2020 International Dance Day Message
In 1982 the Dance Committee of ITI founded International Dance Day to be celebrated every year on the 29 April, the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), creator of modern ballet. The intention of the International Dance Day Message is to celebrate dance, revel in the universality of this art form, cross all political, cultural and ethnic barriers, and bring people together with a common language – dance.
Every year a message from an outstanding choreographer or dancer is circulated throughout the world. The author of the message is selected by the International Dance Committee of ITI and the Executive Council of ITI. The message is translated into numerous languages and circulated globally. World Dance Alliance is a member of the ITI Dance Committee.
This year the Dance Committee of the ITI has selected Gregory Vuyani MAQOMA, South African dancer, actor, choreographer and dance educator.
Message for International Dance Day, 29 April 2020.
It was during an interview I had recently that I had to think deeply about dance: what does it mean to me? In my response, I had to look into my journey, and I realised that it was all about purpose – each day presents a new challenge that needs to be confronted, and it is through dance that I try to make sense of the world.
We are living through unimaginable tragedies, in a time that I could best describe as the post-human era. More than ever, we need to dance with purpose, to remind the world that humanity still exists. Purpose and empathy need to prevail over years and years of undeniable virtual landscape of dissolution that has given rise to a catharsis of universal grief conquering the sadness, the hard reality that continues to permeate the living confronted by death, rejection and poverty.
Our dance must more than ever give a strong signal to the world leaders and those entrusted with safeguarding and improving human conditions that we are an army of furious thinkers, and our purpose is one that strives to change the world one step at a time. Dance is freedom, and through our found freedom, we must free others from the entrapments they face in different corners of the world.
Dance is not political but becomes political because it carries in its fibre a human connection and therefore responds to circumstances in its attempt to restore human dignity. As we dance with our bodies, tumbling in space and tangling together, we become a force of movement weaving hearts, touching souls and providing healing that is so desperately needed. And purpose becomes a single hydra-headed, invincible and indivisible dance. All we need now is to dance some more!
Photo Credit: Alon Skuy