Artistic Direction - Reflection -

Artistic! Direction? A reflection.

I'm hearing images, I'm seeing songs
No poet has ever painted
Voices call out to me, straight to my heart
So strange yet we're so well acquainted
….my mind is like an open window
Where the high and healing winds blow
ABBA
"I Let The Music Speak"


Two weeks ago I stood amazed, in a packed and smoky night club in Indonesia where the band on the stand was belting out Reggae tunes in Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian Language). My amazement was at the power of a country (Jamaica) with a population of 2.5 million people, creating music that so powerfully resonates half a world away in a country with a population of 250 million.

As the singer reached down into his guts and sang his soul-full reggae, his voice seemed to be scraping the bottom of his vocal chords and clawing its way back out as if in search of a land far-far away. And the sounds being liberated from his throat in the process, though clearly not Jamaican, were not incongruent with Jamaica. It was humbling to think that Jamaica might not have given him that voice, but most certainly the construct of the bass patterning and rhythmic chops of the guitar on which it danced. Although the music harks back to an earlier school of the genre, there was no denying its rock steady reggaeness –Jamaicanness – Caribbeanness.

A call to move
Much is expected from him who much is given and I’m sure that this is as true for countries and nation states as it is for individuals. Culturally and artistically, the Caribbean is a kaleidoscope, where complex social acculturation, shifting mirrors of identity and rotating class and colour patterns foster dynamic creative forms. One’s frame of mind determines how one sees this. For some, we are the hybrid flower. One of my friends says that we are a multicultural barbecue. Still another friend says -with sweet sacrilege- we are the mongrels. This is part one of a discussion of the value of this hybrid, multicultural creature, expressing as Caribbean Artistic Director on the world stage.

I am using a broad interpretation of Artistic Director/Direction here, to include: (1)The individual director, creating the specified performance art of his choice; (2) Collective vision for Caribbean performing arts; (3) The role of the Caribbean in shaping performing arts on the world stage.

Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and others contributed greatly to the Renaissance movement on behalf of what is now Italy. Jamaica and the Caribbean are possibly at the forefront of such a great arts and culture movement. But do we know it? Perhaps we are content with having exported Garveyism and Rastafarianism, (I crave your indulgence, here in using the latter term – as one of my students once told me that “Rasta don’t deal with ism”). Our contentment might also come from the recognition of Reggae-ism and what is perhaps even more recognizable worldwide, Bob-Marley-ism. And of course there is steel-pan-ism and Trini-carnival-ism among others.

This may be a presumption on my part to identify the movement of Caribbean performing arts with a movement such as the Renaissance. But what does it mean that a new dance springs up from the dancehall floor every two weeks? What is this boundless creativity and where does it hail from? And more importantly, where is it going and what are we doing with it? Still, in order for there to be greater justification for this word ‘movement’ other more pertinent questions need to be asked of ourselves as artists who are on the move.

One very important question is, ‘Has the performing arts culture of the Caribbean truly metamorphosed into something substantial, or is it drowning in it’s own vital fluids?’ There is that potential to drown one’s own creativity if one spends too much time righting wrongs and too little time creating new rights. At the risk of being socio-culturally ex-communicated, I ask us to consider if we spend too much time still seeking to break the back of classical European lines to re-insert circles or , to create shapes that are different but still pedigreed, instead of redefining the whole thing altogether? This is not to undercut the value of what has been done to balance out, but instead to point in the direction of benefiting from all that’s been garnered. (For those ready to run for the priest, please note it is just a question to stimulate thought) My thought on this is: acknowledge where it went wrong, address it and immediately move to recreation, accepting all that was, as part of the new creature that is to be.


Creative Molting
The caterpillar’s path to being a butterfly is very instructive in this. In order to go through complete metamorphosis, the butterfly is aware that it’s old skin can’t grow with it, and recreates new skin underneath the old one before shedding it. The process of exposing this newer, larger skin underneath is called molting. Within context, the ‘old skin’ was more about ‘knowing your history.’ The ‘new skin’ is about re-creating it now in a larger, more refined way. The design for this ‘new skin’ will already be there but the new one will be bigger and stronger. This process occurs numerous times (about five or six) until, wings are formed out of all the stuff already in the body of the butterfly.

So, the colourful new creature is born out of what already is. But you already know this. The Steel Pan, Reggae and Yanvalou are only a few highlights of that. My point is that I believe a more unified shift as a region is being called for – one that defines and/or refines what that creature is and the direction in which it takes itself and the world.

Certainly if there is any region of the world that can do it, the Caribbean is culturally equipped. Forget the politics of the region. In the Renaissance period there were numerous wars and religious upheavals that threatened, but did not stop the movement. It is no longer sufficient to sit back in our seats and give ourselves a nice pat on the back as we talk glowingly about our Garth Fagans, Peter Minshalls and Professor Nettlefords – our Louise Bennetts, Derek Walcotts and Henk Tjons. We need to get past whatever stands in the way and as a familiar Nike slogan says ‘just do it’ even if what is standing in the way is ourselves. And while we are at it, we must not confuse the swaying motion of a ship anchored to shore, with the forward movement of a ship pressing into the deep unknown.

So the movement I am calling for, is a collective responsibility, beginning with the process of re-defining, re-creating and re-presenting performing arts culture to ourselves and the world. First, we ‘Archive the processes of artistic directors in the Caribbean. Secondly, we re-present it to ourselves for polishing and thirdly, we export it. Already our performing art forms are a great unifier. There is integration in the Caribbean arts that goes beyond mere symbiosis of the art forms themselves. There is something that the Caribbean arts culture can teach about the connection between art and spirituality – and spirituality and community – and community and science, and science with ‘science again’ and how all of this ties in with the people and how the people are the art itself.

There is much to be said here and for those who can say something: Speak up! Say it with your heart and your art and let the movement move. The aesthetic possibilities of this integration are limitless.

Let us create and re-create dance films that are not documentaries but instead telling of stories through dance on film; musical theatre of the dancehall; Community Carnival shared household to household by internet or DVD; improvised contemporary dance experiences shared by the general public (on way to or from work); speaking dancers and dancing orators. All this and more, we should do and so move. Let us conquer the world by mastering our selves.