Another late night trying to decide what my inspiration would be to venture down another writing journey as it's hard to find that constant muse..I reflected on some recent events.. conversations and then I saw one video that sparked something.. taking my time I sifted through a few. I could find no better inspiration than in my own backyard in the bodies of my friend's kids....
She jumps right in this little one, chuckles and all, her shy giggle ripples through her small petite frame as she knows every movement and nuance of our choreography and this is never the first time. Her mama and all of us always steal glances of her mimicking something one of us has done. This community of women around her has become her artistic playground and she has actually become our muse...
He moves from the cajon to the conga to the doumbek with ease and yet can barely get to the top shelf of his mama's cabinet, dirty blonde messy curls fall in his face and the calm look peaking from underneath show effortlessness. His solo piece.. almost done, he has a conversation of rhythm with his father, back and forth they speak the same language and it's a masterpiece of communication....
I am constantly amazed at how this brother and sister duo seem to be the spitting image and embodiment of their parents. I recognize the purity in them as they cross cultural and color lines in their artistic expression connecting to deep roots and origins. Like sponges they soak it up, deep in the skin it seeps... There are no boundaries or definitions to them as their world is boundless and they seem to be birthed in what so many artists are searching for or to regain.. Integrity.
Where has the integrity in the arts gone? Is the almighty dollar or vain recognition the ticket to sell your soul to the devil so to speak of popular public opinion? This is the question that some of us are asking. We wonder what happened to that giddy nervous feeling of anticipation when we stepped into our first dance class. The eagerness in our feet to leap across the room and be swept up by a rhythm. When we laid our first record on the turntable and set the needle down we went on a vinyl rollercoaster ride bobbing our heads cuz we knew we were sumthin good. The first time a melodic note left our mouths or our fingers stroked the strings of that instrument making it purr oh so divinely. The list could go on of the many "first times" we experienced, that gave us that "loving feeling". Yet some of us are having internal battles of of what neatly filed category we should be tucked away in. Wondering where do we fit in when our audience are spectators and we the revised version of a diluted disillusioned circus. Do we walk this tightrope trying to slide past the big frilly tutus of people pleasing and compromising that have so permeated the core of some artist's consciousness? The path less traveled suddenly seems tedious as the quick fix and get rich schemes to put a pretty penny in the pocket are much more appealing.
Some quietly and stealthy stick their hands in the cookie jar and greedly take.. they take and they appropriate to themselves culture and art forms never looking back to say thank you. They take these nuggets of gold and melt them down into an idol of worship, reshape them till it's barely noticed from where it's come from. Recycled or retouched like the cover of a teen magazine of the model with freakishly perfect body.. the masses all look on with rose colored glass and speak with forked tounges as they say they want the "real" thing but settle for the imitation. Real artists of this seemly scarcely used word integrity stand and scratch their heads wondering why they gaze on half empty audiences with blanks stares or the scattered few that fill their classes. "Maybe I should lose alittle weight and look like that, or wear alittle less" or may be I should just play that same set again like it's on repeat every week" or even "maybe I should water it down just alittle bit so it don't look too "ethnic"... or maybe I would like to know why some of us even have to ask those damned questions.
Well in case you forgot do remember that those not in the status quo need not give up the fight when we see that little girl mirroring our every movement wide eyed and bushy tailed full of giggles and the small hands of the curly haired boy feverishly chasing the patterns he creates of harmonious percussionistic interludes between he and his father's "conversation". For with them be reminded where we can quench our thirst and find this rejuvenation from their... Fountain of Youth....
with soul,
artistic soul
** thank you sister Karen for your constant example and the integrity you do give as we journey on this road in Roots Dance Theatre. Thank you to you and victor for allowing us to be blessed to be in the presence your amazing children.. apple don't fall too far from the tree...:)
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I'm inspired by the youth that are ok to be a creature of their own creation (like Karen's children). I wish that it had not taken me 30 yrs. to feel ok with being unlike anyone else, however, the light that shines in those children creates a spark in me and reminds me, and gives me permission to shine my own. Thank you for sharing Angie!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angie, for shining the light on our children. For the past few months, I've been taking my son, Sol, with me to a Bomba class in the Boogie Down Bronx - at a little community center named after a Puerto Rican abolitionist (Betances), in the heart and soul of the Projects - and I do mean it. Walking into this building is like walking into a scene of Fame! I am awe struck each and every time by the raw talent of these young people and their ability to just BE their art. In one room there is a salsa class going on, while down the hall there is a DYNAMIC crew of teenage hip hop dancers who choreograph their own original pieces...their goal is to be on "Americas Next Dance Crew", but they have no idea that they can set their sights higher, they have long surpassed any of the talent I've seen on that show. I am especially happy that amid all the different dance forms of the african diaspora represented at the community center, that afro-puerto rican bomba is there in full effect.
ReplyDeleteThe class is comprised of adults, teens, tweens, children, and yes....babies. Mine included. In this class, no one is an expert, and we each learn from each other, but there is a handful of older teenagers who have been studying and performing bomba, along with their 50-something mentor, who lead the class.
Here I am, in my 30's, continuing my study of Bomba, led by a bunch of teenagers! They are humble, respectful teachers who gracefully and happily have taken on the leadership role in the classroom. They have taught me so much, more than they will ever know. I only wish to go back in time 20 years, oh how much more dope I'd be today!! And these kids, I'm so proud of them, they will go far with the strength and tenacity they have learned from Bomba.
