Emily's Cultural Exchange
Friday, July 10th, 2009It’s been almost a week since our return from Berlin. I realized that it was an intense and creative time. This week I asked Emily to write her reflections on our exchange with the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy organized by the Amerika Haus in Berlin during our Berlin residency.
On Tuesday June 30th, a group from the Amerika Haus came to our rehearsal as part of a conference organized by the Institute for Cultural Exchange. The Amerika Haus is an organization with a mission to promote scholarly debate between the United States and Europe. Insight into our Berlin Wall Project provided their group with an opportunity for cultural discussion and exchange. Our interaction with the Amerika Haus was the first time we opened our rehearsal doors to a large group audience. Even though it was only a short showing of the piece thus far, this exchange served as our first performance of sorts.
Right from the start there was an interesting dynamic between our group and theirs. We were clad in sweaty rehearsal clothes, were hungry since it was 3pm and few of us had more than a snack since 8:30 breakfast, and were anticipating the end of our workday that began at 6am. They were clad in professional attire including suits and high heels, and some seemed apprehensive- nervous, even- of the exchange. This was put into context later when we discovered that their vast majority had never before experienced dance as an art form. I would feel apprehensive entering an unfamiliar business meeting in my rehearsal clothes, so I don’t blame them for feeling uneasy in the reverse situation. Besides, artists can be intimidating sorts with their free spirit, disheveled appearance, and tendency to oppose the norm. Or so the stereotype goes.
The showing went really well from a performance standpoint. Our group really seemed to gel. Each dancer pulled his/her own weight and all dancers seemed more aware of the group. The result was a connected and strong first public sharing. It just goes to show that when a performing artist suddenly has a “performance,” his/her internal wiring reboots, fatigue clears, external factors drop off, and the show goes on. What a beautiful thing.
After the showing, artists and visitors alike sat in one large circle to discuss the piece, the Berlin Wall, and anything related. Discussion started slowly as though we were still breaking down the invisible wall between our groups. I’m not sure if that wall ever fully disintegrated during our two-hour exchange, but worthwhile discussion ensued nevertheless.
Nejla made opening remarks about how she uses emotion as the vehicle for communication for her art. Not every audience member that views the piece will have experience in dance or will necessarily understand dance, but they all understand the common human emotions coming through the dance. Therefore, all people regardless of background can connect to the dance and find their own meaning inside of it. Such is the nature of art.
In response, various visitors mentioned how they felt the pain, hope and fear portrayed in the dancers’ performance. Others recalled the pain, hope, or fear they experienced when the wall came down 20 years ago. Still others discussed how it is a wonder that we are still building walls as a human civilization, and how building walls is a cop-out for facing the true underlying political problem. The Berlin Wall was East Germany’s solution to stop its citizens from fleeing their oppressive Soviet-style government. It enabled East Germany to avoid reevaluating the reason their citizens were fleeing in the first place. Such reevaluation would have challenged East Germany’s very political foundation. Another person mentioned how walls serve our intrinsic desire to categorize things, to separate that which belongs from that which doesn’t. Still another mentioned how some East Berliners felt security in the wall and were terrified of the prospect of life without the wall. For many it was all they had ever known.
The most important part of this discussion, in my opinion, was the fact that we were actually discussing at all. It is easy to forget the trials and tribulations of populations past since they don’t always seem relevant to current times. It’s even easier to forget if you didn’t have first-hand experience to begin with; many of those present were too young to have remembered the wall coming down at all. Unfortunately, forgetting is dangerous. It opens the possibility of history repeating.
So here’s to discussion. Let us keep the conversation rolling so as to keep us from building walls in our lives.
