Border Beat Farewell

Wow, did this semester sure go by fast!

It seems like only yesterday I was receiving my first emails about Border Beat over winter break. I was not entirely sure what I was getting myself into, but I was excited to begin my final semester at the University of Arizona. I really lucked out because I got the chance to work with Professor Jay Rochlin in both of my final journalism courses at the UofA, feature writing and Border Beat. After my first meeting with Jay, I knew it would be a great semester full of endless opportunities.

Dancing in the Desert seemed like an obvious choice for my blog topic and I enjoyed getting in the habit of sitting down and writing a weekly blog about all kinds of dance and was able to meet some interesting dancers through the process. In som cases, specifically my blog about Benny Fung, I was able to learn WAY more about someone I thought I already knew. Everyone has such amazing stories to tell and it was fun to be able to tell some of them this semester. I also just checked out my stats from the semester and three people from Japan read my blog – cool!

As far as Border Beat, I think my favorite stories from the semester were both of my special projects. It was nice to really get in-depth with our topics and tell stories from all different kinds of angles.

For my first special project I worked with Jamie Turow to cover Viva Performing Arts Center, which is a ballet folkorico focused dance studio in South Tucson. Julie Gallego, the director of the studio has accomplished so much with her passion for folklorico. Click here to read more about Gallego.

For my second special project I worked with Rachel Kolinoski to cover the St. Andrew’s Children’s clinic in Nogales, Arizona. With this project I did a lot more work with multimedia and I am very proud of how my video on vision and audio slide show on hearing turned out:

 

 

 

I hope you guys had fun reading and learning with me this semester!

 

 

Hopi Snake Dance

After looking into the dances of the Aztec’s I realized that there are many other dances native to the state of Arizona on every border. One of the tribes near and dear to my heart is the Hopi Indian Tribe (I did a project on the Hopi’s in the second grade ..) The Hopi tribe is located on the Northeastern border of Arizona and are known for a historical dance called the Hopi Snake Dance.

Each year the tribe performs a religious ceremony that concludes with the Hopi Snake Dance on the final day of worship. The ceremony is said to last around 16 days and is usually between the middle and end of August. It is performed by members of the snake and the antelope clans from all three of the mesas is the Hopi Country. The Native American Hopi Tribe believes that snakes are like their brothers and so they rely on them to carry messages down to the underworld where the rain gods live. This why today many think the dance is a rain ceremony.

During the dance there are two main groups of performers, the antelope priests and the snake priests, both wear special clothing and costumes. In 1913, the Hopi Indians performed the dance for Theodore Roosevelt in Walip, Arizona, and there is a video documenting the event. While the video is only in black and white, it is clear that these costumes were very elaborate. Many of the dancers wore headdresses and had adornments on their ankles. The skin of the dancers is very dark and appears to be painted. Some of the feathers are light and they are wearing light jewelry on their chests and arms.

Several days before, the dancers must go out and find the snakes for the ceremony, hunting down very large and extremely poisonous animals. Also, two days prior to the snake dance, each performer must fast. They become so entranced by the whole process and I think this leads to the great focus and connections that they feel with the rain gods in the underworld, and why they have so much trust with the snakes.

A dancer acting as a snake priest would wait for the antelope priests to enter, stomping in a circle around the altar and then lining up for the entrance of the snake priests. When both groups of priests line up opposite each other, they slowly begin to chant and sway their bodies from side to side. Finally this formation is broken and a young snake priest emerges from the group.

The first to break from the group begins chanting and approaches the altar of snakes. He walks towards the snakes, while an older snake priests follows behind him in order to dust his shoulders off with a sacred feather. He then emerges with the neck of a rattlesnake between his teeth. This alone sounds nerve wrecking, but the men feel in harmony with the snake.

The dance then ends and to finish all of the performers must drink and emetic that causes them to vomit. It is said that this is done to purge them of any dangerous snake poisons or charms. Here is the video from Walip, Ariz. in 1913:

River North comes to Tucson

This past weekend I was lucky enough to see River North Dance Chicago perform on Saturday night at Centennial Hall. For those of you who don’t know, River North is a jazz-based contemporary company that calls Chicago it’s home. The company has an amazing reputation and has received critical acclaim both nationally and internationally. The company was founded in 1989 and is currently under the direction of Frank Chaves. The show was truly amazing as it displayed that great versatility of the dancers and great expanse of their repertory. Three of my favorite pieces were “Evolution of a dream” “At Last” and “Train”.

“Evolution of a dream” opened the show with a bang! The piece was choreographed by Sherry Zunker and was performed by the entire company. The piece was full of energy and had a good mix of contemporary and classic jazz moves. This was a great number to open the show because it involved the entire company and there is nothing I love more than when everyone is dancing together feeding off of the group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another piece I really enjoyed was “At Last” choreographed by Frank Chaves. The piece was a duet performed by Lauren Kias and Kelly Brunk. Immediately when the classic Etta James song came on, I knew I was going to love it. The dance told a playful and fun love story between a man and a woman. The partnering between the pair was impressive as he lifted her and she slid down him.

