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Festival's 'philosopher-in-residence' comes out with a book that gets into the heads of dance artists, whether they want him there or not
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Published: June 15, 2008
Updated: 06/14/2008 08:30 pm
The American Dance Festival, now celebrating its 75th-anniversary season through July 19 at Duke University in Durham, has both showcased and uncovered some of the most important developments in the history of modern dance.
Fortunately, Gerald E. Myers has been paying attention. And he's been doing his best to make us take notice as well, having participated in several projects to enhance the public's appreciation of the aesthetic and cultural significance of dance. These have been notable. They have included ADF's "The Black Tradition in American Mod-
ern Dance," which culminated in Free to Dance, an Emmy award-winning documentary that was broadcast on PBS in 2001.
One of Myers' latest -- and most lasting -- achievements is an unusual, philosophy-friendly history of dance called Who's Not Afraid of Martha Graham?
The book is unusual because, unlike broad-strokes histories, Myers traces the development of the art form with chapter-length profiles of the greatest choreographers as well as charming letters to a fictitious "Mrs. Calabash." The letters amount to a witty argument for dance and are aimed at people the press materials describe as "the ambivalent."
I call Graham "philosophy-friendly" because, in it, Myers lives up to his title as ADF's "philosopher-in-residence" by getting into the heads of choreographers to illuminate the ideas that fueled their movements.
At this point, you may be wondering how Myers became ADF's "philosopher-in-residence," a job that may well be unique among performing-arts organizations, which are known for employing resident artists. He got that title because a) he has made philosophy his life's work, having taught that subject at numerous colleges and b) he was encouraged to put his philosophical skills to work when he joined his wife Martha at ADF, where she served as a teacher and dean. All told, Gerald Myers can draw on memories of 30 summers at ADF.
What does a philosopher-in-residence do while he's in residence? I put that question to Myers recently and got two answers.
Answer No. 1: "I've been asked that question many times. I evolved a kind of standard response, which is to say, ‘As a philosopher-in-residence, I spend my time answering the question: What does a philosopher-in-residence do?'"
Answer No. 2, the one preceded by the words "more seriously," speaks to the approach that Myers has taken in Graham, namely "to call attention to the thinking side of dance."
"What I try to do in the book is to emphasize … (that) the human body is much more capable of expression and intellectual message-giving than people realize," he said. This is necessary because dance sets itself apart from other arts in that often, it "is the least concerned with the brain," Myers said.
This anti-intellectualism does nothing to illuminate dance among novice patrons, for whom the art form "can seem a little unusual and perplexing," Myers said. It has its roots in several factors. Here's one:
"So many of the artists, dance artists included, talk of the magic of the theater (and) the magic of performance," Myers said. "They don't want too much explanation killing off that sentiment."
Myers said that his efforts amount to explaining "what they (dance artists) don't care too much about."
That may or may not be true. I am certain that patrons will come to care a lot about Myers' book. They can read it, listen more attentively to anything a choreographer may tell an audience or the press and, as Myers suggests, learn more about dance by attending more performances.
■ Ken Keuffel can be reached at 727-7337 or at kkeuffel@wsjournal.com.
■ Gerald E. Myers' book, Who's Not Afraid of Martha Graham?
, is available at the ADF store throughout the festival or can be ordered online at
www.americandancefestival.org.
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