Abstract
The creative work, "where my body ends and yours begins," uses choreography developed in the movement lab (dance studio) as a tool for investigating and researching examples of belonging, community, and cultural diversity with a particular focus on India. The research originally started out as an investigation into supporting the integration of Indian classical dance elements into dance choreography. Recognizing both my limited knowledge of this dance form, and that of the performers, along with a desire to avoid appropriation as had unfortunately been the case by the founder of our very own Dance program at Adelphi University, Ruth St. Denis, I quickly implemented a different approach. Field notes, photographs, videos, and Indian classical dance research from my summer 2024 trip to India served as the inspiration and starting point. The investigation shaped the collaborative process, movement exploration, and both the visual and sound aesthetic guiding the creative work. In the interest of being respectful to Indian classical dance and to avoid appropriation, choreographic movements, phrases, and group work were inspired by a movement analysis of various Indian classical dances, such as in Bharatanatyam and Odissi. Movement analysis of various elements of Indian classical dances, as well as pedestrian life, served as inspiration, such as: body parts and shapes; actions; movement qualities; relationships; space; time/rhythm; and mood, images, impressions and sensations. Instead of copying steps, these dance and pedestrian forms were analyzed for their essence and then applied to movement explorations. These movement explorations came out of the collaborative research surrounding belonging, community, and cultural diversity as interpreted and investigated from both my experiences and those of the individual performers. Recognizing the history of appropriation of Indian dance and culture within ballet, the first section sets the tone similar as to entering an opium dream as in the "Kingdom of the Shades" section from Marius Petipa's ballet "La Bayadère" (1877). The props on stage are all things the students picked that reminded them of their own personal sense of belonging, home, family, memories, and the past. The atmosphere in the first section is dreamlike where things do not quite connect. The aesthetic, visual, and movement tone is muted, slow, and plays in different settings/spaces, attempting to contrast with the very atmospheric and vibrant soundscape. The soundscape is also a collaboration, similar to the props and movement phrases, of recordings of spaces that reminded both the performers and the composer of a sense of belonging. The essence of India is in the soundscape, in the props, in the lighting, in the costuming, and in the movements, but without it being so apparent. I enjoyed the diversity and contrasts of sounds and sights when I was in India, both on my recent trip and from my own memories as a child when I lived in Chennai (then named Madras) for two years. My new and old memories include a constant vibrant and ever-changing collage and tapestry. Images that are at times lively, active, colorful, and busy, but also peaceful, serene, meditative, and cohesive. Therefore, the dancers create the contrast with being slow, calm, pensive, and in their own worlds while the soundscape thrives and lives. The performers try to coexist in a space and be with each other yet still separate, much like the traffic in India. This whole concept of coexistence and contrast is then further explored with the second section, which is itself a stark contrast through tone, atmosphere, lighting, music, and movement to the first section. This is where reality kicks in and where we find ourselves today, as adults, making our own spaces, both coexisting with others yet trying to shape our own paths. The second section is the modernization, the hyperactivity and disconnect in today's society, where everything is faster and busier. It is a desire to drown out this constant noise and to be transported back to that dreamy world of childhood, in the spaces that our ancestors created for us, and where we felt safe. There is a desire to find belonging.