On Building A More Engaging Dance Culture
I had a thought about dance today and I want to get people opinions on it: being an adult ballet dancer, I feel I always struggle to find ways to become more engaged in this art form I love. Here is usually how I dance: I go to class, listen to the teacher and do the moves at the barre and center, then I go home and mind other business until the next ballet class. I think ballet, maybe other dance forms too, can become more engaging if dancers go beyond merely classes and get to create and perform their own dances outside of a class setting. However, choreographing and performing are hardly accessible to amateur dancers (I won’t count the once-a-year spring recital for which each performer pays $120).
Why can’t amateur dancers create and perform more often, like amateur musicians would do? I think one big reason is the limitation of dance space: It is hard to find, outside a dance studio, an open space equipped with sprung dance floor where you can move around like crazy without feeling self-conscious. To dance most people need studio space, and studio space is hard to come by.
Maybe we can help deepening the level amateur dancers can engage with dance by providing them with more accessible dance space? I don’t exactly how to do this yet, but I think it’ll be an interesting challenge to solve. I’d love to get people’s thoughts on it.
