A TIME OF GATHERING

A TIME OF EXCHANGE

A TIME OF RENEWAL

BY

Margaret Jenkins

With

Kara Davis

Growing out of my interest in working with dancers from other cultures, Willy Tsao invited me to teach the three modern companies for which he serves as artistic director: CCDC in Hong Kong; Guangdong Modern Dance Company in Guangzhou; and Beijing Modern Dance in Beijing.For some time now I have been intrigued and fascinated by the language of the body and its forms of signification, eager to explore a number of questions.How do other cultures and their physical choices resonate and articulate the language of the body? What is a national cultural identity? How do we create the environment to cross borders and boundaries? How do dancers from diverse cultures generate movement from a specific idea?How do we set up a workshop—Dance Lab [in a format of activity I have called a Dance Lab?]—where a form of global exchange and the sharing of work and history might take place? Are there movements and gestures universally shared? How would such an exchange alter my vocabulary?

As a way of beginning this dialogue with the dancers and initiating an exchange through the dancing, I spent a week in each location with my assistant, Kara Davis. We taught technique classes followed immediately by a composition workshop. The classes were loosely based on Cunningham technique, which I studied for over 15 years during my tenure in New York in the 60’s and early 70’s. As Mr. Cunningham has said: “the dancer works with the body -- the strongest, and, at the same instant the most fragile of instruments -- the necessity to organize and understand its way of moving is urgent. Each new movement experience, engendered by a previous one, or an impress of the action of the body upon time, must be discovered, felt and made meaningful to its fullest in order to enrich the dance memory.”The dancers met this challenge and urgency -- to try new ways of moving and of organizing physical action -- with aplomb, passion and vigor.

In the workshops we would start with teaching movement-- move to have the dancers reorganize that movement. Images were added, duets were often created and additional suggestions were given to encourage the unexpected, the unforeseen. We were really struck by how often the dancers used the tool of unison in their respective duet compositions, and it made us realize how rarely, if ever, we use this tool when working with our American colleagues.Karen Cheung of the Guangdong company poetically pointed out to us that unison is a fundamental element of traditional Chinese dancing, and collective harmony is the driving force behind Communism.This made perfect sense to us and became one of many lessons we learned along the way.

The dancers within each company are clearly at different junctions in their trajectories. Some have more exposure to modern work, so more experience traveling and presenting their dances, others have more training in specific modern forms. But regardless of the background, each is on a precipice of change as their country changes, the world becomes more welcoming and interested in a variety of dance forms, and as the appetite is wetted for the new.

“I was fascinated and inspired by the dancers' overall openness to exploration and willingness to try new ideas.Not only were they fierce physically, they also seemed deeply connected to their own creative reservoirs. I found that each of the dancers could quickly create incredibly rich and expressive phrases that were both interesting and unique. Observing their speed at generating dynamic responses to movement made me consider the cultural reasons behind my creative blocks.” Kara Davis

The warmth and hospitality with which we were greeted in each city set the “stage” for our investigations. The interest in and enthusiasm toward jumping into the heart of the assignments was palpable, further stimulating Kara and myself to create the atmosphere and tone that would allow for experimentation.

As with travel to any country heretofore unexplored, there is also the history of the country and its mysteries somewhat revealed as one examines its hidden streets and buildings, mountains and waters informing the experience. The streets with their richly varied textures and shops, ancient and modern, as well as their explosive colors, the parks full of people practicing Tai Chi and other forms, the stories shared by the dancers aboutTiananmen Square and their memories or experiences of this time – all were very moving. Climbing the Great Wall or wandering through the SummerPalace or the Forbidden City in Beijing, ShamianIsland in Guangzhou or the ferries, hidden neighborhoods and vibrancy of Hong Kong—all added to the experiences we were also having in the studio. Having the opportunity to roam the backstreets, eat the foods, and meet the people enriched us in ways that will continue to unfold over time.

As with any group of complicated and multi-talented dancers, working for just a few days with them is hardly enough time to know the ways each can be pushed, stretched, encouraged to take a variety of risks. Of course, it would have been wonderful to have had the opportunity to work longer with each company.Time and history with one another offers familiarity which often leads to greater artistic risks, a forum for asking questions, an arena to observe one's personal creative tendencies, and the opportunity

to stretch these tendencies into new places.Nevertheless, it was an incredibly engaging adventure. Each day a new response from our time swells up and informs, as well as reminds me of many cherished moments with all three companies. Both Kara and I are deeply indebted in the dancers’ curiosity and great talent and to the staff of each company who made our trip so seamless, inspired and unexpectedly nuanced.I look forward to the honor and the pleasure of returning some day, to continue.

Margaret Jenkins is a choreographer, dance teacher, mentor to many young artists and designer of unique community-based dance projects.  Jenkins began her early training in San Francisco. In the sixties, she moved to New York to study at the JuilliardSchool of Music with Jose Limon and Martha Graham and Louis Horst. She continued her training at UCLA and returned to New York to dance in the companies of Jack Moore, Viola Farber, Judy Dunn, James Cunningham, Gus Solomons, and Twyla Tharp's original company. In addition, Jenkins was a member of the faculty of the Merce Cunningham Studio for twelve years, where she acted as Mr. Cunningham's special assistant, teaching and restaging his works for companies in Europe and the United States.

In 1970, Jenkins returned to San Francisco and formed her own company. She opened one of the West Coast's first studio-performing spaces, including a school for the training of professional modern dancers. This venue quickly became the center for local and traveling companies to show their work. Over the last thirty-five years, she has taught at major universities and colleges in this country and abroad. Her company, for which she has made over 75 works, has been in existence since 1973 and has traveled throughout the US and abroad.