Ceremony of Us facts for kids
Ceremony Of Us was a special dance performance that brought together dancers from different backgrounds. It was a collaboration between the Studio Watts Workshop, a group that supported Black artists in Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Dancer's Workshop, which was the dance company of Anna Halprin. This unique show happened on February 27, 1969, at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, which is part of the Los Angeles Music Center.
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What Was Ceremony Of Us?
Ceremony Of Us was a dance performance that aimed to bring people together through art. It was created for the Second Los Angeles Festival of the Performing Arts. This festival was organized by James M. Woods, who was the director of Studio Watts, along with the Music Center.
More About the Festival
The festival included other exciting events besides Ceremony Of Us. There were jazz performances at a club called Shelley's Manhole. These shows featured talented musicians like John Carter and Bobby Bradford, who were master teachers at Studio Watts. The festival also had a poetry reading by Wanda Coleman, who was a fellow at Watts Studio and also danced in Ceremony Of Us.
How the Performance Was Created
The dancers prepared for Ceremony Of Us through a series of workshops led by Anna Halprin. She guided the dancers in creating their unique movements.
Early Workshops
In late 1968, Anna Halprin worked with the two dance groups separately. She helped them develop special dance moves for each company. One group was the San Francisco Dancer's Workshop, which was all white. The other was the Studio Watts Dancer's Workshop, which was all African American.
Coming Together
Then, in January 1969, the two groups came together for ten days of practice in Los Angeles. This first meeting of the dancers was captured in a film called Right On/Ceremony of Us. The actual performance at the Mark Taper Forum included a dance about new beginnings and other dances that were like games, made up on the spot by the dancers.
The Impact of Ceremony Of Us
The experience of creating and performing Ceremony Of Us had a big impact on Anna Halprin. A writer named Janice Ross, who wrote about Anna Halprin, noted this.
New Dance Programs
The performance made Anna Halprin think deeply about the dancers in her own company and how diverse it was. Because of this experience, she later developed a special dance education program called "Reach Out." This program aimed to include dancers from many different backgrounds. It was supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is a government group that helps fund art projects.
