A great deal, it turns out, although – when told through the medium of dance, as in the CorningWorks dance assemblage The World As We Know It – obliquely and with circumspection. These women aren’t giving their hard-earned knowledge of the world away.
3 comments:
I think that is really powerful to express themes such as gender roles and societal pressures on women through the medium of dance, especially when historically, the dance community has been criticized for the pressures on girls. With my best friend being a classically trained ballerina, I’ve heard plenty about the pressures and expectations of female dancers—on things like beauty and femininity and body image. With the combination of the baggy suit costumes and build-up to the boardroom table, it seems that the piece really attempts commentary attempting to shatter the glass ceiling. However, I will say that I’m not too sure how I feel about the use of pastels to dress the women in. For my IB art exhibition I used explosion of color to present the strength of the female spirit, and intentionally strayed from pastels, because I feel that the soft, unsaturated color denotes a weakness of sorts. Nonetheless, I’d really be interested in seeing this piece, but unfortunately it closed yesterday.
This sounds like a piece I would love to see. I think the art of dance is an incredibly beautiful way to portray the gender roles and societal pressures placed on women throughout their lifetimes. I think it's an amazing idea to have dancers "of a certain age" telling their stories and experiences through dance. It's incredibly powerful for these women to get on stage and do what they do. Also, the fact that the final dancer is younger and represents the future of dance (and possibly the future of women depending on how it is interpreted) is such a strong message. I am a bit confused by the descriptions of the costumes. I'm not sure how the image of the dancers in oversized pastel-colored suits would translate, but if given the chance, I would definitely see this dance. I absolutely love seeing dance shows, especially the ones that think outside of the box and tell the stories of those we rarely hear from.
Artistic work that challenges gender roles and perceptions of gender in a patriarchal society are so important, as we are currently in a time where we are choosing to openly challenge them. Change can be made through art, and I think it is important to do it thorough dance. I also think it is important to show that dance is still accessible. There is this idea that after a certain point you can no longer be a professional dancer, but by having these “women of a certain age” create a piece that challenges that notion, it also speaks to the ageism that we face within women. This piece at ComingWorks sounds really interesting and like it dives into a lot of topics that need to be discussed more and can be through art. Women are a “tribe”, who have the ability to support one another. When we come together, as women of all ages, ethnicities, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds, we are powerful.
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