Artistry in Rhythm (AIR) Dance Conference. Living
Tradition: Antiquity and Beyond. Dance Program.
Music, Theater and Dance Department. Miami Dade College, Kendall Campus. 11011
SW 104th St., Miami, Florida, 33176, Miami, Florida. April 14 - 16, 2016
Creative Ritual-Making: Areito Restoration Project
Abstract: Many Indigenous cultures have been dissolved through historical
processes of decimation and erasure. Despite this, many traits of indigenous cultures,
have survived through modes of expression such as dance and movement. The
Areito Restoration Project is part of a practice-as-research approach, within
the scope of Performance Studies, which involves identifying cultural traits
that have been retained in order to inform artistic creative processes. The
work aims at re-building embodied cultural memory as a medium to heal
individuals and communities that have experienced social injustice. The
specific characteristics of the areito, a song-dance derived from the arguably
extinct Taíno culture, in terms of intent, choreography, storytelling, music
and chants, constitute a viable frame to create new work. Thus, this paper
tries to highlight the importance of using regenerative performance memory as a
methodology for the restoration of indigenous performance and religious
practices in the subjunctive. The current research
piece with the Jubilation Dance Ensemble at Miami Dade College, Kendall Campus,
is a work-in-progress that uses reactive, regenerative and associative
mechanisms to produce ancestral performance memory. The reactive phase invites
students to recreate a ritual or ceremonial scenario using their own
creative associations. The regenerative phase gives them cues that allow them
to generate movement that is specific to the Taíno culture. The various archetypes
of the pantheon, their characteristics and manifestations inform their movement
choices. The associative phase integrates the material students experience
during rehearsals, the archival and performative information already collected,
shared and discussed and the personal and collective life experiences of the
group. The creative ritual-making process provides students
with an experiential understanding of the science of survival, a clearer view
of how to embody indigenous consciousness and at the same time, the opportunity
to further their aesthetic responses through their own song-dance, in this case
the piece Matininó: No Men Island.
The long term goal of the work is to bring the attention of contemporary audiences,
communities and curricula to creative ritual-making as a way to connect with
ancestral knowledge, re-embody a sense of identity and at the same time
continue healing in the face of conflicting realities.
http://www.mdc.edu/kendall/academic-departments/mtd/artistry-in-rhythm.aspx
