Why Dance Matters (Now)?
A text and a series of podcast-conversations commissioned by Delving into Dance and Critical Path for the Interchange Festival. Written and talked about during the devastating bushfires that raged across Australia in 2019/2020.
DANCE MATTERS: Kristýna Bartošová
“Somewhere along the line, we’ve misinterpreted what dance is and we made it into this aesthetic, choreographed thing which only a very well-trained can do. We forgot that every movement, and even not moving, can be a dance.”
DANCE MATTERS: Trevor Brown
“Dance is like poetry;. It is a condensed expression of thought or emotion and there's not enough of that. I would like to see our politicians dancing. Maybe we don't let them talk at the next election, we just let them dance.”
DANCE MATTERS: Diane Busuttil
“As dancers, we cross all those borders of what's acceptable and what's not. We live in the world, so we surely adapt to those ideas of physical conditioning in society, but it's nice to bring that into a class and open things up.”
DANCE MATTERS: Yorgo Kaporis
“The vibrations that are coming through to the earth at the moment are so low and heavy, designed to bring everybody down. Dance matters now because we need to lift all of that. We need to express who we are, what we are, and why we are. That's why it matters now. And that's why it mattered always.”
DANCE MATTERS: Amiee Hershan
“My kids love dancing. The little one who's two will dance everywhere. It's just lovely, the way she closes her eyes and the face she makes; it's just really calming, she's happy.”
DANCE MATTERS: Sonja Pregrad
“Dance is the space to practice empathy, connection, listening and receiving, giving, being confirmed by, and being able to be in the unknown.”
DANCE MATTERS: Kate Sherman
“I think dance is the practice of relationships. The relationship with ourself, the relationship with other dancer, with the ensemble. And then also, I think it's the practice of getting out of ourselves, getting out of our habits or our patterns. To notice, to discover.“
DANCE MATTERS: Nicole Sutton
“We have created a society where judgment is on the increase, and we have critiques and assessments flying left, right and center. So, imagine a world where people are free of that and they dance without inhibitions, are curious, connected and joyful.“
DANCE MATTERS: Michelle St Anne
“The more the world shifts and hurts and goes into trauma, the more we need to be able to see and feel rather than hear language which is why I love working with dancers.“
BONUS TRACK
A sound-collage extracted from the longer interviews with Olga Uzikaeva, Ana Marija Marinov, Laura Cappellesso, Lux Eterna, and Gemma Riggs who speak about their relationship to movement, stillness, freedom, and fluidity.
Image is by Lena Kramaric.
Music used is by Trevor Brown.