Manifesto Writing Process

MANIFESTO WRITING PROCESS:

leading up to our 7th anniversary, Post Natyam has begun to work on our "manifesto"-- here is one step of our process... initial collection of content ideas... its completely free and open in terms of form, the content is structured in terms of our work areas and themes that came out of an initial brain storm of what the manifesto should contain.

Part I of this post contains a summary of our brainstorm for the manifesto- what it should be for the collective, and what it should contain -- for your reference. I also pasted the timeline below.

Part II is a set of questions designed to collect our ideas. I have divided the collection into different areas and included guidance questions for each-


PART I:
1- DEFINITION: Summary of what we want our Manifesto to be:
It should be brief, to the point, and inspiring of course
proclaim our politics/policies/intentions in a clear and interesting way
A bold and inspiring public declaration of what we believe in, how we act, and how that makes us unique (our principles and intentions)
artistic mission on crack
unapologetic
vision (manifesto) vs realistic goal (mission)
It should articulate our believes in
collaboration:
Authorship/Ownership
our future vision and our politics

(details see p.2 onwards)

2- TIMELINE: Proposed Process of Writing the Manifesto:
We agree on questions/themes/topics it should contain (July) DONE
We each individually write up a draft of a manifesto from our personal point of view (no need to be super long/ well crafted yet- its a DRAFT) ( in progress)
We brainstorm a performative version (skype-call type) of the manifesto (August)
Complete written and performative versions in September (One or two of us are in charge of written document, one or two of us are in charge of performative version)-
Announce in our 7 year anniversary October 2011
Sandra present in Salzburg 13./14.October 2011



PART 2:

1: Collaboration

A. Artistic collaboration:

how do we ( want to):
a. think about choreography

CYN:
I choreograph to make connections between my disparate homes and worlds.
I choreograph to ask questions that I usually can’t answer.
I choreograph to play in possibility and to dream of new possibilities.
I choreograph as a rehearsal for life. I choreograph because sometimes it is easier to be brave in the studio than in life.

But choreography is also its own prison, a historical construct embedded in hierarchical Western concert dance practice, erasing the voices of the street, the club, the community, the circle, the temple, the court, the picket-line, the oral tradition, the non-west.

I defy choreography that erases my ancestors. My choreography is my ancestors speaking through my body; my choreography is arguing with my ancestors using the body they gave me.
I defy choreography as dictatorship. I embrace collaboration, shared ownership, multiple voices blending and clashing in dialogue.
I defy choreography as product. I embrace process. Resonant material transforms over time, as it alights in new contexts, as it forms relations with new audiences.
I defy choreography as dance; I dance through movement, sound, rhythm, film, writing, academia, but coming back, always, to the body.

BABLI: Not insisting on Innovation, instead emphasize

YES to TRANSLATION:

(Cyn and I have thought about choreography as translation rather than innovation
in terms of a way of relating to traditional, passed down material (movements, images, texts, structures) - Thinking in terms of (multiple) lineages being translated, juxtaposed, brought into dialogue, etc)

YES to RECYCLING
YES to Re-Using

(each others material)
I feel as though to make our transnational work more fruitfully transnational creating a treasure box of choreographic material around a given theme through our long distance process that each one can draw on locally would be a great enriching model


Shy:
Yes to innovation
Yes to growth and change
Yes to rigorous artistry and craft
Yes to deep rooted understanding of Indian dance forms through our bodies and intellects...

Anj: Choreography is opening ourselves to infinite possbilites
Living large
Dreaming big
Creating the unexpected
Listening to each other and being astute observers of the world and living now

yes to making work that breaks boundaries and challenges norms
yes to work that matters
yes to bold, fierce and juicy!
yes to extending from traditions



b. think about interdisciplinarity

BABLI:
collect anything useful
cultivate a “SCAVENGER METHODOLOGY” (Judith Jack Halberstam)
No disciplinary loyalty


Shy:
no to narrow definitions of dance
yes to using our whole selves to create work
yes to choreographing the face
yes to writing
yes to speaking and making noise with our bodies
yes to screaming at the top of our lungs or making the tiniest whisper
yes to rhythm and a-rhythm and musicality and silence
yes to theater
yes to film
yes to audience involvement and breaking walls (4th and otherwise)
yes to new things we haven’t thought of yet

CYN:
“natya” as a multiple-faceted performing arts, historically inclusive of dance, music, theater; now perhaps including film, multimedia.
A way to draw upon our various talents and expertise (but not to sacrifice artistic rigor).
A way to build bridges with allies/collaborators.

