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It has officially been two weeks into black history month and as a white student I remember my predominantly white school honoring black history month with one announcement on February 1st- growing up I realize that this is a privilege and throughout this past year I have begun to research, support, and advocate for the social injustices that I have heard so much about growing up. I would like to carry the work and awareness I have built for myself into 2021. I plan to spotlight various black artists throughout this month, I am not trying to be a white savior. I would only like to use this platform as an opportunity to recognize artists that I feel have shaped dance for generations to come.

Katherine Dunham was a dancer and choreographer, she is known for her technique- The Dunham technique.  She has been called the “matriarch and queen mother of black dance.”A Chicago native (just like me), she was the first African American women to attend the University of Chicago and earn a bachelor, masters, and doctoral degrees all in anthropology. After graduation she founded the Negro Dance Group, they performed at countless Chicago Theatres and danced with the Chicago Opera Company. Two years after founding her company she was invited to partake in a fellowship in the Caribbean, studying all aspects of dance and the motivations behind the artform.

Katherine Dunham revolutionized American dance in the 1930’s. She went to the roots of black dance and rituals. transforming them into artistic choreography. She was a pioneer by using folk and ethnic dance in choreography performed on mainstream stages. Dunham showed the world that African American heritage is beautiful and deserves to be given a platform. Katherine has been credited for bringing these Caribbean and African influences to a western-dominated dance world.

She returned to the United States with new information on new methods of movement and expression. She then created the Dunham Technique that transformed the world of dance. I am currently enrolled in Dunham technique. As a dancer I pride myself in the ability to transform into any setting I am placed in, however, on my first day of Dunham Technique I realized how out of my league I was. It took my body a few weeks to understand how the technique feels on my body, and I am still getting used to it. I have attached a short class clip of what the Dunham technique looks like, as well as, Dunham dancing in the infamous Ballet Creole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlpJ6B0uIz8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSTuO5E9_1g

 

In honor of National Cancer Prevention Month, I thought that I would take a break from my regularly scheduled program of cultural stories to share a recent piece that I did commemorating one aspect of the difficulties that come with cancer.

For many people, hair can be a large part of their identity, image, and self-expression. Hair has a way of instilling confidence as well as portraying good health and hygiene. According to the Mayo Clinic, “You might not think about how important your hair is until you face losing it. And if you have cancer and are about to undergo chemotherapy, the chance of hair loss is very real. Both men and women report hair loss as one of the side effects they fear most after being diagnosed with cancer.” 

In my recent art piece done in graphite and colored pencil, I wanted to capture this extremely painful aspect of cancer. Titled Stands of Me, the piece reflects on this challenging side effect of cancer treatments, personifying the emotional toll that it can play on anybody facing it. In this piece, I show a woman looking down at a hand full of her fallen out hair with tears streaming from her eyes. Wrapped around her is a pink ribbon symbolizing the universal symbol for breast cancer, adding not only interest to the piece but also charging the true meaning behind it. 

For many, the loss of hair is a symbol to the world that you have cancer. It is a very difficult thing that many people facing cancer have had to deal with. Facing already a physically, emotionally, and mentally taxing condition, changes in appearance due to cancer treatment can further perpetuate loss and pain. I wanted to capture this in my artistic representation of cancer. Though cosmetic, the loss of hair has implications that travel much deeper than the surface. It no longer becomes about appearance. The hair loss is a constant reminder of the internal struggle that so many face. There are many of us with people in our lives who have cancer, and the aspect of hair loss is something so emotional and in and of itself symbolic that I wanted to portray it in a raw way that hopefully strikes a chord in anybody who sees it.

To anybody whose loved ones have or had cancer in any form, I pray for you all and my deepest condolences. Having family struggling with cancer myself, this piece was extremely impactful for me to make. Though one of my simpler pieces, a lot of meaning went into it and I hope that any of you who are reading this felt something different from this week’s post.

As always, if anything that I discussed in this post stood out or if any questions arise please feel free to comment and share your thoughts.

 

References: www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/chemotherapy/in-depth/hair-loss/art-20046920 

 

~ Riya

 

Personal website:   https://riyarts.weebly.com/