Yeah, but is it DANCE?
Tags: apollinaire scherr, dance, monique coleman, dancing with the starsAdmittedly, I could be talking about Tucker Carlson’s performance in the last "Dancing with the Stars", but no, actually I’m talking about a great article from the nascent blog of Apollinaire Scherr.
Her article is mainly about people like me, who try to find a coherent language and framework to cover and critique a genre as ludicrously huge as "Performing Arts". It can range from the aforementioned right-wing but left-footed pundit through the Butoh Rockettes and on into using cars as musical instruments.
Critics don’t have to agree that every goal is fine–that’s usually what we’re wondering when we’re irked: "Is it or isn’t it?"–but we do need to understand the difference between the artist’s project and how she’s executing it. We need to know what we’re criticizing.
Absolutely! And even more, you should be able as an audience member to give what it is you’re watching a chance–a chance to actually thrill you even though it is not exactly what you’re used to.
The blog, Foot In Mouth, is very well written, and if you have an interest in the realm of dance (huge as it is) I’d highly recommend it. But it’s also reminded me that I personally need to let go of some of my own assumptions and presumptions.
See, I confess, I’m a snooty artiste. I have scorned the audience’s blank stares as I writhed on the floor in black leotard while digital slides of cockroaches were projected behind me. I have thrilled as viewers watch my videos, scratch their head, and say "Huh?" Admittedly, I don’t do that much anymore–in my elderly wisdom I have accepted that it’s kind of nice to actually commune with your audience, rather than bully them–but there remains in my psyche a residue of the Artist as Noble Savage, of pride in my place in the canon of poor, starving, undervalued performers.
So when it comes to things like Dancing with the Stars, I confess to having a bias against it. However, as Apollinaire says, "Submit to the show’s frame of reference."
Which is fun, because when I embrace the frame of reference, I can enjoy the fact that "Dancing with the Stars" ran this ad for the superbowl:
and then this happened:
It may or may not be art. It certainly is dance. But most of all, it’s funny!
0 opinions for Yeah, but is it DANCE?
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: