How do you give credit where credit is due?

Photo of Harmanie Rose © Stephanie Alexandra Service, Jason FA Cole; Make Up Credit: Angie Balbon

by Harmanie Rose

When I began this project I was so excited to learn. To learn from my mentor Donna Redlick, learn from my dancer, Andrea Cowden, and learn from our shared experiences in the room. What I couldn't have predicted was what we uncovered and the questions that we asked. Questions about our roles in the room, and the ownership of the material. How collaborative is collaborative? When you recognize the different bodies and abilities and curiosities in the room, how is movement generated? How are decisions made? As a choreographer, I tasked Andrea with sourcing material from improvisational scores and then continued to refine and carve down the material based on her authentic curiosity and offerings. In this process who has ownership of the creative material? This has been something I have been pondering. I want to begin by saying that I believe that the work created only exists because of the people in the room.

I am sensitive to the fact that roles are often historically assigned a hierarchical significance. I chose to begin this process by valuing everyone's contribution in the room. We would begin by improvising together and end by discussing and breaking down the discoveries, good and bad of the evening. This was often supported by Donna’s immense dance and somatic experience and often the use of flashcards. Even though I began working this way the questions of who owns the work and how it is acknowledged still arose.

My voice was heard through the themes, ideas, and choices of the choreography. The material was created by Andrea’s curious and investigative improvisation; Always questioning and sourcing from her experiences and sensations. Donna Redlick was in the room supporting the creation by her presence and her knowledge of somatic and laban-based choreography. All of these roles were equally important in the creation of the work we presented.

It would be easy to say that it was a true collaboration and be done. However, it is often true that a dancer may not wish to have ownership of the work. There is pride in doing your job and helping someone bring forth their vision, but what if that vision is not something you yourself would have an interest in creating? I have often worked as a dancer this way. I am proud of being in a dance piece while fully acknowledging that I would not have created this work because my interests would be different. This is how Andrea expressed her feelings to me, in other words with thought, care, and curiosity.

How then would you choose to define, assign and offer credit to the dancer that feels that way? Is it enough to say Choreographed, in collaboration with? Or If the dancer felt more ownership and investment in the work would saying created by yourself and the dancer without assigning roles to feel like you were not acknowledging your voice and experience? I am thinking about this when the way you generate material is based on the movement choices by the dancer or dancers.

In All Bodies Dance Project, we recognize the complex and diverse nature of all bodies, with and without disabilities. No two people are the same or make the same choices. We think of these differences as creative potential and it is seen in all the work we have created. A piece of choreography can look completely different in a different dancer. While I have no idea how best to acknowledge this on paper I do know that the next phase of my choreography will explore this potential by having Andrea teach me her solo that we created together. How will the material look in a body without as much range of movement, and different skills? How will it change? What is important about the movement qualities to her, and how will I translate that into my body. And how will these two solos relate to one another? As much as I have more questions than answers, I look forward to deepening my understanding of the material, and more than likely find more questions.

Harmanie Rose is a disabled dance artist living and working on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Sḵwxḵwú7mesh, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. She is curious about the choreographic possibilities of the disabled dancing body. Harmanie co-founded iDance Edmonton in 2009 as a way of creating ongoing learning and performance opportunities in dance for people with and without disabilities. Since 2014, Harmanie has been working as a performer, choreographer, and facilitator for All Bodies Dance Project. Harmanie has recently joined the board of directors of CRIPSiE in Edmonton, and the board of directors of Canadian Dance Assembly.