TO TRAIN OR NOT TO TRAIN (in African Dance) that's the question

One of the things that I wasn't expecting to hear what the idea of not being necessary to train if one is pursuing African dance forms. I found it very interesting to reflect on and it has brought further thought. Is this an idea that western dance institutions have?... Do African dance practitioners believe this to be the case also?...Is there something lost by training in these traditional forms a sopposed to just immersing ourselves in it?...more food for thought.

For most of my peer to peer training during Salsa and Kizomba / Semba specially I often heard said that these dances shouldn't be taught as they lose their "true" feeling and authenticity. While I really don't want to discuss issues of authenticity, I often discounted these ideas as coming from those that justified their own shortcomings by this parameter only. Since my dance experience also includes formal training, I questioned myself if perhaps my reaction was due to my own western assimilated perception of what dance and dancers should be structured by. Was I being too western in my approach and not allowing for the natural flow of the student to understand and learn the form?...Was I being too structured and creating too much rigidity and perhaps even changing the natural layout of things by my own formalized approach?...

I'm already fully aware how I may have influenced the Kizomba / Semba form around the world by introducing contemporary elements to it at the time. While I was conditioned by a new reality of making the style accessible and collaborating with a partner who didn't have the "authentic" style I may have inadvertently opened the doors to being culturally non-empathetic.

Then, a few days ago I participated in an online conference at the last minute, with a circle of prominent (mostly) African based choreographers and was happy that this question came up and was discussed. There were those who felt that some training is indeed required where others felt that teachers and choreographers may achieve their goals through different paths since formal training is not always available to them anyway. An interesting comment was made about how traditional ceremonies and festivals in Africa who still require plenty of choreography, teaching and preparation, and those applying those skills are nevertheless great choreographers and instructors without any formal training whatsoever. So, why train then?...

While listening to all the amazing experience present at this conference, what stood out for me was the idea that train matters, yes, but intention is the key. If you train in the village to work in the village, it's ok. But if you train in the village and want to work internationally with different choreographers...it might be more challenging if you don't have the right tools. 

How does that translate to an environment of Afro-Latin communities living in the diaspora however?... The intergenerational dialogue naturally made through dance and the arts that exists in a village habitat facilitates cultural transmission and legacy. As that has been widely removed and lost by living in the diaspora, how do communities start valuing their own identity and culture without comparing it to western values?...

 

 There has been many accomplishments in creating dance frameworks that support African, Caribbean & Latin dances such as Acogny technique, L'Antech, Eddie Torres, Danza Contemporanea Cuba, Umfundalai technique, to name a few. These cultural leaders have codified Afro-Latin dance forms and by doing that have made them more accessible. But accessibility can also be tricky. How accessible does one need to be?...I don't see any Ballet teachers making Ballet accessible in order to be followed. 

A close friend and dance promoter also commented to me in conversation that she didn't understand the need to have a platform that creates standards in African dance. According to her this is very "controlling" and reflects a colonialist mindset. This comment took me by surprise and triggered further reflection.

One of my concerns in teaching Afro-Latin dance forms is the lack of standards. Anyone can literally become a teacher. It certainly doesn't happen if you want to become a Jazz, Ballet or Contemporary teacher. How can we level teaching standards and talent in Afro-Latin dance forms versus qualifications in the educational framework on western society?...Well, in fact I recognize the MAAP course as a distinct take on this! 

I'll continue to explore these themes and look at all the bubbles of questions still popping up. 

 ETHICS, ETHICS...what does it all mean?

Most of us are not fully aware what does ethical considerations fully mean, but, we also quickly know when something is not right, or fair, and often bodes down to how the "rules" we live by can impact us directly, from how we access health support to how we treated at work. 

It's often when something affects us directly that we start realizing that there is something bigger at play and that we ought perhaps to consider the impact of what we do and say. The fist lockdown in the UK in March 2020 allowed people to suddenly have time to reflect on their lives and those around them. This created various movements towards environmental awareness, xenophobia and racism which rose collective awareness. Suddenly, thousands of conversations were happening online regarding these issues and consequent conflict and friction ensured which divided families and friends altogether but also brought people together working towards what they believed. These movements were so strong that led to demonstrations and even some change, for example in how supermarkets use plastic packaging. 

