)

“The truest expression of a people is in its dance and in its music. Bodies never lie.” -Agnes de Mille (Dance is a primitive inherent form of communication.)

“Dance is for everybody. I believe that the dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.” -Alvin Ailey (Dance is in all of us.)

“Movement never lies. It is a barometer telling the state of the soul’s weather to all who can read it.” -Martha Graham (Movement reveals our state.)

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body.” -Martha Graham (We are always talking, just not through words.)

“Dance first. Think later. It’s the natural order.” -Samuel Beckett (When in doubt, dance!)

I urge you to reflect on your own love story with dance, especially as you may need some re-inspiration after the events of the last year. Allow yourself to reminisce on the good and the bad because both have gotten you to this point in your dance journey. Perhaps you are a professional dancer, an educator, a mindful mover; whatever your connection is to dance, celebrate it! Know there is no “right” path or perfect relationship. You will fight and disagree from time to time. There will be miscommunications and compromise, but there will also be support and comfort. I wish you all lifetimes of love and know that you and dance will be very happy together.

By Erica Hornthal, LCPC, BC-DMT, Dance/Movement Therapist, Chicago Dance Therapy.

Erica Hornthal is a licensed professional clinical counselor and board certified dance/movement therapist based in Chicago, IL. She received her MA in Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling from Columbia College Chicago and her BS in Psychology from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. Erica is the founder and CEO of Chicago Dance Therapy, the premier dance therapy and counseling practice in Chicago, IL. As a body-centered psychotherapist, Erica assists clients of all ages and abilities in harnessing the power of the mind-body connection to create greater awareness and understanding of emotional and mental health. For more, visit www.chicagodancetherapy.com.

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Kitchen Choreography: Delectable recipes by dance luminaries

Need help figuring out what to make for dinner? Google “Red Shell Mgmt Kitchen Choreography” to find recipes for main courses, salads, soups, desserts and cocktails.

The LaVelle family. Photo courtesy of Stephen LaVelle.

No ordinary recipes — these recipes (and the personal stories connected to them) were collected from professionals in the world of dance. For example, you will find ballerina Misty Copeland’s recipe for sautéed kale with flounder; tap teacher, choreographer and performer Brenda Bufalino’s pasta sauce; and Ballet Hispánico Artistic Director and choreographer Eduardo Vilaro’s recipe for black beans. A blog on the Red Shell Mgmt website, Kitchen Choreography is a fun online collaborative cookbook that celebrates expressions of creativity through food as shared by dancers, dance teachers, choreographers, artistic directors, dance promoters, agents, managers and publicists, and the culinary curious.

An examination of these offerings will give you the food idea you seek and insight into the life of the originator of the recipe as well as the world of professional dance. Kitchen Choreography is meant to be as diverse as the kaleidoscopic subject of dance. Modern dance pioneer Doris Humphrey, the founding artistic director of the Limón Dance Company, was not particularly interested in cooking, but she did make desserts, and accordingly Kitchen Choreography includes her recipe for icebox cake. Marcellus Harper, executive director of Memphis’ Collage Dance Collective, contributed his family’s recipe for crab cakes. Diana Byer, founding artistic director of New York Theatre Ballet, contributed her chicken soup recipe to help cure the annual Nutcracker cold. Edward Schoelwer contributed a recipe for a food way popular in Cincinnati, his hometown, called geméis.

The seeds of Kitchen Choreography were planted decades ago during a conversation between Schoelwer, president of Red Shell Mgmt, and the legendary teacher and mentor Bessie Schönberg (for whom the Bessie Awards are named). Schönberg had recently been a guest in the home of Merce Cunningham, and she reported that Cunningham was a very fine cook. Thinking about other notable foodies like George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, Schoelwer asked if there was a connection between cooking and choreography? “Of course,” Schönberg answered, “and it is easy to explain. Both are expressions of creativity.”

In November of 2020, at the height of the pandemic, when all the world was stuck at home, the Kitchen Choreography project was begun. Quirky emails calling for recipes were sent out with the subject line “How is Your Kitchen Choreography?” Dozens generously responded by sharing their “specialties” from their private lives (submissions are still welcomed). And only ideas are being exchanged, not money. Finding pleasure in life and community are the intended outcomes.

Recipes have been collected from multiple sources so that the blog features dishes from the past as well as the present. One will find recipes from Doris Humphrey, Geoffrey Holder, George Balanchine, Robert Joffrey, Tanaquil Le Clercq and Arthur Mitchell, among others.

Now that a sizable number of recipes have been collected, Kitchen Choreography is live online and available to use, share and add to. Just go to redshellmgmt.org.

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Social media: How does it affect the dance world?

Social media. It’s infiltrated every part of our life — our relationships, travel, work, news, school and entertainment. Technically, social media includes any website or application that enables users to create and share content within a social network. Take a moment to think about how many times you utilize social media per day. That’s not only Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter and Snapchat but also Yelp, blogs, YouTube, Pinterest, Reddit and more. And especially in the past year and change, our lives – and the social media we use in it – have completely flipped upside down. During periods of quarantine and being apart, social media has allowed us to reconnect with friends of the past and make new ones. When companies’ seasons were canceled, technology and social media allowed them to still have a presence.

