Aesthetics and Mission/Artist Statements by Halley Freger

Aesthetics is a Verb

•      “An inquiry into how artists, in their products and processes, utilized sensory and emotional stimulation and experience to find and express meaning and orientation in the world.”
•       What do we do to enliven the senses? 
•       Not about how it looks, but what it does.
•       Documentation as part of the process from the beginning.
•       Aesthetics as a verb/feeling/action
•       Use aesthetics that honor people’s stories
•       Aesthetics of a home community and collaborative audience documentation
•       What makes something “cliché” and how do you get young artists to dig deeper? Can clichés ever be good?

What kinds of aesthetic choices are made to link to a particular rooting in values that are held to be true? 

I have been so inspired watching Moving in the Spirit this week. I feel like this is a group that uses many aesthetic choices to link to a particular rooting in values that are held to be true. For example, one focus on the ensemble is the idea of building a supportive community. A lot of the dancing they do involves partner work, including complicated lifts; they are literally holding each other up. They focus so much on connecting with one another. The other day at rehearsal I heard Dana tell one girl to connect with her partner at one point. She said, “Give her some juice!” which is Dana’s way of saying, “Smile at her and support her while you dance.” The artistic choices made in terms of choreography reinforce the idea of building a strong community.

Moving in the Spirit also focuses on very strong choreography. They aren’t doing “sexy” or “delicate” movements, but strong movements that command the space. In one dance called “Speak,” the girls bang chairs on the floor, creating loud sounds. They are powerful and want to be heard. The organization clearly values empowering young women.

Many of the dances deal with social issues—everything from women feeling like they are unable to speak up to the devaluing of black lives. By choosing these themes and specific kinds of music and audio, they create a politicized aesthetic. Every single dance is so powerful and says something important. None of the music of choreography is there just because it looks or sounds pretty—it’s there for a much bigger purpose. The dancers also have a say in deciding what that purpose is. According to one of the dancers, “We don’t just copy choreography. We decide what we want to focus on and dance about.”

Are their contradictions at times?

It’s interesting to compare the dancing at Moving in the Spirit to Pop!, the dance show we saw the other day. At that dance show, I think the aesthetics often contradicted the values of the group. For example, the second section of the dance had a lot to do with our culture that critiques and controls women’s bodies. However, most of the dancing in this piece was traditional jazz dancing, with traditionally “sexy” moves. The bodies in the dance were doing choreography that reinforced normative ideas of femininity and sexualized female beauty. I thought, was this really the most effective choreography you could have used to convey this message?

What about in the creation and rehearsal of making work? What kinds of practices in the rehearsal room create their own aesthetic of social engagement? Democratic practice? Other?

When it comes to rehearsal practices for creating aesthetics of social engagement, I think the most important thing is to allow the participants the freedom to speak and contribute. For example, we’ve talked a lot about the concept of gathering in a circle and checking in. This is important because it allows everyone to bring themselves and what they are feeling to the rehearsal. If you want to make socially engaged art, you have to be engaged with what’s happening to the people you are working with. What’s happening to them as individuals? What’s happening in their community? What’s happening in the world? When we had a dance rehearsal shortly after the shooting in Charleston, we had to talk about it in check-in. We had to let our art respond to this event, rather than ignore it. I think the concept of “leaving everything at the door” when walking into a rehearsal is kind of silly. After an awful event occurs, you don’t have to forget about it and just dance for a few hours, but instead you can let your reaction to the event fuel your art. 

I’m also reminded of Moving in the Spirit and the ways the dancers help create their dances. They aren’t just learning choreography, but tackling difficult issues through dance, and deciding what those issues are. What’s important to these young women? What’s issues do they face in their specific community? I think the best way to create aesthetics of social engagement in rehearsal, is to allow people to bring themselves and their ideas to a rehearsal.

Mission/Artist Statements

There is one major connection I saw in all of the mission/artist statements I read: change. Whether it’s Celeste claiming that her artist statement is constantly “in progress” or Eiko Otake ending her artist statement by promising to continue breaking rules. El Teatro Campesino keeps returning to the idea of using the tools and facing the challenges of the 21^st century. There is this idea of flow. Change. Continuation. Adaptation. These statements aren’t set in stone and neither is the art they refer to because they constantly adapt to what is happening. The artists change, the world changes, the art changes.