Moving Through Space; Or, Why the Creative is Political
I’ve had occasion a lot lately to consider the relationship between dance and the physical spaces we engage with. (By “lately”, I’m not sure if I mean the last few months witnessing genocide unfold, the last 10 years engaging with the nuanced histories of grassroots dance communities in New York, or the last 20 being an activist. Or maybe, lately means always.)
Why and how we move through the world, after all, could be the primary preoccupation of a dancer’s life, or a storyteller’s, or a sociologist’s.
Dance isn’t just a sequence of steps, or a performance for others; it’s a dialogue between the dancer's body and the space it inhabits. And the idea of “space” goes beyond the physical. The way that space is put to use and who has access to it reflect the values and political priorities of a society.
For this reason, cultural movements to celebrate grassroots dance traditions and challenge economic exploitation in the arts recognize that space is not a neutral backdrop but a site of exchange and aspirations – where we can re-imagine and redefine our creative futures.
Dancers and artists are always implicated in struggles around space, whether they manifest in conflicts around gentrification, colonialism, war, or apartheid.
Our ability to move, to create, to simply be, depends on our need for physical space where we can be safe, be whole, and build roots without fear of violent displacement.
This is the bare minimum. A necessity for human rights.
Preserving physical spaces where we’re able to move and to make things honors and enables critical embodied creative wisdom.
Space is an essential element of dance and life, but it’s not a neutral one; it represents, also, legacies of displacement and possibilities of resistance.
Where do we stand then in conflicts over space?
It’s incumbent upon us as dancers, creatives, artists in times of war, to speak against displacement and state violence.
Free Palestine.
An unequivocal call to end apartheid.
Onward to a more liberated future.
