SUMMER 2008 NEWS

Support ADLI
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Give Now 		Upcoming Events
Performance and Awards Ceremony on August 16, 2008 in Saratoga Springs, New York
Recent Happenings
Marisa Ballaro's reflections from a Repertory Etude teaching residency.
Founders Corner
reflections and ideas from Carolyn and Julie
"The Artistic Method" from American Education and the Arts, 1993
MiniConversation
Q&A with Tina Louise Vasquez
MiniConversation
with Tina Louise Vasquez
Tina Louise Vasquez is a Certified Movement Analyst, choreographer, and performer based in New York City. Tina has worked with Dancing Legacy, Sita Fredrick, Lisa Parra, Pepatián, INSPIRIT, and Von Ussar Danceworks, and has showcased her works at venues in the Northeast and Brazil.

Hometown: Spring Valley, NY

Age started dancing: 7

When did you know that dance would play an active role in your life? When I was 13, I went to Catholic school directly across from my dance school, Coupe Dance Studio. Everyday, I would walk across the street, and instead of doing my homework, I would spend the time between school and dance class choreographing in the empty studios. One day I asked Mrs. Frankle, the director, to look at one of my pieces, and she asked me to perform the solo for a showcase. From that moment on, choreography solidified its place in my life. That same year, I went to the New York State Summer School of the Arts (NYSSSA) and leaving the program I told my mom that I had learned more in that one month than I had learned in a whole year of school. I didn't know before then that dance could be so multifaceted and textured in culture, history, and politics. Since then, dance has become a huge part of the way I learn about life and my place within it.

Favorite non-dance activity? Glass blowing. A mentor told me to invest some time in an art form that required the use of my hands in an intricate way. She said it would inform my choreography, and it has in that my gestures and hand placements are much more detailed. Glass blowing was something I was always interested in but never had the impulse to actually try it myself until my mentor said this. After my first class, I was completely hooked.

One thing about dancers most people don't know? That we can be huge klutzes!

One thing about the dance field, you'd change Everyday, I am learning something new about the field, and I feel very fortunate to be a part of organizations that push infrastructure models and build new concepts. Through these connections, I feel like I am part of the changes that I would want to make.

What has your involvement with ADLI meant to you? Before working with ADLI during NYSSSA, my interest in dance was waning. I felt disengaged wondering, "so is this all there is to it?" I can remember the change in feeling when dance found a place in my heart; it was meeting the original members of the New Dance Group and talking with them about their experiences. Since then I knew that I would be on a life-long quest to deepen my understanding of how movement is connected to the world. I wanted to articulate what I saw and felt in seeing dance come together in such a way. I took this question and idea all the way through college and I am grappling with it to this day. ADLI was an awakening and it continues to help me keep my eyes open.

Current Project: Tumbao. It is an exploration in the Latin female identity within the context of the American cultural landscape. From the Caribbean to Nueva York, what is the body politic of a Latina? How is our "beauty" exotified, made contemporary, or left archaic and perhaps challenged? This piece attempts to begin the exploration of these issues using a range postural and gestured dance motifs from Afro-Caribbean folklore to classical and urban dance styles.

Coming up: First, I am premiering a piece, using break dancers, at New York's Dance Theatre Workshop as part of the danceNow festival. Second, I will present a work-in-progress of a performative piece for the Hemispheric Institute's Emerge NYC program. That piece entails spoken dialogue comprised of 15 interviews that I have been conducting over the summer. Finally, for the dance company INSPIRIT, I am choreographing a piece that is an ethnographic study of the women in the company.		 Upcoming Events

August 16 & 17, 2008 - Saratoga Springs, New York

Longtime partner, New York State Summer School of the Arts School of Dance, is celebrating its 20th season this summer with an alumni reunion. ADLI is pleased to join the festivities and will play a supporting role. ADLI's performing and teaching ensemble, Dancing Legacy, will perform in the Faculty and Guest Artists Concert on the evening of August 16th at the Skidmore College Dance Theatre. Following the performance, Mary C. Daley, executive director of the New York State Summer School of the Arts, and Mary DiSanto-Rose, director of dance at Skidmore College, will receive the American Dance Legacy Institute Award for Innovative Leadership in Dance Education and Legacy.


