Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
Okay, full disclosure up front: I'm not broad-minded enough to understand a lot of what passes for original thought on modern college campuses. I eat at Chili's -- non-ironically.
So when I stumbled upon this piece in the University of New Mexico's Daily Lobo about a student delivering his senior thesis in the form of a dance performance addressing genocide, my reaction was a hybrid of bewilderment and amusement. Then, however, hearing in my head the voice of every sweet-tempered, perpetually optimistic woman in my family tree, I thought, "Hey, it's unorthodox, but at least he wants to address a serious issue." That thought evaporated as I kept reading:
[Aaron] Hooper said he was inspired to do a show about different forms of genocide after a series of suicides by boys who were bullied over the past couple years. Since then, he said the concept grew to be based on “big business” and how the government breaks down individual and clan identities.
“When I look at genocide, it can be an emotional destruction of a people,” he said. “What I was thinking of in my paper and everything is how can we analyze these major genocides that happen that I’m showcasing here, and see the similarities to what is happening in our own country.”
Got that? Darfur is the moral equivalent of feeling bad because you can't afford the stuff in the Restoration Hardware catalog.
The seats in the audience are not bolted to the floor, so Hooper had every other seat removed, so attendees have nobody to sit next to. The choreography is set primarily to Pink Floyd tracks, and as soon as the audience enters, they become emotionally involved in the performance. He said he’s had a few test audiences, a few members of which left because it was uncomfortable.
The purpose of creating this in this intimate space is to make the people in the audience feel a sense of isolation and to feel almost as uncomfortable as the person that is being discriminated against, Hooper said.
Mission accomplished, sir. I'm two states away and I'm uncomfortable reading about it.
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Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
I could not understand a word that guy was saying.
Reminds me of this.
Aug '10
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
Troy, you neglected to mention that dance is the student's major.
That fact makes it seem much less unusual.
Feb '11
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
Ethan, what he is saying is, that without the imposition of solidarity through the use of isolation to create an emotional balance between the spectator and their sense of spatial dislocation he needed to enforce an effortless approach to reality by denying the very nature of their personal reality; so that it could be reassessed in the dance, as they observe the dance, they then become participants in his emotional narrative; this will enhance their inability to remain neutral to the messaging of his recreation of reality, sans beauty, but that reaction will in fact force them to reconnect with the horror of genocide, this reaction will cause them to meld into the narrative and therefore transform the ugliness of a quasi-reality into an actual act of beauty that might transcend their limited vision and reunite them with the other individuals who have been isolated during their reactions and simulated oppression, per the removal of the seats, at this moment of reimagined reunion they will all become ham sandwiches.
It is really very simple.
Jul '10
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
St. Salieri
Ethan, what he is saying is, that without the imposition of solidarity through the use of isolation to create an emotional balance between the spectator and their sense of spatial dislocation he needed to enforce an effortless approach to reality by denying the very nature of their personal reality; so that it could be reassessed in the dance, as they observe the dance, they then become participants in his emotional narrative; this will enhance their inability to remain neutral to the messaging of his recreation of reality, sans beauty, but that reaction will in fact force them to reconnect with the horror of genocide, this reaction will cause them to meld into the narrative and therefore transform the ugliness of a quasi-reality into an actual act of beauty that might transcend their limited vision and reunite them with the other individuals who have been isolated during their reactions and simulated oppression, per the removal of the seats, at this moment of reimagined reunion they will all become ham sandwiches.
It is really very simple.
Exactly. Pay attention, Ethan.
Aug '10
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
St. Salieri
Ethan, what he is saying is, that without the imposition of solidarity through the use of isolation to create an emotional balance between the spectator and their sense of spatial dislocation he needed to enforce an effortless approach to reality by denying the very nature of their personal reality; so that it could be reassessed in the dance, as they observe the dance, they then become participants in his emotional narrative; this will enhance their inability to remain neutral to the messaging of his recreation of reality, sans beauty, but that reaction will in fact force them to reconnect with the horror of genocide, this reaction will cause them to meld into the narrative and therefore transform the ugliness of a quasi-reality into an actual act of beauty that might transcend their limited vision and reunite them with the other individuals who have been isolated during their reactions and simulated oppression, per the removal of the seats, at this moment of reimagined reunion they will all become ham sandwiches.
It is really very simple.
You should change your username to Sir Humphrey.
