On the ninth day... Lets face the music and dance!
Wed, 09 Dec 2015 11:28:00 GMT
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me - 'nine ladies dancing'...
Some Christians interpret these nine dancing ladies as the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ namely love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We will need all of these qualities if we are to find ways of ameliorating and mitigating the impacts of climate change.
Can the act of dance enshrine these qualities and be the medium through which humanity can come together to find sustainable solutions? It might seem unlikely, but historically dance and music have been powerful in achieving social change and social cohesion, and have been core to many protests including anti-war campaigns, the feminist movement, and the push for racial equality (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iJ1saL50vo). Dance and music create powerful messages of support and solidarity, probably best exemplified by the anti apartheid movement in South Africa when ‘liberation music’ became a communal expressive act that played a major role in the support of Nelson Mandela, and eventually the reform of the country’s governance.
In recent years dance has been used as a medium to highlight climate change issues, using many forms of dance, ranging from flash mobs to ballet performances http://www.westword.com/arts/karole-armitages-fables-on-global-warming-uses-dance-to-talk-about-climate-change-5812974 . The use of ancient fables and stories is a common theme driving the choreography. For example, Karole Armitage, who has derived inspiration form Aesop, says that ‘the fables were written for the ruling class; they are really about how to use power wisely. They are all told by animals, they all take place in nature and they all naturally have metaphors that relate to climate change’.
The Pacific islands of Kiribati, Tokelau and Tuvalu have come together through dance to show how their islanders are deeply connected to nature, and how that connection is threatened by climate change. They hope to inspire the rest of us to be ‘better stewards of our shared planet’.
These dancers surely embody the nine fruits of the Spirit, but are the world leaders watching and do they understand the message?
We need to remember that ‘Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music’ (Friedrich Nietzsche) – maybe we need to play the music more loudly?
