Obamanating, Dance, Power

It was often remarked how unusual the 2008 Presidential campaign was in the United States for the simple fact that the candidates not only made sure to make the rounds of the news talk shows, but they also made the rounds of daytime talk shows and late night television. All of this amounted to, in fact, self-mockery in many cases, often, as int he case of Obama, to give a better sense of the like-every-body-else-ness of a man who holds degrees from some of the top schools in the nation, with excellent grades no less. In this installment of my investigation of the kinesthetic conjuring around/through Obama, I will look at the impersonator. For those late night appearances could be read as self-impersonation, but they were definitely moments that allowed for a "thicker" study of Obama's kinestethic palette.

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Barack Obama Pt. 1

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a late breaking appearance, Obama clearly has figured out how to do snarky and still look cool

We can think about Obama "markin'" himself in the vernacular (imitating with a slight bit of dramatas to draw attention to an otherwise indistinguishable affect upon which the actor relies to convey meaning) and also in the denotation of "mark," and "to mark," in all its meanings in the dictionary. Really. From the online Merriam Webster for "mark/noun":
1: a boundary land
2 a (1): a conspicuous object serving as a guide for travelers (2): something (as a line, notch, or fixed object) designed to record position b: one of the bits of leather or colored bunting placed on a sounding line at intervals c: target d: the starting line or position in a track event e (1): goal , object (2): an object of attack, ridicule, or abuse ; specifically : a victim or prospective victim of a swindle (3): the point under discussion (4): condition of being correct or accurate mark> f: a standard of performance, quality, or condition : norm mark lately>
3 a (1): sign , indication mark of his esteem> (2): an impression (as a scratch, scar, or stain) made on something (3): a distinguishing trait or quality : characteristic marks of an educated person> b: a symbol used for identification or indication of ownership c: a cross made in place of a signature d (1): trademark (2)capitalized —used with a numeral to designate a particular model of a weapon or machine <Mark II> e: a written or printed symbol (as a comma or colon) f: postmark g: a symbol used to represent a teacher's estimate of a student's work or conduct ; especially : grade h: a figure registering a point or level reached or achieved mark in the first period of play> ; especially : record
4 a: attention , notice mark> b: importance , distinction mark> c: a lasting or strong impression d: an assessment of merits : rating marks for honesty>

Okay, maybe Obama is not a postmark, but he did use the song "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" by Stevie Wonder, so then again...The point I hope I have made here is that delivering a particular corpo-reality for a specific time slot, audience, and network, is no small feat. What Obama was successful in doing is creating a string of impersonations that gave the effect of proximity to the viewer following him; especially if that viewer were not a television viewer, but rather a clipwatcher on YouTube.








Some of the videos I have posted in this series of Barack Obama are cataloged on his channel on YouTube. This is significant. These "microplays" and "instant dances" were available 24/7 as on-demand instant replay, unfolding an unusual character, one that certainly never makes it to the curtain call as a clear hero: the mulatto man. Where the tragedy of a female torn between her two races is a much gone-over story layered over celebrity products like Dorothy Dandridge, Lorraine Hansberry, and Mariah Carey (yes I know that only Mariah is a real one..for more on that read Melissa Blanco's dissertation, Ochuness...), you would be hard pressed to think about a story or movie from the US where the main character "mixed race" and a man. Jean Toomer's Cane, perhaps, and then certain sequences from Roots. Leave comments if you have others. All this to point out that Obama's kinestheic awareness does not cohere around a stereotype.

That might be overstatement.

But for now, I'll leave it there and we can look at ways that others took Obama's forays into self-impersonation and made their own.

Dance, Power, Obamamania

Having written these quick perspectives on dance practice and the figure of Obama, I realized that I should look at the man himself dancing. He did a lot of it. It reminds me of that quote, "if I can't dance in your revolution, then I don't want to be a part of it..." often attributed to Emma Goldman.



Obama the man seemd to be having a genuinely good time spreading his message wherever he went. His forays into ass shaking, rather than cause a good deal of laughing, were met with geniune delight and response in kind. We can think about his hips, and those cute little fists up by the shoulders, relaying information that he could not otherwise say without sounding cocky and/or crazy: "I am winning and I know it. I am joyful in this knowledge and I invite you to join me in this feeling."



Obama is that guy who starts dancing across the dance floor when his song comes on in search of a partner, moving his head and hips while professionally scanning the room until he finds YOU.



