A Look Ahead
January 23rd, 2012I turned 62 in 2011, and I have been in this business for eighteen years. I have been thinking a great deal about what I have accomplished, where I have been, and where I want to go.
Over the years, I have learned from experience that Indigenous artists and performers are almost always marginalized–there is one and only one Indigenous artist or performer at an event or festival, especially in the performing arts, especially for contemporary performers. This marginalization often traps performers, audiences and venues into the limitations of what “everybody knows” Indigenous people do, rather than opening all of us up to the power and diversity of what Indigenous people actually do. Yes, American Indian music certainly includes powwow and flute music–but it also includes chamber music and hiphop and heavy metal. Yes, some American Indian music is spiritual–but it is also loud, angry, funny, and much more.
But where can audiences (customers and societies in the anthropological realm) and booking agents and venues ( in the marketing realm) go to listen to this music, see the range of Indigenous performance, hear Indigenous comedy? In conversation with American Indian artists and performers, I often say that if I asked them where I could hear the best powwow music, or see best arts and crafts, they could easily name ten places off the top of their heads. But if I was to ask where I could hear the best Indigenous hiphop, see the best Indigenous Theater, enjoy the best Indigenous fashion, the answer is often just a shake of the head–who knows?
But it’s not because the fashion, the hiphop, the theater isn’t there. It’s because there is no place to experience international Indigenous performance on a regular basis. Yes, several countries now have festivals and events which regularly showcase the best in their countries–shoutouts to The Dreaming in Australia, Planet IndigenUS and Imagine + Native in Canada, Pasifika in New Zealand. These are all English-speaking countries and they have led the way. But what about Indigenous performance from Siberia? or Mexico? or Peru? Or the US?
As a result, I have decided that my goal now will be to create an annual Indigenous performing arts festival that will:
- be partnered from the beginning with an Indigenous organization or community
- showcase the best Indigenous performing artists from around the world–theater, modern dance, music, fashion, film/video, photography, written and spoken word
- train Indigenous young people how to run the festival and, eventually, take it over
- introduce Indigenous performing artists to the business–what is an agent? what is a contract?–since many people come from isolated rural and urban communities where this information is difficult if not impossible to find
- eventually, serve as a performing arts showcase as well, introducing the best Indigenous performers to venues and booking agents from around the world
Right now I’m giving every effort to producing IndigeNOW! Indigenous Opera From Three Continents and Three Countries. You can learn more about it at http://bronitskyandassociates.com/indigenow.htm. It’s an exciting project but it won’t be easy. I use three words. Used alone, everyone understands what they mean:
International
Indigenous
Opera
But use them in the same sentence, and all too often the result is brain freeze. As a friend said, an opera about Hiawatha? People will love it. An opera with the descendants of Hiawatha in the audience, learning about opera? Absolutely. But an opera by Hiawatha? To use a phrase from the 1960s TV show, Lost in Space–does not compute!
However, I’m in the midst of discussions with a nearby Indian tribe, and I am more convinced than ever that we will eventually create IndigeNOW! Stay tuned!
