Response 3: Yale's Project O- JJ Janikis

I have always believed strongly in the collaboration of art with a social movement. Yale’s Project O challenged the traditional classroom setting and experimentally constructed a performance that observed the message of “looking back” in a “post- racial” society. Using music, dance, multimedia, and theater the students studied classic 1950’s and 60’s popular dance and music create their performance. While the students studied history the piece was inspired by their experiences. It is also interesting to observe the context of this performance that they defined in a “post- racial” society. Can these students “look back” and study from a time that they did not experience?
“Don’t Look Back!” observed the differences of the historical context of the Civil Rights Movements of the 1950’s and 60’s in contrast to the “post- racial” America of the Obama administration. I was amazed at the passion that the students wanted to tell in this social piece. Each student had a message that they wanted to tell the audience through their art. I wish that more students at Middlebury would take risks in the arts and create performances that challenged the social norm such as in Project O.
While Project O meant to bring together the students experiences, they were physically limited in their movements without the “physical knowledge of segregation”. The article explains that the group “brought to Project O our own memories and attitudes that were individually shaped by our different generational experiences and outlooks”. However, since they were observing social movements from a time when most of the students had not been born they were physically limited in their movements to accurately portray the emotions of the period. The students therefore had to use their imagination and a combination of their modern social dance experiences to relive the piece on stage.
In addition, the reference to a “post- racial” society is shocking to me. While we are more progressive in our ideals compared to the Civil Rights Movement, many racial groups are still oppressed in their everyday lives. While modern social dance might reflect a “multicultural world”, it still reflect a sense of assimilation that many groups such as African Americans and Latino’s had to face to be accepted in popular society. In addition the dances of the past had a different objective, than the sexual motivation of social dances of today. The differences of age suggests that while one can be aware of the conflicts of race, we still do not live in a “post- racial” era.
Project O’s “Don’t Look Back!” examines the importance of social awareness and progressiveness in the context of dance and the arts in the United States. While we can “look back” and study the dances of the past, we need to look forward and continue to use the arts as a public forum for critical social dialogue. I hope that in my future at Middlebury College and beyond that I can participate in similar project that observes the importance of social movements in America.

JJ Janikis
September 22, 2009