Iris Professional Practice Blog

DANCE EDUCATION & GLOBAL CULTURE

As I've been looking at my Areas Of Learning and trying to decide what to focus on, I reflected on a few points that have been present in my practice throughout. Below are some "thought nuggets".
Most of my career was based on performing and teaching internationally. I trained in Classical Ballet and Contemporary at a high level. I taught Jazz and later I toured extensively teaching Salsa & Afro - Cuban dance forms.
As a teacher I brought a recognised methodology to students. There was always, however,  a pertinent attitude whenever I taught Salsa or Afro - Latin dance forms that I didn't experience whilst teaching a Jazz class.
Amongst other notions, there was a general perception that "anyone can dance Salsa" and that despite the strong codification and proven historical context of the form established in the last 30 years, there is the idea that anyone can extract and re-package it, ready for universal consumption.
Can this be the same dance once it goes through that process?

Although social dances like Salsa & Semba/Kizomba were meant to be practised by all ages and can be relatively simple, they are high nuances of movement that are only mastered through years of practice. The misconception of "lack of technique" attributed to these dance forms also allows TV programmes like Strictly Come Dancing to employ ballroom dancers to do a complete disservice to the dance form. Something that Salsa dancers around the world simply shake their heads at or comment ( read: rant) on social media.

In the period of my career where I was auditioning extensively I've noticed how, specifically, American, Brazilian and Cuban dancers were so successful in getting work contracts in Musical Theatre and dance companies in London. My reflection on this was immediate. The multi -genre trained dancer who was highly trained in the traditional subjects of Ballet, Contemporary AND also in Cuban Folk/ Afro - Brazilian dance forms became a highly skilled and adaptable body and of course, highly employable.

My examples above relate to various experiences through the years as well as my current practice.
In my view that dance programs need to shift and not just become "diverse" but, truly invest in non - western dance forms in order to truly cultivate and nurture a learning environment of inclusion, globalisation and experience various ways of viewing the world, be it for practical reasons (employability), creating artists with a wider view of the world or other philosophical reasons.

My experience as a multi genre practitioner expanded my view of other cultures and their understanding of dance pedagogy, different notions of dance and culture, and, the contrast between its perception and modes of transmission in different cultural, academic and social settings. Shouldn't dance courses be nurturing dance technique from various forms? Of course this brings a whole aspect of global aesthetics to consider but I believe that it would simply foster more creativity, liberal thought and wisdom is all dance education. Food for thought.