» Continued from pg 9 Definitions and Connections
Johnnie Cruise Mercer / photo by Scott Shaw
JCM: And I don’t think it’s a compliment. Like they almost label me immediately as someone who’s gonna go against. When ac- tually the whole point of me going in there to be radicalizing anything is to bring people in and create that give and take. But if the presenter creates this thing where I’m a black radicalist, you’re saying, “I’m gonna enter in a space and I’m gonna be radical.”Which I already know is term to say, “You’re gonna be discomforted when you see this show. And they’re gonna be of color. You know what I mean?” BN: You’re gonna be shaken up, you’re gon- na become woke after? JCM: Right, and ‘become woke’? I don’t know why anarchy feels like it has more substance than the word radical. Anarchy has a balance to it. There’s a purposeful ac- tion of removal of something that’s already happened. And saying, “I’m gonna build to something else.” BN: And it’s... It’s a different kind of resis- tance? BN: How does this translate into interac- tions with funders and presenters, grant applications, and all that?
JCM: I’m interested in creating a commu- nity where there is give and take; where you’re not gonna come in and expect this or expect that, but come in and you’re here and see what happens. What is the con- versation? What happens when there’s a response? It’s kinda hard when you’re trying to figure that out with presenters and funders and explain “Hey, I’m using my blackness as a catapult to make work but it’s not some- thing I’m willing to sell.”Which people are like, “What do you mean? You’re gonna make this piece and it’s gonna be gay and black.” And I’m like, “It’s just gonna be whatever the fuck I want it to be.” I think people get this idea on presenters and funders like they’re bad people when they’re people. And I think that what we as artists need to go back to challenging them as people. And them not present- ing you because the work you shared with them was so amazing. It was like, “You sold this to me. I’m ready to bring you in.” It’s more like, “Who are you?” Like actual- ly having some kind of relationship. Which is hard. But it’s like, “Why wouldn’t we? We’re human.”
can’t be contained by anything, any word that you can actually use in the dictionary. The idea of what your profession is col- lides with your art when these labels happen and you feel like you have to reach a certain thing all the time and so then your work be- comes this level-gaining thing – so I’m gonna make my dance like this. And then this is the way it’s going to get to this point. But when you’re making a dance, it’s coming from something subconscious, which you can’t actually leverage. You can’t create levels. You can’t create steps to get to a certain place. You can process it, you can figure it out as you go, but unless you can live in the future, it’s impossible in art to go, “This is next, this is next, this is next” unless you’ve already done it. Your art has to be gauged not by your career but your purpose. BN: There’s been a resurging in interest in social justice or anti-oppressive frame- works in making art. JCM: Humans are interesting. We react, but we don’t always question. Even though all that stuff has been happening for hundreds of years, it’s almost like periods of peace where we decide to sit back as people and not have to do too much cause everything is okay. ‘We gon be alright.’ Why would you wait until it’s just horrible, you know what I mean? So now it’s popular to do, you know, “the work.” But “the work” should have been done. The work should have been be- ing done and it should have continued to be done. The work can be done in art. Now “radical black art” is used as a label to make the audience aware that they’re gonna go see something that’s gonna like, shake them. BN: An expectation for affective labor, emo- tional labor? JCM: Exactly. BN: In a twisted way.
If you wanna actually communicate, com- municate. And your dance is a dance. And your art is an art. But you’re still a person and your art doesn’t speak all of you. BN: What might that give and take look like? JCM: Let’s say I’m in a club and I’m like “Oh, I’m gonna go dance.”You going and trying to perform your dance doesn’t necessarily give anything to the space. And people can see you. They’re like, “What are you doing?” Es- pecially in a black club. But if you are danc- ing with and dancing to the music, and you’re with everyone else, and everyone’s enjoying themselves, you’re giving to the energy of the space and it becomes this never-ending circle of give and take. And it becomes communal. And I think that the work has to be like that as well. It’s not just about the performance, it’s about, “What are you giving into the space? What are you taking from the space? And how do we engage that continuously as a cycle?”
BENEDICT NGUYEN is a dancer, writer, and arts advocate based in NYC. benguyen19@gmail.com
5 on 25 Joe Landini Celebrates 25 Years of Making Dances in San Francisco Dec 7-9 & 14-16 (two programs) @ 8pm Choreography by Alma Esperanza Cunningham,
Joe Landini, Nina Haft, Ronja Ver & Amy Lewis
Tickets $15-$30 145 Eddy St. SF SAFEhouseArts.org
photo by Robbie Sweeny
11
in dance DEC 2017
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