But is this all good? Do we rely on social media too much, or does too much time on our devices have an adverse effect on our mental health? There are positive and negative effects of social media on our society at large, but how does it affect the dance world in particular? Let’s take a closer look.

PRO: So much dance

Social media allows dancers, choreographers, teachers, audiences and fans to post and share dance to a nearly infinite internet audience. We have so much archival material, historical information and visual resources at our fingertips and are inundated with new and innovative content every day.

CON: Tech neck

“Tech neck” is the poor posture we’ve developed from hunching over our cell phones, keyboards and laptops. Joy Karley, a ballet and Pilates teacher over at Broadway Dance Center, worries that today’s tweens have the posture of 80-year-olds. To combat tech neck, strengthen your upper back muscles in Pilates and ballet classes, and be mindful of your head and neck placement when you do use technology.

PRO: Reach

Social media has broadened dance’s audience beyond those sitting in a live theater or tuning in to watch a TV program. We don’t just watch; we can also connect with dancers and organizations around the world.

CON: Comparison

Putting your work – your art – online can be incredibly scary. It’s easy to obsess over how many likes you get and how people respond to your content. This comparison often leads to feeling like you’re not good enough.

PRO: Bringing live dance to your living room

Throughout COVID, when dance companies’ performances were canceled and theaters were closed, directors and choreographers turned to technology and social media to still let their work be seen. Classes and behind-the-scenes footage were made available on Instagram Live, and entire full-length productions were live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook, showing that not even a pandemic could stop the dance world.

CON: There’s nothing like live, in-person performance, though.

Even after the pandemic and when all theaters have returned to normal, will some directors still choose the virtual performance option over a live, in-person show? Nothing can replace the feeling of sitting in a room full of strangers, living and breathing a performance together. There are no distractions from the upstairs neighbor, there are no snacks to be had; that hour-and-a-half is made for enjoying the truly special live art form of dance.

PRO: Engagement

Social media is just that: social. It fosters engagement between creators and audiences and, when used effectively, often cultivates meaningful conversation.

CON: Filming class

Dance class should be a safe space where students can be empowered to take risks without feeling ashamed if they fall down or mess up. While filming dance class has become the norm (especially in musical theater, jazz and street styles), this should not be the priority of class. What’s more, filming class combinations has become so casual and common that sometimes dancers will record on the side of the studio without even asking permission from the teacher or the other dancers in class.

PRO: Platform

For so long, dancers were meant to be seen and not heard. Now, our individual voices and collective voice are growing ever stronger.

CON: Filming performances

The next time you’re at a live theater performance, look around to see how many people are watching through their iPhone camera. It’s mind-blowing. Filming is not only distracting for the performers and other audience members, but it is also illegal and negates the magic of live performance.

PRO: Branding

Organizations and individuals can use social media to build their brand. Think of the image, copy and messaging of New York City Ballet or Broadway Dance Center. And also look at the channels of popular dancers like Katie Boren, Ashley Everett or Maddie Ziegler to see how each dancer is able to show her personality and professional abilities through social media.

CON: Getting jobs

In both the commercial and theater worlds, casting directors often ask you to include your social media handles on your resume. Your number of followers and online image can make or break whether you book a big job.

CON: Hate

Whether it’s gossip, criticism or outright bullying, social media is a breeding ground for hate. For some reason, people feel more confident airing their grievances online, often posting things they would never say in person. As an example, one dancer published a Facebook post mocking a recent Broadway revival. Well, that dancer made her Broadway debut in that very show just months later and had to personally apologize to each member of the cast. Our business is tough enough. Don’t contribute to the hate.

PRO: Promotion

Social channels like Instagram and Twitter offer free (and also relatively inexpensive) marketing tools for teachers, choreographers, studios and performing arts organizations. It has become so much easier to advertise classes, shows and services and to increase awareness of issues in our community (i.e. #boysdoballet).

CON: Pressure

As if filming class wasn’t enough of an invasion, auditions are often filmed nowadays as well. Behind-the-scenes segments are always intriguing and great for marketing a new show, but that added pressure at auditions is every dancer’s worst nightmare.

Social media rules of thumb:

#1. Keep class a safe space.

Honor the sanctity of the dance studio. Class should first and foremost be an encouraging, challenging and motivating environment to foster growth, creativity and artistry. If you (teacher or student) are hoping to record the class combination, ask permission from everyone in the studio and save filming for the very, very end of class.

#2. Live theater should be experienced live.

We’re on our phones over three hours each day. When you’re seeing a live performance, put your phone away so that you can really be present to the experience. Encourage your peers to do the same.

#3. Advertise classes that will be filmed.

Learning to dance for the camera is a tremendous skill! If you want to focus on this, advertise your class accordingly and take the time to teach and practice how dance for film differs from dance on stage.

#4. Always be professional.

That goes for when you’re on stage, in the studio and online. This industry is incredibly small, and no matter how much talent you have, your reputation always precedes you. Make sure it’s one you can be proud of.

#5. Dance for you.

Don’t dance for comments or likes or with the goal of going viral. Never lose sight of creating meaningful art, honing your craft and performing simply because you love to.

By Mary Callahan of Dance Informa.

The post Social media: How does it affect the dance world? appeared first on Dance Informa Magazine.