Obviously, a lot of people decided he would be a great dance partner, just enough awkardness to make his moves accesible and endearing; locked on the beat, though, so you can't get lost in the melissima or polyrhythm. It's in his dancing that all of his points of origins could be said to coalesce, revealing a man with many options, not one beholden to "blood memories."

In dance scholarship we frequently trace, or at least attempt to, the history of a dance move, discover who it "Really" belongs to, when it was first performed/staged/recorded/taught, etc. This act is usually futile, since most popular dances evolve mightily form their point of origin, other dances that seem to circulate mostly as religious implements tend to turn up at house parties with different music, poeple travel, artists, travel and then so do the dances. The provenance of a dance is quite an elusive thing.

Similarly, stamping a racial identity onto a series of floor patterns, torso isolations (or not), spine positions and arm swings can also be exhausting, and in the end, ten years down the line, really not the point of the dance anyway. These days, I prefer to think about dances, popular dances, as a series of networked corpo-realities that mark a specific location, pattern of practice and set of material conditions (that includes access to television and/or robust internet connections). To me, Obama's hips, facial expression, feet, arms, and hands reveal not so much ancestry as travel, accomodation, adoptation...code switching.



Given that we all now find ourselves immersed in codes, digital, indexical and corporeal--the ease with which Obama can allow in his body several codes to co-exist without resolving them is on the one hand, "funny," but on the other, "cool." This not to be confused or conflated with the "cool" that he exudes when getting out of a car, or putting on his jacket, lighting up a cigarette, kicking up his feet. No that cool is almost a picture perfect study in 1950s bebop elegance. The cool that I am referncing is the, "that's ok like that. I like it cause it is itself" type of cool that so many of us use instead of saying, "alright," "ok," or even "yes." Obama's dancing is cool cause, well yeah, I could do that. That's cool.

A little hip there, a lot of teeth here, and soon, Obama's dancing helped create a delirium, a mass need to move with him; effortlessly, in one's own contradictions.

Obama, Dance, Power II

The choreostories we inscribe on ourselves to celebrate great passages can often seem obscure if we think of the passage has having only a two-dimensional force: here to there. The election of Barack Obama, plural entity that he is, presents an opportunity for us to rethink the ways in which dance stories are not so much marking a singular transition as they are multiplexing the various elements that combine to give rise to "a moment." Such is the case with the video below.



The residents of this Japanese town live literally in Obama. Pause for a minute. The name that we have been rhyming with "Osama" and collectively amazed at the similarities also turns out to be a place, but in a region of the world far removed from the Middle East conflict and Barack Obama's father's homeland of Kenya. Nope this is even sweeter, since Barack Obama, here I will call him Barry, since Barry is from the Pacific Islands known as Hawai'i, a place with a very large Japanese ex-pat community. Japanese tourists favor the islands of Hawai'i as a destination. It should come as no surprise, and yet it does, that the dance that the people of Obama, Japan would pick to celebrate Obama the man would be the hula, since he is, Hawai'ian.

The choreostory they crafted tells of his journey to the white house, making him an epic hero. Never mind that culturally he is not illili, nor through heritage. his heartspace, the place where he goes to recharge is in Honolulu. Therfore, to welcome the hero into his new palace, the dance of that most reminds him of home should be done.

For all of this, what Asian-Americans were interested in seemed to be missing from his campaign. Odd since he grew up in a Pan-Asian environment. Reading his name as the flight from that childhood to a more African one only to discover later in life that it takes him instantaneously back into "oceania," I am struck by the inability to escape his metanarrative of being/belonging to everyone.



o
ba
ma

In his name, are root words, primordial: air, father, mother. That's my hoodoo kickin in with a dash of Afrocentrism. But I do think that I'm not too far off. This chant that Barry picked for a name...can't help but want to dance to it, for it and in it. Talk about Conjure!

The dancers in the video also desire something Other than Barry: they are very skilled in the dance so they did not just up and decide to do hula a few weeks ago. Like salsa in Tokyo, there seems to be a proficiency here verging on a transposition of self. In all of this, how does the man which inhabits the mantra/greeting/chant transform through each hip swirl, kick and spin?


(C)Anna Beatrice Scott

Dance, Power, and Obama

Barack Obama not only inspired people to vote for him, but amoung various black communities, he got people up off their behinds and onto the dance floor. In this blog post, I am simply going to embed a number of the videos I've come across. But I do want to talk about at one point the way that these dances were "dropped" not just to have fun, but to imbue Obama with invincible grace: these dances are nkisi, powerprayers, dropped around the shoulders of Obama like a mantle of super-energy. In one video, and elder proclaims "this is the dance we will do when Obama wins." People felt it, even while political junkies were afraid to believe it. At the inauguration celebration in Oakland Oracle Arena, a woman declared that Obama was annointed.These dances reveal that fervor to celebrate "an instrument of god."

