As a follow up to my recent post, I want to share some exciting news. I’m officially an aerial performance artist! I had my first performance two weeks ago and it was magical.
The theme of the show was SPACE/TIME and it was held at my dance studio. My group’s concept was Star Wars & we had a major lightsaber fight in the air! The actually studio it was held in felt like outer-space. While performing, I felt like I was flying through the skies. There were no mirrors staring back at me, the spotlights were in perfect accordance with the musical cues, and the smoky atmosphere felt heavenly. I was flying.
The late night rehearsals, and early morning meetings, the mini freak-outs when out props would begin to malfunction, to the proper recourse when group members had emergencies and had to drop out – were all worth it. This is all the easy stuff behind performances.
What I find to be the most challenging (and gratifying) part of performing, is closely related to one my favorite concepts, “the personal is political”. This slogan was popularized during the second wave of contemporary feminism. It was used to underscore the inherent connections between personal experience and larger social and political structures. When I think of this quote, it’s usually in relation to performing.
This sentiment was found in several of the pieces from the showcase. There were pieces that emanated personal stories, experiences, pain and hardships, feelings, etc. Movement is powerful on it’s own, but truly takes on another life when others are allowed to engage. This is when the magic of the personal-political happens. Many of the stories from this past weekend fell into this category, such as; dealing with severe depression, internal strife about gender identity, or even being in full drag & dancing to music in your native tongue. Sharing your art and yourself with an audience is incredibly personal, but can easily become political, depending on the intention set forth.
All Things Color, Love & Fashion,
Ayanna Lane