Our Dance Scene

Here we are, on Oahu at the beginning of the year 2021, contemplating the social dance scene for the year. No one knows for sure when the Trump pandemic will end. What we do know is that our dance world will be an entirely new one for the foreseeable future. We have had months of no dancing or just dancing in our homes and in a few digital spaces.  And we have gone through a catastrophic physical, emotional and financial toll. We will not come out of this unscathed. And it most likely will not be pretty. But it could be a chance to re imagine the dance world as we knew it. In many ways, we'll have to start from scratch. So why not learn from this moment and rebuild our community on a stronger foundation?

“Social dancers think it is not as much about who you used to be,

as it is about who you choose to be.” 

Why not use this opportunity to enact the desires, the dreams, the radical changes that we haven't been bold enough to voice before? Why not reevaluate the systems and structures we've long seen as immutable? We are all deeply concerned for our fellow dancers health and jobs.  Our dance environment had been sustainably growing for the last few decades. We have had some exceptional choreographic work online, and in virtual and augmented reality. There are folks who have been paving the way, doing the research, writing the case studies. At a time when everything seems broken, this is a perfect moment to check out the work of folks who have been imagining other possible dance worlds for a while.

"Tiny Bubbles" by Don Ho

Will that continue? Or will it be a question of just the pandemic and it may only affected this narrow slice of life and it's over now. Unfortunately the new mayor is a Trumpanzee. The cases and deaths will continue to increase not decrease and we will emerge differently. Some of us will have our bodies reconfigured by exposure to the virus. Many of us will have our hearts, bodies and minds reconfigured by the trauma of living through this. My question is, how can we continue to help and not hinder our social dance scene? Here, like anywhere else our people are unique, we are not all the same. 

"Social dancers believe that dancing just may be an art.

Paint your dream and follow it."