As Aranyani Bhargav, world renown Bharatnatyam dancer
and choreographer asserted, “The world has always used
dance as an instrument for social activism . . . Sometimes
people counterpose dance and politics, as if dance has no
politics. This is mistaken. In fact, art has its own way of
being political. … Of course, the more imaginatively and
brilliantly art is conceptualized, the better its chances of
conveying its political message aesthetically.”
Throughout the modern dance era there have been sev-
eral varieties of socially engaged dance choreography. This
is exemplified by many of the modern era’s choreographers.
In the early 20th century, a
Paris audience was appalled to watch
Nijinsky’s choreography for The Rite
of Spring in which the Russian genius
had discarded classical ballet move-
ments. His work might be considered
a choreographic activism, consciously
motivated.
Merce Cunningham’s conscious
decision was to de-center his dances’
focus. Mark Morris’s work challenges
cultural values by the revelation of a
more obvious gender slant—presenting
same-gender partnering and cross-dressed “pants roles.”
Donald McKayle, one of the most versatile African-
American choreographers of the postwar era, brings to the
stage stories about hope in the face of prejudice and pov-
erty, stories born of the black experience but told with an
emotion that resonates with everyone. He has always used
dance as a medium for social reform. From a political and
social standpoint, McKayle brought the Harlem Renaissance
to dance and transformed the way choreographers ap-
proached racial issues. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
and the Limón Dance Company have staged many of his
masterpieces, among them “Games,” “District Storyville,”
and “Rainbow Round My Shoulder.” In his over 100 choreo-
graphic pieces the voice of the African American struggle
can be seen. Through his teaching he has enabled dancers
to discover how they can use their bodies as instruments of
artistic creation and expression. For these reasons, Donald
McKayle is regarded as one of the most influential personal-
ities in dance. His ability to create dances that critique social
injustices with aesthetic rigor, and break racial paradigms,
is what marks McKayle’s long-standing career in dance as
exceptional. Two new socially engaged pieces which make
poignant commentary on the refugee crisis and the pro-
posed wall will premiere in 2017.
In a recent NewYork Times articles it was stated that
artists present their values onstage both straightforwardly
and with slant—by-the-back-door moves. In MiddleSex
Gorge (1990), Stephen Petronio and Gino Grenek danced in
corsets. Up until recently, when she retired from the Dance
Exchange, in her cross-generational company, Liz Lerman
spotlighted elders in wheelchairs, another overlooked group
who can be said to be emerging in a dance context. Doug
Varone’s Alchemy (2008) looks at the mur-
der of the American Jewish reporter, Daniel
Pearl, by Islamist extremists.
“The more imaginatively
and brilliantly art is
Indigenous choreographers are chal-
lenged with a different sort of cultural
politics. Proclaimed by the New York Times
as one of the top ten choreographers, Rulan
Tangen, shows the interplay of ancient and
contemporary indigenous ritual, demon-
strating how demoralized urban Indians
might find and transform old rituals to their
current needs. Rulan Tangen explains, “We
gather as individual artists to create experi-
mental yet elemental dances that reflect our rich cultural
heritage and to explore identity as contemporary Native
peoples. Ancient and futuristic, our dances are an elemental
language of bone and blood memory in motion.”
The role of those working to pass along an understand-
ing and appreciation of the socially engaged arts and the
skills needed to perpetuate and enhance their many forms
is especially critical to the future of the dance arts.
Locally, The Sedona Chamber Ballet Company is com-
mitted to showcasing socially engaged dance performance.
It sees its role as the impresario for socially engaged dance
and continues to support arts education and performance as
a means for building artistic skills and cultivating a life-long
appreciation of the arts.
Most recently Rulan Tagan performed Seeds: REd
Generation, which was the result of a series of community
collaborative visioning sessions and interdisciplinary move-
ment workshops to center Indigenous artistic and ecological
knowledge. It culminated in a transformative performance
ritual in the fall harvest season of 2016. Seeds : ReGenera-
tion built upon a four-year consultation process with Native
conceptualized, the
better its chances of
conveying its political
message aesthetically.”
IMAGINE l Spring 2017 17