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Modern & Lyrical
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The Unknown Culture
By: Ithaca Dance Master Roger M. Christian
She stepped into her dancing shoes, her long auburn hair sloped down over her shoulders, she bent over to insert the straps of her Capezios into the buckles. An air of nervous expectations and deep thought came over her as she stepped onto the brown dance stage in Silver Springs, Maryland.
She came to a place of focus to prepared herself for her upcoming performance, In the distance the needle of the stereo arm touched the LP rendition of Camelot, the soundtract, and the first measures of music filled the teather. The ten year old girl burst out with her inmpromptu choreography revealing her enthusiasm of a better life for someone with Down's Syndrome. The ghost of performers that had gone before awakened. The audiance looked on with amazement as they saw the vision she sought in her every move. Her personal dance interpretation caught the imaginations of those who witnessed this courageously determined little girl. The year was 1970.
I never forgot the standing ovations, nor the tears of the audience. I'll remember the stance of pride she took as she reacted to the unexpected wealth of acceptance and acclaim she achieved. A gentle smile on her face revealed her satisfaction of character and humility. And I saw for the first time the vision. At the time, I was a volunteer, teaching dance to area children with Down's.
Much later, as a Member of the Community Action Corps, State University of New York at Buffalo, I voluntered for Dance Incorporated of Erie County, New York. Here I saw the same vision and struggle for greater expectations by children under tweleve with Down's. Here and subsequent, I also made a dsicovery. There exists an unknown culture within the persona of this population.
What was significant about this discovery? It is that this population is aware of their conditon as being different and that any hint of public alienation far more impacts their psychological development when compared to their mainstream peers.
If their expectations are not met with personal success then their efforts to form an independent personality before the ages 12 to 14 is jeopardized. Additionally the impact of physical development of puberty during adolescence may turn upon them to form dangerous dependent personalities and self-destructive behaviors.
I discovered that when the child becomes a 'client', it creats a healthy liberation from the dynamics of traditional therapies. It is then that the client's physical expressions ( dance ) of their feelings can emerge. The initial recognition of the of the client's artistic 'value' gives proof of their individual importance. The more complex and abstract the dance is then the more cognitive coherence of the environment and creating further basis for improved cognitive learning skills.
The client's dance is very unique. when comparing these 'cultures' or populations an onlooker can percieve a distinct difference.
It can be likened to the following:
The present perception of dance performance
by mainstream society assumes a more
Rembrandt quality of interpolation to
music, while those with Down's assume a
Picasso interpolation.
The issues of discrimination associated with the words 'wrong behavior' and 'proper artistic responces' then dissipates within the public's perception towards the Down's population and you have liberation by artisitic performance. The action of dance performance then establishes the beginnings of personal liberation.
A brand new 'dance' is formed and along with it go economic benefits and leaderhship opportunities. Most importantly the aggressive cognitive behaviors that are achieved through internal development of an organized behavior personality creates opportunity for the Down's population to interact politically with mainstream
society. As a result society comes to equally interact with the population.
This was published in The Ithaca Child, Vol XIII, No 6, Spring 2003, and is a condense version of larger more technical article.
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Ballroom Dance
Ballroom Dance
Ballet
Ballet
Modern / Lyrical
Irish and Israeli Folk Dance
International Folk Dance
Swing to Lindy Hop
Belly Dancing
Ithaca Dance Classes
................
Appendix - One.
WebSite - Index
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Dance Ithaca Directory [ WebSite ]
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