BACK TO OUR BASIC VALUES...

The understanding of how Afro-Latin dance is perceived and how its practitioners have felt during the last 20 odd years delivering these forms in the UK is more complex than I initially imagined.

There are so many threads to the complexity of aesthetic appreciation and knowledge of one's own cultural background when it comes to Afro-Latin dance. What you may think is a clear and straight forward opinion may be charged with subconscious bias, media influence and other environmental pressures. Recognizing it is the first step towards an equal society we know, but how do we recognize it?... We are far more influenced on a daily basis from the media than we fully realize. Recognizing inequalities and making changes is a conscious effort that most are not conscious enough to realize we need to make, so, if you don't know that you don't know, you're not likely to change. 

It goes back to basics. What do we value?... What do Afro-Latin dance practitioners value individually or as a group?... How does their value system affect or interacts with the value systems of the spaces they inhabit?....

(photo by Tyrone Domingo)

Many personal perceptions are often stereotypes we've grown up accepting. Take Afro-Latin dance. Most people, when they think of these forms, think mostly of social dances: Salsa, Afro-Cuban, Kizomba...Prof. Raquel Monroe from Dance Center of Columbia USA also agrees. Why don't we think of Afro-Latin Dance in terms of concert dance or being experimental?...(Molzahn, 2021)

What I've encountered in my research, seems to go right back to identifying our basic values. How value systems change how we see ourselves and others and how the intersection of global cultures sharing the same spaces provide an opportunity to share our values or facilitate the dismantling of non-dominant cultures. OK, that was a little feeling of doom, but you get the gist. 

1) Molzahn, L., 2021. Globe-trotting with Dance Center's Afro-Latin@ events. [online] chicagotribune.com. Available at: <https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/ct--afro-latindad-dance-card-story.html> [Accessed 23 March 2021].

 ANALYSIS, IDEAS AND MORE FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The journey of writing and analysing data can be a lonely and tricky one for a dancer. My thoughts tend to emerge when I'm moving or actually doing something so having to stay still, read, reflect and note things down it feels contradictory to my own nature of thinking and being. Nevertheless, this is the process and what I do is during my writing breaks I just get up, put a fun song on and do a lot of silly dances while waiting for my kettle to boil!

The last semester has been a particular difficult one as I had to defer in order to allow myself more time to process individual and personal trauma. Trauma is tricky isn't it?...it can paralyse you but it can also be an opportunity for growth. This aspect is timeless. Do we need trauma to grow?...oh the eternal question that religion and philosophers pose. 

Looking at my data I decided to use a phenomenological approach to explore the themes that have begun to emerge and resonate above the rest. My interpretation of the data collected is starting to be clearer to me and is allowing me to see the ideas, motivations and values carried through the practitioners I've interviewed. But... what is value?...What does value mean to the particular group of practitioners I've interviewed and spoken to?...

What may be the consequences of not valuing the knowledge of your own culture?... These questions were simple yet key in triggering further thought. Thanks to Angela Woodhouse for the quick but great tips given to me during a video meeting so I could catch up with MAPP!

 THE LONG, LONG ROAD TO THEORIZING MY IDEAS

OK. This is my gentle advice to any newbies attending an MA course: Never, never, ever take a break during the course!...

Well, I didn't take a break, a break was forced onto me with changing house and various COVID-19 related challenges. This meant however, that my "train of thought"was violently interrupted, but I must say that the reflection never stopped! So, after multiple challenges I am finally settled in my new home, have my study books with me (long story) and started reading my notes who kept multiplying and adding to the "ideas" bag. My mind is now on overdrive, and I'm pulling strings from articles, books and looking at new nuances and trying to figure out if they add value to my reflection on the title of my research.

The development of 2020's Covid health and social restrictions, consequent government policies and the response by society overall has brought in new questions on the value and meaning of the role of arts in society and subsequently the role of dance forms that bring communities together naturally. It also emphasizes the influence of peer pressure in society and how these responses have cultural ramifications and influence institutions that may choose to react instead of devising active responses that may engender a higher impact in the full term. 

The same crisis also reflects the hierarchy of the Arts in as much as some areas and performers have the social backing necessary to survive in times of crisis while those forms that prevail on the edges of the dance sector have to negotiate creative ways to keep afloat and more often than not, perish. This is not simply a "survival of the fittest" situation, but a clear choice previously structured within institutions in the dance sector. These thoughts are circling my writing regularly, and I must say that living through these times and experiencing it first-hand exposes me further to the ideas that I'm trying to weave together in my thesis and encourages my daily reflection and is adding many, many notes around my laptop!...