Dear Paloma and Dancers,
I have been gently mulling over this question of what the non-conformist dancer means to me. What I find is yet another term, label or classification which I find difficult to understand or relate to.
When I try to identify the conformist-dancer I think of bureaucratic education institutions, organisations driven by capitalism and the classically trained ballet dancer. The dance performance being viewed as a single commodified object, a unified entity where the dancer becomes themselves once more when the performance is over.
The human mind leaps on an assumption and often struggles to tears itself away from its deeply imprinted preconceived notions. That is just a human trying to make sense of the world, right? As a dancer I have been associated with everything from a stripper to a hippie who dances in a forest. I have been asked if I can do the splits on more occasions that I can remember.
I can, on just one leg.
To me this label of a non-conformist dancer yet again suggests a label of something it is not. However I believe we need the non-conformist dancer to fight for the right of equality in dance. We are striving for the dancer to be viewed as an individual void of having to deal with all the preconceptions of the dance itself. What it should be which form it should take place.
I have a dream. To make dance in the name of art, not in the name of dance. To work within no boundaries. To not take responsibility for what other dancers are doing or the entirety of dance.
I have a dream to not become a slave to dance.
Brogan
Paloma Madrid 