I have to say, I love performing with a sword. I dance with it all the time. But… that doesn’t stop me from acknowledging that I feel conflicted about handling an item of violence as a dance prop. So, let us take a moment and ponder how and why we use swords in American Middle Eastern dance. What do we know about how artists wield swords in the MENAHT (Middle Eastern, North Africa, Hellenic, and Turkish) region? What do we know about its history in the USA? What is your relationship with it? We’ll discuss the sword’s legacy and how we deploy it in our personal dance. Then we’ll shift our exploration into a creative dance space. I’ll guide us through tasks and exercises to gently move around and hold this space of tension. These will then lead us to take the first steps to create a sword dance based in this friction.

Having a sword or experience with a sword is recommended, but not necessary. But bringing a curious and kind mind is necessary.

Skill Level: All Levels

Thursday, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm CDT.