"Middle Eastern dance schools play upon harem-mother-goddess fantasies of adult students. One has to give credit for business savvy, but what is being sacrificed in terms of art and ethics? In a bid to take over the local market, unskilled student dancers have been sent out on behalf of the studio to perform for fees that are either shockingly below the going rate or, which is worse, free."
Dancer, Choreographer and Dance Educator Nejla Yatkin discusses tensions between commercial and concert dance, and how funding styles (American v. European) impact the development of work.
To the degree that we as artists prepare the audience to see the world in stereotypes, we perpetuate a society that only knows how to know through separation. Whose identity is it anyway – ours or the audiences? Whose character is it anyway?
Helen Hayes, the Director of Joy of Motion's Education program, discusses her joys and challenges in creating a meaningful opportunities for young dancers in D.C.
Christel Stevens writes about challenges toward creation of professional World Dance performances, including funder preferences toward traditional concert dance styles, and the recent trend of combining European and 'World Dance' forms.
Dry Splash
All these years we’ve been worried about
the sea levels rising,
when what we should have paid attention to
was the fresh water levels falling.
Long-forgotten riverbeds...
Abandoning Reasonskittering propositions
declare love
a superstition
damned to believing itself
we choose not to control
the burning breakdowns in logic
we’ve opened between us
Love, Past Continuous
there are no forevers
for...
The Bending
There are whales in the sky. The last of the day’s sun presses upbrilliant, flat, white bellies; the higher-ups’ downward pressure, astrongly moral...
