Modern dance has turned that philosophy around. Dance has become emotion and expression. Modern dancers stand open and vulnerable when they perform. The piece is emotion and you are the medium through which that emotion is expressed.
Dance is about the insides. Its about the heart. We’ve all been trained and told that you can’t get anywhere without strong technique and a perfect body and good feet. (What does good feet mean anyway??) All of these things are meaningless without a dancer’s (artist’s) soul.
The GIMP Project, choreographed by Heidi Lasky, shows us this. Dance is about movement and its about baring your soul. Its not about being that 95-pound, 5’4” ballerina doing fuettes en pointe at Carnegie Hall. These dancers allow us to look at the body as it is, full of imperfections. Jeffrey Freeze (associate artistic director) said that we all feel a little uncomfortable in our own skin, and this is a way for all of the dancers to do things that challenge them and take a hard look at their own insecurities and imperfections.
One of my favorite expressions in the ‘language of dance’ is when a dancer talks about a choreographer making a dance ‘on’ them. This use of ‘on’ is not the same as when you would do research ‘on’ something. In that case you would be researching about that particular subject. When a dancer says this, he means something more physical, literal. The choreographer is literally putting a piece of art on the dancer, in the same way that a painter puts paint on a canvas. The dancer becomes the medium through which art is expressed.
In the case of Heidi Latsky’s company, and I think most quality dance, every bit of the dancer is required if the dancer is to fully be that medium. Good dance requires you to be physically and emotionally involved in the piece. Its about a lot more than just going through motions. Heidi said, “Anyone can dance, but not everyone can perform.” I’ve always felt that I would rather watch a dancer with a mediocre technique and a passionate heart than an exceptional technician with no soul. GIMP makes the piece about the movement, the unique shapes and rhythms that each dancer creates, not necessarily about technique. Its about shape and form and human interaction.
As much as I love classical ballet (and that’s a lot), modern dance has been a valuable outlet for me in my dancing life. Classical ballet requires you to play a part. You are part dancer and part actor. Not a bad thing, but you must occupy a character’s emotions and mental state rather then your own. Flipping this notion on its head, modern dance tells you to put yourself in the piece. Your own emotions are center stage. That’s hard and intimidating and also incredibly empowering. The last piece I ever danced was a modern piece that a wonderful (and not classically trained) fellow student made for our annual performance. The music really spoke to me and the choreography was about movement and interaction between pairs of dancers. It was wonderful to be able to use it to leave everything I had on the stage. And I did.
Good dance should change everyone involved. Choreographers (good ones) learn from their dancers just as much as the dancers learn from them. Dancers learn from choreographers and other dancers. The audience should be moved or enlightened or entertained or surprised (or any other myriad of emotions) by a piece. Dance isn’t something that you just do or you just watch. Quality art of any kind should be an emotional experience on all sides.
What sets GIMP apart from other pieces and programs that include dancers of all abilities is that it is not something that you see to have a warm fuzzy feeling about disabled people dancing. It is a raw, honest picture of how people with disabilities move and dance and feel. Heidi said that she would never choreograph a dancer and put them on stage if they are going to look ‘bad’. She requires the same dedication and ‘artfulness’ (define that as you will) of all dancers. No one gets a break. Clearly, she choreographs everyone according to their abilities, but, really, so does every choreographer. No one wants to put their work on stage and have it look low quality.
The thing that really pulls me in to GIMP is the way that dancers just become shapes moving on stage. Its just dance. Barefaced and bold.