Today was interesting in how we were asked to come to dance as part of someone's event. This is the first time this group has done this, and pretty cool to be noticed enough to be asked. However, it started making me wonder if we were simply a supplement to someone else's idea. Sometimes it felt a little like we were "tacked on." How should we dance "under"someone else? Especially when gdance seems so much about freedom, or at least it is fairly connected to it.
This feeling was increased by the addition of a nearby D.J. - we not only were dancing there because someone wanted us to, but we were also provided with their music...so their way of dancing? (It's interesting to note that up until recent months, whenever music was used as part of this group, I supplied it. As time has gone on, I've realized the importance of anyone using their music, partly because it's simply more fun to dance to what you know, but also because it helps to deteriorate any sense of a single individual being "in charge.") But does that really matter? Simply because gdance isn't about some agenda, some higher way of thinking, some more logical well-thought out way of approaching life - and definitely not about teaching anybody how to do anything, or higher art. Guerrilla seems less and less as a platform for revolution or telling anyone what to do, and more an opportunity to allow for actions to be taken (to be involved, or not.) So does it really matter who we work with, or in what fashion? As long as we're continuing to simply do, and not start getting greedy: as we gain more attention, not using our opportunities to make others "get" us, or attempting to influence them to become more like us. The desire to influence others is partly self-validation by way of gathering a posse of followers: changing how others think to match so that it fits with what we do. or in other words, validating ourselves and what we believe in by getting others to say "YES! I agree!" As such, gdance almost seems to fit wherever asked to go as long as we stay in line with our simple intention of dancing, unaffected by others' desire to use us to influence their surroundings. Our presence might be doing that, but we on the inside, performing the act of gdancing, not making any effort at causing such an influence.
(Is it even possible to disconnect one's self from attempting to affect others with one's actions? to simply do without agenda to influence?)
Of course, how we are perceived, how we seem to be acting in the eyes of others, that matters too? Do others perceive us to be losing ourselves/our original intention? Selling out? Does this matter if our actions and intent are the same? Will it affect us if others view us in these negative ways? Might we be hindered in some way? It seems as if none of that perception matters if our acts and intentions are in fact staying the same..."pure?"
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I think this post is referencing the "Best Day of Your Life" event. That's the only way it makes sense to me. Unless there was another event with a dj and gdance . . .
ReplyDeleteI just want to say again that I so admire what it is that I think that you're doing in this project. The enthusiasm, the commitment to it as a practice, as something regular and ongoing, I think it's immense. And even though I think there is perhaps so much more going on/at stake then may be your "mission" for the project, that doesn't at all change the fact that I admire that you are doing it.
I know you don't have time (or perhaps even the interest) to read theorists like Michel Foucault or Judith Butler (although I think they would give you a lot to think about, specifically when it comes to bodies in society and the regulation of those bodies), but they both write about the systems of power by which bodies are produced. Systems of power are always at play, there is always risk and cost, especially in the opposition or resistance to those structures of power (opposition and resistance sound big and epic, like battlefields and rallies and such, but sometimes it is as simple as doing B when the specified and socially regulated action would be A). Gdance is about an agenda, there is a motivation, it does propagate a way of thinking/being, and there's nothing wrong with any of that. By presenting an alternative model of physical decorum, even if you aren't "telling" people to be a certain way, you are resisting a dominant system that propagates a normalized way of bodiment (namely, not dancing in public spaces). I think the real power of what you are doing is recognizing and owning the fact that you aren't "just dancing," but that you are doing so in spaces, settings, and populations that do not normally involve that action. That is revolutionary; that is resistance and opposition, in one of the most positive ways I can imagine. I think if I have a point I'm trying to make, it is something like an encouragement to resist adopting a naive perspective that what you are doing has no consequence and that the consequences of what you are doing have nothing to do with what you are doing. I think you are already aware of those things, I don't presume to be "teaching" you anything, but as I read this particular post, and even as I participated the one day in the Union, there can sometimes be this subtle omission of the fact that you are doing more than dancing. If it were just about dancing, then it would be alone in a studio. You are actively engaging an alternative community of movement, one that is in opposition/resistance to the dominant/normalized (assumed to be normal) ways of behaving as bodied in our particular historical/geographical/social culture. You are actively participating in all of those levels of intersubjective reality, whether you make that a "stated" intention or not; I think the potential strength of the work is in recognizing that condition.
