Arts and Community

One of the common threads throughout my four years here in Ohio University's dance program, is that dance and art should be shared with the community and the community should be openly invited into the dance and the art.

There are a few specific experiences that helped shape this outcome.

Sharing a love and passion for dance and moving in whatever way you can get out of your body.

Beginning freshman year in a dance composition class, we had an assignment to go out into the public space and make shapes the reflected our surrounding environment. As a first year coming from a competition dance studio, this concept did not make a lot of sense to me. But looking back at it now, this is the basis of beginning to view dance making differently. To the community, an aerial in the middle of a coffee shop would be exciting in the moment or maybe even distracting, but then if you just walked away there wouldn't be anything left to think about.

However, to take the coffee shop's environment and design into account when creating shape and movement might have a bigger impact. It would make the viewers think a little longer. It has the potential to not be as fleeting. This was my first introduction to how the community or your surroundings can shape the dance.

Other experiences were with guest artists. One was with David Dorfman Dance, who visited as a guest artist on multiple occasions at Ohio University. And another with Elizabeth Johnson from the Dance Exchange. They both facilitated a dance class that was open to both movers and non-movers. So people who identified as dancers and others who did not were invited to share a space and move together.

One of the main takeaways from this was to open the eyes of everyone participating. To challenge them on what they see as dance and who they think can participate in dance.

Dance can be a lot of things and is open to everybody.

Finally, my senior year I was lucky enough to have the chance to interview Jessica Fox who is an alum of the program, and she now owns a performing arts space in Huntington, WV. The main focus of the interview was for me to gain a better understanding of arts administration and the different components it can have. However, the interview did shift to a conversation on how arts administration is arts advocacy, and that there is a clear relationship between the arts and the community it is looking to serve and to support.

It's better to move together.

So whether it is getting the opportunity to dance with strangers, move with fellow movers, or talk about movement with someone any opportunity to share and reflect on dance and movement with those around you has an impact on the community and encourages exploration of movement... even if it's just making shape in your local coffee shop. All movement moves us forward and it's better to move together.