Cultures Converge
By Cara Quackenbush
Take eight Santa Clara students, five "groovers," and six Senegalese dancers; combine them with a Web site and some advanced technical know-how and what do you have?
Only the latest fusion of art and technology led by Santa Clara dance instructor Kristen Kusanovich.
While many students spend part of their college career traveling overseas or to a different country to expose themselves to other cultures, Kusanovich and her motley crew spent their summer within the walls of Santa Clara's dance studio exploring the depths of technology, dance, and culture, both African and their own.
A Web site served as a summer-long virtual meeting place for the modern dancers of Santa Clara and the groovers of San Jose night clubs who logged on from the university's dance studio, and six traditional African-style dancers who logged on from the Dakr Cyber Community Café in Senegal.
Called "Dancing on the Web, Dancing over the Ocean," the Web site became the dancers' virtual classroom for the cultural exchange of information: digital video cuts of dance rehearsals, virtual reality clips, pictures, daily email feedback and journal entries.
The summer's work culminated in a final performance Sept. 1-3 at the Tech Museum where all three dance styles were combined.
"We decided that in order to represent our culture we would take two kinds of dance we do here in the valley," Kusanovich said.
To give a more rounded perception of American culture to their counterparts in Senegal, modern dance was chosen as the stage or performance type of dance they would use, and groovin' was chosen as a popular street dance.
Each style was also chosen for its non-commercial value. "Otherwise all they get is MTV," Kusanovich said.
In turn, the Senegalese dancers shared their traditional dance form, which is done to a drum beat and often tells a story.
The unique collaboration included both technical and artistic elements, such as production by Ground Zero: The Art and Technology Network, partial funding by the Fellowship in Technical Innovation, and Web site support and design by Open Voice, a non-profit corporation in Palo Alto with a teenage staff.
And, in addition to the Senegalese dancers, Kusanovich, the Santa Clara modern dancers and the San Jose groovers, an Oakland-based dance company made up of Senegalese immigrants joined the group for their final production.
For senior dance major and ethnic studies minor Dana Robinson, using dance as a means of cultural expression is nothing new.
Unlike the other Santa Clara modern dancers, she was not trained in classical dance technique. Instead, she started off as a street dancer in Los Angeles during the hip-hop revolution, calling herself a female "houser."
"For me, dance is a way to connect with cultural roots. As an African American and an ethnic studies minor, I was naturally very interested in what this project had to offer," she said.
While styles of street dance vary from city to city, Kusanovich said that groovin' is a fairly new style practiced at dance clubs such as the Cactus Club on Monday nights, born out of a rebellion against the commercialization of the once-street dance style hip-hop.
Eddie Apostol, one of the five groovers who practices Monday nights, thinks that his dance style has become more than a hip-hop rebellion, but a "totally different style of dance."
"Hip-hop is more choreographed. The music we groove to is house music - with more of an up tempo," he said. "With grooving you feel the music then do what you feel - there are no rules in grooving."
While the groovers were at first a bit hesitant to leave their free-flowing art form, they were attracted to the idea that a little over 100 years ago, modern was also originally created as a rebellion to ballet, which some considered creatively restrictive and conforming.
Junior Heather Stark, who considers herself a more classically trained dancer, agreed that of all classical dance forms such as ballet, jazz or tap, modern's focus on invention and individuality lent itself best to incorporating both groovin' and Senegalese movement.
"It really opened my eyes to what dancing is really all about. What we all had in common is that we all love to dance. This showed me how you can really open your mind and add moves to your own repertoire," Apostol said.
Through daily e-mails, journal entries and video clips posted on the joint Web site, the dancers commented on one another's work, and on their own experiences.
"How wonderful to learn this tech-stuff. I have wanted to learn how to capture digital footage. I really enjoyed learning all of the vocabulary and recording tricks. I know that I will watch TV and movies with new and more informed eyes. . .Robinson wrote on July 24.
During the final performance at the Tech Museum, the three dance groups formed one, and performed to a live audience while being Webcast live to their colleagues in Senegal.
In the end, each dancer took something different away from the experience.
For the groovers and Santa Clara students, it was a broadened perspective of the purposes and meaning of dance and culture.
On learning modern and Senegalese moves, groover John Quinonez said, "I think the biggest thing I learned was the different kinds of dance that there are. Groovin' is so free, it can't really be taught."
For Kusanovich, it was a lesson in cross-cultural socio-economic opportunities.
"These girls in Africa had to sacrifice some very essential things in order to dance - it is a huge sacrifice for them to keep rehearsing because everyone there is so needed to fulfill basic needs of their family. It makes me realize how lucky were are to be able to dedicate ourselves to the arts," Kusanovich said.
And for all, it was a lesson in the educational and cultural powers of the Internet and technology.
"I hope that we continue to develop projects like this. I think they are beneficial to the audience and the community - to show them that we are really, truly learning about the cultures next to us and, I guess, across the sea," Robinson said.
The Web site used by the dancers can be found here.