May '11
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
I eat at Chilli's too,....ironically. Performance art is an oxymoron.
Feb '11
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
That Sir, is the one of the highest, and I must say, one of the greatest compliments I've ever been paid.
Mille grazie!
Misthiocracy
St. Salieri
You should change your username to Sir Humphrey. · 1 minute ago
Feb '11
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
But the real question is, can you eat too ironically at Chilli's, and would that be an act of Genocide?
Oct '10
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
"The seats in the audience are not bolted to the floor, so Hooper had every other seat removed, so attendees have nobody to sit next to...The purpose of creating this in this intimate space is to make the people in the audience feel a sense of isolation..."
Isolate me baby. I don't know about the rest of you, but when I go somewhere and the seats next to me are empty, I feel like I've won the lottery. I certainly don't feel uncomfortable.
Jan '11
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
The freedom to express yourself does not prevent me from laughing at your stupid, juvenile, self-indulgent self-expression.
Dance against genocidal bullying ... he he
Ha ha ha ha ...
Whoop! Haw ha hahahahahahaha
What an idiot!
Buwahahahahahahahahaha
There. I feel better. Thank you.
May '11
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
What is on the Non- ironic menu? Ironically, I like their carribean chicken salad which of course does involve genocide of little chickens.
Aug '10
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
Yes, but was the dancing any good?
The article doesn't mention what grade he received.
Edited on April 13, 2012 at 3:21amRe: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
I'm going to respond to this post via interpretive dance.
May '10
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
Your tax dollars at work. Once he graduates he will be qualified to storm the barricades with OWS, or, if he seeks remunerative employment, to ask, "Shall I super-size that?"
Aug '10
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
<devil's advocate mode = on>
Hey, ya gotta dance about something.
I wonder what the reaction was like when Tchaikovsky and Julius Reisinger announced they'd created a ballet about swans.
<devil's advocate mode = off>
Jul '10
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
Yeh. That's why they left. Mm-hm. Uncomfortable. That must have been it.
Edited on April 13, 2012 at 4:10amJun '10
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
St. Salieri
[W]ithout the imposition of solidarity through the use of isolation to create an emotional balance between the spectator and their sense of spatial dislocation he needed to enforce an effortless approach to reality by denying the very nature of their personal reality; so that it could be reassessed in the dance, as they observe the dance, they then become participants in his emotional narrative; this will enhance their inability to remain neutral to the messaging of his recreation of reality, sans beauty, but that reaction will in fact force them to reconnect with the horror of genocide, this reaction will cause them to meld into the narrative and therefore transform the ugliness of a quasi-reality into an actual act of beauty that might transcend their limited vision and reunite them with the other individuals who have been isolated during their reactions and simulated oppression, per the removal of the seats, at this moment of reimagined reunion they will all become ham sandwiches.
It is really very simple. · 1 hour ago
Not true, Mr. Saint. Those thing is obviously about "roast beef sandwiches with mayo and spicy mustard." How embarrassing for you.
Dec '10
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
I'm reminded of Red from That 70's Show. He would describe the young man as "Dumb[expletive]!"
Edited on April 13, 2012 at 3:24pmAug '10
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
One would presume that a dance major isn't being graded on the accuracy of the subject matter. Hopefully, he's being graded on the quality of the dance. I know nothing about dance, so I cannot comment on how a dance professor judges something as elusive as "quality".
If a visual art student creates a sculpture of Julius Caesar shaking hands with Charlemagne, should that student get a failing grade because those two men never met in real life?
Should we judge Holst's "The Planets" on how accurately it describes astronomy?
This kid is never going to be a UN ambassador, but John Bolton is never going to be a Broadway choreographer. John Bolton is still allowed to dance terribly at a wedding, and this kid is allowed be an uninformed amateur when it comes to international politics.
ON THE OTHER HAND...
The fact that people walked out of the performance might say something about the quality of the dance itself.
Still, that's not really why we think this story is funny, is it? Lots of students do a terrible job on their senior thesis. We don't necessarily make fun of them for it.
May '10
Re: Genocide Through Dance: A Senior Thesis
Hey, give the kid some credit. After 4 years of college, he--or at least, someone he knows--has learned how to be handy with a crescent wrench.
UPDATE: D'oh! I misread it. The seats are not bolted to the floor. You may resume giving the kid no credit whatsoever.
Edited on April 13, 2012 at 4:39am