“Train” choreographed by Robert Battle was a piece with five women dancers and one male. This dance again showed how versatile the company is, because all of them were so different. Intense drumming music played while they performed this piece and was transformed into the bodies of the dancers. Hanna Brictson was featured in this dance and she was truly amazing. Her committment to the movement was wonderful and she truly embodied the music and energy of the dance.

Overall, it was a very impressive performance and I cannot wait until I get the opportunity to see them perform again. Below is a clip of company members performing “Train” in 2008.

 

 

 

My trip to the St. Andrew’s Clinic

Last Thursday I went to Nogales, Arizona with a group from Border Beat to visit the St. Andrew’s clinic and cover stories of the young children and families who cross the border to come and get free medical help and support. So, for my blog this week I would like to take the time to reflect on my experience and share some of the amazing stories that I learned while observing in the clinic, which normally serves as a church and preschool in the area.

Throughout the day I worked with a fellow Border Beat reporter Rachel Kolinoski and we focused our reporting on “St. Andrew’s through the senses” by covering the visual area, hearing/audiology and nutrition.

The area focusing on vision was set up in the chapel of the church. Children and their mothers sat in the pews waiting to be seen by the doctors. There are a few different sections throughout the chapel including eye testing, where doctors determine the children’s vision abilities, an area to be fit for glasses and another area where children learn to read braille and walk with sticks and other assisting tools. One girl was using something to help her walk where she would go forward and when she ran into something with the stick-like device she knew she could not go any further. It was amazing to see her smile and laugh each time she ran into something because she was learning to walk without fear and without her mother’s help. 

One of my favorite children I met was a little boy named Yahir. When we first met Yahir he was getting his vision tested. We are all familiar with the chart that has letters in rows that go from larger to smaller, but one of the doctors explained to me that he did not know his letters, so they had to test his eyes in a different way. One doctor would stand a few feet away holding up cards with pictures like a house, “casa” or a heart, “corazon”. Each time Yahir said the right word he was so filled with joy and pride that he could see them correctly. After his test he was running around the chapel and playing with balls, seeing that regardless of some vision problems he was so fearless was amazing. Him and his mother had traveled throughout the night to make it to the clinic and get an expert opinion. Through my broken spanish I was able to introduce myself and get a brilliant smile from the little boy.

We met another little girl with a big personality in the audiology area of the clinic. We first met her getting her hearing aid refit by the doctors. Her mother informed us that with the hearing aid her daughter was able to hear for the first time. She first realized it was working earlier that day when the two were outside together. The little girl pointed to her ear and her mom noticed the aide was not turned on. One she switched it on she could see her daughter’s eyes light up and knew that she was able to hear. She said she just wants her little girls hearing to get better and although she knows that she loves her, she wants to tell her daughter that she loves her and hear her daughter say it back. This mother had traveled all the way from Rocky Point the night before in order to get help and a second opinion on some research she was doing about stem cells. The little girl was so curious walking and crawling around the room and was so gentle and kind.

Rachel and I ended the day in the nutrition area of the clinic. We spoke to an amazing volunteer named Jill who has been with the clinic for more than 10 years. She explained to us that their area has things like vitamins and instant breakfasts that are donated to the clinic and can be passed out to the families in need. We met another little boy who was having trouble chewing and therefore unable to eat and get the nutrients he needs. He was brought in from an orphanage by his social worker and nurse and the volunteers were looking at what things he could chew and getting a better idea of how to give him the things he needs to survive. He was such a ham!! Every time I took a picture he would find a way to look at me and pose for the camera. Again it amazed me how this little boy, who was also an orphan, had so much joy and a personality that shined through.

Overall, it was a very eye-opening experience. It made me so appreciative of my life and how fortunate I am. I have so much admiration for the doctors and nurses who volunteer their time to help these children because one patient at a time they are truly making a difference.

Native Mexican Dancing

This week I decided to look into some of the dancing traditions of the Native American Nations of Central Mexico. One group that had a significant impact on dance today is La Danza Azteca, or the dances of the Aztecs. There are many performing groups throughout the United States and Mexico that continue to share their ancient traditions through dance today.

Even after being conquered by the Spanish and adapting much of their culture, the Aztecs continued to pass traditions on from generation to generation through dance. Accompanied by ancient drum rhythms, the dances connect with the natural elements earth, wind, water, fire and wind. The majority of the dances were created as ritual activity and spiritual and religious acts. Also, dancing was practiced by all people in the Aztec society.

One of the dances still practiced today is the fire dance. The main meaning behind this dance is that the natives wanted to live in harmony with all natural elements, including fire. The message is to show how strong nature is and how people have to learn how to live with it.

In this dance, the dancers put their legs, hands and feet over an open fire in a clay container and the performance is concluded with a dancer extinguishing the fire with their bare foot. Videos of the dance show how physical the movement is. It is very athletic and looks like it requires a great amount of stamina to do successfully. It is truly amazing to see the dancers stand over the flames with such concentration that they feel no pain.

