The Aesthetics of Dance - Essay Example

Dance, Culture, and Contexts Introduction While casual observers of new dance forms may look to such dance for its entertainment value, a more in-depth analysis of these dances reveals that they have complex factors that have contributed to their origin. In some instances, gender, racial, or social class has contributed to the emergence of novel dance forms. These dance forms then come to operate as a form of cultural resistance or meaningful expression in response to the oppressive environmental conditions that resulted in the innovation of these styles. Hip-hop inspired dance in the South Bronx constitutes a highly powerful example of the impact of race, as well as social class, on a dance movement’s aesthetics. In the late 1970s the South Bronx underwent a significant period of economic decline that impacted the borough’s socio-cultural dynamics. In this geographic environment, wealthy individuals began to exploit the urban poor, contributing to the emergence of a culture of “inclusion exclusion.” Such a term refers to the South Bronx emerging as a situation where engaging in the culture occurred only through forms of exploitation. Within this oppressive social environment, hip-hop inspired dancing emerged. A number of decades later in Oakland similar forms of dancing emerged in response to an equally oppressive sociocultural climate. At least from the perspective of theorist Naomi Bragin, this dance form – referred to as turfing – occurred in the 1990s as an aesthetic response to the significant amounts of deaths of black individuals at the hands of police and gang violence in the city. Even though these types of dance emerged nearly two decades apart, the fact that they both happened within the African American and Latino ethnic groups in oppressed communities reveals a number of important features about the nature of politically inspired dance in the late 20th century. The present research examines the ways that race and social class had a tangible impact on aesthetic elements embodied in this South Bronx hip-hop inspired dance, and turf dancing from Oakland, California. Analysis Race and social class had an impact on the aesthetics of the Oakland street-style dance referred to as turf dance in a multitude of ways. In “Shot and Captured: Turf Dance, YAK Films, and the Oakland, California, RIP Project,” Naomi Bragin indicates that while the aesthetics of hip-hop inspired dance in the South Bronx is indirectly impacted by race and social class, turf dance directly embodies elements of cultural resistance that have been conditioned through the police force and the sociodynamics of the surrounding city. Bragin provides an example where people turfing on the street corner are accosted by the police department, which informs them that they had better be dancing and not engaging in a form of criminal behavior. Such sociocultural dynamics are indicative of turfing and emerge within the dance form. Bragin states that a film on the dance was particularly successful in that it “captures the social life of turfing as an embodied expression of morning and death” (100). In this regard, members of the African American community population who have been murdered influence structural and aesthetic components of the dance itself. Another important consideration is that both South Bronx street style dancing in the 1970s and 1980s, and Oakland turf dance share the aesthetics that necessarily positions themselves outside of traditional cultural markers of high art. Such alterity is undoubtedly a characteristic of this dancing emerging as a form of social resistance to dominant forms of aesthetic expression in New York and Oakland. Both forms of dance appear to be aesthetically influenced by the outlaw status that the people living in these communities embraced as a result of their race and diminished social status. As the individuals participating in these forms of dance were marginalized by society, their participation in these forms of dance aesthetically functioned as a means through which they were able to, “dictate the terms of their relationships to society and each other in new ways” (6). Gladney reached a similar conclusion regarding the structural dimensions of black dance when he argues that “black street dance is a conceptual framework for studying dance as a sensory-kinesthetic modality through which the logic of racial blackness – and the imagination of a form of black power – remains operative” (Gladney 102). In the South Bronx one is left to speculate on the ways that redefining social boundaries had a tangible impact on aesthetics within specific hip-hop dance moves, it is worth considering that innovative elements embodied in these forms of dance emerged as an attempt to redefine identity within interstitial structures that emerged in this social setting. In Oakland, scholar Justin Williams links the cultural forms of communication that were occurring in this community to the aesthetic dimensions of the dance. He makes the argument that because of the social and racial oppression taking place in Oakland, the culture developed a free form and improvisational style of interacting. This