Sunday Discussion Group 27/09/20
The group discussion this Sunday was quite a lot to take in. I don’t feel I was able to keep up with the conversation because my brain was processing so many thoughts.
In addition to the conversation I would like to discuss further some ideas.
Rhoda mentioned that the actual words “knowledge, learning and information” are important and have meaning, not to be confused with what we perceive them to be (as they can be quite malleable). I wanted to add that I have been looking into other languages and its interesting what limitations language has. I think that while we are looking into the meanings of these words, we are developing a deeper understanding and that we need more words to describe what we are talking about to be able to be more precise. Some languages have fewer words, for example, Danish has around 20,000 words. Compare that to English which has over 1,000,000. It shows that vocabulary within learning could use more detail and expansion.
Stella spoke about reading my first blog and remembering that dancers are a commodity. Rhonda went on to discuss being touched and grabbed to take photos etc. but I think that its more to do with the public's own personal boundaries, as that is not part of our jobs! But I had an interesting thought…
While I was performing on Phantom, we were told that we were not allowed to take any videos or sound recordings. Even at the start of the show they request you do not film the show. Part of that reason is that, to fully experience the performance, you have to be immersed within the theatre (Watching the show on a screen and through your laptop speakers just is not the same). So to save the enjoyment of the show, you have to experience it live. This is another point about lockdown, and how some musicals have been aired on TV and online (cough* Disney+ Hamilton cough*) and I think its a shame that this has happened. The root of theatre is the experience of live performance.
Photo by Miklos Szabo, from "The Phantom of the Opera", Denmark 2018
Further to this, I saw a post from a “phan” (the aptly named fans of the Phantom of the Opera “phandom”) who saw a show I performed in and they had made a recording of the show, but lost it. They made a questionable request that is there is a bootleg recording of this particular show and that “I paid for the show so I believe I have the right to have it”. Baring in mind that not even myself, who was performing in the show had the right to a recording. This is further to Rhonda’s comment about boundaries. You bought a ticket to a live performance, not a recording session. But if that video is out there… I would like to see it!
We also spoke of “perception” and how we perceive information all the time. Does this involve bias? As a perception is an opinion we have made using prior experiences. It’s like the saying, “when you assume you make an ASS of U and ME”. Is perception an assumption? If that’s the case then perceived knowledge is tainted with opinions. This is very similar to some of the ethics involved in the documentary “the social dilemma” that Adesola mentioned last week in her blog.
Hi Jacob - It was a very free flowing discussion and hard to keep track of it all but a nice round up. I wanted to add something about what I had said, mainly because I articulated it before I really had the words (not sure I do now but I'll try). When I read your post about your audition experience I was saddened by the story, I've been wondering why it made me feel sad and I think it is something about disconnecting the person from their art, for dancers this is themselves. The dance world seems to say, you are a tool or medium for my (the choreographers) creativity, this process seems to me to diminish the dancer. As we know what makes dance exciting is not just great technique but the capacity to convey emotion and this comes from who the dancer is. Your description of the audition and your comments about not being able to see the footage reminded me of how we used to be treated and it seemed nothing had changed.
ReplyDeleteHello Stella,
DeleteInteresting thoughts, I understand that a choreographer has a vision of what they want to create and they have the right to this. They hold these auditions with the hopes of finding their exact cast, but in the process, miss all the talent that's actually in front of them. I feel that a lot of politics are involved when it comes to casting, but I think that it is these politics that then limit the true potential of a show. I think this is what is truly sad. yet is has nothing to do with the talent or ability of the auditionees, but we as dancers tell ourselves that we are the problem.
I don't think anything has changed, or if it has, it has become more challenging to be what someone else wants you do be, as they expect so much from one person in such a small amount of time.
It sounds like a great discussion! Unfortunately I had to miss it. I've also been really bogged down with these ideas of screening musical theatre and other dance performances during lockdown. The incident you mention regarding the "phan" wanting a recording is only too familiar but I feel is not just a consequence of lockdown of course but a larger consequence of the infiltration of the screen device in the creative process. Social media has contributed greatly to this perception but the pressure on teachers and creatives to do the same has also made a big difference. I remember at the beginning of the social media movement in dance class, I used to say something like "recording your class is a privilege, not a right"and people respected me for it. I think if I attempt to say that now... I may be out of work fast. The video recording albeit positive in so many ways it has possibly permeated the creative process as well as the human experience of the Arts.
DeleteI think modern social media has allowed people to think that recoding ourselves is a right rather than a privilege. With apps like TikTok and Instagram, recording daily life has become a social expectation. Maybe it has been fueled by TV shows like the Kardashians and the Osbornes, to have our private lives available to the public, or at least what they want to seen!
DeleteWe are so lucky to capture our memories on film and it should not be taken for granted!
Hi Jacob
ReplyDeleteRhoda not Rhonda. I sat next to a Rhonda in primary school. Hideous.
Anyway, by the time I got to write anything I 'd mostly forgotten, which is why I do them straight away if possible. Regarding filming, it's tiresome. Some big ticket gigs are asking for people's phones and returning them at the end. Your ticket is for the live experience, not a recording of the live experience. There is no implicit right.
Apologies Rhoda! An innocent mistake, but I'll be sure not to mix you up again!
DeleteI think it has become a social norm to accept that we have "the right" to a lot of things, and I feel its is mostly shared among the millennial population. As Iris said, it is a privilege to be able to video record ourselves.