I realize that none of this is purpose of this particular post. But these were the ideas that came up.
In responding to this particular situation of functioning coalitionally with this event/organization, my perspective is that it does change what you are doing, significantly. I don't think it's "compromising" or "selling out," it's just radically different. The important difference that I identify is that the event creates an acceptable space for the dancing. The dancing is no longer transgressive to its usual degree because there is an event (or "temporal heterotopia" as Foucault might call it) that adjusts the situation by which the dancing as a social/cultural/political phenomenon is formulated. The event makes sets it in an "other" space, alongside a dj on the lawn, ice cream being handed out, and a giant rubber ducky. In the event's space, there is an explanation of why things are as usual, including the dancing. To reiterate, I don't think that is a bad thing at all. It certainly still makes dancing present where there previously may not have been dancing. But it is no longer (can no longer be) the same thing in that situation as it is in your usual ongoing gdance practice.
ReplyDeleteI think I am increasingly suspicious of words like "on the inside" and "pure" (to be clear: not suspicious of those who say those words, but the words/phrases themselves). What do we mean by those words? What are we short-handing that may not be as simple as that? The inner and outer never exist apart from one another; they are in constant reciprocity and it is in the context of one another that each has its meaning. I don't tend to believe in a stable, unchanging "inner" state or essence that is separate from our "outer"circumstance; the inner takes on its constantly transforming definition in the transformation of outer circumstances. We never experience the one without the other, and thus to formulate either as separate is to approximate an abstraction that is no longer reflective of the lived experience to which we intend to refer. I think similar questions can be put to "pure."
And now my brain is tired.
I know it is probably exhausting and potentially irritating to have me bring so much theory and commentary to this post/project. I hope you can believe me when I say that I would only ever spend this much time reading and writing about something I believe in strongly, and that my writing is not intended in any way as a "correction" or "direction," but instead as a sharing of my perspective and hopefully provocative of other speculations/realizations about the work.
Again, I believe strongly in what you are doing. And you do it very well. I hope my offering can address what "it" is and illuminate additional ways that you are doing "it" well.
best,
-M
I really appreciate you taking so much time to respond to my post. It means a lot!
ReplyDeleteYeah, much of that post was me wondering. A lot of what you're saying makes sense. It seems impossible to me as well for the inside to be disconnected from the outside.
I think however that I should have a redo on how I described agenda (or lack thereof) in relation to "guerrilla dance."
It is very possible for guerrilla dance to be about revolution against an established...anything. It is taking an act that is irregular in specific settings, and repeatedly sticking it in those settings with a fair amount of conspicuousness to add. It could easily be read as, "Hey, you over there! Look at what I'm doing! More people should follow my example!" To a point, I am not so naive to say otherwise, this is in fact what we as guerrilla dancers do. Our act alone does this, in addition to what we are consciously attempting to do (which is without a doubt attempting to change others' minds/habits...in part.) When I set out with this project, I wondered "What would it be like if dance was a part of everyday life?" mostly in response to those who watch it. What I didn't expect was the importance guerrilla dancing could hold for those who did it. It became, especially for me anyway, an opportunity in which what one wanted to do could be realized, despite what anyone else thought (even one's own conscious...or maybe especially one's own conscious.) Human society/culture creates rules for many legitimate reasons, many which are to protect those inside it and to perpetuate a well oiled, workable, community. The reason I say gdance seems to have (almost) no agenda, is because for me it has become a way in which acts can escape judgment, and just be acts outside of/beyond the judgment of society/the self. This is of course impossible. How, as you said, can any act happen outside of the context from which it came, and where it lives at any given moment? The act would constantly be informed by all those things.
