Knowing our Roots

Maman Germaine taught class yesterday in the morning. She is the founder of the school and a very powerful woman who commands presence and respect. When going across the floor during a specific exercise, she asked us all to keep our heads straight. You must know the base, the beginning, she said, so that you can know who you are. Even in contemporary dance, you must know your roots, for clarity. When you know who are and where you come from, you are a very powerful person.

Then she had us create a simple movement signature. Something we must show her every time we see her. I'm glad I kept mine simple!

We watched a video in the afternoon showing the beginnings of School on the Sand. It was fashioned after the idea of a New Babylon, where people around the world could come and share what they know and who they are. One dancers in the video said, black or white, art is not hypocritical. It does not lie. Maybe we do, but in art we show our hearts. Ciré Beye, who came to teach us Sabar at UC Berkeley was in the video. He was one of the first students to arrive here. Maman Germaine said in the video that at first there was nothing but sand. We put our tents down and called this our home! We take our time to know each other. We sleep together, eat together, dance together, and we take our time. It was an incredible video. Good for us to know the roots of L'Ècole des Sables. Good for us to think about our own roots. And how when we stomp the floor in the beginning of Patric's class, we are waking up our ancestors.

L'École des Sable--School of sand. Jant Bi--The Sun

I am here at a world class dance school in Toubab Dialow, Senegal. We are learning contemporary and traditional dance forms. You have no idea how fortunate I feel right now. There are dancers here from all around the world. France, Spain, Japan, England, Switzerland, Senegal, Mali, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Benin, Congo, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Brazil, Canada, New Caledonia, and then myself and another from Florida. It is an amazing group of people. The energy is incredible. We are dancing for almost seven hours a day and at the end we still have full energy that we put into our dance. We speak different languages the two common languages being French and English. We eat different food, have different customs, different ways of relating to family and friends. But it is not a problem at all. We all communicate. We all laugh and smile. We all have fun together. We are all grateful to be here. And we all dance. And when we dance together, I cannot explain the power that we have as a group. I have never in my life experienced anything like it.

So what are traditional and contemporary African dance forms? Well first off, we were asked to prepare a traditional dance to bring from our country. I could understand this as being relative to some, but for me, I have not traditional dance forms. Maybe modern dance, but that's so vague. Patric, the director clarified for us but only slightly. He said for Africans, it is clear what traditional dances are, for others, we will have to ask ourselves some hard questions. Already the guy from Florida brought up hip-hop as a possibility. No way I said. That is a tradition based in a particular marginalized group's rejection of power structure. The girl from Canada who we were grouped with suggested a native American circle dance. Even worse, I thought to myself.

For me, I have already been thinking a great deal about my relationship to my cultural positioning. How being an American pretty much means appropriating from sub cultures and then commodifying it. I was already holding some questions about my coming to Senegal in the first place. In some ways I accept that I have access to an incredible amount of information from many different places in the world. Good information. But I have to have respect for that information. I felt that for me, my tradition in dance most recently has been steeped with a bay area tradition. I think about Anna Halprin, Sara Shelton Mann, Kathleen Hermsedorf, Lisa Wymore, Peggy Hackney, Joe Goode, Amara Tabor-Smith, Dana and Shinichi Iova Koga and so on. A rejection of the norm, a questioning of structure, deep reflection on the body processes in conjunction with the mind, somatic awareness, core connectivity, and much of the teachings I have experienced have had influences from many parts of the world.

It has not been decided what we will share with the group, but I have an idea about how I want to approach the topic of what is tradition for me. In many ways, it is staying true to my own personal experience. It is my willingness to face a challenging question with honesty and integrity.

As for the distinction between contemporary and African dance forms . . . more to come!

