“LEFT” is inspired by events that surrounded the 1973 coup in Chile. It is not a documentary, but rather a comment upon the place, time and people it affected. It was created through the eyes of, well, myself. I was born in the Boston area in 1979, six years after these events “went down”. Why should I care? Why did I pick such a topic? What is supposed to come out of this ‘dance performance’?
The answers to these questions are quite complex. But rather than giving you all of the answers I will just say that I believe all human history is doomed to repeat itself cyclically. I believe we can reduce the number of unjust, inhumane and negatively charged instances in the future if we are simply just aware of what happened in the past. Learn from not only from our own embarrassing mistakes, but also (and most importantly) from those of distant lands or cultures and realize that as a community of the world, we are all one and are connected whether we like to see it that way or not.
I wanted to start a discussion that revolves around “LEFT” and its theme because I have received emails from fans of Zoe Dance that tell personal stories about this time and place from different perspectives. I’m interested in finding out more. More about what experiences people have had and importantly, what comes out of such terrible circumstances. What is involved in healing after such things happened? Does one refuse to talk about it? Is that helpful to clear the daemons? Will the daemons ever really go away? As a society, as individuals and as a world community, how can we try to avoid crimes against humanity to happen repeatedly? Can art help inform and provoke people to care enough to make even a small change?
These are the questions that have been floating around in my head and I would like to open this space up to you. Help me answer them, or ask some of your own.
“LEFT” is more than a “dance piece”. It’s a reawakening of a time and place so we can learn from it and remember those who were/are affected by it.
Write.