Listen, hear this, and start talking about it

CU students challenge social norms in ‘uncovering | me’

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When Samantha Salters began working on her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) dance project, a few key topics stuck out in her head: Miley Cyrus and police brutality. “[There is] this overwhelming saturation of blackness/whiteness on the Internet. Starting with these issues of police brutality was leading me down this rabbit hole,” Salters says.

She began to question why the black body is so dispensible and came to understand that public consumption of the black body is problematic.

“Even before that, you have Miley Cyrus twerking at the VMAs, and it’s a big deal. People have been twerking for years and years. Why is it all of a sudden a big deal? Because No 1., she’s appropriating. No 2., it’s now this fun and flirtatious dance because it’s on a white, thin body. What does it mean when whiteness and blackness start to [collide]?” 

Salters explores that question in her dance piece “eat me,” which takes a look at the black female role and how it is misrepresented and perceived. Joining Salters on stage is Amanda Benzin with her piece “re-membering me,” which also dismantles the culturally created idea of the female. Their show, uncovering | me, plays at the University of Colorado Nov. 13-15. While the two shows have separate approaches, their juxtaposition creates an intriguing mixture ripe for a deeper analysis of these themes.

“There have been MFA shows in the past where the pieces are so different,” Benzin says. “As an audience member, it’s really hard to go from one world and then have a short break and go into a completely different world. And we do have different worlds going on, but thematically we’re dealing with issues around identity.”

Benzin’s inspiration for her piece is her own upbringing and limitations she saw in female representation.

“I was raised as a Catholic, and understanding what does that mean to be a woman and what images do you see in the church of a woman? You’re either the whore or the saint that’s a virgin,” she says. “Growing up with that and reflecting back on that in my adulthood, and what did that actually do to me? How did I perform that? How am I starting to disentangle myself from that and many other roles?” 

Through movement, both dancers push against these socially constructed norms. Salters is using a blend of twerking, step, Afro-Cuban and hip hop to present her viewpoint. She says she’s reclaiming these dance forms and putting them back in context — using black dance to address black issues. In Benzin’s portion, she’ll be mixing contemporary, modern and tap in an effort to use the body as a vehicle for change.

“What’s really unique about dance is the embodi ment of it,” Benzin says. “Using the embodiment as another modality of teaching and experimenting — it’s not just theorizing about it. It’s practice and theory combined in the physical expression of the body.”

After choreographing this show and delving into these topics, Salters says she’s seen the greater complexities of people and herself. We are a product of what surrounds us, and the product is never simple.

“[I learned] how we embody so many things at once. …” she says. “I started to realize how much I was affected by the external world. I too have biases, and even in those acts of resistance there are contradictions.”

In uncovering | me, both dancers work to expose the intricacies of self. They challenge preconceived notions and social scripts in an attempt to tell their own stories.

“Identity is such a word of categories,” Benzin says. “What does it mean to have more multiplicity in your life, and can you exist in that? My show is exploring that all these things are connected. But it also seems in society that all these things should be separate, and you should be able to state what you are in a sentence.”

The ultimate goal of both performances is to spark conversation and reflection. Salters says she hopes people start questioning the way they consume the black female body and begin to remove the predetermined societal lens, to go beyond face value and see things for what they actually are.

“We’re both going against these identities that are part of this white, male linear structure. So we’ve chosen to challenge the boundaries,” Salters says. “We’ve decided to take on white patriarchy. I mean, we didn’t literally write that down as our goal: defeat white patriarchy in 30 minutes.”

“Nor will we do that,” Benzin adds with a laugh. 

“But we are very ambitious about defeating something,” Salters continues. “It’s like, ‘Listen, hear this, and start talking about it.’”

ON THE BILL: un | covering me. Friday-Sunday, Nov. 13-15. University of colorado, University Theatre Building, Irey Theatre, Boulder, 303-492-7355. Tickets at colorado.edu/theatredance.