Anj: We create beyond borders
Artistic process opens up to inventive ways of integrating across disciplines
Visionary in how we approach and define dance making through deconstruction and translation
Not limited but limitless in how we integrate music, writing, spoken word and mulit-media into our creative sunbursts

c. negotiate barriers of distance and geography (blog as open source of our process?)
BABLI:
NO to BORDERS
NO TO CLINGING TO MATERIAL (OWNERSHIP)
YES TO OPEN SOURCE
YES to CIRCULATION (of artistic material, ideas, information, etc)
yes to changing, re-using, drawing upon each others
BUT what about others- beyond collective: draw on choreographic approaches, but not our material?


Anj: Creating art in a virtual world
Making space for creation, community, and translation in cyberspace
Opening up our artistic process in real time
Shy:
yes to open source
yes to accessibity
yes to inclusion
yes to bounding across geographies and political divides in our communications and eventually in our bodies
yes to being rooted in the local and rocking the global
yes to community –however you choose to make it
yes to consensual sharing and translating and using and confusing

CYN:
Make work that acknowledges our specific geographies and how they shape each of us.
Build the community that we need with any tools available. We embrace technology as a means to an end, as a means that may transform the end.
Build homes and alliances in multiple places.

d. create materials that relate to each other are in dialogue with each other, feed each other, comment on each other, etc.

BABLI: see

YES TO RECYCLING (above)
YES TO DIALOGUE
YES TO DIS/AGREEMENT
YES TO CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM

Shy:
When we’re in a group collaboration:
yes to a consensual construct
yes to sharing material with each other
yes to transforming and growing each other’s ideas
no to trying to be carbon copies of each other - if you’re going to use it, make it your own
yes to giving reins to the those who can run with it
yes to giving credit wherever possible
no to holding each other back
yes to inclusion
no to divas
yes to complex pieces that come out of a complex process
yes to communication and transparancy
yes to making things so exciting and intermixed that we don’t know who the author is
yes to taking leadership
If you aren’t present, you can’t be heard
If you don’t communicate or contribute, you can’t expect to be included
yes to respect for each others work
yes to trust
note: I have some notes from Urmika’s lecture on copywright that would be useful to share with
you all when talking about this...

When not in a collaborative process together:
yes to asking permission before using, transforming, or performing each other’s work
yes to supporting each other’s individual work
yes to feedback on the choreographer’s own terms

Anj: Creative toss of ideas
Supportive group feedback influencing artistic generation
Listening, processing, filtering, feeding, and vocalizing in constant dialogue to sustain and feed sense of community

GROUP PROCESS: Be generous. Be a thief. Encourage each other to borrow, steal, appropriate, translate. Do so fearlessly rather than tiptoeing on eggshells. Trust each other as artists and human beings. Commit to documenting your work so that it can reenter the group dialogue. Commit to the group dialogue.

Ask if you’re not sure. Give credit where credit is due. Recognizing each others’ contributions enriches rather than diminishes your work.

e. negotiate a multiplicity of perspectives
BABLI:
no a single vision
no a single artistic director
collaborative development of theme and base materials
multivocality
no need to make a unified artistic or political statement-- multiple approaches/voices/opinions can coexist
no aesthetic unity


Shy:
yes to diverse points of view
yes to variety
no to only one right way
yes to a whole that is bigger and better and more amazing than any of it’s parts could possibly be alone...
no to one truth, one vision
yes to messy, as long as it’s fulfilling!

Paolo Friere: A monologue is a colonial pedagogy; dialogue is liberatory.
A coalition as a shared context of struggle, not a shared identity.
Do we need to make work that provides “the answer”? Or can we make work that asks questions?
How can we learn from each other’s differences?

If you need to create unity, coherence, a singular clarity: then make that choreography on your own, and we’ll give feedback.

