If you want the nation to move forward, involve the arts more. Because the arts, generally, is designed to speak to people. And that’s what we always try to teach the dancers here. That dance is not the end point, that dance is a tool to say what you really feel, and address the issues you really feel need to be addressed. That’s how the country, generally, will move forward.
On January 1st, Netflix released five episodes of We Speak Dance, a documentary series giving people an inspiration for new year’s resolution. The episodes are a bit longer than 20 minutes long which shows how the art of dance can be used as a form of protest and how it is involved in a country’s culture.
Vandana Hart, the creator and host of We Speak Dance, is a former advisor of the UN on Women’s Rights and a long life dancer who was also a judge on So You Think You Can Dance in Africa. She was born in Russia and due to her work for the UN as well as the dancing, it has taken her around the world. She student at Alvin Ailey School of dance, global affairs at NYU, and did her masters on the London School of Economics.
In We Speak Dance, she combines economics with dance and gives the audience a unique view on a different site of societies of five different cities “using dance as an international language to connect people across cultures”.
Pour art into darkness. With creativity and boldness, your voice, your body, your story can rebuild worlds around you. – Vandana Hart
The show starts in Lagos where Hart is meeting Femi Kuti, the son of Fela Kuti who was a Nigerian musician and human rights activists who founded the Afrobeat. In honour of his father, Femi is giving dance lessons and tries to continue his work. Hart revels that he was the reason why she started to dance. Visiting Freedom Park, the former prison, she is giving a dance lesson in Afrobeat, which is a mix of West African musical styles, funk and jazz, as well as taking a class in warrior dance. People in Lagos have to choose between buying food or booking a dance class. They feel the need to create and celebrate life through dance.
The adventure continues in Vietnam where the audience is introduced to “the changing face of the nation”. There is a warship dance for the gods which do not discriminate gender. So men dress up and look like women and dance for people in front of a shrine to pray for people who came to them in need of a blessing. On the other side you have pole dancing, which is used as a statement for female empowerment and breaking free from conservative views. Then there is a hip hop contemporary group that not only shares the passion for dance, but also is a family to each other they have not had before. This dance group is looking out for each other, keeping kids of the streets and giving them a perspective.
The next stop is Beirut, the party capital of the middle east. Dabke, an Arabic folk dance which combines circle and line dance, is introduced. Hart also visits a refugee camp and starts a dance class for the kids to make their day brighter. She takes a lesson in belly dancing and also tries the Baladi, a not gendered dance which reminds you of a mix of Egyptian bellydancing.
Kecak is introduced at the fourth stop in Bali. It is a Balinese hindu music drama which is traditionally performed in temples because dance is seen as an offering to the gods. Hart also learns the Legong, a dance which is characterized by special finger movements, complicated footwork and a special facial expression. At the end of this episode, we see a class of ecstatic dance in which you have no specific dance moves to follow. You can be a free spirit and express yourself any way you want to the beats of electric music.
The last episode is about dance life in Paris in which the city elevates their culture through dance. Paris is like the heart of dance where you can find all kind of different forms like ballet, cancan, burlesque, electro, and underground Vogue balls. A city of art and for artists of any kind.
The beauty of this documentary is that you learn to see dance as more than just as an entertainment for a night out. Dancing is the need to create, overcome social anxieties, it can be acceptance or a home, it can unite and empower, it can be used as a form of political protest, and it can give you the feeling of being free and elevate you. It is the most powerful way to unite people, transform lives, and can be used as an act as a weapon for social change. That is the beauty of dance. It has so many different possibilities to be seen and used.
Vandana Hart herself is one of the most inspiring people I have ever seen and We Speak Dance is giving you a view on how you could be a part of a movement. It gives you something to think about and how you can make a change in your own life while learning from others and express yourself through body. Making your body into art to be seen by the world. It is a love letter from a dancer, for dancers and everyone in between.
When travelling, I notice women shrink themselves in public space. Only when a woman feels free and at peace in her body, her true power and potential can be expressed. A famous burlesque dancer at Montmartre shared that only after WW1 did women have permission to enter the public sphere and realize they could do anything a man could. This realisation led to the birth of burlesque, women peeling off the layers of clothing as well as many layers of oppression. Most women still don’t feel safe entering parks, markets, streets at night and even entering jobs and leadership positions at the highest levels… Dancing in the streets requires confidence, demands a right to exist, take up space and shape the culture, politics, art, business of daily life. This is why I dance. – Vandana Hart
While waiting for Season 2 you can follow both, the show and the host Vandana Hart on Instagram: We Speak Dance + Vandana Hart. You can also watch the first season on Netflix.