Recent Happenings

In October 2007, Dancing Legacy member Marisa Ballaro (featured in the Spring 2008 Newsletter's MiniConversation) and Dancing Legacy Director Laura Bennett led a four-day Parsons Etude workshop at The Community of Jesus in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Marisa's reflections from the residency are as follows:

I was blown away by the passion, specificity, and perseverance of the members of Tapestry Dance Company at The Community of Jesus. Very unfamiliar with the Community, I was amazed to encounter such a driving group of individuals bound by their love for faith and dance. It was truly remarkable and was one of the most rewarding experiences of which I have ever been a part.

We modeled the Legacy Methodology developed at New York State Summer School of the Arts last summer. Moving beyond the warm-up solely on day one, we worked with the improvisational exercises. After about 25 minutes of guided improvisation, with extremely sweaty and exhausted dancers, we discussed the feelings and emotions of each person. Most felt success and at ease while moving. They voiced shock at how natural the movement felt and the fact that it was not forced. Many dancers tended to turn toward commonly "known" and familiar dance moves, but many broke the mold and took serious risks.

Later in the week, we added a release technique movement class. Release was a challenge, but I was surprised how nicely it lent itself to the "Parsons Etude." We talked a lot about giving our weight into the earth (weight of the limbs) and moving from a distal or proximal point of initiation (body part initiation). The translation to the learning of the Etude was remarkable.

Overall, I was impressed by the seriousness of the dancers, their attention to detail, and their passion for learning. Having different ages, genders, abilities, and being various representative members of the Community, we found intention as the connecting force amongst the entire group.

It's impossible to sum up everything that occurred over those four days -- lots and lots of change, for the dancers and for me. The Community was a delight and I truly enjoyed my week with the dancers and Community members. I was even invited to partake in Gregorian chant ceremonies and delicious meals and discussions. It was a fulfilling week!


Founders Corner
reflections and ideas from Carolyn and Julie

The Artistic Method
by Julie Adams Strandberg
American Education and the Arts, 1993

In preparing to reprint the Artistic Method for this issue of the Founders Corner we considered updating it, but have decided that it is important to share these words exactly as they were written 15 years ago. We hope that you will respond to them and share with us any of your thoughts on how they continue to resonate and how we might expand on them for the current educational, cultural and political climate of 2008.

The arts in education are being rediscovered both by an arts community that is concerned about its place in the culture and its share of the wealth, and by an educational community concerned with three overriding problems: 1) its failure to determine precisely what it wants to teach and how; 2) its failure to reach large segments of the population; and 3) its failure to fully educate that segment of the population that it does manage to reach.

At no other time in American cultural history have the interests of these two constituencies converged with more power and urgency. It would not be an overstatement to reveal that while there has always been an overlap between the two fields, there has also been a certain degree of mutual disdain: "The arts are a frill," on the one hand; "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach," on the other. At this time of great soul-searching by each group, both are asking many of the same questions: "Who are we?" " What exactly is it that we do and how do we do it?" "Do we have a culture?" "What is culture anyway?" " Is culture the product or the process?" "What are our values?"

The commonality of these questions indicates a transitional phase; one which may lead us to a new way of looking at the arts in relationship to our culture. Many societies do not make a distinction between the arts and the culture, but ours evolved out of many diverse cultures. The immigrants who come here continue to seek a balance between the ethnicity and history of their national heritage and their identity as members of the American society. Thus, while we have built a nation, a union based on a series of values and political ideologies, it has taken us much longer to evolve a cultural consensus. It is significant to note that it is primarily through the study of the arts that the indigenous American culture can be perceived, for it is through the arts that the heterogeneous cultural heritage of this country has found both synthesis and expression.

If we rename education and call it a Systemic Process of Acculturation, it will become immediately obvious that it is crucial for the arts to be included in the education of every American child - both as content and process.