Somehow though, when I'm gdancing, it has begun to pull away from those contexts when I do it. I feel a separation, not fully, but it moves in that direction. That's why I used the word pure.
None of this is, like you said, "just dancing" and without agenda. But I wonder what the power is in the attempt to act without intention to convince others. An act that instead provides an opportunity for someone else to react. A "pure" act, born out of the desire to do what one enjoys, without ulterior motives to use the act to change others (when it is not my business to judge the way another person acts.)Maybe that's the agenda? Trying to create something like that, and to show the importance of such a thing, if there is any importance at all. Again, the idea seems impossible. But why not try for a little while. Especially when I keep feeling that pull when I'm dancing, ya know?
Hello,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Bora. I stumbled upon this blog by chance. I used to gdance last year on a regular basis on the Oval. Until 5 minutes ago I was unaware of the notion "gdance". I wanted to say a few things about this "inner/outer" business.
I agree with michael above when he talks about "to resist adopting a naive perspective ... that the consequences of what you are doing have nothing to do with what you are doing." In my practice I could not simply ignore the fact that people were passing by, people who do not consider dance to be part of everyday life, people who certainly find it "weird" for me to dance in public like that.
But also, this "awareness" that I'm doing something "illegal" hindered my dancing. I could not go "all out" at times, the dance would not travel all the way to my fingertips, the energy would be diminished and flaccid. If you read "Offering from The Conscious Body" by Janet Adler, you'll see that she talks about our desire "to be seen" is so strong especially for us Westerners, it gets in the way of "moving authentically." Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0892819669/sr=1-1/qid=1275144060/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1275144060&sr=1-1&seller=
For a long time I struggled with this seeming paradox and I could not solve it. I would constantly find myself dissatisfied with my gdance and get upset. I would be hard on myself that I could not put up a fight "worthy of our la revoluccion", that I caved in too soon out of embarrasment, out of being the social outcast etc. I could not "dance like noone's watching."
Of course, Daniel's "a way in which acts can escape judgment, and just be acts outside of/beyond the judgment of society/the self. This is of course impossible." is true. It IS impossible! Therefore my harshness towards myself was really unnecessary, and I probably pushed myself into a deadlock.
With regard to all that, I believe that Daniel's move towards this "pure" gdance is, and should be, the natural and positive development of a gdance practice. To move towards a gdance "an act without intention to convince others" should be the natural healthy development.
"Without intention to convince others" does not mean we don't give a damn anymore about what others think when they see us gdance and "just dance". It means giving a damn, but a healthy amount, giving a damn with a healthy frequency so as not to get into the deadlock I got myself into. It means "doing without doing." Feeling that pull...
If you may allow me to ramble on just a bit more, I want to say a few things about "an act that instead provides an opportunity for someone else to react." That is absolutely the right attitude in gdance, I believe. But this really depends upon CULTURAL PERCEPTIONS. Other people will or will not react depending on the comfort level embedded in the culture. Let me share some experiences. (I did some POLE gdancing!)
ReplyDeleteI am Turkish, and this summer I was back in Istanbul, traveling to some of its islands on a ferry. The ferry has this "outdoors" part, whose ceiling stands on metal poles. It is PACKED with people, tourists, but lots of domestic Turks as well. And there I was, pulling and pushing against the pole, wrapping my arms/legs in contorted ways around it, wheeling around it... for the entire hour-long cruise. People who could not find a seat and had to stand would try to "steal" my pole so that they could lean on it, so I played with other passangers a kind of "musical poles" game almost...
My mother was there, and some guy sitting next to her apparently asked her (she told me this later) "is he... slow in the head?" He must have thought that my "unusual" movements are because I am spastic, otherwise I would have "behaved" like a "normal" person... this is the Turkish perception.(I also wanted to gdance when I was in the military this summer, but I COULD NOT DARE.) Behaving even slightly differently is out of the question in Turkey. The cultural leash is so very tight. This disables the watcher to positively respond to gdance and change for the better. The idea that "wackiness is liberating individualism" works only in the U.S (which is entirely another matter...)
