Symposium to spread dance awareness

COURTESY SIDRA BELL Bailamos! Let the rhythm take you over, bailamos!

Dance is communication without speaking, but dancers at Yale are ready to be heard. On Sat., Oct. 9, the Alliance for Dance at Yale (ADAY) will host the Annual Dance Symposium, a day of workshops, talks and performances that spotlight the universal importance of dance. ADAY was established by Sidra Bell, SY '01, and Elana Aquino, SM '00, in spring, 1998, to offer a voice for all dancers at Yale and within the New Haven Community. "The Dance Symposium is a day to increase appreciation for dance as a vital art form. [It] is a day to celebrate dance and its many forms," Bell said. "It is also a time to voice the desire in the arts community at Yale for more opportunities to study the technique of dance. It is the only art form that is not represented in the Yale curriculum."

Dance significantly affects the lives of all involved. "I don't think that anything that affects your whole body and soul the way dance does, can help but change your daily life," Lisa Smith, BR '00, a member of A Different Drum, said. "I feel dance in everything I do—it's not just something that is in your dance classroom and then ends." Each week, she rehearses for six hours in addition to attending class for four hours.

Yani Indrajana, JE '00, sees dance as therapy after a long day. "While I'm dancing I can forget about the daily stress and concentrate on the music and the movements."

Some dancers have voiced serious concerns about the role of dance at Yale, particularly regarding the lack of performance space. "Most groups either squish into dining halls, which is appalling, or pay a great deal to use off-campus spaces," Smith explained.

Saturday's Symposium begins with several two-hour long workshops taught by world class professionals for people with any level of experience. The symposium will begin with African Dance, Martha Graham-based Modern Dance, and a Modern workshop. The final group of workshops start at 2:30 p.m., and include Jazz/Hip Hop/Funk, and Latin/Ballroom. The gala performance features Urban Bush Women and Dallas Black Dance Theater, as well as all of Yale's dance companies. Carmen de Lavallade, who has worked with Alvin Ailey, the Metropolitan Opera, Lester Horton, and American Ballet Theater, will also speak that night.

Why would people who aren't dancers or who aren't very interested in dance want to participate in the Symposium? The organizers hope that ADAY will establish dance in Yale's public domain of basic human expression. "Before one learns to talk one learns to move," Bell said.

"Just as people should try to learn a little about all kinds of academic disciplines, and about art, and about music, they should also learn a little about dance," Smith added, "if only just so they are not completely ignorant of one of the most universal arts. Dance is also unique in that it is good for both the body and the mind; one can become both cultured and physically fit at the same time."

Perhaps the best reason for all non-dancers to get moving is that it will help satisfy subconscious desires. KenJin Tan, ES '01, explained, "They'll definitely find in themselves a side they've never known existed before. Dance is inherent. When I see someone moving smoothly and confidently, I always wish that person was me. I have no doubt almost everyone thinks that too. It might not be a conscious yearning, but it's a yearning all right."

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