On our fourth episode of Pride Month, your co-host Martheya interviews dance historian, theorist, dramaturg, curator, and author, Clare Croft. In this episode, we go behind the screen and talk about Dancers as Diplomats (book), queerness in relation to LGBTQIA+ and ways of challenging normativity, tips for writing and avoiding writer’s block, different ways of seeing and making dance, the editing process of Queer Dance (book), and dramaturgy. Special thanks to Paty Lorena Solórzano for connecting us for this interview.
This week on DANCE BEHIND THE SCREEN PODCAST…
[0:29] Special Message from kNOwBOX dance
Take action to support The Black Lives Matter Movement
[1:32] Martheya introduces Clare Croft
QUESTIONS WITH CLARE CROFT
[2:32] Martheya asks: “Can you tell us who is Clare Croft? What drives you?”
[3:50] Martheya asks: “I could ask you questions for hours about your writing alone. Your writings have been very informative for my research and creating Dance Appreciation and Movement Analysis courses. I want to encourage all our listeners to buy your books Queer Dance , Dancers as Diplomats, and read your articles on their own if they haven’t already. I don’t want to give too much away but can you talk about Dancers as Diplomats?”
[7:30] Martheya asks: “Do you have three tips for writing?”
[8:20] Martheya asks: “How do you turn that (the editor voice) off?”
[9:56] Martheya asks: “What advice do you have for our listeners who experience writer's block?”
[12:30] Martheya asks: “Could you describe what Queer dance means to you?”
[15:19] Martheya asks: “Can you talk more about not so much defining things as queer dance but entering things...can you rephrase that?”
[17:20] Martheya asks: “What does that perspective uncover for you? What are the benefits of bringing this to our society and the dance community? ”
[18:58] Martheya asks: “It seems like it has a lot to do with relationality. Can we unpack that?”
[23:02] Martheya asks: “Are these conversations that came up in the editing process?”
[24:36] Martheya asks: “How do you do that (help people say what they want)?”
[25:54] Martheya asks: “What else do you think you do in the editing process or when you are serving as a dramruge? What are those mini-process that you are doing?”
[27:54] Martheya asks: “Do you imagine a specific reader when your writing?”
[31:57] Martheya asks: “How do you define dramaturgy?”
[34:00] Martheya asks: “What is the benefit of working with a dramaturg when dance making?”
[37:36] Martheya asks: “How do you approach curation?”
[40:39] Martheya asks: “In the Dancers as Diplomats introduction you say ‘I bring the dancers’ voices and experiences to the center of the historical record in an effort to expand a dancers’ role beyond that of a muse or mute object, and, in fact to understand dancers as action as national mouthpieces and politically astute respondents to the nation.’ Now many of us have access to be our own national and international mouthpieces because of the device in our hands. What do you think about how you see social media influencing dance?”
[42:37] Martheya asks: “Whose someone you follow on Instagram or Twitter that you enjoy?”
[44:27] Martheya asks: “How do you say NO to the BOX? What does the BOX mean to you?”
[46:36] Martheya asks:
1- If you had to recommend a resource to our audience what would it be?
Book- Dance Pedagogy for a Diverse World: Culturally Relevant Teaching in Theory, Research and Practice by Nyama McCarthy-Brown, https://amzn.to/2BxG6Ji
2- What was the first dance you saw?
“My mom taking me to see a ballet class when I was 3”
3- Do you think social media has a positive influence on the dance world (yes or no)?
Yes
4- What is your favorite social media platform?
Instagram
#ClareCroft Recommended Resources
Book- Queer Dance Edited by Clare Croft, https://amzn.to/2V95s7i
Book Website- Queer Dance Curated by Clare Croft, https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199377336/
Book- Dancers as Diplomats: American Choreography in Cultural Exchange by Clare Croft, https://amzn.to/2VbiUqW
Organization- Daring Dances, https://www.daringdances.org/
Festival- EXPLODE! queer dance, https://www.daringdances.org/explode-queer-dance
Book- Dance Pedagogy for a Diverse World: Culturally Relevant Teaching in Theory, Research and Practice by Nyama McCarthy-Brown, https://amzn.to/2BxG6Ji
Book- Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott, https://amzn.to/31bknBp
School- University of Michigan, Dance Department https://smtd.umich.edu/departments/dance/
School- University of Texas Austin, Oscar G. Brockett Center for Theatre History and Criticism, https://theatredance.utexas.edu/beyond-stage/oscar-g-brockett-center-theatre-history-criticism
Artist- Andee Scott, https://www.usf.edu/arts/theatre-and-dance/about-us/contact-us/andee-scott.aspx
Artist- Larry Arrington, IG @larrylarryarrington, https://www.instagram.com/larrylarryarrington/
Artist- Jennifer Harge, http://www.hargedancestories.com/
Connect with #ClareCroft
Instagram- @daring_dances, @clarebelle99
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