Truly, the thing that interests me here is dance as distillation. The dances here capture in turn, the joy of the campaign, the wonderment of collective desire and work, the strength of group visualization, and the idea that a body in motion is easier to move than one at rest.

Check it.


This song was released back in 2008. There are 3 videos showing how to do the dance. It is very dynamic and I love how they incorporated bits of Afro-Hatian dance. The arms going over while the foot comes forward looks like a dance called "maie" a harvest dance. Gorgeous.





This video includes contributions to the kinetic get-out-the-vote effort in Detroit and Miami. "Obama Hustle" from Detroit created by Crystal Smith; the "Barack & Michelle Obama Rock" created by Linda Halloway in Miami, Fl. I LOVE the Rock and don't know if I will ever get it. Ms. Halloway must have been a Grambling Girl! Syncopated is not a strong enough word.




This is the original video for the Obama Hustle. I found this video on Black Bottom.com originally. I love this one because it is all elders workin it. This dance is very subtle and sophisticated. I think the one above actually does not show it in its original form. IN this version, check out how difficult it is to figure out where to turn. I loved this because it reminded me of Obama's speeches...




This dance is an ode to the man himself: Barack's Grove. The choreographer, North Song and Illmatic Force, made this dance for a song by Tex -n- D. He actually did a study of how Barack was dancing on the Ellen Degeneres Show and of Obama's walk, stroll, and that infamous "dustin' his shoulder's off." This is a very clear instructional video, with a high level of difficulty to the dance. it is brilliant encapsulation of Barack Obama, though the frat brothers at the end kinda did not get his whole dignity thing. You'll see what I'm talkin about. Don't sleep on that slide though!




This dance by Terry Dwight Coleman also comes with a song he made up. The dance is really a phrase, and he explains how you can change it as you wish. It seems to turn, but really it just dips back and is done mostly facing the front. Would probably be a good partner dance.





Not much of a dance, this retro-rap video by Bob Brown is just a groove. Again, it takes its choreographic inspiration from Obama's own moves on television. Cute fun, especially when he says he pulled his pants up. Go Obama!





This last one was dedicated by the performer, Cupid, to Obama. He talked about that with Steve Harvey. I have to relocate the video where he is overcome with emotion, talking about the love that Obama was bringing. This one is simple and really enjoyable.

So there is a lot to say about these dances. There are also spontaneous dances on the internet where people just started grooving at Obama rallies and were caught in the act. I find it all fascinating, obviously, but telling. here on Day 3 of the new Obama Administration, already a LOT has changed with Guantanomo Bay closing and birth control freedom being restored globally to NGOs that receive funds from the US Government. I wonder if we will see more dances cropping up to celebrate the inauguration? The dances above were all created in advance of the win so that people would have something constructive to do on the night of the win.

I guess we should all get busy making new phrases to keep folks occupied as the economy continues to tank...Maybe we can take these dances as maps and figure out a way to make a whole lot with just a little.

(c)Anna B. Scott

Dear President Obama

January 15, 2009
Barack Hussein Obama
President, USA
1600 Pennsylvania AVE
Washington, DC

Dear President Obama,

Congratulations! Now save the world! I am sure by now you are equally astonished at just how much you have to “fix” and annoyed that you can’t just step in and start your/our own agenda today. So I would like to take this moment to offer you a respite, of sorts, a way to look at the situation from a choreographic perspective. I just have to say as someone who joined mybarak.com and made those last hour phone calls, I am in awe of your web 2.0 skills, but I am equally impressed with your astuteness in recognizing that the internet is only as good as the person surfing across it. It was sheer genius to actually have members of your team available and actively participating with us, the volunteers. And it is that act, that gesture of moving “politics as usual” with ease and grace by gathering force and numbers incrementally that got you that Aretha serenade. But this momentum, this people powered bit of contact improv elegance will also be your undoing if you fail to take some rather simple steps, mostly of the decorous sort.


Always invite your friends to dance with you first. grand gestures to those that clearly want to hurt you, while laudable, can begin to look like negligence and deference at the same time: aka inertia.

Taking center stage is not equivalent to being in the center. And locating a center between such vast polarities could be perceived as installing yourself in a no-man’s land. Move from your core, not the empty space of the play area.

Go for dynamism by pairing contrasts (note this is different than seeking to balance opposites), Your teams of Strong Personalities might actually need additional positions, in which to best mobilize. Education & national Security; Arts & Green Economy; Energy & Healthcare. Allow them to stretch into the possibilities of their limbs of government.

