 |
| ||||
GoalsThe goal of Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company is to explore dance in an inclusive and critical manner that pushes the boundaries of established dance, while celebrating the traditions of historical dance forms. For us, dance includes professional, academic, as well as community and popular forms of aesthetic movement. In our programs and events, we actively explore Indian dance forms, Modern dance forms and Social dance forms through the experience among our company members and through our community connections in the Washington DC area. In shaping a broad and diverse spectrum of dance, we are building a repertory of works that includes historical figures such as Limon and Sokolov and includes works by current day local, national and international choreographers. Our goal is to help people see how dance is integral and necessary in their lives. Starting with the role popular/social dance plays in contemporary society, such as family and community events, club settings, media, and professional sports events, we hope to point out the ways movement is already part of people's lives. We will then show and develop the connections between the public's personal experience of everyday forms of movement and academic/classical dance. By making this connection, we will situate their contemporary relationship to dance in an historical context, break down the divisions between what is considered "high" and "low" art and show how art is vital to the real world and their lived experience. We explore the definition of dance within the US, which includes classical traditions of ballet and modern dance, as well as current social forms such as Hip-Hop, Salsa, and Merengue. These genres have evolved from international dance forms, and we will work with these forms and other international types of dance to broaden people's ideas of what constitutes dance. By situating dance in community settings and by giving performance and popular dance forms an equal footing, our work will break down barriers between observer and performer and create a sense of community and shared experience among participants. Language has been an easy entry point to theater, yet even though movement precedes language, dance is perceived as inaccessible by the general public. How do we enable popular audiences to feel comfortable with ambiguous meanings and to create their own personal understanding from the narrative of movement? By connecting Indian, Latin, Social and Modern dance forms to their own movement experiences, whether pedestrian, athletic or artistic, we will show how dance is universally accessible. This enlivened/sensitized kinesthetic awareness will enable them to see the connections between intellectual and physical ways of knowing, between thinking and feeling. This bridging of the mind-body schism reinforces the notion that dance, as a form of movement, is basic to human expression and that movement is more fundamental than language as a means of human interaction. To this end, Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company explores dance in its complexity and multiplicity, celebrating tradition while constantly exploring new vocabularies in movement and dance, evolving to newer and higher standards. Our ultimate goal is to frame dance as a system of communication, one that transcends boundaries, cultures, and time. |
Photo by Robert Visser
Photo by Todd Clark, ONANON Productions |
|||
 |