Proposal: Cultural dances and performances
I think a good subject for our class website could be cultural dances and performances that immigrants bring from their home country to America. Performances like these are normally in smaller niches and not as mainstream so they preserve more of the immigrant culture, unlike huge holidays that have been Americanized. For example the St. Patrick’s Day parade has been transformed from what it is in Ireland and is more heavily focused on alcohol here in America. But the actual parade part featured traditional Irish music and clothing, which showed me something about the culture. Performances like Chinese opera, Irish river dancing, African dance and Spanish dancing like Salsa dancing could be performances that the class looks into. While these lesser-known performances may seem strange to outsiders, I think it would be a good way to showcase ethnic performing culture. Dance and performance is also a multidimensional way to show the people of New York because it encompasses many fields. Not only is dancing movement of people, but it also requires music and costumes, which are unique to each culture.
As we have already seen at MOCA, Chinese opera played an important role in immigrant adaptation in Chinatown. We could see the traditional costumes, props and instruments that they used to perform. The items showcased at the museum also revealed how the Chinese immigrants had to change from their traditional opera to adapt to modern settings in America. While immigration stories are different for each culture, dance and performance are things that span all cultures. Each culture has their own unique way of performing that they bring to New York with them when they immigrate. The important role that performing played in the Chinese culture in America might be similar to the effect that performing had on other cultures trying to adapt too.
This idea would also bring back some of the knowledge we gained in our neighborhood visit trips. On our trips we were able to see the different cultures that were strongholds in certain areas, like Chinese in Chinatown and Indian/Ecuadorian in Jackson Heights. These are the neighborhoods where there is probably some sort of traditional dance school or theater where we could learn about the culture. While it was not necessary to know the language of the area during the neighborhood visit project, it would be helpful in this project so that we could gain a deeper understanding of the performance through interviews.
Since this is going to be an online website project, there are many ways to incorporate multimedia with this topic. Dance and performance can be filmed and recorded, and interviews can be conducted with performers. Students can also research the backgrounds of the performances for extra context, and to compare performances in America to performances in the respective home countries to see what adaptations had to be made in America. Students can go to these performances and note observations, or can go to schools where they teach the dances and obtain information through interviews and watching. Even if a student does not speak the language of the area, he or she can still contribute through finding background research online or contributing an outsider opinion on the performance.
