amazingly, this sentence refers to this ballet! - happening in Jacksonville, Florida:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>"I think the world needs more happily-ever-after stories"<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <A HREF="http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/111800/met_4649491.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/111800/met_4649491.html</A> <P>what do you think?

I understand, I think, what is being said here. But, it sort of leaves me speechless........

I'm not sure, quite, what you mean regarding the quote, Grace. I have not seen this ballet, of course, but I think the subject is a good one. About the "happily ever after" thing. I believe this comment illustrates this woman's experience of overcoming a most horrible event to celebrate the beauty of life and survival.

A very interesting link grace. The sentence you quote makes one jump, but like Maggie I can see the point. <P>I have no problem with the the subject matter as some of the most resonant dance works I have seen have themes of war or human rights abuse. 'The Green Table' by Jooss, 'Swansong' by Bruce, 'Planted Seeds' by Bhuller and 'Gloria' by MacMillan come to mind and the latter also made a piece, 'The Valley of Shadows' which included scenes from a concentration camp.<P>Earlier this year I had an article published in 'Dance Europe' on 'Dance and Human Rights'. One of the most moving contributions was from Rami Ba'er:<BR> <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Rani Ba’er of the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company of Israel also chooses to deal with tensions and conflicts drawn from reality. His Company has recently been touring ‘Aide Memoire’, a full-length work about The Holocaust, which has drawn much acclaim from Anne Kisselgoff of the New York Times and other critics. <BR>He speaks eloquently about his vision of dance and the role that it can play in raising issues:<BR> <BR>‘It is more important that the spectator connects to him/herself through the work than to me, from the point of view of ‘what did the choreographer mean’. For me dance is a way of creating communication between people of different cultures, languages and religions. I am interested in creating a conception that will integrate the stage’s different tools in order to ….create atmosphere and a message against violence, racism and a call for peace. <P>I am not naïve enough to believe that the creation of art can change any political or social reality, but I do believe that if I have succeeded in causing the spectator to think for a minute or to ask questions, then I have added my modest contribution.’<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <P>Here is a link to a short extract from the article and a fine image from 'Gloria' (it's Carlos Acosta standing, not Leanne Benjamin)<BR> <A HREF="http://www.danceeurope.net/docs/SUBSCR/ARCTOC/2000/MAR00/EXCERPTS/HUMAN/HUMAN.SHTML" TARGET=_blank>http://www.danceeurope.net/docs/SUBSCR/ARCTOC/<BR>2000/MAR00/EXCERPTS/HUMAN/HUMAN.SHTML</A> <P><p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited November 25, 2000).]

thanks stuart. re "‘Aide Memoire’, a full-length work about The Holocaust", i hadn't heard of this work.

i didn't 'mean' anything about the quote, maggie, except what i said: that it was a startling juxtaposition of the words with the subject matter. i had only had time to skim the raticle, but thought others might respond to it's unusual theme. now that i have read it properly, i see they have taken a very symbolic approach to the story-telling. might this be reminiscent, stuart, of ashton's wartime dante sonata? (i have no idea, never having seen it, i'm just guessing...)<P>i did once see a students' dance onstage, on the holocaust subject, at the time that schindler's list was a 'popular' film doing the rounds. i found it shockingly tasteless, and wrote that. but this criticism was deleted (can't say for sure, why - could have just been the length of the review...)<P>i don't have a problem with the choice of subject matter if it can be treated with due weight, in this case (the holocaust), but when it wasn't, i was appalled and feel that is one of the 'duties' of criticism: to blow the whistle.....<P>none of that need apply here to this story. i'm just telling a different little story.....

Yes, Grace, I think if I saw a tasteless rendition of the story of the holocaust through dance, I would be appalled also. I would tend to question future performances with that concern. I agree with you on that point.

grace I agree with you that I still think there is a place for sensitive, quality work on The Holocaust. <P>Maggie, in my MA Dance History class yesterday, some of the students had never heard of Goebbels. There is a real risk that this part of our recent history is slipping away and the Arts are one way to stop that happening. I admire the German Federal and local governments who devote a lot of time and money to ensuring that the lessons from that period are not forgotten. <P>In general, it remains my view that some of the best dance work of the 20th C, particularly in modern dance, has been made on human rights themes since the 1930s onwards.

Stuart, I agree with you. A distinction should be made so as not to confuse a ballet made as a political statement with human rights issue. I believe this can happen and has happened.

Speaking of the arts as a way of "not forgetting" - there was much poetry written in the concentration camps and buried - and retrieved at a later time. I had a teacher who wrote such poetry. He had a stub of a pencil and it was eventually found in his possession and he was whipped for having this pencil. <P>At San Diego State University there is an effort made for Halocaust surviviors to come into the classroom and speak to the students of their first hand experiences. <P>To deny history is to be doomed to repeat it.

Dance and human rights comes up in the Editorial in Dance Europe this month. Here is the link to the topic:

http://forum.criticaldance.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=11&t=000293

<font size = -2><center>(Edited by salzberg to fix link)</center></font>

<small>[ 08-11-2002, 13:13: Message edited by: salzberg ]</small>