Why Dance?

With 70% of the population of Uganda living below the poverty line according to the Northern Uganda Baseline Survey, one might reasonably wonder whether dance is necessary or even beneficial to their communities at this point. When basic needs of the people of these communities remain unmet, what is the point of collaborating in dance classes and performances with them?

1) Dance uplifts the spirit and expresses the soul
The health and well-being of an individual reaches much deeper than merely his or her physical state. His emotional, psychological, and spiritual states are equally important. In post-conflict areas such as Northern Uganda in which much of the population has witnessed or experienced horrific violence, it becomes even more valuable to promote the recovery and renewal of one's mental and emotional states. Dance is the joyous and freeing movement of the body in response these states. It can be used to release pent-up emotions, express one's mood, or explore how one intrinsically responds to music or other movement.

2) Dance is a vehicle around which communities internationally are willing to mobilize
The artistic community is a well-connected and passionate group of individuals seeking to promote creativity in all of its forms. Tuzina wants to harness the energy of this far-reaching community and channel it toward promoting social justice on behalf of those affected by the war in Northern Uganda.

3) Dance tells a story

Dance, as a powerful art form, can be used to explain a situation or memory in a distinct and moving way. It provides a platform through which individuals may share his or her personal story across cultural lines, an act which is very empowering for those who have suffered silently in the past. Dance is a tool of remembrance, for story-telling repertoire may be performed for years to come.

4) Dance allows for personal connection and communication

Dancing requires time and dedication in order to learn the movement and progress in one's technique. It therefore necessitates conversation with and exploration by teachers, students, and fellow dancers. Learning movement is a process of technical and artistic growth, and often it simultaneously brings about personal growth. When the class or rehearsal is conducted in a positive and nurturing way, dance has the potential to deepen the bonds of those taking part and bring them to a clearer sense of who they are in connection with those around them.

5) Dance celebrates culture

Dance reflects the beliefs and values of the culture it represents. In a world so often divided along cultural lines, dance confronts these differences by celebrating rather than lamenting them. It is often the case that one style of dance has been highly influenced by another style that was developed in a culture very different from one's own. Yet this is an aspect of beauty in the dance world because it displays the correlation of its progression through communities across the globe for generations. On a personal level, dance becomes an expression of national identity and a celebration of a community's history.

Art as Advocacy

This weekend I've been in Washington DC along with a couple hundred other students and social activists participating in an action summit sponsored by the organization United to End Genocide. The passion and energy behind the students' activism was tangibly felt as soon as I entered the ballroom in which the main meetings of the conference were held: students sporting Save Darfur and STAND t-shirts, students nodding emphatically in agreement with the speakers' words, students taking advantage of networking opportunities both with each other and with the Sudanese diaspora. It was exhilarating to be a part of the program, to join with young adults in learning from victims themselves about the current situations in Sudan, Libya, Syria, the Congo, and Burma. We learned what we can do not only to raise awareness about these conflicts but also to ensure that the U.S. reacts in a way that is neither acting intrusively nor choosing to remain silent but instead seeks to give the victims the support they need to counteract the atrocities which regimes such as Omar al-Bashir's inflict upon them. It is rare that we recognize atrocities such as these using the term "genocide" when they are occurring--it is only afterward that we recognize genocides for what they are. President Clinton's greatest regret when he left the Oval Office was that he did not do more to prevent the genocide that occurred in Rwanda during his presidency. As Dr. Martin Luther King said, "We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today." I was honored to be part of a group that was willing to recognize the situations in these countries as genocidal in their nature and is committed to actively working to end them.

This weekend I had an important realization: that awareness of these issues is imperative not only in the international community but also in the surrounding areas of the conflicts and by those in post-conflict zones. It is not enough for outsiders to understand the depth of the atrocities; the countries and communities nearby but not involved in the conflict ought to understand it as well because this is essential in ensuring that they do not mistakenly aid or abet the perpetrators of the crimes (silence/inaction itself being a form of abetting). One of the aims of Tuzina is to support the victims of genocide, particularly children, by using dance as a tool of solidarity, expression, and remembrance in bringing healing to their communities. Whether the atrocities are committed by corrupt governments, rebel armies, or the invasive thief called poverty, Tuzina believes that the victims of these assaults can utilize dance to tell their stories so that both the international community and their regional communities might sooner recognize the vicious nature of the wrongs against them and respond. As Rachel Steinhardt said this weekend (in words very similar to those used by filmmaker Jen Marlowe the day before), "Words and statistics speak to our minds; art speaks to our souls...It is our responsibility to keep these stories alive." Dance has the possibility of becoming a tradition through which past conflicts are remembered and current ones are brought to broader attention. It can be used by the older members of the community to remind their children of past conflict and warn them against following in the same pattern. It can be used as a conversation-starter so that audiences can confront the issues and discuss how to respond. Tuzina hopes to be a vehicle through which this tradition is begun.