Betsy on a Truly American Art Form

One impression this tour repeatedly imprints on me is how very American modern dance is. Before coming out to Central Asia to perform for, teach and meet local dance audiences, I had never spent much time considering the provenance of the art form that makes my livelihood. Perhaps it’s a case of not seeing the forest for the trees: most of my career has been spent in the US, specifically the super-saturated modern dance world of New York City. Of course I had spent time thinking of our American modern dance heroes during classes, rehearsals and performances. The histories and work of people like Martha Graham, Jose Limon, Merce Cunningham and Trisha Brown form the lens through which I see and approach work. So many times on this tour Sean would mention these names to our master class students and very rarely had anyone heard of them. We’ve encountered a similar lack of information available here defining modern dance as a specific style of dance with its own set of technical and ideological parameters. I myself have taught a few classes over the course of our travels (ranging from 6-year-old students to adult professional ballet dancers and teen dance hobbyists). It has been particularly gratifying to share with my classes both technical and historical information about modern dance. Most surprisingly, I’ve actually felt quite patriotic during these moments. For as vocal as I am about the USA’s lack of cultural education, I’ve been feeling pretty lucky to have been brought up in the birthplace of modern dance. This realization is as valuable a token of DMUSA’s exchange as the shows we’ve given, the classes we’ve taught and the gifts of performance, discourse and hospitality we’ve received.