When I dreamed up this program for OSU dancers to experience intercultural collaboration and contemporary dance in Latin America, my hope was that it could build on my personal experiences living and working in Costa Rica but also extend beyond me to incorporate other faculty and become a sustainable part of our curriculum.
Norah in Costa Rica (2006)
This year is the realization of that dream as my colleague Professor Susan Hadley takes the helm, leading a group of 23 dance majors through an intensive May Term course and two week Costa Rican exchange with our collaborator Jimmy Ortiz and his dancers in San Jose, Costa Rica. I helped to design their experience in San Jose based on the program we ran in 2011 and working with the Office of International Affairs. And I will spend some time with Susan and the students in May giving them an orientation to Costa Rican contemporary dance practices, some discussion of Latinidad and identity politics on the American continent, issues of appropriation and power dynamics in intercultural exchange, artistic research practices for engaging with place/space/culture as a lived, continually constructed idea, and of course a little bit of fun with basic Spanish, Latin music and the basics of Latin social dancing. Beyond that, this will be Susan and the students’ year to create based on their unique forms of experience, curiosities, and the connections they make. I can’t wait to see what comes next!
-Norah
OSU DANCE IN COSTA RICA 