>>PREVIEW
WHY DANCE?
University of Calgary Program of Dance
Friday, September 30
University Theatre (U of C)
Why do dancers dance? That’s the deceptively simple question that dancer, choreographer and teacher Michèle Moss set out to explore in her new project, Why Dance? As she discovered, the answers are as varied as the performers and the dances themselves. Her findings are presented in a free public performance on September 30 at the University of Calgary.
Moss, a U of C dance instructor, explains that the performance is a supplement to the master’s thesis in education that she has been working on in the area of interpretive studies. "It is a dissemination of that research in embodiment, practice," she says.
Moss went through extensive research with both students and professional dancers from Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, of which she is a co-founder. The company’s school draws recreational, semi-professional and professional dancers, who study a wide range of dance forms, including jazz, African, modern and hip hop.
"I asked them the question, ‘Why do you dance? What does it feed in you? What does it fill? What do you get out of it?’" says Moss. She then documented their answers and interpreted them. In the same way, she hopes audience members will draw their own conclusions from the performance.
"You’ll see the hard data in front of you, but how you choose to interpret it and what meaning you ascribe to it is also important," she says. "And I, of course, will have my ideas, and they will be put forward in my thesis text and they will also be put forward in this evening, in terms of what I have chosen – who I have chosen, because I invited them to present for certain reasons, and most of them have to do with diversity and understanding that we can dance our identity, we can dance our nationhood, we can dance our gender, and many other aspects."
In addition to the performance, Why Dance? will include a discussion exploring various aspects of dance as a medium. Moss is encouraging everyone from members of the arts community to the uninitiated to attend. "In the evening I hope that people will confront assumptions, ask themselves questions, and leave a little bit changed," she says. |
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