Foreword
by Shirley McKechnie OAM
In my long life as a dance artist and educator I have become very aware of the power of dance in all its many forms to unite groups and communities as few other activities do. The community that is now the World Dance Alliance has grown in recent years to become a voice for some of our most advanced thinking about the relationship between the arts and the communities that give them birth. A use of the words ‘voice’ and ‘thinking’ in relation to dance can still be interpreted as meaning ‘words’ and ‘text’, inappropriate for an art form that is kinaesthetic, non-verbal and embodied. However, as we all know, dance is also communicative, affective, expressive and dynamic: and we never cease talking about it.
A major outcome of human evolution is the gift of language. I am still surprised to discover that language is often thought of merely as words in need of translation between nations and cultures. I think that we in dance are also divided by cultural and historical experiences that are deeply embedded in time. Our dances demonstrate our all too human propensity for claiming significance for particular styles, traditions and genres – different ‘languages’. This is one of the most important themes to emerge from the intercultural awareness that informs many of the papers in this splendid collection.
The idea that dance, like music, does not need translation, that it is immediately transferable across cultures has had a long tradition of acceptance, at least in western thought. However, this notion is seriously challenged by many of the writers who offer their own experiences, telling, in many instances of the difficulties encountered when west and east meet in the dance studio. It is now understood that culture is the most powerful influence on human thought, growth and development. Instinct does not support us in the way it supports and protects other species. Our ancestral forebears have bequeathed to us modes of thought and behaviour that have been formed as adaptations to environment and circumstance over thousands of years. Our culture is our ultimate parent. Many social and religious rituals are conceived as life-giving and life-protecting. Our dances, like our language, our music, our clothes and our cooking are part of the wonderful mosaic we call our culture.
As I think about the many ideas encompassed by this impressive anthology a constant refrain emerges - ‘we are many and we are one’. Words, movement, space and time are conceived differently by individuals, by groups, and by societies and cultures, across space and throughout time. There is however another story, a deep river of continuity. Almost palpable is the desire to understand and transcend these differences.
These ‘conversations across artforms and practices’ are brought together under four main themes: Transcultural Dialogues, Sustainability, Mind/Body Connections and Re-thinking the Way we Make/Teach Dance. In essence it is a many-faceted narrative of dance practice: of people and places, of artists, teachers and thinkers working together in partnerships concerned with many challenges, discovery and celebration. Additionally, the collection contains papers from psychologists and cognitive scientists: thinkers from other disciplines who are increasingly adding to our understanding of the complexities we encounter in our dance thinking, including that often silent and perplexed majority, the audience.
Many of these writings speak of encounters in the realms of teaching dance and making dances that are made memorable by the experiences associated with them. They speak of the human need to give expression to deeply felt connections and unique situations as well as the practical everyday realities such as those described by Duncan Holt in his paper ‘Manifold Restarts in Dance Practice’. Speaking of his time as an artist in residence and therefore a ‘dance specialist’, he writes “On any given day I could be asked to provide advice and/or practical input for ballet teachers, physical education teachers, jazz dancers, tap students, Russian folk dancers or minuet’ists, as well as contact improvisers and sword fighters.” And there are many questions, sometimes implied, at others clearly enunciated. Although not always answered, the questions and the rich dialogues continue.
Whose dances? What is their purpose? Can everyone participate? They convey the diversity of the dance experience and a reassurance of its power to enter individual lives in significant ways. Dance has always been at the core of many rituals in which human beings give form to their feelings of awe and wonder, of achievement and joy, or of sorrowing and loss. As I read these accounts of many journeys through dance I sense again, the ability of the art form to focus these universal patterns of experience in a way which makes their wisdom available to thought and feeling and action – to a facilitation of the things we value most, and which in the end, lie at the heart of our humanity.
In writing this Foreword, I would like to acknowledge the outstanding contribution made to the World Dance Alliance Global Summit by Associate Professor Cheryl Stock, who was not only the Program Chair and Conference Convenor, but is also the Proceedings editor for this publication. With the assistance of Denise Richardson, she coordinated the peer review process, edited each paper and prepared them for publication. She was also responsible for conceptualising and structuring the Global Summit program, including the Dance Dialogues, the five program components and the four themes that drove the Summit. While Cheryl was well supported by an excellent program and conference committee and dedicated QUT and Ausdance staff, I think we all understand that the success of such an enormous undertaking usually depends on the dynamic vision of a leader such as Cheryl Stock.
The continuing existence of the World Dance Alliance reminds us again of the opportunities it is creating for cultural exchange, choreographic development and dance dialogue. We can now celebrate its vitality and congratulate all those who have worked with such tenacity and wisdom to ensure that the vision of its founder, Carl Wolz, is realised.
Shirley McKechnie OAM is a pioneer of contemporary dance and dance education in Australia. Founder and artistic director of the Australian Contemporary Dance Theatre (1963-1973), she established the first degree course in dance studies at Rusden College (now Deakin University) in 1975. Her long experience as a choreographer, performer, teacher and artistic director led her to dance scholarship and critical writing and eventually to her recent role as an innovator in Australian dance research at the Victorian College of the Arts/University of Melbourne. Shirley received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1987, the Kenneth Myer Award for ‘outstanding and distinguished achievement’ in 1993 and the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Australian Dance Awards in 2001. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and in 2007 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of the Visual and Performing Arts by the University of Melbourne.