In Australia the arts have to compete with many other activities.
Australia is an 'outdoors' nation: many people embrace sports,
leisure, arts and other recreational activities. Dance can often be an
indoors and a seemingly mysterious occupation, only for those in the
know.
Increasingly, however, dance is becoming less mysterious.
Australia is witnessing an increased participation in a broad range of
activity from community dance practice orchestrated by professional
practitioners through to flash mobs and all the blurred line of activity
in-between.
In writing this article I am looking through a dual
lens of the UK and Australia. I have had the privilege of living in
Australia for the last five years, working in various capacities as a
director, artist and until recently Program Manager for Dance at The
Australia Council for the Arts. In the UK following a performance career
during which I always sought to work with companies that had a high
level of community involvement, I led teesdanceinitiative (now Tees
Valley Dance) and later became an Arts Education Consultant to the city
of York. What was amazing for me during this 15 year period was
witnessing the breadth of dance activity and the capacities dance was
used and appreciated in. I was very fortunate early on in my career to
encounter fantastic professional artists who introduced me to working
with the wider aspects of the community. I was given supported
opportunities to learn how to work with non-professional dancers from
all ages and walks of life. This was a true gift to me.
It has
been a fascinating journey for me, exploring Australia's dance scene and
evolving culture. Australia has a wealth of dance talent and a growing
awareness and interest from the general population in dance. Dance is
playing an important role in showcasing the geographic and cultural
diversity that shapes Australia. The country can draw from the rich
cultures of Indigenous Australians where dance is often an integral part
of life. (Bangarra Dance Theatre is the best known example, other
prominent independent artists include Vicki Van Hout and Gary Lang). In
parallel Australians who have migrated from many nations are all
bringing their unique culture, traditional 'community' and ceremonial
dances.
In terms of 'professional' community dance practice,
there are many hidden gems of organisations, companies and individuals
undertaking excellent work outside mainstream dance studios and
traditional performance contexts. Growth areas include people with mixed
abilities (Restless Dance Theatre, Deaf Can Dance, Arts Access network,
Rawcus Theatre); the youth sector (QL2 centre for youth dance in
Canberra, Steps in Western Australia, Stompin in Tasmania, Fresh Bred in
South Australia to name a few); inter-generational projects (Tasmanian
Community Dance project, run by Tasmanian Regional Arts, funded by The
Australia Council for the Arts) as well as, of course, the general adult
public just wanting to dance! Community dance is gaining increased
recognition both from within the dance profession, general public,
government and public services.
In the last few years
participation rates in dance have surged. There has been a substantial
rise in attendance at organised dance and exercise classes and dance
workshops. The general public's natural 'have a go' attitude is also
being applied towards dance in wider, less formal contexts. The use of
dance in public outdoor events, reflecting the outdoors lifestyle in
Australia, has further aided the visibility of dance to the community.
Many opportunities are provided to participate in events across
Australia organised by local councils, venues, festivals and dance/arts
organisations.
Australia has a long standing record of producing
outstanding arts festivals, many of which involve free or low cost music
concerts and dance participation events, pop-up theatre, that provoke a
spontaneous dance response, the en-masse individuals becoming a
collective community.
As an example, the Sydney Festival,
particularly Festival First Night, sees many open-air events and
thousands of people who don't normally participate in dance just pick up
the vibe and join in. In 2009 the public was invited to help transform
Sydney's city centre into one mass dance floor. Thousands of people in
the audience learnt a specially created dance piece - doing 'the Sydney'
choreographed by Garry Stewart, Director of Australian Dance Theatre.
This was available in advance to learn online wherever you lived (1).
I
attended Festival First Night and witnessed thousands of people dancing
across the city. The atmosphere was electric, a sea of dancing bodies. I
came away feeling energised and connected to the people and place where
I live. The 2010 and 2011 festivals saw many participatory open-air
events working with large and smaller scale companies such as You Move
(dance company for youth/emerging artists) in partnership with Western
Sydney Dance Action.
The Ten Days on the Island biennial festival
in Tasmania has a offered a plethora of participatory events over the
years to include street parties, dance hall style gatherings (2) and the
dance marathon. Another highlight in Tasmania in 2010 was the We Tube
Live project, which brought hundreds of young people together in a
virtual/live interactive performance with the public, created by Stompin
youth dance company (3).
Melbourne Fringe Festival has a
reputation for putting arts out in the public domain, thereby making
arts easily accessible. This year's large scale public project to look
out for is Common People Dance Project (4). This link also contains an
interview with the key artists on the project, who talk about the
process but also why it is important to connect through dance.