We drove her to the airport

                              

We celebrated alongside some of the most talented people in the Bay Area. We toasted and danced with the cast and crew of "He Moved Swiftly...". We laughed at each others' jokes. We snuck in strawberries and hummus between every hip roll. We witnessed a flowing rap artist freestyle to the beats of Mario Bros.' Nintendo music. We watched the disco lights twirl in the red room and light up the picture frames pinned on the yellow walls. Speckles of glittering teeth, art pieces that came to life, and hands holding onto red plastic cups holding onto secret desires and dreams. Shirtless men, limber women, hammocks being pushed by ghosts, and secret conversations about transitions and growing young. We embraced Amara Tabor-Smith, our dance teacher and mentor, and after a night of music, art, and spirits we left the house of sleepy artist and entered my little tic-tac car. We drove her to the airport. He was at the wheel because my eyes were slipping in and out of sleep from three days of driving and traveling. Our bodies stiffened from the Salt Lake City to the Bay car ride. We were on our way to SFO. She had all her bags in my car ready for her destination: Senegal! She should be there now, connecting with new people and learning about their dance world. I am so glad Robyn and I had one more chance to see each other before her trip. I am so happy that I was with her at the beginning of her adventure. This Sunday I return to my Summer Intensive training with Integrated Movement Studies. The more I think about this project, the more excited I get over the possibilities. Safe travels Robyn! Open heart, open mind, and open doors!

Discrimination

What we look like, what we say, where we come from, and what our norms are can provide information about who we are. Our identity is then revealed to an outsider. But the truth is, all of these things that are being observed at first glance are extremely superficial. When you grow up in a society where everything that is beautiful is everything you are not, you start to wonder about your self-worth. Today I stumbled upon this video and it resonated with me. The children in this video say they felt like dogs on a leash, and they felt like they were in prison when they were segregated from each other. It made me think about growing up as an immigrant's daughter and feeling alone. How can I belong? I remember asking myself as a little girl. I remember sitting in front of the television singing along to commercials and television shows. I wanted to get rid of my accent because it made me different. I wonder now if this had an effect on my development as a human being. I want to feel like myself in the days before I changed, but I can't seem to remember.

World Cup, Brazil, and her point of view

When I tell people I will be going to Brazil for research in dance they mention the World Cup. Of course! Who wouldn't? It's in everyone's mind. Well, everyone who likes or grew up watching soccer, like me. I was visiting a friends facebook page recently, and saw this video on her wall. I want to share it on our blog because it's a human being sharing her thoughts about the identity and representation of her country.

Salt Lake City at 4:00am

Dear Diary, 

Today was a good day, a fragile day...    uh, just kidding. 

Hullo there! My name is Rosa Lisbeth Navarrete and I started this blog with my partner in crime Robyn Anne Taylor. We are both embarking on project currently called, The Untitled Identity Project. Welcome to the madness. I am writing tonight from Utah. Today marks day six of my Laban Movement Analysis experience with Integrated Movement Studies. It has been very informative learning about movement qualities, forms, and shapes. I can't wait to use this knowledge for our film.

The last time I saw Robyn we were strolling together on the sidewalks of San Francisco chasing Amara Tabor-Smith's performers down the street. We had a small farewell after the "He Moved Swiftly..." performance on June 15th with our dear friend Mikhaila, who will also be doing a dance workshop in Brazil.

As of today, we know our documentary will have multiple themes, like: dance, gender dynamics, immigration, and the transition that occurs in the self through the process of assimilation. This project is also about our friendship, and what we discover about ourselves in the process of learning about movement communication.

Robyn and I have been friends for about two years now. This project holds a lot at stake for us as movers, writers, and researchers. We are recent UC Berkeley graduates, we are women, we come from different backgrounds, but we want to live life to the fullest and share our journey you.

Right now, our main goal is to raise money for our trip and hone down on our traveling plans. Follow our blog--follow our steps! See how you can help make this project come alive. More soon!

Last Moments

Yesterday was the last time that I will see Rosa until we meet again in Brazil. It was a very emotional day yesterday. I feel choked up right now thinking about it. Sometimes I feel like the floor is slipping out from under me and one of the only people who understands is a fellow transient and sister of the road. Rosa slept by my side in my most darkest of hours. She is a true sister.

This day was also emotional because I shared with my two dance sisters, Rosa and Mikhaila, the witnessing of our dance mother pouring her heart and soul into the city streets of San Francisco, where she hails from. Amara Tabor-Smith was celebrating the legacy of her dance teacher, Ed Mock. Even though we never had the honor of meeting him, he was all around us yesterday as we watched an incredible group of performers fearlessly address some of the most challenging issues our particular community faces. The wind was blowing strong all day, moving around trash in the street, causing goose bumps to rise, sifting street aromas with the ritual aromas used in the performance. And with the wind keeping us on our toes, Amara ended the five hour experience by speaking to all of us, saying: "the only constant is change."