Because the daughter of two labor union organizers, being an advocate for social change is in Ana María Alvarez’s blood. “I’ve been very clear just about my entire life that dance isn’t simply one thing I do, however one thing that has the capability to maneuver the world and be transformational,” describes the Cuban American dancer and founding creative director of CONTRA-TIEMPO in Los Angeles.
After receiving her levels in dance and politics from Oberlin School, Alvarez started working on the Middle for Household Life in Sundown Park, Brooklyn, of their Life Strains Group Arts Mission. “I feel that work actually solidified the ability of dance for me and what it could actually do,” says Alvarez, who can also be a tenured school member within the Dance Division on the College of California, San Diego. Now CONTRA-TIEMPO is inspiring the following technology of “artivists” by means of its Futuro Summer season Dance Intensive in Los Angeles, operating from August 12–21 (registration ends July 22).
Beneath the theme “None of us are free till all of us are free,” Futuro will maintain approach lessons in salsa, hip hop, home, Afro-Cuban, and extra. This system may even dive deeper into these ancestral motion practices, their histories, and CONTRA-TIEMPO’s “artwork as social motion” methodology. Acclaimed poet Amanda Gorman is a notable alum of the Futuro Summer season Dance Intensive.
We chatted with Alvarez about what individuals can achieve from Futuro.
Who’s Futuro for and what distinguishes it from different dance intensives on the market?
We describe it as a 10-day transformational expertise for anybody excited about each dance as a bodily observe and making social change with their work. Artists who’re dedicated to seeing the world be a distinct place than it at the moment is. As an organization, CONTRA-TIEMPO is deeply built-in with neighborhood, dance training, and the live performance stage; these issues are all deeply in dialog with one another, and the Futuro program actually displays that. We dedicate part of every day to what we name “artwork as social motion,” interested by the micro and the macro; your self as the start level of your activist work, and when that embodiment of self is strong, it lets you contribute to the world.
Artists actually come to us [from all walks of life]. We’ve got highschool and school college students, graduates, skilled dancers, and people working in different industries like neighborhood organizing, metropolis work, and nonprofits. It’s not simply centered on methods to be a dance practitioner, however how will you really be an entire human being as an artist and the way can we collectively construct this concept that artwork has the capability to remodel the world as we all know it.
What’s the extent of coaching and expertise wanted with the intention to take part in Futuro’s approach lessons?
The great thing about this system is that we run two tracks concurrently. We often have about 45 to 50 individuals every year. There are some lessons we do collectively, just like the rueda de on line casino, a Cuban type of salsa that’s executed in a circle and has partner-changing. However then we cut up up for lots of the opposite approach lessons, [which are divided] into skilled and newbie tracks. Every day, we show what lessons are being taught, and you may select what monitor you wish to do. You’ll be able to bounce backwards and forwards primarily based by yourself need and the way laborious you need to push your self.
Are you able to discuss extra concerning the ancestral motion practices and art-as-social-action methodology?
Our framework in instructing dance is considering of those as “ancestral applied sciences,” as I wish to name them. While you consider know-how, it’s one thing that was created by human beings to resolve issues. Once I take into consideration dance, music, and artwork, I take into consideration the methods these have been designed by human beings to make sense of the world, overcome obstacles, and discover deep connections and which means in our lives. These ancestral applied sciences are all of the issues we train—salsa, Afro-Cuban, hip hop. We additionally train somatic motion practices to deepen into the physique as a bodily observe, trying on the physique as a location of social change and activating which means.
“Artwork as social motion” has varied completely different approaches—there may be Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed and the Theatre of the Sphere, by Luis Valdez. These are lineages we share in this system. We’re instructing about intersectionality and liberation frameworks as a method for individuals to have a deeper understanding of the instruments they have already got and the practices they will achieve to construct a extra liberated future for all of us.
There may be additionally a Future Artivist Management Intensive that runs in parallel to Futuro. What can dance educators achieve from that program?
The Artivist Management Institute isn’t a program that we have now run since COVID, however it’s one thing that we’re trying ahead to making an attempt to restart. It focuses extra on the activist a part of what we do, virtually taking the art-as-social-action side of Futuro’s curriculum and actually having a deepening two-to-three-day expertise round that. The best way we’re interested by it’s a coaching floor for individuals who [want to] interact in these themes of their lecture rooms. With that mentioned, proper now the Futuro Summer season Dance Intensive continues to be one of the best place to do this even if you’re an educator or somebody who’s working with youth. Futuro provides you with the total expertise along with bodily observe. I’m hoping in 2025 we will convey again the [redesigned] Artivist Management Institute.
What’s the Sponsor a Scholar initiative?
Futuro oftentimes has grant funding, however this yr we shouldn’t have a full sponsor the best way that we have now prior to now. Normally round 75 p.c of our college students are on some sort of scholarship. So we’re asking our neighborhood and anybody who believes on this work to go on our web site. You’ll be able to sponsor a person scholar ($1,000) [or donate another amount]. At present, all of the donations on our web site are going in the direction of scholarships for Futuro.