free form and improvisational style subsequently became embodied in Turf dancing. He refers to this concept as choreocentricity. Although such a statement appears somewhat condescending towards the community involved in producing this dance, it goes without saying that an innovative dance would in part be indicative of the same movements and forms of social interaction that were occurring in the community. Turfing, more so than South Bronx hip-hop, emulates more precise forms of social activity; for instance, the move the “auntie” emulates an African American aunt in Oakland. Another significant point is that turfing also constitutes a means through which such forms of dance operate along a political plane. Williams writes that, “Deaths of black youth in Oakland have generally been excluded from the official historical record and especially from mainstream news media accounts” (Williams 104). Just as hip-hop street dance in the South Bronx functioned as a means through which individuals were able to redefine identity in an otherwise society, turfing allows these individuals to engage in forms of cultural redefinition by laying claim to the physical space that surrounds the dancers. Although not explicitly stated by any scholars, one also considers the potential that race and social class contributed to the development of these styles as forms of channeling tension and anger in productive ways. In the introduction to his interview with Zulu King Alien Ness, Joe Schloss indicates that battling, which is a dance style that emerged along with other styles in the South Bronx, “teaches its disciples how to use style to reconcile opposing forces, a skill that may well be at the heart of hip-hop itself” (Schloss 27). In his own manifesto, Alien Ness articulates the multitude of ways that battling functions as a means of expression between two conflicting parties. In this manifesto, Ness discusses a wide array of elements of these battles that pit the competitors in competition with each other. Gestures and burners constitute effective examples of these elements. In both of these instances, the participant engages in word, dance, or hand motions that set them in battle against an opponent. Additionally, Schloss indicates that Ness informed him that battling functions as a means of catharsis. Although Ness does not outwardly express this sentiment, it is not difficult to see how such forms of competition means through which people oppressed through race and social class are able to find healthy outlets of expression. Other theorists have linked the very roots of African American dance and hip-hop in the 20th century to forms of social resistance and expression. Gladney in “The Black Arts Movement and Hip-Hop” indicates that, “Black Arts and hip-hop texts created amid the anger that is easily perceived in major historical events such as the L.A. rebellion and the riots of the late ‘60s reflect the rage the Black community feels” (Gladney 292). Such forms of social resistance are perhaps best exemplified by the types of aesthetics that emerged in relation to dancing in the South Bronx. Johnson indicates that this form od dance was, “less about origin stories and much more about the inevitable incorporation of local socio-cultural sensibility into movement practices that are subsequently communicated beyond that local space through dancing” (Johnson 2). When this form of understanding is taken into consideration, it expands one’s knowledge of this dance to further recognize that its aesthetics exist in an area that is outside the traditional boundaries of government and community. Only through imagining this space in dance were African Americans in the South Bronx able to escape the forms of racial and social oppression they faced in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Conclusion In conclusion, the present research has examined the multitude of ways that race and social class had a tangible impact on the aesthetics of South Bronx dance in the late 1970s and Turf dancing in Oakland, California in the late 1990s. Both forms of dance were shown to have partially functioned as a means through which African Americans could reimagine their identity and intercultural relations in a space that existed outside the space traditionally defined by society. Additionally, specific elements in these dances, including the battle, improvisation, and moves like the “auntie” emerged as forms of social resistance. Ultimately, it’s clear that these dances are indicative of social and racial oppression taking place by dominant culture in the South Bronx and Oakland. Works Cited Bragin, Naomi. "Shot and Captured: Turf Dance, YAK Films, and the Oakland, California, RIP Project." TDR/The Drama Review 58.2 (2014): 99-114. Print. Gladney, Marvin J. "The black arts movement and hip-hop." African American Review (1995): 291-301. Print. Ness, Alien. The Art of Battle: Understanding Judged B-Boy Battles. Throwdown. Schloss, Joe. "The Art of Battling: An Interview with Zulu King Alien Ness." Chang, Total Chaos (2006): 27-33. Print. Williams, Justin A., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Hip-Hop. Cambridge University Press, 2015. Read More