What I am most struck by is the unabashed certainty with which the younger children approach the class. The children enter the cipher as though it has called to them, and they take their time in that space to create. The adults, myself included, often rush the piquetes - unsure of what to do next, aware of how much time we are taking up, and how we look.
The children in the class have this power to unlock something inside of themselves that lives among the rhythms. My Sol is the only child who drums in the class (its a dance class, not a drumming class). The teacher said it's because he notices the respect that he has for the drum, for the dance, for Bomba. But I'm sure that it's mostly because he's the youngest - and for some reason the two have an affinity for one another, they are kindred spirits. He's only two years old, but takes his role as a drummer very seriously, beginning and ending with the teacher, never interrupting or banging loudly while the instructor speaks. I would love to take credit for this, but I do feel that his "drumming etiquette" has something to do with the blood memory that he carried with him to this life.
I'm mostly glad that I have found this wonderful group of people who deliver bomba to the community, and that it truly is a community - young and old alike. And although as adults in the community, we are naturally seen as the authority, in this community of bomer@s, the teaching and learning is reciprocal - with the young people offering to the adults something that we have long lost and are trying desperately to recover...the ability to be our true, authentic, unique selves.
Thanks, Angie for writing, and for giving me the chance to reflect.
Peace sistar!!
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ReplyDeleteWow thank you both gina and Ines for your responses and reflections. I always appreciate the sharing. Ines I loved every every word you wrote and it painted such a visual picture in my head. I wanted to be there! I totally understand and am super happy to hear that there is this community as well that are truly opening arms to allow the youth to lead and express themselves. Funny one of the things that stuck out to me most was your reflection on how HUMBLE the youth were amongst the bomba group in which you dance. Although I had an amazing experience and allowed myself to find way to walk away with something from our trip to PR last year.. I have to say I was disappointed with the personalities and attitudes of the young women there at the school we trained at,not all but most. But that is something not only are the young girls themselves responsible for but their leader as well.. the apple don't fall far from the tree.. young people need good direction. One thing that angers me most is the lack of responsibility to be a good steward of an art form. They are helping to pass on and educate. These young girls there had invaluable knowledge since they were dancing since little girls in bomba. We all went there in much respect, but unfortunately it wasn't given back. Even senior their years there was no respect it seemed.. just that they was doing us a favor and educating these American girls trying to come in an appropriate their culture. Little did they know they had the most loving, humble, professional and mature group of women there to learn from them. I feel that dancing bomba or any other art form is not just about moves but all the history that comes with it. It's special and those that take it on are the faces of representation to those that come after them. So for me I take my hats off to those young people in NY in the bomba community with you that allow you to feel welcomed, safe and unified with no age barriers.. no boundaries. As well it shows alot if your son has flourished.. so happy for him. Anyways.. let me not continue to ramble but THANK you soooo much for sharing all that!!!!!!!!!! love you girl! keep coming back!
ReplyDeleteI will tell you that it has taken me almost FOUR YEARS, practically the whole time that I've been in NYC to find these wonderfully welcoming community members. Previously, with the Bomba community I encountered, I have found a very "clicky" and "we are too cool for you" attitude. The most popular (and very expensive - more expensive than Ailey, even) bomba class, in my opinion, didn't allow me self expression and room to grow. The classes were set up to honor the drummers, while the dancers are a kind of "side thing", having to start and stop according to what the drummers are learning. Entering the cipher at a bombazo has more often than not been intimidating. Looks of judgment and disapproval pervade the crowd among those who have been privledged enough to grow up around bomba. But as far as I'm concerned....I don't care. Bomba doesn't belong to any one person, it belongs to all of us....it is just as much mine as it is theirs. So, I enter that cipher, confident, and I work it, speaking through the drum to my ancestors, saying my prayer, and ignoring any sneers or jeers from anyone who can't see beyond their own disfunction to understand. Good or bad, having had to go through that in this community has only made me stronger and more confident. Moving out here has done so much for my character and my resolve in MYSELF.
ReplyDeleteNow, as for the beautiful people that I have, as of late, been able to learn from. The director is actually a man - and the young people in the group are both male and female. And this director has taught them all. One particular girl is a DOPE, RAW bomba dancer - she gets accolades all over the country wherever she goes, and he taught her, skirt and all! I love that!! When they first started about five years ago, they received a lot of criticism because the young girl, up to that point knew only hip hop moves, so that's kind of how she danced because that's how she "spoke" up to that point. People would criticize them and say, "eso no es bomba!" But the director didn't care. He just let her be, let her keep trying, she kept practicing and dancing and now.....yooooooo she's DOPE, and her moves are purely bomba. He knew that with a little time, patience, and perseverance it would all come together, and it did.
And with a little time, and a little patience it has all come together for me as well. New York is a place where only the strong survive, and I have had to become stronger in order to be happy here, and for that I am grateful. I have finally found a bomba community that welcomes me and my family with open arms - who appreciates that we are trying to enjoy bomba as a family - and accepts us for who we are and where we are in our learning process.
I will stop rambling.....I miss SD like crazy!! So keep writing, posting pics and video! Ya'll women are DOPE and an inspiration for me as well.
much love!!