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By: Akua, Doesjka, and Victoria
Group Presentation Project Proposal Paragraph
Our group originally decided that we were going to do a comparison between the cultural dance groups within Toronto and how they portray their culture in their performances. Getting ahold of two of the dance companies was very difficult, however. The Caribbean Dance Theatre was the only company that we were able to keep in contact with, set up an interview, and do proper research on. Having found the company so interesting, we looked at other Caribbean dance companies and found two other major ones in Toronto: Ballet Creole, and Canboulay.
All three of these companies have several similarities but many differences as well. Their biggest, however, besides focusing on Caribbean choreography and style, is the struggle they face on a daily basis of reaching out to people and identifiying themselves. These three companies use dance to express and educate about their culture, their identy, and the memories they carry in reference to their heritage. Questions we asked were whether they used their dancing to actually identify themselves in a multicultural society or whether it is to just maintain the diversity? We inquired how their cultural blends with the contemporary Toronto society that we live in and how they maintain their culture and tradition?
It may seem easy enough but these tasks are far from simple when finding the funds is such a challenge. The government arts counsels have denied the black dance companies from receiving funds for many years because the counsels feel that the companies’ works are too ethnic rather than professional. – According to the article on Black Dance in Toronto.
But isn’t that the way it is supposed to be? The purpose of these companies is to allow the diverse community in which we live to remain that way. Toronto is far from a melting pot and each culture is portrayed through some art based on their ethnicity, their heritage, their memories, etc. All these create the identity that help the audience relate or be educated. According to Rebecca Todd, who reviewed the Ballet Creole, “the performing arts evolved out of religious ritual in every culture.” Doesn’t it make sense? How can they be denied financing for keeping their culture alive? Todd continues in that “dance and theatre artists consistently renew their inspiration by looking to their roots.” In performance, in order to relate to what an actor, singer, or dancer is doing, they have to be able to relate on a non-pretend level. It is more convincing when they have actually had a similar experience with what they are performing.
Those we are focusing on these three companies and in particular, Caribbean Dance, how could their missions be that much different from any other cultural company??