Ausdance
National and Ausdance state and territory offices provide a conduit for
engagement with dance. One example is the biennial Australia Youth
Dance Festival, which sees hundreds of young people, their families and
the local community get involved. The 2009 festival held in Mandurah,
organised by Ausdance WA (Western Australia), under the Artistic
Direction of Claudia Alessi, provided multiple participation
opportunities and resulted in a public outdoor performance on the
foreshore in Mandurah. Tracks Dance Company in Darwin create
extraordinary outdoor performances where the 'community' is their
company. Chunky Move and Ausdance Victoria worked in partnership to
create 'Moving One Hundred' as seen in the photos. There are a growing
number of examples like this. The QL2 centre for youth dance is
currently planning a large-scale dance event for the 2013 centenary
celebrations of Canberra.
These sort of events create huge
opportunities to participate but also sow the seed of enthusiasm for
participation, 'doing it' - give it a go, dance in your garage, post
your dance on YouTube, create your own dance experience.
Flash
mobs have become a new currency of communication. Many arts and non-arts
organisations are using flash mobs to communicate their political
opinion, celebrate and promote events. The distinction between flash
mobs and more formally organised events is of course blurry, but the
increased use of dance in public gatherings has been notable. A few
small examples: A flash mob used by Ascham Girls School Sydney, to
celebrate their 125th anniversary, Tourism Ireland on St. Patrick's Day
2010 at Central Station Sydney, in which over 120 dancers took part,
including 20 dancers from the world renowned Riverdance Show and dancers
from the local community (5).
A beautiful example of a flash mob
being used to bring people together to celebrate people with different
abilities was lead by Rawcus, held in Federation Square, Melbourne in
2010 (6).
One question is why do people want to participate in 'community dance' activities?
Without
attempting to dive deeply into areas of sociology, I offer the
following as a few thoughts and observations on this question. Many
aspects fuel the way in which we choose to participate in life. The way
people work, live, travel and communicate all effect and inform the way
'community' is formed. This informs people's choices of engagement with
dance and other activities.
Thirty years ago small pockets of
what we may recognise as community dance practice existed - although
in indigenous communities the importance and tradition of community
dance never abated. For a lot of other communities dance had been used
as a way for the community to come together, for celebrations,
ceremonies and cultural dance performed in specific contexts. Today
these sorts of dance experiences might be more described as cultural and
traditional dance practice and have become practised less by younger
generations.
Over the last 30 years the rise in large scale music
festivals drew crowds who are able to spontaneously dance in 'their'
community. The 90s saw the en masse dance and rave parties, people
wanting to dance as part of a community.
More recently the
convergence of several phenomena, such as the decline of collective
mono-cultural practices, the greater awareness of exciting forms of
dance through the media and through travel, the rise of highly
segmented individual pursuits often enabled by technology and social
media, all lead individuals to seek and be able to form part of a
'community' relevant to them. This community might exist for a few
moments in time through a flash mob or be part of a much longer ongoing
engagement.
Awareness of dance has been raised through bringing
dance directly into living rooms through television shows such as So You
Think You Can Dance, and Dancing with the Stars. This has given
immediate access to those who otherwise would not seek out dance. Mass
media attention, coupled with natural enthusiasts and die-hard dance
supporters makes for a lot of interesting conversations in the coffee
shop being generated between strangers and friends alike, it is no
longer just about the footy!
Dance has always been an integral
part of building communities. Perhaps flash mobs are the new 'village
fete dance' - a new, re-packaged form of communication and cultural
expression. Perhaps it just makes you feel good to dance as part of a
community in an age where we spend an increasing amount of time in
individual pursuits and communication through email, text, blog,
Facebook, etc. Ironically this same modern technology can both isolate
and thankfully connect us. Most flash mobs are organised by mobile
phone and social media platforms. Dancing in a community dance activity
orchestrated by professionals in a flash mob or dance party at a
festival makes us feel part of a community again. Even if we just dance
next to each other, it's a start to reclaiming an integral part of our
human expression - our need to connect.
contact michelle.silby@bigpond.com
References
(1)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV1UOYHCYCY
(2)
tendaysontheisland.org/2011/program/dance
(3)
www.stompin.net/pub/index.php?c=19
(4)
www.melbournefringe.com.au/crowdplay
(5)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpgr3vDK5Bc&NR=1
(6)
www.asnpl.com.au/content/flash-mob-fed-square