Anj: We are stronger with a shared voice
Many perspectives instigate juicy dialogue ergo interesting art
“United we stand divided we fall”---Abe Lincoln

f. circulate creative material

BABLI
Treasure box of choreographic materials and approaches
“Energy-ball”/Crystal-Ball being passed around
reveal multiple facts of one topic/assignment/etc.

Shy:
yes to open source
yes to inclusivity
yes to accessibility
yes to writing our own herstory
yes to process as an important part of the product
yes to process without product
Yes to sharing our unique visions because no one else can make work exactly like us.

CYN:
We embrace internet as a way to facilitate our creative process, to circulate creative material to collaborators and audiences that are distant from us in time and place.

Anj: Circulating creative material feeds the Collective
Adds to our multiplicity and strengthens our greater philosophy and vision
Eases us into the area of Translation and opens up interesting art in terms of construction, deconstrucion, innovation---more to work with

g. think about authorship (see II)

Shy:
see “d” above
CYN: See “d.”
Regarding collaborators, introduce them to our way of working and then create a contract with them upon entering the process.
When differing from the “norm,” create a contract upon entering a new project/process.
Anj: Deciding collectively what is up for grabs among us members and what is owned by individual and need permission to be used

Formal contracts? Not familiar with what this would be

h. anything you want to add

Shy’s draft:
WE ARE A COLLECTIVE
we are not a company
we are not about one monolithic vision, position, or approach
we listen with care, we dream wild, we live process, and we create.... magic
we create that unique magic that comes from the unexpected unity of our virtual variety
we share, we learn, we grapple with difference –and we don’t gloss it over
we value hybridity; we value humanity
we embrace change and our roots are deep
in sharing our responsibilities we multiply our reach, our resources, our enthusiasm, our possibilities
to create... change
we support the creations of the individual, the creations of the collective, and everything in-between
our open-sourced voices echo across continents in unision and sometimes in dissonance -and even that is part of our aesthetic
we are structured and skilled
informed and investigative
we create the meaningful; not carbon-copied empty form
we are “thinking bodies,” we are “dancing words,”
we are sonic images, we are projected thoughts
we are live, we are virtual
and WE ARE POST NATYAM


B. Administrative Collaboration

how do we (want to)
a. divide and rotate roles

BABLI:
yes to sharing responsibility
yes to dividing work
no to multiplying work
yes to freeing up time and energy for creativity
take into account each others
preferences
interests
abilities
availability


Shy: (NOTE:
Administratively: I think division of labor without rotation makes the most sense; we’ve fallen into roles that we are more or less good at and have gotten used to these roles. Some roles I would be better at then others...
Aristically : rotation of roles makes the most sense depending on the project, though I have to admit I think that we don’t rotate as conscientiously as possible and more often rely on egalitarian opinions)

Yes, to responsibiity
yes to division of labor
yes for making consitent time for PNC
yes to rise to the occasion

CYN: ditto Babli.

Anj: Ditto Cyn and Babli

b. approach decision making (e.g. inclusiveness while keeping things moving)
BABLI
commitment to multivocality
but emphasize keeping moving
lack of availability cannot unduly slow down process


Shy:
Yes to inclusiveness
invite others to particpate in the decisions in each role

and to quote my self in sec D earlier:
If you aren’t present, you can’t be heard
If you don’t communicate or contribute, you can’t expect to be included

CYN:
Ditto Shy’s quote.

Our multiple voices in dialogue are the compost that makes our soil rich and fertile.
The farmer/project lead plans for the seasonal arc of the year.
Delegates the tasks of tilling, hoeing, planting, weeding, harvesting to her worker/collaborators. All commit to the timeline, to communicating, to asking for help.
We adapts for unexpected droughts, floods, and sunshine.
Throughout we continue to compost and fertilize the soil.
Sometimes we harvest something different than we planted.

Anj: Time Commitment will determine each persons involvement
Those that are most present and committed should make the decisions so process is not slowed down
Larger issues that affect the Collective as a whole should be communicated to all

c. share responsibilities to further our artistic work and nourish an infrastructure for efficiency of work
BABLI
YES TO efficiency due to
YES TO smart streamlining
YES TO sharing work (in order to reduce individual work)
YES TO collectively building infrastructure
emphasize that which collectively can be achieved, but not individually as easily


Cyn: We strive not to multiply work, but to lessen the administrative workload for each of us. We recognize that this is only possible when we consistently commit to doing a certain amount of work.

