CONTEMPORARY DANCE IN THE CARIBBEAN
The Dominican Republic has about 9 million inhabitants of whom 73% are black and 75% live on the edge of poverty. Santo Domingo is the cultural and administrative center of the island. Dominican culture is heavily influenced by both North American culture (especially among younger people) and its own popular traditions, such as the Carnival, cockfights, and particularly popular dance styles such as merengue, bachata and palos or atabales.
Dominican contemporary dance suffers from a lack of support from both the public and private sectors and from lack of information on all levels: updated documentation, systematic training and professionalizing degrees. In view of these conditions, the persistence through which independent choreographers manage to maintain their activities of creation, training and dissemination are remarkable.
Contexts for the presentation of dance
The only international event that can be considered a festival is the Encuentro de Danza Contemporanea (EDANCO) created in 2004 by Edmundo Poy, a professor at the Escuela Nacional de Danza. This event does not have a defined curatorial line and is very informal in the selection of national groups. International performers were invited to the last two editions.
There is also the Meeting of Contemporary Choreographers, which welcomes the Dominican artists that are most committed to the development of dance. This event was created in 1996 and has been slowly gaining an audience for contemporary dance since then. Foreign artists were invited to the editions of 2000 and 2002, but its focus is now on the participation of Dominican choreographers and performers. The festival does not have a defined curatorial line either, but seeks to ensure the quality of the works presented. The artistic direction and production is run by the Choreographers Collective, comprised of eight choreographers, who also present their work alongside the guests.
There is no institution that offers a support program for dance. Artists can seek modest collaborations for shows or travel expenses through the Ministry of Culture. The new government abolished the Dirección Nacional de Danza (National Dance Department) with Mr. Victor Ramirez (co-director, choreographer and dancer of Ballet Roto) as its head in 2008.
There are a few companies that operate intermittently and in an amateur manner. The companies Bló Bló, Ballet Roto and Contemporary Dance Xpres, the latter created by the Costa Rican Karol Marenco should be highlighted. Bló Bló was created by Awilda Polanco and the Mexican Cecilia Way in 2003. In 2008 the company won the 1st prize at the 1st Biennial of Caribbean Contemporary Dance. This award was an important step towards a greater appreciation of contemporary dance on the island. Ballet Roto was founded in 1993 by Mercedes Morales and Víctor Ramírez, who have always looked for new forms of movement based on different styles and techniques.
There is no college level dance education in the country. The National School of Dance (ENDANZA) is the main center for dance education and offers a degree of contemporary performance since 2006 (along with classical and folkloric music). It is worth mentioning that in the two classes that have graduated so far, very few have opted to deepen their training as contemporary artists. Most privately run dance schools are geared towards classical ballet. There are a few private schools with a contemporary focus such as Ecos Espacio de Danza and Expresiones y Danzas Soraya Gallardo. There are no publications specializing in dance. Some webpages and blogs that publish information on culture in the Dominican Republic are Vetas Digital www.vetasdigital.com, Caudal, Quarterly journal of literature, art and thought, www.revistacaudal.blogspot.com, El Monstruo del Entremés, an independent magazine on Dominican theater, numbers 1-2-3. www.teatroguloya.org.
Text by : Awilda Polanco, Jochi Muñoz and Maricarmen Rodríguez, March 2009