Session #1

Questions about Art-Making and Community

I am interested in how people who are socially conscious and have the desire to make the world a better place can manifest those concerns through artistic practice. For me these are very personal and timely questions, about why I do what I do, and how to do it as I go forward in life. In the past couple of years I have been more and more interested and engaged in doing work “in the community”. Whatever that means. Working with “marginalized populations”. Again, we know what it means, but what does it mean? Is making performance/art the best way I can contribute to the world? Is it the most satisfying way? Does it serve a need in society? These are some of my personal questions, and I have come up with some more for us to ponder as a group. Feel free to write notes or jot down any thoughts on these questions, or even to respond in comments on the blog before we go into our first session. Sorry if i repeat myself below--i didn't really do any editing.


-Why perform or make performance work? Is the act important for the performer or is it about the experience of the audience that is primary motivation? Obviously it is both, and obviously neither category can exist without the other, but taking that as a given, still the question remains for me: Am I doing it for my own sake or for others’?

- What does “community” mean to you? What communitie/s do you belong to? Do you think about any particular community, or your affiliations to them, when creating or performing work?

- In journalism exists the concept of the “general reader” (although supposedly this is going the way of the dinosaur with the advent of the internet, etc). Do we believe in a kind of “general audience” for dance or performance? Is this desirable? Is this a useful concept? How much do we consider the audience when making work?

- Does making dance/performance make a difference in the “community” (which one?) or in the world? Why? Do you want it to? Should it?

- What is the difference between creating “professional” work and “community” work? (I sometimes think of this question as “Rhodessa vs. Bill T.”)

- When working in community settings (ie, non-professional), what are the benefits of teaching a class vs. building a performance together? Why is it useful for non-professional performers to perform? For them, for the audience, for the facilitators of such work? What do people need to have a satisfying experience (on both sides of the stage)

-How is “community theater” different than “theater in the community”? Does “community theater” merely repeat the traditional modes and forms of theater (established plays, musicals) but with less technical skill? And conversely, is “theater in the community” a format that places less emphasis on virtuosity or technical skills? Do we have different criteria for “talent” or skill level or how we judge a performance based on our knowledge of the participants’ training or experience level? Do we need to create new forms, or have we created new forms, of creative process that democratize the process of making and performing work? Are these concerns relevant to the field of professional performers as well, or implement-able?

- Is it possible to live out one’s democratic or political ideals in the process or product of performance work? Or does the emphasis on that kill the art side of things? Is the personal really political? Can the political really be art?

- What are lessons learned or values/principles inherent to your artistic practice that impact the rest of your life? Do you want to share these with others? Do you think performance work can do that? Or teaching? Or facilitating other people’s creative process in some other way?

- For those that teach: What is it that you want to transmit—what lies beneath or behind the content of your teaching?
And this question can also pertain to performance: What are you trying to transmit or share? Content, form, emotion, your own human experience, beauty, truth …. (those last two are doozies—I’m interested in these questions on a philosophical level, but also want to be as concrete and specific as possible when talking about them. ie—what do I really mean when I say beauty or truth?)

- Do I want people to watch me having an experience, or do I want to facilitate other people having that experience? Do I want to dance for people or to get them to dance? If I derive so much meaning and value from the experience of being in my body and moving it around, or from solving problems in time and space with “theatrical” tools, how can I multiply or amplify that into something that’s beneficial for more people than just myself?