the Women of the dance

An Installation of Five Dancers

by Joan Malkerson

Why do we remember certain events and situations in our experiences throughout life? Neuro-scientists tell us it is complicated … repetition, emotions, even smell and taste can trigger memories. These sculptures connect to my own personal history … a love for the dance that grew from my ballet lessons as a small child with Lilian Cavillo. We all dance. While making a cake, my mother would dance to Louis Armstrong. The joy of dancing starts early … just listening to music and moving to the rhythm.

Each of these sculptures has a larger history, but here, in this space, they are dancers … waiting in the wings of their performance stage. Their hands gesture the waiting … some shoes postured to imply feet, some shoes set aside about to be put on, and bare feet with no shoes at all. The chosen fabric reveals something about the dancer … interpreting how the dancer might dance, or sit down, or the mood of the dancer. Old chairs … like in the backstage theaters where they might perform. Individuals … different styles, intentions, cultural backgrounds. Consider these five women of the dance in one place … What kind of performance ensues? What is the music? What, indeed, is the dance? Individually, each a dancer capable of magic … collectively, respectfully admiring to one another.

The whole world dances …

Feature 1

The Blue TuTu by Edgar Degas sits on the right. Degas liked to paint the ballerinas sitting backstage putting on their toe shows and anticipating the dance.

Feature 2

Karoline Sophie Marie Weigmann sits next to her. A German dancer, choreographer and notable pioneer of the expressionist dance and dance therapy. With bare feet she brought the deepest existential experiences to the stage … an iconic figure in the history of Modern Dance.

Feature 3

Llanchie Stevenson was asked by Arthur Mitchell to be one of the founding members of the Dance Theater of Harlem as the principle dancer. She grew up in New York City and was determined to follow her passion as a dancer. Persevering as a woman of color, she initiated the reality of African Americans in the ballet … and even requested skin tone black tights, leotards, and black toe shoes. She tells her story today as a woman of the Islamic faith.