1person really can make a difference!

Currently I am taking an online class called survey of dance. This class is quite fun and informational, and as a former dancer, I love it! For the class, I was required to go to I~MOVE, a dance performance put on by ISU's dance department. This performance is a taste of what ISU dance has to offer. There were 6 pieces which included ballet, interpretative dance, modern dance, and jazz. I thought Jozlyn would want to go with me. I thought she would enjoy sampling other kinds of dance and a night out with mom. Well, things took a bad turn. When I got home, I emailed my professor and the director of the dance department. Rather than explain everything, I'll just copy and paste what I wrote to both of them.

"Hello, I am a student in your online survey of dance class. Tonight I attended I~MOVE with my daughter who just turned 7 years old in January. I have to say I am extremely disappointed that children were allowed to watch. All of the information I saw about I~MOVE just stated what type of dances were involved and that children under 6 were not able to attend. No where did I see a rating until we were there and the program stated that I~MOVE was PG. The fact that there were tickets available for children seemed to me to encourage children over 6 to watch the program. My daughter dances classical ballet and I thought that she would enjoy seeing other types of dances performed by experienced dancers. I completely disagree with a PG rating. With some of the content involved, I~MOVE should have definitely have been rated at least PG-13. While we enjoyed the Grand Waltz, Landscaping for Privacy was a completely different story. I have been involved in dance and so I have seen interpretive dance and modern dance before. It was not the type of dance that bothered me. I thought some of the content was adult themed such as the ethnic girl scrubbing her skin to the Cheer commercial or the woman backing away from an abuse husband. This content was probably over my daughter's head but caused me no real concern. What bothered me was a section in Landscape for Privacy in which a female dancer, dances in front of the TV, kneels and crawls over to the male dancer, puts her hands on his legs, and bows her head over his "_______ area" for a few minutes. Then she gets up, looks at the audience, fixes her hair, and wipes her face. Uh, hello? Isn't this supposed to be interpreted as ____ ___? What about ____ ___ says, "All 6 and over come and watch?" Even if this isn't what the dance was choreographed to portray, it was still how it came across to the audience. I was also bothered by On a Vegas Night. The costumes were revealing and the dancing a little suggestive in parts. I would compare this dance to something on MTV. I would never let my 7 year old watch MTV either.

I understand that I~MOVE is a college organization and this implies that the choreography will be liberal, edgy, and modern. I completely agree that choreographers and dancers should have artistic freedom. I would not want to squelch anyone's desire to portray their thoughts and feelings through art. Just call it what it is. Don't give it a PG rating if it's not PG. If it had been rated as such, I still would have attended because of the class assignment, but I would not have taken my daughter. I would suggest that in the future, if dances contain mature content, put that information on the advertisements. For example, "Children 6 years and older can attend but be advised that some dances contain adult content." That would suffice.

I know that my daughter didn't completely understand the sexual undertones, but I know she felt that something was different. I am afraid that tomorrow I will have to talk to her and explain a few things. I was hoping that the ____ talk could wait a few more years as she just turned 7. What's even more upsetting is that dance, something that her and I both love and experience together, was something that took just a little more of her innocence away.

I have really enjoyed your class and will continue to enjoy it. This in no way reflects how I feel towards the class or yourself as the instructor. I just felt strongly enough to email you my thoughts. I sincerely hope that you will take my advice into consideration in the future and bring it up with the director. I plan on emailing the same email to Josephine Garibaldi, the Director of Dance. Thank you for understanding the concerns of a loving mother."

I changed some wording to blanks because I didn't want to offend anyone or give anyone cause to report my blog. I'm sure you can figure out what the blanks mean. Well, I received an email back from the director of dance who stated that she forwarded my message to the house manager. She said she appreciated my suggestion and was advising the house manager to put a sign outside the theatre entrance warning the show contained adult content. VICTORY! I guess 1 person can make a difference. I might further suggest that all such precautions be taken in future productions as well. If any of you wish to express any concerns or suggestions to the director, leave me a comment and I'll send you her email address.