Yale's Project O

This article walks the reader through the creation of a dance/musical blending the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus with 1950's and 60's America. Despite not understanding some of the more advanced dance/choreographing lingo, I found the article to be very interesting as it explained how the class dealt with the racial tensions implicit in this time period. Most of the students described themselves as part of a post-racial society which did not see, or attach any importance to, race. The article points out how, in performing the dances popular in the 50's and 60's, the body language and movements of the students reflected the multicultural world in which they grew up. In adapting the myth of Orpheus which focuses on looking back, the dance project focused on looking back in history. This retrospection raised heated questions- if you can't imagine a segregated world, is this necessarily a bad thing? Should a post-racial society try to remember what segregation feels like? What role should history play in our lives? These questions were central to the creation of the dance and provided the dramatic power for the performance. The conclusion that the authors seem to have arrived at is that to understand the present, you need to look back while still moving forward.
Martin Breu
163-A