First, as content, the arts provide a window into the spiritual, moral, aesthetic and emotional life of a culture and are, thereby, an ideal way to come to know and understand one's own culture as well as other societies. The study of the performing and fine arts of any group is as valid as the study of its literature. In our Western culture the latter has been long considered the preferred way of coming to that understanding and to be the superior means of communication. One of the by-products of that singular approach has been a kind of cultural arrogance about cultures which have chosen to celebrate other kinds of symbols and communicative activities and further to dismiss the performing arts within our own culture as extracurricular. Even so distinguished a publication as the New York Times in its expanded Sunday edition groups Arts and Leisure in one section. Art in our society is considered peripheral, something one does in one's leisure time. The New York Times Book Review has its own section.

In terms of content, therefore, the arts should not replace the humanities and the sciences, but complement them as an equally legitimate aspect of humankind's exploration into the essence of life.

Second, in terms of process and method, our culture has devised and revered both the research method and the scientific method of approaching material. These methods have become so sacred that they take on the status of moral codes. We become incensed with plagiarism because of the code of behavior we expect from research. We become irate with misrepresentation of data and statistics because of the code of behavior we expect from science. We are angered not just because of misinformation, but because of a betrayal of trust.

What we tend to forget is that we were taught these codes of behavior since childhood when we wrote our first papers and did our very first science experiments. Like most things taught in early life, they take on the aura of religious truths that can be accepted without questioning. We apply this moral behavior to all of our actions, knowing almost instinctively when each one is appropriate. The repertory of responses and moral decisions inherent in the artistic approach to problem-solving has, however, never been systematically taught to American youth. There exists, therefore, in the American system of values, a paucity of appropriate responses and behaviors which the artistic method is ideally suited to address.

Most aspects of the research and scientific codes are familiar to all Americans, but the artistic code is not. A few of those codes follow:

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1. THE ARTISTIC METHOD EMPHASIZES THE SYNTHESIS OF INFORMATION.

We live in a time when we are deluged with information and can have almost any amount of information through our advanced technology. Yet we are still primarily teaching information-gathering skills when, in addition, we should be teaching the skills of organizing, prioritizing, weighing, eliminating, and valuing, different bits of data.

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2. THE ARTISTIC METHOD LOOKS FOR THE FAMILIAR IN THE NEW AND THE NEW IN THE FAMILIAR.

In a society that is now forced to interact with other cultures from whom it was heretofore isolated, this approach is crucial. We are still trying to understand other cultures by making them fit into our preconceived value system. This is not the same as cultural relativism, which means abandoning a value system. We need to teach the skills of manipulating the new and the familiar to find original personal connections and understandings.

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3. THE ARTISTIC METHOD VALUES DIVERGENT THINKING

In the artistic method there are times when there is no one correct answer. Many educators value divergent thinking, but often apply it to content that does not lend itself to multiple responses. It is dangerous to try to apply the wrong kind of thinking to the inappropriate content. In an attempt to make learning fun and relevant, educators have often abandoned the rigors of memorization and set curricula and have tried to approach factual data as though it could be a matter of opinion. This has helped to create the cultural illiteracy with which we are now plagued and has seriously limited students' skills in specific research and scientific techniques. The arts, on the other hand, are a totally appropriate arena in which to learn the skills of finding and forming personal responses, visions, and preferred modes of expression. With the skill in divergent thinking developed one is equipped to deal with a far wider range of experiences than if he has only been trained and rewarded for his expertise in convergent thinking.

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4. THE ARTISTIC METHOD NECESSITATES PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY.

Because of the personal investment inherent in the artistic approach to material, there evolves an intuitive sense of responsibility, connectedness, and accountability for one's ideas, actions, and works of art. A time when too many people are seeking scapegoats, when lawsuits are increasing as people try to relinquish responsibility for their own actions, when restaurateurs and hosts at a party can be held responsible for the acts of others even when they are no longer on their premises, is a time that is obviously devoid of a method of fostering personal accountability. There is an inherent morality in the act of presenting one's work of art to the public and saying: "This is a part of me. I am not trying to conceal. If it's excellent, it is mine. If it is poor I am to blame. There are no numbers or facts or outside sources to hide behind. I stand behind this and take full responsibility for it." There is perhaps no other act of such honesty, self-knowledge, and revelation. And the act of making art and having it valued as one's personal statement becomes a part of the fiber of one's moral structure.

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5. THE ARTISTIC METHOD RECOGNIZES AND CELEBRATES OCCASIONS OF MULTIPLICITY, AMBIGUITY, AND THE ELUSIVE.

