The Urban Bush Women Experience

I was really fascinated by the Urban Bush Women presentation Sarah did. Viewing this video clip and listening to the research brought several things to my attention. I know that the Bush Women tell stories of history as well as everyday life and that of course is a difference from technical training. I took dance for twelve years and that included tap, jazz, and ballet. I remember telling a specific story especially through ballet, but we always had music and that is one of the differences with the Bush Women because sometimes it's just language. This to me bridges the gap with story telling and dance, because these women don't always have music, so their telling a story with their bodies as well as language. I think technique helps me to express myself more through dance, and the question I pose is could I be expressive if I didn't have technical training? I think they play hand in hand, but these women are very expressive and they may have not been through this type of training. I'm sure they have somthing that helps them prepare but at least they can appreciate their bodies. I was always told that my hips were too big, my posture must be on point, and suck it in, as I went through ballet training. I read about this one particular dance called "Batty", that these women do that questions the audience about attractiveness and how to appreciate the body you have. This brings up another scenario of dance and that is Belly Dancing you're told that it's okay to have a little stomach because you need that for that specific type of dance. That to me is some form of appreciation because when you are belly dancing, you don't have to worry about how your stomach looks. I salute the Urban Bush Women especially for the dance "Batty " because it really allows me to no longer question my body type, but appreciate my hips and other features that come along with being an African American Woman.