The American perception was entirely different: some people came up to me on the Oval to ask me what I was doing, some said it was really cool, some cheered me on, some cheered me on to make fun of me to their friends standing next to them, so that they could hide their own insecurities through the transference/countertransference, some took my pictures and put them on The Lantern: http://www.thelantern.com/polopoly_fs/1.794164!/frontpage.pdf
The American watcher of gdance was far more likely to positively react to it.
So due to some intercultural conflicts or whatever, I could not get to that point of "feeling the pull." I still gdance in the office, here and there, but I feel more like a beaten down washed up old comrade of the revolution now.
I'm sorry for the ridiculously long post.
- Bora
Hello Bora. No worries at all for the long posts. I mean, look at the posts before yours. Not like it's taboo to talk a lot on this blog. I'm glad you felt like you could write that much. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd always glad to meet a fellow dancer who loves to dance anywhere and everywhere. To come from somewhere like Turkey, where the societal pressure is what it is, and still have the balls to dance anyway...how can you say you are lacking or failing? The amount of guts it took me to gdance the first time, as a dancer, as an an american, and while at a dance festival, was enormous. It was intensely difficult for me to do it, and I still feel the pressure from others. Even after being involved in it on a daily basis for over a year. Some days more than others, but still. Engaging in acts that don't fit into our society's (on the global, national, neighborhoodal, familial, or individual level) views of what is normal is one of the most difficult entities to move out of accordance from. The more I investigate the pressure of norms, the more I begin to notice it as one of the most powerful pressures on us as humans. It guides almost every act we engage in. I see its effects on people during pretty much every moment of every day. It doesn't seem necessary for me to elaborate much on the intensity of this force to you and Michael; from all that has been said, this seems to be something well understood. And the of this force is even further emphasized by your explanation of Turkish culture. Sounds like you can understand this force better than Michael or I may ever be able to.
All that being said, I think I have said something in one-on-one conversation with Michael and others that I may have never reiterated on this blog. Gdancing is something that has the potential (and may even be automatic) to affect the dancer. Who I am now, compared to who I am at the beginning of the year is severely different in direct correlation with my work on gdance. however, that change took over a year and required my focus to be primarily on gdance. I was involved in it on a DAILY basis, and when I wasn't doing/witnessing it, I was thinking about it. as a result, the pull on me from all tiers of society has lessened and lessened and lessened, to the point where it isn't an automatic effect on me. Instead I often feel the pressure, recognize it as such, have the ability to evaluate it, and then choose whether or not I want to adhere to that "rule." However, despite this increased awareness, I still often feel the need to adhere to rules simply because I feel scared to go against it, or because that's what I'm "supposed" to do. It's not gone. I still have to make a commitment to continually engage in what seems odd; engage in what is difficult to face. I can't say what you should do, nor am I saying I have reached any higher level of mind that you should work towards. Instead I am attempting to illustrate how you shouldn't feel "beaten down" and "washed up." You are battling with Godzilla my friend. This stuff takes time, a long long time with much effort. The fact that you've gone this long, against what you have, and still are pushing is beyond commendable. Time offers the increased ability to continue. A lot of time. It's fine if you feel upset, but don't let that stop you from acting, or time can't do its thing.
Thank you for your encouraging reply. You are right, it IS fine if I feel upset. I guess I never allowed myself that. Probably because I thought I was alone in this and hence drew some kind of impossible standard to keep up. Thank you! Viva la Revolucion!
ReplyDeleteif anything, in my mind, gdance teaches well that most experiences are those which we shouldn't shy away from. *shrug* Discomfort, pain, fear, pressure, don't shy away from them. Embrace the fact that you are feeling them, embrace what is happening, don't turn away, and then decide how to process it all. sometimes you gotta stay in the difficult moment to do so, but with a different mindset other than that of immediately "flinching" away from difficulty, you will hopefully find the experience to be somewhat more manageable.
ReplyDeleteall of which I think you are already aware of at some level, but reminders can be beneficial. :)