Can You See The Difference?
The more I ponder about what I've been writing and complaining about here. The more I believe my problem may stem from a confusion between some dance definitions. Do I think that a few simple definitions will make me feel better? No, but perhaps if a few of our judges, adjudicators, choreographer, and teachers could look back at their training and wealth of knowledge and remembered some important distinctions between different styles and techniques—then I might begin to feel better.
I am the first to admit that I couldn't tell you difference between east coast and west coast hip hop. But then again I don't pretend to do hip hop choreography while giving students two or three copied youtube hip hop moves surrounded by jazz choreography. As an adjudicator I did encountered a style or two of dance I was not familiar with and had to base my marking on performance, togetherness, and technique that I recognized. Perhaps if I took the time to research a bit I might be able to tell the difference between the Hawaiian “stars” and “rain” gesture. No probably not. Yes, there are a wide variety of dance styles you often find at dance competitions and festivals. But there are some very distinct types of dance you find at competitions, and there are enough of them to make individual categories for each of them. Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Lyrical, Contemporary, Modern, Character, etc. These types of dance are entered so often that every studio, dancer, teacher, choreographer, judge, adjudicator and organizer should know the difference between each one. But that would be a perfect world.
My issue is with these dance terms - lyrical, contemporary, and modern. I always hope that when I enter a modern piece in a contemporary/modern dance category, it will be judged as a modern piece and not a contemporary piece. Or if someone enters a contemporary piece in a lyrical category would be judge the same as if a classical jazz piece was entered in a hip hop category. What?? There’s a difference between lyrical and contemporary? Or contemporary and modern? Yes, there is. Just like there is a difference between classical ballet, national ballet, and character ballet.
While I was try to come up with a distinction between these quite different forms of dance, I came across a interesting way to describe the difference. So, I'm going to steal this comparison from that very enlightened, anonymous blogger. They suggested to put these dance forms on a pendulum scale with classical ballet on one end and modern on the other. Ballet on one end because it has a very specific technique and style. While true modern, with it's own techniques, is in essence the absence of ballet technique. Contemporary contains elements of both ballet and modern and falls anywhere in between.
So if you create a piece of "modern type" choreography but rely on some elements of ballet throughout the piece then you should refer to it as a contemporary piece. If you teach modern dance but most of the skills you teach rely on ballet for it's technique then you are teaching contemporary not modern.
Lyrical on the other had is not a subcategory of contemporary but rather it’s own unique form. Lyrical by definition means “expressing the writer's emotions in an imaginative and beautiful way or relating to the words of a popular song”. Lyrical should then be placed on it’s own scale where it could be balletic, modern, or contemporary. So, if you’re interpreting the lyrics of a song in an imaginative and beautiful way—then it’s lyrical.
I realize that for artists to pigeon hole every piece of choreography they create is really absurd. But competition/festival companies group dances into categories for very specific reasons. Basically, so ballet routines are competing against similar ballet routines, tap routines are competing against similar tap routines, etc. They are also grouped so judges can stay in the same mind set for a group of routines rather than have to change with every single routine.
Here’s where my issue come to a head. I know it would be silly to have a category for every style of dance, and realize that most competitions companies group modern and contemporary together. I, also, realize that teachers/choreographers either through omission, ignorance, or blatant disregard for the rules place lyrical in modern categories, contemporary in lyrical categories, etc. So, judges need to know the difference and must mark each routine based on whether they are dancing modern, contemporary or even in the correct category. In reality putting a modern dance piece up against a lyrical dance pieces would be like putting a classical jazz piece up against an urban hip hop piece—which would be hard to equate or even find any similarities between the two.
I know. I know. I know. Judges and organizers will tell you that each dance is judged on it own merit and they not really competing against one another. Buuuut, if that were really true the importance of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place wouldn’t be there. And cash prizes would be awarded randomly. As a former judge for dance competitions it is extremely hard not to place one group higher than another just because you like them for some unknown reason. I found myself continually making sure I was following my preconceived marking strategy rather than letting my emotions or biases affect my marking. But because judging dance is very subjective it is next to impossible to prevent personal biases, opinion and prejudices not affect the outcome of a competition. I know that the dance styles I knew little about had a harder time getting higher scores than those I knew more about. And those I knew more about had to really earn every point they got. Now I’m not trying to say I was a great dance judge, but I find it hard to believe that even the best judges and adjudicators aren't affect in exactly the same way.
Because I now live is a smaller community, competition is one of the few forums where I can express myself publicly and artistically. It is very difficult to tell my students that we gamble on how our dances are perceived and marked. In all likelihood there will not be a single judge on the panel that understands or know exactly what modern is or the difference between contemporary and lyrical. And yes, in years we have been evaluated by a panel that understood modern we have done extremely well.
So, why do I do this year after year if it makes me so unsatisfied? Why don’t I cave into the norm and follow what everyone else is doing? Why is it so important to attempt to give my own artistic expression? Why do I need to follow rules? I can answer that will this one closing statement. It feels so good to be recognized as an artistic, creative, choreographer and teacher even if only 1 out of every 50 routines is ever rewarded for it.