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Amelia: As you say, making something acces- sible means offering more options. As we have brought our cultural practice forward, I recog- nize that I have found a sense of validation and belonging in the digital, entrepreneurial space.
practice? How can the movement practice of Salsa become accessible?
A participant from Australia shared, “I am a contemporary dancer with a South American background. To have that somatic approach and yet hearing that music connected to a personal place of me as well as my trained body, it blended really beautifully.” A PhD student in Germany reflected, “Polyrhythm is really increasing the space in the mind. Each rhythm brings a new dimension to the coding space of the mind, the space where percepts are represented, thoughts unfold, and memories and concepts find new associ- ations. Adding new dimensions to this space opens up more possibilities for our conscious experience (which becomes richer, dynamic and diversified.)” Juan: The “electric” field has shown me that this dance can be more accessible and cultur- Mind you, it is not simple to dance salsa, nor any other movement practice with African roots, nor any other dance technique, period." — JUAN URBINA ally diverse — inclusive to queer and disabled cultures. It has been helpful to deconstruct the components of Salsa, and abstract them in a way that an individual can experience them without feeling foreign and uncoordinated in the practice. This enables the joyful aspects of this dance and its music to move to the fore- front, its emotional “affect.” However, this leaves us with the danger of developing a prac- tice that is so individual that it lacks its pri- mary social potential and aesthetic cadences. Amelia: As we identify these dangers, are we picking and choosing what we like from our cultural background and dance practices? Avoiding the parts that we find problematic? Is that not a weird form of appropriation? But perhaps, when we return to the studio, to real time and place teaching, we can explore the Salsa couple dancing (Juan: which is central to this form) from the perspective of having researched the sensing and feeling body in Salsa. We have recognized the somatic aspects of the dance and put them forward. The cou- ple-dance is also important as well as the potential for playing with gender performativ- ity. These are inquiries yet to be fully explored in our research of this form and tradition. Juan: This one cannot predict. How to stay true to the characteristics of a dance while opening up to more diverse movement possibilities that draw from the ecstatic? That is my question.
HEARTISTRY
Amelia: Accessible facilitation practices allow us to teach Salsa in a more inclusive digital space where an international (albeit English-speaking) audience can be reached. Given the restraints of social distancing, we can take another route and decenter the focus from teaching gendered steps and formalized patterns. Juan: In order to detox from ableism in the digital space, it needs to be accessible. Thus we deconstruct the components of Salsa and use our knowledge in somatic improvisation-based exploration to center the feeling and sensation of dancing to Salsa music. Amelia: This comes from our collective experi- ences of dancing in intimate, familial, and social spaces. Dancing to Salsa connects me to my root and sacral chakras. Singing and drumming limbs throb my body up and down, vibrating my cells made up of earth, air, water and fire. Juan: This dance is rooted in diversity and com- munity, because it emerged in the midst of dif- ferent cultures and nationalities coming together celebrating what one may call “Latinidad.”Yet the heteronormative behavior has haunted the practice. So far, few have tackled the non-binary. One story told by this music genre, El Gran Varón by Willie Colón, tells of a person who struggles with normative society, dresses femme, and suffers an unfortunate ending. It reflects back on a “machista” society. It leaves me with the question: does Salsa’s evolution in the con- temporary realm need a different movement practice to become more queer/non-binary? Amelia: I didn’t know that about that song. I need to listen to it more carefully. Some friends in the Bay Area queer couple dance like Zouk, but I don’t know if anyone else is working spe- cifically on queering Salsa. What is needed for this practice to recognize its somatic potential? How can we aid in the recognition of their expe- rience of fun as consequent to this exploration? Juan: Fun can also be described as a trance-like ecstatic expression. Not dancing like an idiot like that Youtube video said. Amelia: The internet is a playground for niche proposals, and we found our audience for this unlikely combination that emerged as, “Salsa Somática.” Folx visited us from the safety of their homes, and attended our virtual class from the United States, Australia, Ireland, Uzbekistan, Mozambique, Mexico, Korea, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Russia, etc. Online classes are an opportunity for physi- cal fitness while sheltering at home, and partici- pants’ comments add to the physical by describ- ing “Salsa Somática” like a sudoku puzzle or a healing, cultural recognition space. It moves school-teachers, retirees, people with physical injuries or limitations, and working-at-home pro- fessionals. Their feedback nourishes our inquiry.
In the new podcast series Heartistry , host Farah Yasmeen Shaikh converses with international guests whose distinct life pur- suits center on each indi- vidual’s passion, commit- ment, and innate artistry. Informed by Shaikh’s own background as a Kathak artist and Founder/Director
Juan: Teaching Salsa during pandemic social distancing. Developing a practice.
