Global travel can feel surreal.

By the time I write my next post, I will be in New Zealand on the opposite side of the world from my home in NYC. Given the current state of global telecommunications, I have already booked both social and work appointments starting this weekend, as though getting there just means walking around the corner. I have no idea if my flight will be delayed, or worse, but life dictates that I operate on the premise that I will get there. So onward... with the realization that I won't be grabbing coffee in the morning at my usual neighborhood haunts for the next month or so, nor will I be paddling in my own kayak... 

The autumnal colors are out in the USA, while I am heading into Spring in New Zealand.

As a performing artist, it was natural to imagine the worst right before stepping out on to a stage for an audience of just a few or of thousands. "Curtain up" is a deadline unlike most others in life, and being prepared as a performer is typically the best method of managing what is to come once the curtain is up (this may just be a spot light or any beginning of a performance).

To be honest, preparing for a project where I will be far away from my day-to-day familiar can feel very similar to stage fright where I can imagine all kinds of things going wrong. I have to remember to breathe and not panic about all the unknowable things in store for me. After all, I know I am not the only person who has done a Fulbright project in a foreign country (sic: what Fulbright was designed to do). Somehow, as I age, I spend a lot more time talking to myself, and reminding myself that my apprehensions are often driving factors in my research, preparations and resultant faith in having done my best to prepare for both the known and the unknown.

Fulbright Specialists have been vetted by their peers, and approved for grants based on their expertise and accomplishments in their fields. I take this endorsement quite seriously, and realize how little objectivity I have with regards to my own abilities. In dance, such abilities can feel intrinsically attached to my physical and mental abilities, and I have to approach my body and mind for what they are in the moment. I have not only survived in a notoriously insecure field, but sustained a professional involvement throughout my lifetime. Yet the constant question I keep answering is, "Why is Art and performance" something important to society?"

Linguistically, how a society communicates within and without is far from static, and new words and phrases get introduced, while others fall out of use. Still, spoken language is important to communicate ideas amongst us as humans, and how we do so is subject to everything from context to intonation. Music is another construct for communication and can encompass so much more than words, whether heard by itself or in conjunction with lyrics. Diving a little deeper into this line-of-thought is where movement in conjunction with music can also transcend spoken and written languages to communicate both explicitly and subliminally.

"I Shot the Sheriff" original song by Bob Marley, most successful cover by Eric Clapton

I have occasionally listened to reggae songs written by Jamaican artists being sung with non-Jamaican accents, with mixed results for my ear. I was born and grew up in Jamaica, and have often been noted for how my accent defines my pronunciations in spoken English. So when lyrics are written to sit on music, the choice of words are often designed to fit with the musical rhythms, rendering them in harmony and understandable. Changing the emphasis in how words are pronounced mostly defines an accent versus a dialect of a language where grammatical structures and words might differ. 

Conversing with individuals who have strong accents that differ from our own, often brings attention to the beauty of language, while differentiating how it is used to communicate. As a listener in such a conversation, it is essential to remain open to hearing words differently and allowing their meaning to be understood. I think of dance in a similar fashion, where dances that are performed by different and differently trained bodies may transcend words for a global audience.

But returning to the insecurities I wrote of at the top of this post, my work is to place the choreographer, Paul Taylor, and his dances into the context of his life and time; while also being open to the life that the New Zealand dancers infuse into the steps as individuals with their own histories and culture. My role is no longer being the performer on stage in front of audiences, but in guiding and supporting the performers of this generation to make Art out of their self expression within the structure of the choreography created by Taylor. My role here too feels filled with responsibility for the privilege that my career has provided to me, and the fear of failure is a constant that keeps me attentive to all that I do. I will feel the success or failure of performances borne out of my efforts to be on my shoulders.

Curtain call for 2025 production of Chess on Broadway, in previews.

As an audience member at a performance of a musical, a play, a dance that touches something within me, no matter how momentary or how long, I find myself in awe of the performers. And while I know that individual artistry may highlight performers I find enthralling, it is everyone and everything around them and all the factors that led to that show, that gave me a transcendent experience. I can be as avid a fan of shows, performers, and companies as the next person, and I can be equally incredulous that I could play a part in such an experience for another audience somewhere.

I imagine that it is my own self-doubt that has kept me ever curious about new projects and ongoing research into how Performance Art has always been a part of human culture.

This blog (FNZdance25.blogspot.com) is not an official site of the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State. The views expressed on this site are entirely those of its author (Richard Chen See) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations.