INAPPROPRIATE

The Family Series at Boston’s Institute of Contemporay Art decided that my work Manufacturing Consent was not appropriate for a young audience because people rolling on the floor screaming intensely for three minutes, as well as people taking off layers of panties and crawling under the chair of an audience member might raise questions that parents may not be ready to answer or address. The work can be performed for the general “older” community, but not for the family program.

I was amused, annoyed, angered and saddened by the decision.

What is ironic is that the dance is inspired by Noam Chomsky’s book and movie, Manufacturing Consent, which proposes that corporate media tends to serve and further the agendas and interests of the dominant and elite groups in society.

What annoyed and angered me is that:

1. It is fine to see paintings, photographs or sculptures of naked people in museums, but not to have a dance where people remove layers of underwear or scream for three minutes.

2. I grew up watching bugs bunny, which is full of sexual innuendos that I didn’t understand, and I was not emotionally or mentally scarred by watching the cartoons. I find people often underestimate kids ability to understand and process complex issues.

3. Kids (people) ask questions in an attempt to understand life; and good parenting, teaching and mentoring is about providing answers.

4. Kids who have seen earlier iterations of the work have often laughed at the removal of the underwear (not been traumatized), as they know that you are not supposed to show your underwear. Also kids can and often do scream for long periods of time.

5. I recently listened to a conversation on the radio with Jeff Kinney about his book Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Some parents love the book as it got their kids to begin reading, other parents hate the book and feel it should be banned because it establishes a bad role model. Stating that the eleven year protagonist in the book is “a jerk. He repeatedly abuses his best friend, lies, blithely abandons a group of small children and attempts all sorts of desperate and dishonest ploys in the name of becoming popular." However does reading a book about an “odious” kid or seeing a movie that is violent, scary or sexual cause a person to behave inappropriately or to become violent, aggressive and sexually maladjusted? The real issue is not the scary, violent or sexual movie or book, it is the lack of parenting and resources to provide kids with tools to navigate a violent, sexual and challenging world. Japan has extremely sexual and violent video games, however Japan in proportion to its population has fewer cases of rape and murder than the United States.

6. American’s hypocrisy and prudery in regards to sexuality, violence and anger, will prevent us from having real discussions about the issues.

As a choreographer and artist I am interested in creating work that people cannot be neutral about. I am interested in asking audience members to make choices. The Institute of Contemporary Art Family Series choice was to not have the work be performed for a young audience. I saw no point in arguing, as I am not the one who has to deal with the consequences if people are offended, complain or decide to no longer support the Institution. However, I am amused that the Institute of Contemporary Art, when you scratch the surface, is not that "contemporary"

Ultimately the dance, Manufacturing Consent, was performed on Saturday July 30th at the ICA, as part of Summer Stages Dance Festival Choreographer’s Project Showcase at 3:30pm (general audience).