There are many things in life that cannot be totally understood; many issues that can be seen from different points of view; many questions with several answers - or none. In our culture we approach many of our problems as though there must be one right solution. Things are seen in terms of black and white, legal and illegal, moral and immoral, right or wrong. The ability to hover in the space between two poles has not been refined and those spaces become places of terror, places from which to seek a pole - any pole - for the sake of stability. On the other hand, when, through the artistic method, one has been trained and encouraged to accept those moments and ideas that escape reason and polarity, one experiences great joy and a sense of oneness with humankind and safety (rather than terror) in the universe.

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6. THE ARTISTIC METHOD IN THE PERFORMING ARTS DEVELOPS SKILLS IN COLLABORATION

In all projects in the performing arts there is true collaboration even in relationships that superficially appear to be based on the leader/follower model. Choreographers and directors rely on the artistry of their performers to develop their dances and plays. Everyone can contribute in a range of styles and the least aggressive member of the group has room for self-expression through his or her personal interpretation of a role. This is true even in the most authoritarian situations. In most cases in the performing arts the performers function as co-creators and are able to contribute through a variety of verbal and kinesthetic styles. While much of the success of our culture has been built on rugged individualism, there are areas in which true collaboration is needed. The performing arts are a natural way in which the skills of collaboration can be developed.

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7. THE ARTISTIC METHOD IN THE PERFORMING ARTS PROVIDES ONE WITH THE HEIGHTENED EXPERIENCE AND RISK OF THE INTENSITY OF THE MOMENT.

In each act of performance, one assembles all of one's skills of survival without the risk of death as one experiences the convergence of memory, premonition, and existence. Those skills become a part of one's sense of the preciousness of the moment and the instantaneous convergence of knowledge and action.

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8. IN THE ARTISTIC METHOD, THE PRACTITIONER IS ALWAYS INVOLVED IN THE CREATION OF KNOWLEDGE.

This aspect of the artistic method is particularly exciting for the elementary schools in which students and teachers have been isolated from the act of knowledge creation as they have carried out curricula designed by researchers. Through the artistic method they are entrusted anew with the power to make knowledge.

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9. THE ARTISTIC METHOD NATURALLY AND ORGANICALLY INTEGRATES PRACTICE AND SKILL ACQUISITION.

In the artistic method, even the youngest and newest practitioner is given occasion to apply new skills to a work of art, to return to skill development, and back to artistic creation in a never-ending cycle of balancing form, craft and content.

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10. THE ARTISTIC METHOD IS ROOTED IN THE APPRENTICESHIP, COACHING, ONE-ON-ONE MODEL OF EDUCATION.

In the artistic method, learners work closely with a master practitioner of the art. They learn both from close association with the master and from having that master coach and guide them in an individualized tailoring of the material to their (the learners') special gifts and needs. Apprenticing was once an integral part of our culture when children worked alongside their elders learning a trade. In our current culture, the arts provide a natural place for this kind of intimate learning.

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11. ASSESSMENT IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE ARTISTIC METHOD AND IN THE PERFORMING ARTS IS ON-GOING AND MULTI-FACETED.

In the artistic method evaluation does not only come at the end of the process through performance or portfolio but is actually a part of the creative process. Further, particularly in the performing arts, assessment and evaluation comes from many sources, the environment, the self, the teacher, and one's peers.

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Each of these codes of behavior - the research, the scientific and the artistic - have appropriate arenas and each individual should be skilled in each so that he can respond to the universe with the totality of his being and potential. It is neither correct nor necessary to elevate the researcher, the scientist, or the artist. To do so is often to promote arrogance and elitism. The elevation belongs to the codes themselves and it is up to each practitioner to be guided by those codes. There are overlaps in both the content and methodology of the arts, sciences and humanities. The truly educated person approaches problem-solving holistically integrating both content and methodology from a broad and deep repertoire. It is most crucial to recognize that while some people devote their lives to the service of one area of human expression, the potential to function in each domain is open to each and must be available to each.

When these three approaches are perceived as the legs of a tripod upon which to build human understanding, it becomes obvious that without all three, human understanding is impossible.