Establish a Department of Arts & Culture that works with the Internet Czar to magnify the visual learning potential of your online social network efforts. We artists have had to suffer through lean times for a very long time and find ways to reach and create audience in ways often astonishing and down right entertaining.

Remember to take the time to explore in “the studio” to develop a common vocabulary of movement and to set parameters for the exploration and execution of the big idea. Every great piece of choreography takes a lot of rehearsal, especially when done as a collaboration. Take your time, and throw out false gestures to achieve arresting, course-changing movement.

Finally, achieve momentum by first solidly grounding your weight in your base. Push off from the people that voted for you in record numbers. Those people do not think nuclear power is safe. Those people want a lasting WORLD PEACE helmed by a Department of Peace (a Peace Corp is simply not enough). They ache for the freedom to move about and love whomever and where ever they choose. Those people are willing to lift you high to change your perspective, so that we can all have greater possibilities, beautiful execution, exuberant finales.

In sum, don't drop your dance partner, cause that would really suck and we'd have to go find a better one.


Sincerely yours,

Anna Beatrice Scott

Dance as Civic Duty Lecture Series

The dates below are subject to change. You should contact anna.scott@ucr.edu to confirm the event 2 days prior.

Dance As Civic Duty
Dancing to shift social discourse has made a comeback; even if there aren't enough stages on which to do it or audience members to pay to see it. With the current economic challenge, dancing is ever more a diverison of choice (it is free, you can move your body how ever, whenever and practically wherever you want) while dance companies are beginning to fail. Taking their signal from the dissipating audience, dance makers, producers and promoters are putting up shows in innovative locales, using current topics, pick up dancers, and often, web 2.0 strategies to reinvigorate their practice and speak to the task at hand: making an open society. Civically minded, this mode of production seems to have the potential to impact policy making with regards to shifts in demographics, urban redevelopment, K-12 education strategies and even international cultural exchange. Remember that? Dancing to save people, places, and things is not so far fetched as it might seem. This quarter the Department of Dance welcomes a series of performer-scholars, activist-performers, producers and promoters to explore the idea of dance as a necessary component in the restructuring of our sociopolitical landscape. All talks are free and open to the public and unless otherwise noted, located in PE 102 on Tuesdays at 4:10 PM


Tuesday, January 20th, 4:15 - 5:30 Joe Goode is a choreographer, writer, and director whose first concern as an artist is to provide a "deeply felt, profoundly human experience" in the theater. He is widely known as an innovator in the field of dance for his willingness to collide movement with spoken word, song, and visual imagery.

Tuesday January 27th Victoria Marks creates dances for the stage, for film and in community settings. Mark' recent work has considered the politics of citizenship, as well as the representation of both virtuosity and disability. These themes are part of her ongoing commitment to locating dance-making within the sphere of political meaning. Marks is a Professor of choreography in the Department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA where she has been teaching since 1995.

Wednesday February 18th, 1:10 - 2:30 Stephan Koplowitz is an award winning director/choreographer/media artist internationally known for his work on the concert stage and for creating original site-specific multi-media works for architecturally significant sites. His site work aims to alter people's perspectives of place, site, and scale, all infused with a sense of the human condition. He is the Dean of Dance of the Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance at CalArts.

Tuesday February 24th Meg Wolfe is a choreographer & performer, organizer & instigator of Show Box projects, including: the tri-annual dance journal, "itch"; the Anatomy Riot performance series; and DANCEbank, a roving dance class that marauds across the Los Angeles landscape with different instructors every three weeks.

Tuesday March 3, Michael Sakamoto creates interdisciplinary performances in butoh-based dance theater and contemporary theater as well as photography, installation, and media art. Drawing on influences as diverse as the dark, visceral physicality of butoh, the weighted presence and minimalism of Zen, and pop culture from around the globe, his works express a subversive yet benevolent multiculturalism caught within an absurdist east/west dialectic.


TBA/Confirmed
Shakina Nayfeck is a recent MFA in Experimental Choreography from UCR. His rock opera Junk, will open on May 11th in the Zipper Factory in New York City.


California Lawyers for the Arts The mission of California Lawyers for the Arts is to establish a bridge between the arts and the legal communities so that:

A. Artists and art groups may gain greater competence in handling legal and business aspects of their creative activities;

B. The legal profession may become more aware of and involved in issues affecting artists and the arts community and,

C. The law may become more responsive to the needs and interests of the arts community.