Last weekend I was at a dance competition (the saga of Abby’s costume will be the subject of another blog post!) It was the first one of the season and not one of the major events so the quality of the dance and choreography was pretty uneven. I saw one piece that just floored me and I knew something was up when the dancers brought a tombstone out on stage. Three dancers were dressed in grey and one was in a dark red dress and carried a little bundle that was obviously meant to be a swaddled baby.
Okay, I said to myself, this is going to be dreary; here we have a half-baked artistic concept, hokey props and symbolism that is about as subtle as the Pussy Cat Dolls. The music started and it was a song by some chick singer doing an overwrought country dirge typical for the Lyrical dance form, which is always the most cliched in competition. Last summer at Nationals during the Dancer of the Year finals we were subjected to 35 lyrical solos in a row. I’ve seen so many of them that I could choreograph a Lyrical piece. However back to my story…..the routine made no sense; the tombstone implied the baby died because at one point the dancer in red opened up the swaddle to show there was no baby anymore (how subtle). But the choreography was really muddled and I couldn’t figure out the emotional context of it.
So out of utter confusion I listened to the lyrics of the song.
And it was an anti-abortion ballad.
Since when is it acceptable to bring hot-button political issues to a dance competition? To use children to promote your political agenda? My point here has nothing to do with my stance on abortion; if it had been a pro-choice routine I would have been just as offended. What’s next? A dance routine about lethal injection? Gun rights? The AIG bailout?
We live in strange times.
My jaw is open and dragging. I wonder who approved the piece. Would it then have been appropriate to do Salomé’s Dance of the Seven Veils?
Honestly, it’s a good thing I wasn’t there. Someone would have been on the receiving end of my thoughts. And it wouldn’t have been pretty.
I would have been just dumbfounded! It seems like everywhere I turn, I am again clobbered with the far-right Christian crazies with their ridiculous beliefs! I would definitely write a letter to whoever is in charge to protest that piece. I think the political right in this country has lost its collective mind!
Gail D.
..strange days indeed !
How very inappropriate! I am so sick to death of people trying to force their opinions on me. Why are there so few of us who realize that the rest of the world doesn’t give a flying fig what we think about anything?
I can’t get over that. I hate to say it, but I hope they lost, big time. I wish that not for the kids, but for the choreographer.
I have been blogging for over 2 years now and this is the third post of this nature that I have seen on a sewing blog in one week. Fanatics like this could suck the fun out of an orgasm, but then again, maybe they do. To exploit children for a political agenda,,,,,,oy,,,,,,they wouldn’t survive my response. This has nothing to do with what side of whatever one is on. Feel free to censor my post if you would like.
Please tell us, what sort of response did they receive from the audience, and from the judges?
I am shocked and feel bad for those children. To think that adults felt this was perfectly appropriate is outrageous. For every minute people like this spend trying to shame others they should spend equal amounts cleaning public toilets with tooth brushes.
wow, that is about as insulting as when the teacher made those kids sing an Obama song! Why can’t we leave all this political theater out of our schools and away from our children!
Elizabeth, the only saving grace is they scored really low. The audience for the most part didn’t get it because it was so poorly choreographed. It made me think of those Maoist ballets Like “The Red Detachment of Women” that used an art form to transmit a political agenda. At least those had good dancing!
Ugh, ugh, double ugh. Please tell me this was not a team from Mass as that is surely an indication the world is coming to an end.
Thank you, Phyllis, for replying. Too bad the choreographer isn’t reading this; he or she might not like the reference to Maoist agitprop, but you’ve certainly placed the piece within a recognizable tradition!
WOW that is amazing . The good thing about the USA is that people do express an opinion and feel engaged with the political process but when it is rammed down throats and children are indoctrinated at a dance competition I feel grateful I live in laid back Australia where it is unusual for such vehmence to be expressed .If it was it would make the national news and be the subject of endless talkback radio.
Hello,
Do you mind if I link to your website?
Thanks.
Kathy
Hmmm. Well, let’s see….the pastor of my church published a letter in our church bulletin that was all about his opposition to the Arizona immigration law. Now there are lots of Hispanics in the parish, but that still doesn’t make it right for him to vent his views on a hot-button political issue. We do live in strange times.