In the Aztec culture, a traditional fire dance can last up to two hours and was performed only once every 52 years, which is considered the Aztec cycle for life, but today, abbreviated lengths of the dance are performed.

Below are some videos of the daring fire dance.

 

Alvin Ailey visits Tucson

This past weekend, company members of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater came to perform at Centennial Hall and members of UA Dance and others from the community were lucky enough to get the chance to hear a lecture from company member Antonio Douthit. He gave us a brief history of the company and also shared the story of his amazing journey to Ailey.

Mr. Alvin Ailey was born in Rogers, Texas where he lived with his mother and brother. He later moved to Los Angeles and was introduced to his mentor Lester Horton. He trained there for a while before he went to New York City to join the musical House of Flowers. Soon after Ailey decided that he wanted to start a company because there was a limited amount of places where African-Americans could dance.

The company was officially started in 1958 and Ailey made his masterpiece “Revelations” only two years later in 1960. He died in 1989 and the company was led by Judith Jamison until lad year when it was taken over by Robert Battle. Douthit said is has been a very seamless transition and he is excited to have a male artistic director to look up to.

The company started this tour on February 1 in Canada and won’t go back home to New York until May. They then have some time off before continuing on their international tour.

“Sometimes I can’t believe I’ve been here for 8 years,” Douthit said, “because we pretty much spend 9 months out of the year on the road.”

Douthit, a St. Louis native, had a very unique start to his dancing career.

One day when he was 16 he was walking down the street with his friends and they heard a loud drumming noise coming from a dance studio. Douthit said they were being bad teenagers and decided to run into the studio and cause a ruckus in the back of the room. The teacher asked them to leave, but the boys insisted on staying so she put them in the back and said to follow along. After class, she said if the boys really wanted to dance they could come back the next day.

“The next day I went back by myself and I stayed forever,” Douthit said.

The teacher of the dance company called a local studio and was able to get Douthit a scholarship to study dance. He began training in jazz dance there and ballet at a different studio in St. Louis. During this time, he fell in love with ballet and was certain it was what he would do for the rest of his life.

Then sophomore year, one of his teachers recommended that he take a master class with Alvin Ailey. Thought he didn’t know much about modern, Douthit went anyways. During the class he was asked to demonstrate a combination across the floor and the company member teaching invited him to attend the performance that night. Douthit explained he didn’t have money to get a ticket, but she told him to meet at the stage door before the show and she would get him in.

Douthit remembers his mother telling him not to get his hopes up and that no one would be there to give him the ticket, but he was determined, so he put on his Sunday church suit and when to the show anyways. Lucky for him, she was there and got him a ticket to the show that changed his life forever.

“Oh my god! This is amazing,” he thought during the performance. “Ballet has nothing on this!” At that point Douthit said he knew that this was the place he needed to be.

After high school he got a job dancing with Dancers of Harlem for three years when his opportunity to dance with Alvin Ailey came knocking on his door.

In November 2003 there was an emergency audition for the company because one of the men had left to go on tour with Beyoncé. Seventy men showed up for the audition that day and Douthit got the job.

He said since he first started in the company the main things he has learned are maturity and patience.

“I learned from Miss Jamison that you might not get it today and you might not get it tomorrow, but when you get it you’ll be ready for it,” he said.

Douthit said he is always amazed by the impact the company has on the world. He said if they can touch one or two people with one performance and then another set of people come in and they can touch that one person and change them for the rest of their lives, then Mr. Ailey has done his job.

When he retires from the company, Douthit said he wants to go back to St. Louis and teach.

“So many people gave me different opportunities. People pushed me to dance and gave me shoes and clothes when my family couldn’t afford them so I want to go back to St. Louis and give back to my community the way they gave back to me.”

Click here to be linked to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre’s Vimeo channel to see some of their different works.

My first trip to Mexico

This past week the University of Arizona has spring break and I crossed the border to Mexico for the first time in my life. So in honor of this “first” I am going to do a special trip edition for my blog.

The trip I took was a 5 day Carnival Cruise to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We took off from San Diego, so me and three friends drove from Tucson on interstate 8 and I got to see the border wall for the first time. I was actually very surprised by what I saw. The wall in this section of the border was a very nice black fence and I think I was most surprised that we could see through to the other side. I guess I was just expecting a massive cement wall that covered the whole border. Along the way we also had every border patrol checks and it was interesting watching who they pulled aside to ask questions. We were only asked if we had fruit or plants while people on the side of the check point were being arrested.

Once the cruise ship ported in Cabo, it was so exciting taking the small boat over and seeing the Mexican Flag, it was strange to me that I was suddenly in a whole different country. When we arrived to the beach the scenery was just breathtaking and the water was beautiful. Everyone was very friendly to us and most everyone that we came in contact spoke english, I’m sure this is because we were near many tourist places on the beach. One of the funny things to me is how some of the things we consider “Mexican” food is not considered so in Mexico. We enjoyed seeing how different foods were interpreted in Cabo.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip and I felt content and safe the entire time. I look forward to going back to Mexico someday and exploring some different areas. Below are a few photos from the trip when we ported in Cabo!