Anj: Clarity in each persons roles and responsibilities will aid in streamlining and efficiency
Revisiting ongoing vs. project to project duties

Shy: if I’m doing something for me, I might as well do a little more for us
and likewise when you do something for you, please do a little more for we

d. balance work load in the collective and the member’s work load, responsibilities and circumstances outside the collective
BABLI:
we are women, we need to make a living, the collective should be facilitating our creativity rather than drain it
should be administrative support network, rather than extra burden


Shy:
yes to responsibility
yes to healthy, balanced lives
yes to the passion!
yes to communicating when we’re overwhelmed
yes to divisions of labor
yes to delegation
yes to understanding
yes to taking care of ourselves.

CYN: Honesty and transparency about what you can and are willing to commit to. Among your different life priorities, where does PN fall? What would you need to push it higher on the list?

e. negotiate transnational complications
BABLI
commitment to transnationality needs to be reflected in administrative planning



II. Authorship/Ownership
what is a Post Natyam project or not

CYN:
Maybe there is never a Post Natyam project, only a Post Natyam process.(this is interesting to Babli, cyn and shy), Anj agreed in a separate conversation with Shy
Alternately, it could be a Post Natyam project when 2+ members are centrally involved AND the project advances contemporary South Asian art by virtue of aesthetic investigation and/or subject matter.(this is what we have defined it in the past)
Or when all four members are involved in either virtual or live form AND the work advances our artistic mission (creative and critical approach to S. Asian art).


BABLI NOTE FROM DISCUSSION ABOUT “WHAT IS A POST NATYAM PROJECT”-- WE REALIZE THAT ON THE WEBSITE it was Cynthia’s option 2-- but the website was done before we started
CYN summarizes: point of collective IS NOT to perform together, but for us to engage in a shared process with each other, which might manifest itself in many different ways nteresting to Babli, cyn and shy), Anj agreed in a separate conversation with Shy



ex: “SUNOH! tell me sister” created through Post Natyam ’collective’s creative long distance process, don’t call a project of Post Natyam, but can call a project of POst Natyam members.
all projects of PNC members...

ex: “TRACE”

Website: reorganize all to be in one place?
past repertory page and clarify current stuff

REORGANIZE WEBSITE!!!

SHY:
every-project has to be defined in the beginning-- re-defined as necessary; no project assumed
collective process is where we “steal”-- define at beginning what a project is
how do we (want to)
deal with ownership of each other’s material
sharing of each other’s material
citing of each other’s material
borrowing of each other’s material
“stealing” each other’s material


I generally agree with Shy’s outline above.

SHY: Ownership about circulating “stealing” re-using, recycling each others material within a consensual shared process (four-way, three-way, two-way)
how we honor or credit contributions (from each other and others beyond the collective)

Regarding teaching: how do we think about our practices in teaching and sharing our tools, both in terms of dance forms and choreographic methodologies (are we open source or guru shishya or ?, etc.)
Keeping in mind that many of us make the bulk of our income through teaching, how much do we want to make our teaching curriculum public and free online? Are we okay with publicizing teaching ideas before we’ve actually taught them?

Shy: yes to the above question - each teacher has a unique style and even though you and I may use the same idea, the outcome may be extremely different.
How might online “teaching” interface with some of Sangita’s ideas about creating a web-based community around contemporary S. Asian dance?


Shy:
No to power plays
no to dominatrix gurus (not sure I would really make this line public)
no to cultural ownership
no to cultural stagnancy
yes to transformation
yes to honoring our legacies
yes to mentoring
no to surrender (submission)
yes to practice
yes to consistant practice
yes to committment
yes to life-long learning
yes to learning from our students
yes to transformation
yes to facilitating other’s growth
no to factory teaching
yes to individuality
yes to critical thinking
yes to creativity
no to carbon copies
yes to thinking bodies
yes to leadership
yes to respect

CYN:
Honor your ancestors.
Don’t touch my feet.
This is what it meant to me when I touched my guru’s feet.
Contextualize.
Historicize.
Critique.
Problematize.
Dialogue.
Play.
Translate this to your own lives.
Refuse the myth of mastery. Refuse to be worshipped.
Submit to the practice while asking “why?” and “what if?”.
Be curious.
Celebrate and challenge the aesthetics epolitics embedded in the form.
Give your students agency.
Be generous.

