Western Utah, August 2011
The Dancing Anarchist
_ First,
I check the old hiking boots. The soles are still solid and the ankle support
is good. Lace them up, not too tight. Next, check my equipment. Four-inch
squares of bicycle tread still good and in position, nails are secure,
platforms and guard pieces – stable. Ready. The top of the dumpster is clean
enough. I scramble up, careful not to rip the fringe on my homemade pants.
While sitting atop the dumpster, attach my homemade stilts. The ties that
fasten the stilts, like the costume itself, are made from donated designer
fabric. They wrap around the foot platform and then up and around the shin pads
before securing the foot to the stilt with a square knot in front. Secure
another set of ties just below each knee and around more foam pads, and I’m in.
Stand up, take a deep breath, enjoy the now lower horizon line, feel that
involuntary smile spread across this face that generally looks out at the world
from a 5’ 3” stance. Standing nearly 8 feet tall, stomp my feet to check the
ties again, shake the costume to extend it to the floor, and march like a tin
soldier who’s dressed like a tree to take my place in line for the
choreographed stilt-dancing that that moment was activism. The stilt walking
troupe, called Women Walking Tall, has marched in parades and performed for the
sake of performance, but I have felt most gratified when making a social or
political statement beyond the natural statement that is made by 80 women on
stilts dancing to Caribbean music. Dance – our favorite form of activism.
Another night I might go dancing without stilts, wear a little black dress and heels, and head to South of Market clubs. When my mind steps aside, I dance with total abandon and freedom. At those moments, I don’t care who’s watching, even though I’m not a great dancer. When the body parts just do what they will, surrendered to the music, some might say I look like there’s no one in charge inside this body.
“If I can’t dance, I don’t want to join your revolution.” It turns out that Emma Goldman never actually said any version of that famous quote. The statement was paraphrased from a couple paragraphs in her autobiography. There she described a conversation with a young man who, after seeing her dance with free abandon, advised her that this is not suitable behavior for a true “agitator”. Within her response she said, “I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody’s right to beautiful, radiant things.”
So, it turns out that the movie “Footloose,” that movie about teenage rebellion in a town where dancing is illegal, corny as it may be in my opinion, is a political movie about anarchy, the right to free and liberated self-expression.
What images come to your mind when you consider “anarchy”? I have imagined extreme activism, people raging against a powerful elite in a disorganized way, violent protests and lawless mayhem, certainly not dancing. I have thought that anarchy has no philosophy, no honor, no moral compass, no right and wrong. I didn’t know exactly what anarchy is, so I did a little research online. There are many expressions of anarchy, some of which propose violence, and some of the various thoughts about anarchy contradict each other. The various forms mostly divide into either individual or social anarchism. Individual anarchism disagrees with any single voice dictating the way individuals conduct themselves. Social anarchy supports individuals achieving their potential and says that society has an obligation to fulfill certain human needs. It emphasizes cooperation and mutual care, where every voice is valued. Social anarchy supports the individual’s choice in whether or not to conform to the current social order. It supports freedom in self-expression, a liberated creative sense, and that includes dancing. This whole philosophy was beginning to sound familiar.
It turns out this country began in some anarchic ways and with some anarchic principles. For instance Rhode Island was once called Rogue’s Island. It was a colony of settlements inhabited by people who did not subscribe to the Puritan ideals of Massachusetts. Apparently, they sought a life of religious liberty – the right to choose. They were perceived as anarchists, lawless, allowing for many differing views and practices to coexist. The story is that the family leaders gathered to make decisions by consensus about matters related to their collective interest of food supply and peace. Everything else was up to the individual. They considered all men equals, church and state were to be kept separate, and every person was entitled to a trial by a jury. This sounds familiar!
By the way, keeping with their rogue reputation, Rhode Island was the first colony to officially separate from England’s rule.
Anarchy does support violence and has a revolutionary tendency to support the overthrow of governments, which of course, I do not support. Admittedly, it isn’t a perfect philosophy.
Ms. Goldman said, “Anarchism is not a cut-and-dried theory. It is a vital spirit embracing all of life.”
Does dancing or other artistic forms of activism actually inspire change? If so, what sort of change does it inspire?
