There they were—a group of 29 persons of both sexes, able bodied as well as physically disabled, a few on wheelchairs or with impaired hearing, swaying and dancing to soft, soothing (“unrhythmic, unpurposed”) music. Their movements were graceful and free-flowing; no one was guiding them.
Soon the music and the dancing came to a stop, and the mentor declared: “That was beautiful.”
The venue was CCP’s Bulwagang Amado V. Hernandez, and the project was by DanceAbility International, an organization that seeks to bring together, through dance, people with or without physical disabilities. It recently conducted a workshop and a four-day orientation for Filipino dancers, teachers and choreographers with or without physical disabilities.
The workshops were organized by the US Embassy.
In town recently were Alito Alessi, founder and artistic director of DanceAbility International; and Karen Daly, a DanceAbility teacher, cancer survivor and wheelchair-user. They are art envoys of the US State Department, and have been traveling through Indonesia, Mongolia and the Philippines to share their dance methods, which are patented and copyrighted.
The organization is celebrating its 25th year, and has reached over 1-million people in 37 countries. (Call the CCP Cultural Exchange Department, tel. 8321125 local 1708/9).
After the dance exercises, Alessi called for an open forum in the round and invited the media to join in. One guide interpreted the discussions in sign language.
Regarding improvisation, he said: “We teach the same information to every group of people. You could learn about improvisation in any class in the world. The choice is to compose your own space. Allow your basic nature to come out of your body. You understand? It’s a high level of teaching.”
As for the shape of your body, it doesn’t matter, according to the dance teacher.
Alessi advised his workshop participants to take their time in absorbing what he and his colleagues were teaching: “I don’t expect you to learn what I’m teaching now. You can learn them later and practice the skills in your communities. Movement is a universal language. Take your time to learn this language, and then use it in due time.”
The exercises have been around for 15 years and are still evolving. “Trial and error,” as the mentor put it.
“All the great techniques of the world come from improvisation,” Alessi declared. “All structure, all life … comes from improvisation. It’s about the expression of your body. Everybody has some ability [to dance].”
He added: “No voice should be left out. Everybody’s voice should be heard, the language of the body is universal.” And concluded: “Any person who wants to dance should do it. It will liberate them to move psychologically and physiologically.