SEEING THINGS FROM THE CHILD/LEARNERS PERSPECTIVE
Davis made me think today as to whether Dance is always perceived as a useful tool in the therapy of others particularly the older generation or if in fact they reject the idea. One piece of music can be evocative and give pleasure or pain depending on the memories attached to it. That all individuals will draw what they will from the dance class despite our best intentions, it will come down to who they are and what interests them and our job to provide enough interest to engage all learners.
I was keen to see how much we relied on syllabus in our early careers and at what point we had the confidence and courage to branch out with our own ideas to motivate learners. So convention and spontaneity. Also where the spontaneity came from and how much of it is deep rooted into who we are, our subconscious. Our environment, childhoods......?
We also discussed the relevance of 'tradition' and Davis pointed out the many traditions.
I have thought that traditions that survive will be the ones that the people value. Maori culture and traditions are still prominent in N.Z and the next generation keep this very much alive. But only because it is important to them. So my opinion is that dance tradition is only relevant now if it is still important to the 'here and now' and if it is, then it is up to us to keep it alive. If it is not, then it will die out and be replaced with something else. Example being, that of Morris dancing of which there are still many preserving this, but will the next generation?
Communication and language was discussed and how we can educate all abilities in one group. To not 'count out' or prejudge and to present opportunities to all learners and if we fail to engage them, then to look at what we are doing wrong.
I think tradition is such an interesting concept. I agree that we keep alive whatever we find important, but that's different for every person. For some, the traditions of ballet are very important, and for others not so much, and for those people, they tend to create something new-ish. I mean, I teach Vaganova style for the most part, but she didn't work all that long ago compared to how old ballet is overall. ABT is trying to create a style/syllabus and the long-term results are yet to be seen, but they're tweaking tradition for their own ends. I personally lean to the "that's the way the art form moves forward; keep what's helpful and tweak the rest," but that's a healthy debate and not everyone will agree with me.
ReplyDeleteTradition may be historically relayed through books or oral traditions. They can and often do evolve based on a person's perspective and perception of those traditions. Hannah says she teaches Vaganova style ballet technique. Where did Hannah learn this style? I do not question her thoughts on the technique and traditions she says she teaches; however, having studied Vaganova in the Czech Reublic with teachers wo have trained in the Vaganova method in St. Petersburg, I find the American perspective and interpretation of Vaganova an sometimes be quite different from what Russians and Eastern Europeans call Vaganova.
ReplyDeleteThis potentially different interpretation depends on many factors: where a person is from, where a person is trained, where a person lives, the age of the person, the teachers with whom a person trains, religious and political leanings, gender perception, and many other things.
Is there truly one interpretation of any tradition or technique genre, style, or method?