Currently, the Covid-19 virus situation has created an environment of distrust in various governments across Europe as the people watch how, "Draconian measures" are being implemented and justified. The ethical considerations during these dangerous times refer to how leaders use this emergency status to pursue nefarious and financial goals that benefit the individuals in power. The impact on this could be felt in generations to come as health systems are less supported and may reduce people's life expectancy.

For example, the use of data in the Track & Trace system touches on issues of privacy and freedom and are akin to measures imposed by authoritarian regimes. The collection of body DNA samples justified by proposed novel cures, appear to cross borderline principles defined by the Nuremberg Code - a set of research ethical principles achieved at the Nuremberg trials at the end of the second world war. One of the main takeaways from the Nuremberg trials was the idea of consent, which interestingly, we are still dealing with and learning about, 50 years later, in various areas of life such as sexual harassment for example. The agreement to these principles for the Nuremberg Code wasn't an easy result, it was achieved with much sacrifice, death and trauma to the world's population and still to this day there are many philosophical and research studies who try to understand how human nature reaches such depths of barbaric behaviour while at the same time being able to create wonderful beauty and joy.

However, is there a situation (such as Covid-19) where we are justified to cross those ethical considerations and /or abandon them altogether for the sake of improvement of a situation or conflict resolution?... Perhaps we can ask another question: Can we find solutions that don't compromise those ethical considerations? Are they being put aside for the common good? Who is accountable and how will it be penalized if there is abuse? OK, that was more than one question!...

Are the people informed enough to know how to defend their democratic principles?... Ha...information is a key component also. But that leads us to another set of ethical principles, since big Media groups belong to only about 4 major corporations who chose to spew their own propaganda in order to manipulate people to win elections and influence people. How and where can one get objective information and how can we discern "good" from "bad"?...

The advent of social media algorithms as shown in the film "Social Dilema" leads us to another non-ending rabbit hole of ethical questions. Technology that is designed to manipulate and control human behaviour infringes on our human rights and privacy yes, but, are WE not responsible for our behaviour you may say?... After all, we can choose to follow the algorithm or just press another video no?... Well, yes, of course, the problem is, that companies are clever and once habitual behaviour sets in its much harder to change it and big companies know this.

“It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” - Mark Twain

Early in March, when the emergency status was being passed in parliament, a young MP gave an emotional speech declaring how he hoped that these measures would swiftly be back to normal once the situation changed. I wish I had that link, it didn't seem important at the time, of course, like so many others I didn't realize the full impact of what those measures truly meant. Awareness is key. Once you understand how important ethical considerations play a role in your life the more equipped you are to apply them. It is by realizing the importance of ethical considerations that we become aware of how systems in society work to benefit certain groups and individuals or not. 

Ethical principles have been regularly challenged, changed and improved (from a western democratic perspective) throughout the years but it's important to remember how so much of these philosophies still affects us today on a conscious and subconscious level. The racist science of the 19th century has embedded ideas in the common psyche of human beings and is still present today in people's attitudes, as well as within structural systems that treat black people differently for example. The same philosophy and racist science viewed African-Diasporic dance forms as something backwards, not understanding it as a whole. These forms and people of African-Caribbean descent are still institutionally treated as inferior, often ignored and under funded regardless of the immense pool of proof and influence to contemporary forms of dance and visual arts - See Ted Shawn's "Native American" amongst many others.

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I used to watch "Star Trek" often as a teenager and it affected my understanding of other cultures. Their main "prime directive" was the guiding principle in their exploration of the Universe and it often conflicted with their exploration goals of the Universe whereby it was constantly debated if they should or shouldn't interfere in alien cultures. This ethical consideration often conflicted between what they thought was against the rights of different life species and at times interfered in rituals they thought barbaric but were in fact necessary according to the species rites of passage for survival or such. It was fascinating. How much are our guiding principles of life benefit only us as a group or allow other cultures to benefit also and integrate in our life systems?...

While Hegel defended a need for conflict in every major human change in history, perhaps this time we can prove him wrong and Covid-19 can be the catalyst to help us make the necessary changes with a more holistic approach. More dancing is clearly needed! 

Our ideas of compassion, empathy and freedom are being challenged. In my views ethical considerations exist to facilitate a more fair and integrated society, where people can build on equality, inclusion, freedom and diversity and experience fuller, fairer land balanced lives.