A dance production dedicated to consequences of the devastating Syrian civil war has premiered as a fundraising event.
The power of dance to convey complicated political messages has again been confirmed, this time in the production Requiem for Aleppo staged by choreographer Jason Mabana. The music was written by David Cazalet, who expressed his personal feelings about the military conflict in the Near East. The premiere took place at Sadler’s Wells in London. Requiem for Aleppo was created to raise funds to help victims of the drawn-out civil war in Syria.
The show features elements of the Requiem Mass, Medieval Arabic poetry, traditional Arabic tunes by refugee musician Juliana Yazbeck and fragments of interviews with Aleppo residents. The choreography is deeply symbolic: raised hands as if in surrender, slight tender touches of cheeks, bright light spotlighting dancers one by one. When testimonials from Aleppo refugees are played, some dancers don’t move on the stage like corpses, while others begin to spin, showing anxiety and uncertainty.
The project emphasises that dance can be a powerful instrument that adds colour to the language of political meanings and civil protest. The tradition of the interpretation of political events through choreography goes back to the 1930-1940s. Dancer and choreographer Anna Sokolow used dance to speak about economic problems of the Great Depression in the US and workers’ rights movements. In the 1950s, Katherine Dunham used choreography to raise topics of lynching and treatment of black people in America. Later, Alvin Ailey’s project drew parallels between South African apartheid and racial discrimination in Chicago.
Today’s dance projects continue the tradition of conveying political messages through dance. Renowned Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite addresses migration in her performance Flight Pattern and shows the dehumanising nature of political processes behind it. Wayne McGregor’s project Multiverse tries to raise awareness about current political realities rather than just to protest against them: his show is set in front of collages of news stills depicting the refugee crisis. Authors meet with people, listen to their stories and try to portray their true emotions.
It works in the reverse direction as well – sometimes dance can become an element of protests, like dancing at Black Lives Matter rallies, dance protests by LGBT activists and environmental organisations. For example, a dance party protest was recently held outside the house of Ivanka Trump, US president Donald Trump’s daughter and assistant.
Addressing political themes through the language of personal stories and abstract non-verbal images, choreographers humanise the problems, making audience feel their involvement and bringing them together into a community responsible for taking actions to solve the problems. These performances blur boundaries between the stage and the audience, making viewers part of a show’s sociopolitical context. If the feeling of engagement leads to political actions or civil protests, we can speak about the power of dance in triggering social and political changes.
Photo: Requiem for Aleppo
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