Choreographing on Kazyna Dance Company
By Countess V. Winfrey, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Dancer
Working with Kazyna Dance Company during the first portion of our residency in Kazakhstan was an amazing experience! Our first interaction with them was during a master class taught by DCDC company member Quentin Sledge. They clapped for us upon our arrival, and I immediately felt well-received! At the conclusion of class the dancers of Kazyna gave us some delicious chocolate and taught us a traditional Kazakh dance that we would perform with them at the end of the week. The learning process was VERY quick, but we learned the dance in its entirety. Despite the language barrier, we were able to gather most of the details of the choreography. Learning their style of dance helpfully influenced the way in which Qarrianne (another DCDC dancer) and I would proceed with our choreographic process of creating and setting a piece on both companies the next day.
Q and I decided to do a dance that would illustrate our interaction with Kazyna; the dance was titled “Common-Unity” and was reflective of the idea of two different groups of people (with completely different cultural backgrounds that speak different languages and were raised on completely opposite sides of the world) coming together to share the art of dance. As we were teaching them we had to be aware of what we were saying (so that the interpreter could translate to the dancers as clearly as possible), and we had to use our body language beyond demonstrating the movement (hand signs and signaling them to watch us demonstrate first before trying the movement). We clapped and even mouthed some rhythmic signals to ensure we were all on the same page. All these factors helped break down the communication barrier so our collaboration could be successful.
The love and passion that each dancer has for the art transcended all the barriers that could have led to miscommunication. It allowed us to be open to each other’s creative processes out of adoration and respect for the art. Although our dancing style was different for the Kazakh dancers, and a bit challenging for them, they all had a strong desire to gather as many details as they could, and asked questions (sometimes in Kazakh) until they got it right. It was refreshing to see that learning from us was so important and seemingly inspiring to them.
At the end of it all, the performance went GREAT and we were able to have wonderful interactions with these people who don’t share our language, but do share our love for dance. The feeling must have been mutual because the audience’s reaction was that of excitement, pride, and appreciation for the shared experience between the two companies from two different countries. The dancing brought us together, it allowed us to see each other as people, and ultimately speak the same language; it was a beautiful marriage of cross cultural relations.