Grantmakers in the Arts Appoints Ted Russell Board Chair Grantmakers in the Arts welcomes new board chair, Ted Russell, Associate Director of Arts Strategy and Ventures at the Kenneth Rainin Foundation in Oakland. As board chair, Ted partners with President and CEO Eddie Torres on issues designed to support the vital- ity and growth of arts and culture through philanthropic and govern- ment funding. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, GIA is shar- ing resources and guidance and news related to the crisis. They are also encouraging grantmakers to treat their funding flexibly to sup- port grantees in these difficult and rapidly shifting circumstances. Liz Lerman: Free Atlas of Creative Tools Liz Lerman has teamed up with Arizona State University to offer a free self-paced course sharing the tools and feedback structures she accesses to foster creativity. Online Resources for Dance Educators Teaching artists, dance educators, and dance leaders offer tools to stay connected and creative right now. Luna Dance Institute’s Online Resource Page shares some pro- duced by Luna, their alumni, and community partners and teachers. Hewlett Foundation Staff Sharing Resources The Performing Arts Program at the Hewlett Foundation will be launching a new information hub focused on individual arts work- ers and small arts and culture nonprofits and enterprises. They will share news and resources for those hit hardest by this pan- demic. Sign up for their emails The Value of Art In an essay by Deborah Fisher, the founding executive director of A Blade of Grass, they state that this is the time to change how the art ecosystem functions
Zellerbach Family Foundation announce new Relief Grants Zellerbach has announced that Community Arts COVID Response grants (Response Grant) will pro- vide general operating support to arts and culture organizations in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco counties suffering rev- enue loss due to the closure of venues and cancellation of events. Response grants will be for organi- zational stability/general operating support, and will be awarded for $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000. Response grants will replace all other Community Arts grants including Project, Stability, Col- laboration and Training grants. We anticipate that Response Grants will be available through the remainder of the 2020 calendar year and will continue to monitor and evaluate the changing circum- stances to determine the duration of this change. Learn More. New Artistic Director at BANDALOOP BANDALOOP announced a major transition in leadership. Artis- tic Director Amelia Rudolph has passed the torch to Melecio Estrella as its new Artistic Direc- tor, and Rudolph will shift focus to become Director of Special Proj- ects and will serve on the board of directors. “Bringing the grace and rit- ual of dance together with the adventure and mystery of moun- tain spaces was a journey I began almost thirty years ago. This vision has grown and evolved BANDALOOP into a Bay Area dance anchor, globally recognized company, and a school hosting hundreds of students each year. I am so grateful to every one of you who have supported and challenged us to be our best” — Amelia Rudolph.
1 Isabelle Ginot, From S husterman’s Somaesthetics to a Rad- ical Epistemology of Somatics , DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/ S0149767700000802 Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 April 2012 2 Handbook of Hispanic Culture-Literature. Page 302-308 3 Ana Paula Höffling, Dancing Latinidad: Spinning a World of Salsa Scholarship https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327947368_ Dancing_Latinidad_Spinning_a_World_of_Salsa_Scholarship in Latin American research review 53(3):666 · September 2018 4 Wendy Perron, DANCE; Paying Heed To the Mysteries Of Trisha Brown https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/08/arts/dance-paying- heed-to-the-mysteries-of-trisha-brown.html 5 Ariel Osterweis Scott. “Body Impossible: Race, Sexuality, and Virtu- osity in the Dance of Desmond Richardson.” (UC Berkeley: Fall 2011) 6 Celia Cruz & The Fania All Stars - Quimbara - Zaire, Africa 1974. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXN-_asIaYs 7 Mukhopadhyay, Carol C.; Chua, Peter (2008). “Cultural Racism”. In John Hartwell Moore (ed.). Encyclopedia of Race and Racism. Gale . pp. 377–383. “a form of racism (that is, a structurally unequal practice) that relies on cultural differences rather than on biological markers of racial superiority or inferiority.” Amelia: Holding space for fun in times of crisis and trauma. For me, this is a form of resistance. Finding joy and pleasure in the body. As brown people, working class bodies, we are constantly reminded of our “migration background” sta- tus. “They” don’t want us to enjoy our bodies and experience pleasure. Juan: This is how we heal our brown bodies. Go for the Drama! As Celia sings, “Para aquellos que nos maltratan (bua) Para aquellos que nos contagian (bua) Para aquellos que nos contaminan, para aquel- los que no nos quiereeeeeen!” Amelia: Se sufre pero se goza! Because no one is ever really alone. And COVID-19 is one hel- luva drama. AMELIA UZATEGUI BONILLA creates multi-disciplinary curriculum and performances influenced by postcolo- nial dance history narratives. Born in Peru, and raised in California, they have collaborated with Anna Halprin and the Tamalpa Institute, NAKA Dance Theater, Mu- jeres Unidas y Activas, Luna Dance Institute, and Cuna- macué, Afro-Peruvian dance theater. Amelia is current- ly developing an artistic production with Juan Urbina and a multi-generational Latinx team based in Germany while nourishing collaborations between artists living in different contexts. JUAN URBINA is a Venezuelan dance artist. In addition to Western dance training, he embodies traditional and popular dances from social spaces, la rumba Latinx. He moved to Ireland in 2013 and collaborated with artists from diverse disciplines including Dorota Konchevska, William Frode (Cork Community Art Link), and John Scott (Irish Modern Dance Theatre). Juan developed a community dance project with homeless people living in Dublin city, and choreo- graphed an evening-length piece called Baile Bua: Sounds Like Celebration in 2017. His work advocates for social justice and accessibility. Currently, he collab- orates with Amelia Uzategui in Perfectionism Detox: A Dance with Voices from the South
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of Noorani Dance, Heartistry emphasizes the idea that everyone is an artist. Episodes feature a wide range of leaders and lumi- naries such as entrepreneurs, activists, artists, and Dancers’ Group’s Wayne Hazzard. New episodes of Heartistry air every Tuesday at 10am PST on Rukus Avenue Radio from DASH Radio. Visit Noorani Dance’s Podcast page to listen to previously aired episodes.
Listen to Farah and Wayne’s conversation
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In Dance | May 2014 | dancersgroup.org
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