Acknowledgement
“Personal Private Apartheid”
Recently, my daughter, the choreographer, created a piece the title above.
She presented it at “Dance Conversations 2012” At the Flea this week.
I have mentioned my daughter’s company before and for those who are not aware, the company, Movement of the People Dance company, combine Contemporary, Dance Theatre, and world dance traditions, including that of the African Diaspora, to visually address various sociopolitical events in our world.
Her concept for this piece came long before the recent tragedy here in the states, the untimely death of a young 17-year-old African American male at the hand of a so-called vigilante.
The secondary definition of apartheid is, according to merriamwebster.com, ” separation, segregation”.
My daughter created this piece to examine the deep-set separation that occurs within all peoples. The unconscious separation that is influenced by past experiences, unfounded judgments, lack of education, limited/narrow education et al.
I saw the piece for the first time and I was moved.
Her approach was to incorporate light (attached to the dancers) and shadows to illuminate her point. The movements were a variety of connections, rejections, separation then leading to acknowledgement and possible acceptance.
I applaud her for taking on another valiant feat.
As usual I watch audience reaction so we can discuss post performance and in this venue there was a moderated question and answer segment.
At the onset, a friend who attended asked what the piece was about, my response was “think about the title”.
During the question and answer segment the name of the piece was never mentioned, although my daughter did an excellent job in her description of the motivation for her creation.
My point in this recounting, acknowledgement and conversation are essential in-order to affect change. Skirting around issues does not make them disappear; they fester creating fear, distrust and even worst.
How does this apply to tea?
Well, recent blog posts (The Devotea), and Jackie’s post to the teatra.de forum asking the question “Do you feel intimidated by those who know more about tea than you?“. The post and question motivated by recent occurrences at a tea hang-out.
Personally, I’m glad the conversation is happening. I have sat in on several of these hangouts and for the most part I find them informative and controversially stimulating. I am not yet quite comfortable enough to state an opinion on anything, still in “the observation” mode. I fear The Devotea will not let this state of affairs go on much longer.
I will attempt to use the definition of apartheid loosely here with the posing of this question “Are we in the tea world creating an teapartheid?” Are we using our personal preferences and places in the world of tea as a system of separation?
My understanding of tea is one plant. Anything else is not tea. There are many variations of the leaf based on terrior and processes not based on species.
Bottom line, let’s embrace the instruction of the leaf, we are people who enjoy tea, the level of our involvement, like each brew in our cup, is a personal choice.
We could apply this in our daily lives as well.
Being ever cognizant of our human shortcomings and without judgment.
If I sound like a broken record?
Play On!
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Interesting post as always Jo! I spent a while looking at the festival your daughter presented her work at – one article leading me to another – to a video or two – suffice to say, I got side tracked. A pleasant way to spend some of my morning. I love dance, so much enjoyed!
As to the the topic of “teapartheid” – interesting! And true I think. And though I feel progress is being made, I’n not sure it’s on the more fundamental issues. People are making progress with each other, but not necessarily the concepts at stake. Although that’s a step in the right direction.
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What an interesting observation Jo and well thought out blog post. To draw the analogy of creating a teapartheid will serve as a constant reminder to me (and hopefully to others) that despite our differences in the way we approach our passion for our beloved beverage, we must have a mutual respect for all in the tea community and resist the temptation for tea snobbery. Thanks once again for this really interesting post.
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Jo, you seem to be able to read my mind, which doesn’t surprise me.
But aside from that…
I used to think dance was dull. I never watched it on TV, I would never go to a performance.
Now I watch it on TV if it’s on. I might one day go to a performance.
And like anything else in my life, I have strong opinions. If you’re going to do “contemporary”, why not just have a lie-in in bed? You’d spend about the same amount of time lying down. And if you can’t wear your Nike baseball cap the correct way or dance to music where the lyrics have a basic understanding of the English language, then go “crump” or “lock” or whatever in a cupboard somewhere, please.
What changed for me:
The TV show “So You Think You Can Dance” changed it all. But it wasn’t the pirouette or the fondu, a twist or a jete that made me a fan of dancers and then dance: it was the dignity.
It’s hard not to compare the reaction of a rejected applicant on Australian (and I guess American) Idol – the tears, the rejection of the judges’ verdict, the “Please, give me another chance, please please please” with the way dancers thank the judges, set their shoulders and depart; knowing that they will move on and up; through or around this roadblock and keep dancing.
I been thinking a bit about dignity lately , It’s in short supply; particularly in the modern on-line world. I have almost none myself, but there are two women I only know through the internet who I think of as “the dignity sisters” – and that is you, Jo, and Verna L. Hamilton.
I can only imagine the dignity, determination and strength of someone who is both a child of Jo AND a dancer; and then moves into choreography – surely one of the most difficult professions on the planet.
To tackle an ugly truth through the beauty of dance is indeed a worthy ambition. To do it well must be a triumph.
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Thank you for your kind words. I read this to my daughter and she sends gratitude as well.
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If only actual broken records DID sound like this.
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And you could add that tea is about sharing, which is the opposite of apartheid.
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@xavier but it’s not always that simple with tea being just about sharing, which is why Jo mentioned “teapartheid.”
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Jackie, if it was only simple. The drama keeps it all interesting.
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@jackie I know. I was just thinking of another reason why there should be no teapartheid.
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I went to a very good art school and was exposed to dance at an early age. They are some of the most passionate artists while simultaneously being above-average athletes. Quite impressive.
A ‘teapartheid’? It’s a fair question. I find myself trying desperately to keep tea from being an unaccessible beverage. If we make it too rarefied, we’ll be the only ones drinking it.
Having said that, we’re all at different points on the journey of learning about tea. I’m not going to mindlessly stay silent when I have an opinion.
I love bringing the tea curious to tea. It’s one of my favourite things.