III: POLITICS/INTERVENTION
How do we define
our motto to critically and creatively engage with classical Indian dance forms and aesthetics
what is the driving factor(s) behind our work (our political agendas) and why?
where we want to intervene politically and how,
where and how we want to work towards cultural and social change, beyond the collective.


Cyn: I bite down hard into knotty histories of Hindu patriarchal nationalist clamping down into erasures of Muslim courtesan secular voices I imagine erased voices the form reenters my body with its American stride its yellow skin and short hair and postmodern leanings I spit and twist and breathe and wonder about boxes and the division of the classical image from the classical practice. I want to make room for funky butch-femme gender queer loving woman centered hard-hitting rapping rhythmic subtle virtuosic heartfelt abhinaya rasa for movement across oceans and cities and bodies.

Shy:
yes to challending gender norms
yes to inclusivity
yes to QUILTBAG
no to injustice
no to racism
no to exoticism
no to orientalism
yes to hybridity...hybrid bodies, hybrid genders, hybrid forms

PN Manifesto Draft (Anjali)
We collect our many voices to create and translate choreography, writings, and art across distant boundaries, overseas, here and there, everywhere that dance happens in the “liminal” space between Classical and Contemporary. Constructing, reconstructing, and deconstructing, we grapple with South Asian aesthetics, in dialogue with each other and informed by the space where our lives and art intersect. Our process is shared between ourselves and amongst the public as it happens. We dare to enter into multi-media explorations as they interface with South Asian aesthetics and feminist politics in relation to race, gender, dance studies, and contemporary living. Our Dance Collective is on the move. Our travels take us around the world and into cyberspace, where we use the virtual world as our canvas and continue to forge community to create connections

Babli: Challenge , Refuse, Counteract:
Any Discrimination
Exoticism
Racism
Sexism
Homophobia
Communalism
Class/Caste-ism
Aesthetic and other hegemonies
Senseless Market-politics

NO to orthodoxy
Yes to Equality
Yes to equal rights, equal access, equal chances
Yes to Diversity
Yes to inbetweenness
Yes to Sustainability
Yes to Openness
No to “centrisms”
Yes to continued learning
Yes to new perspectives

How does all the above manifest creatively, collaboratively, administratively in terms of our working processes?
What is our future vision and our politics, concerning our work

a) internally in the collective,
b) concerning our work locally, where members live
c) transnationally
d) our relationship to community



POST:
Shy:
Post is a tribute
a recognition
a nod
to the post modern in me
to the period after I first learned Bharata Natyam and modern dance simultaneously

Post as in after AND post as in choreographic tools to grapple and reformulate my chosen techniques.

Post as in Post colonial and the tools and approaches to grapple with my dance forms’ herstories, their legacies, their complex gender roles, and their contributions to nation-states.

Post as in a pole to ground myself locally into the earth and fly a flag with my chosen dance forms as a beacon to others who wish to engage in the critical and creative dialogue (not as a marker to exclude others or rally nationalist pride).

And from my outpost, I send messages through the cyber-post, decentralizing and multiplying, layering and creating meaning through art, dialogue, research, and becoming part of a movement.


Post (Anj)
Post is the invention and creativity that develops and takes flight from the roots,
Post happens after the solid foundation has been established
Post is the subversive
Post is engaging in the present informed by what has come before
Post followed by Natyam is the infinite possibilities that open up after years and years of training in a traditonal Indian dance form
Post is the ability to think outside the box
Post is the meeting of modernity and tradition
Post allows for creation across genres, traditions, and communities
Post is cool
Post is open to learning
Post is not afraid
Post is experimental
Post is anything is possible

4. EXAMPLE MANIFESTOS/ inspirations

- Cyberfeminism Manifesto/100 Anti-theses: http://www.functionfeminism.com/

- Yvonne Rainer's NO MANIFESTO

- Sheetal Gandhi's Manifesto (on her facebook)