Acknowledging the ever-present link of creativity and culture, the project “Giants in Small, Shallow Pools” was shaped to bring community members into an understanding that embodiment of knowledge, the speaking body and the rhetoric of the body are all tied to patterns of thinking and living; and that the existence and performance of dance comes not from an artistic vacuum; but rather, from the examination of identity, culture and social reconstruction.
It was the goal of the creative project to facilitate thinking and understanding across cultures (both social and academic) through the corporeal and material potential the body possesses to encounter knowledge. The training and craft associated with the creative process, as well as the skills and techniques of performance, were examined and experienced for the purpose of clarifying the language of physical, creative work. Such examination facilitates an application of emergent public languages built from body and image, enabling discussion and dialogue among peoples representing diverse viewpoints.
The project involved eighteen Honors College Students, who were majoring in science, engineering and humanities at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Another Honors College student, majoring in Anthropology, with minors in Japanese, Geology and Dance, developed collaborative performance work through his Honors Thesis, under the direction and guidance of a dance faculty advisor. The third undergraduate was a computer science major, editing the film and discovering the impact of narrative on film making, the body’s image and the documentary process. Members of the local community also participated and unearthed the body’s response to the thematic material of the project: the cost and sustenance of courage.
The body’s experiential knowledge moved through a delicate balance of performance, perception, presence, actions, knowledge and emotions. And yet, it was also inclusive of the narrative potential and the stories which were held individually and corporately. The interrelationship of internal/external work, motivation/gesture, content/form, and thinking/doing, which have long been acknowledged in the world of dance, were required for a clear, articulate language to emerge.
As this shared information network emerged, participants began to experience and understand performance as an intrinsically human activity, capable of transforming one’s notion of the educated self. The resulting film documents the process and product whereby significant knowledge, held by the body, can be used to determine cultural identity, affect dimensions of learning and contribute to the stability and health of the whole person.