Thank you to the hundreds of you who signed and shared our petition requesting support for our efforts to engage Odyssey Dance Theatre in dialog. We met with ODT yesterday. Present were a number of our community partners and members of ODT, including Board member Marlies Burns, Media Consultant Susie Carlson, Artistic Director Derryl Yeager as well as the company of dancers. Derryl began by apologizing for what the dancers did. I believe that the apology was sincere.
It was clear to me that this incident was grounded in ignorance and not malice. I say this as someone who has had over 250,000 cases come through his court, has heard tens of thousands of defendants speak about their crimes, heard apologies and denials countless times. I feel somewhat confident in my ability to spot B.S. being shoveled my way.
We watched a performance of the "Tea" dance. Then we had a candid discussion on some anachronism inherent in their staging and costuming. They seemed to want to present a portrayal that is not culturally insensitive. But they will definitely need our help to get there.
We should remember that people make mistakes, especially young people. It is rarely productive, and can be counter-productive, to seek to extract a pound of flesh. We have a wonderful opportunity to take a teaching moment and develop it into a long term relationship to ensure that future productions are free from derogatory, harmful or false depictions of, not only our community, but all communities.
There are, no doubt, other characterizations that are objectionable or problematic. We can have more input, more influence, and better results by not vilifying the company. We must hold them to their word that they do not want to cause harm or offense. We will hold them accountable for their choices.
As I said at the outset of our first community conference call, I am particularly sensitive to avoiding the appearance of seeking to censor or engage in prior restraint of their artistic choices. I don't like all art, but even to those which I find most objectionable, I would not seek to prevent or prohibit it from being created or presented.
We can and must bring our objections to the artists attention. We can and must continue to educate the artists and the community. ODT has opened the door for us to consult and advise. I hope that we will take this opportunity and make the most of it.
Aristotle believed that "Art imitates Life". Must true Art mirror society, the bad as well as the good in order to be Art? Or, does "Life imitate Art" as Oscar Wilde believed? Does Art inform, does it lead and do we as a society model what we see in Art? I'm not as smart as either of those gentlemen, but I believe it's a little of both. Sort like Yin & Yang, there are times when Art merely reflects to us how and who we are. There are also times when Art leads us by showing how we can be. I may be waxing philosophic but I do know that I need Art; We need Art. Even Art that we find personally offensive.
I've been dealing with this . . . stuff for a long time. It doesn't end. It never will. We can reduce it by building allies. Some of our staunchest supporters and most ardent defenders have been people that first encountered us in adversity.
We will continue to engage in dialog with ODT to help them better understand our community so they can better represent us in their performances. It is easy to understand that race relations have changed dramatically since the Nutcracker & the Mouse was originally written in 1816. Through it's many interpretations, artists have been hesitate to stray from the original story line. But, times have changed and we have a better understanding of one another.
ODT, to their credit, has committed to continue to update their performance to truly bring this story into "the present day" for modern audiences including more accurate portrayals of the various racial communities. We will work with them to ensure that they fulfill that commitment successfully. We will keep you updated as things progress.
Again, Thank You for Your Support!