Anna Halprin wrote in Moving Toward Life: Five Decades of Transformational Dance (pg 228, 229), “When enough people moved together in a common pulse with a common purpose, an amazing force, an ecstatic rhythm took over. People began to move as they were parts of a single body, not in uniform motion but in deeply interrelated ways.” … “This power could be channeled for healing, of our bodies, our psyches, our communities, and for the healing of the planet…for peace.” (pg235), “In a world where war has become a national science, peacemaking must become a community art, and even more importantly, a planetary art in the deepest sense of the word …”
I haven’t gotten on a pair of stilts in a while, but the dance lives on within me. Whether we were dancing free or choreographed, I got to dance with really long legs, and sometimes with wings attached to my arms. Those in the audience often came up to us with huge smiles to convey how much we brightened their day, and supported their project, whatever that may be. How does it get any better than that?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Read at LitCrawl event at LitQuake, San Francisco, CA, October 15, 2011
Contact Wendy Sterndale: ws(at)wendysterndale(dot)com
Another night I might go dancing without stilts, wear a little black dress and heels, and head to South of Market clubs. When my mind steps aside, I dance with total abandon and freedom. At those moments, I don’t care who’s watching, even though I’m not a great dancer. When the body parts just do what they will, surrendered to the music, some might say I look like there’s no one in charge inside this body.
“If I can’t dance, I don’t want to join your revolution.” It turns out that Emma Goldman never actually said any version of that famous quote. The statement was paraphrased from a couple paragraphs in her autobiography. There she described a conversation with a young man who, after seeing her dance with free abandon, advised her that this is not suitable behavior for a true “agitator”. Within her response she said, “I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody’s right to beautiful, radiant things.”
So, it turns out that the movie “Footloose,” that movie about teenage rebellion in a town where dancing is illegal, corny as it may be in my opinion, is a political movie about anarchy, the right to free and liberated self-expression.
What images come to your mind when you consider “anarchy”? I have imagined extreme activism, people raging against a powerful elite in a disorganized way, violent protests and lawless mayhem, certainly not dancing. I have thought that anarchy has no philosophy, no honor, no moral compass, no right and wrong. I didn’t know exactly what anarchy is, so I did a little research online. There are many expressions of anarchy, some of which propose violence, and some of the various thoughts about anarchy contradict each other. The various forms mostly divide into either individual or social anarchism. Individual anarchism disagrees with any single voice dictating the way individuals conduct themselves. Social anarchy supports individuals achieving their potential and says that society has an obligation to fulfill certain human needs. It emphasizes cooperation and mutual care, where every voice is valued. Social anarchy supports the individual’s choice in whether or not to conform to the current social order. It supports freedom in self-expression, a liberated creative sense, and that includes dancing. This whole philosophy was beginning to sound familiar.
It turns out this country began in some anarchic ways and with some anarchic principles. For instance Rhode Island was once called Rogue’s Island. It was a colony of settlements inhabited by people who did not subscribe to the Puritan ideals of Massachusetts. Apparently, they sought a life of religious liberty – the right to choose. They were perceived as anarchists, lawless, allowing for many differing views and practices to coexist. The story is that the family leaders gathered to make decisions by consensus about matters related to their collective interest of food supply and peace. Everything else was up to the individual. They considered all men equals, church and state were to be kept separate, and every person was entitled to a trial by a jury. This sounds familiar!
By the way, keeping with their rogue reputation, Rhode Island was the first colony to officially separate from England’s rule.
Anarchy does support violence and has a revolutionary tendency to support the overthrow of governments, which of course, I do not support. Admittedly, it isn’t a perfect philosophy.
Ms. Goldman said, “Anarchism is not a cut-and-dried theory. It is a vital spirit embracing all of life.”
Does dancing or other artistic forms of activism actually inspire change? If so, what sort of change does it inspire?
Anna Halprin wrote in Moving Toward Life: Five Decades of Transformational Dance (pg 228, 229), “When enough people moved together in a common pulse with a common purpose, an amazing force, an ecstatic rhythm took over. People began to move as they were parts of a single body, not in uniform motion but in deeply interrelated ways.” … “This power could be channeled for healing, of our bodies, our psyches, our communities, and for the healing of the planet…for peace.” (pg235), “In a world where war has become a national science, peacemaking must become a community art, and even more importantly, a planetary art in the deepest sense of the word …”
I haven’t gotten on a pair of stilts in a while, but the dance lives on within me. Whether we were dancing free or choreographed, I got to dance with really long legs, and sometimes with wings attached to my arms. Those in the audience often came up to us with huge smiles to convey how much we brightened their day, and supported their project, whatever that may be. How does it get any better than that?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Read at LitCrawl event at LitQuake, San Francisco, CA, October 15, 2011
Contact Wendy Sterndale: ws(at)wendysterndale(dot)com