"To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking." -Agnes de Mille
Ever since I was little I have loved dance—first, as a classical ballerina at The Washington Ballet and most recently, at Company E, an international contemporary dance company where I currently study. I've loved the athletic strength, discipline and grace that comes with serious dance training as well as the opportunities to perform on stage. As an incredibly shy little girl growing up, dance has helped me gain self-esteem and confidence in myself. It has taught me the value in putting myself out there and taking risks and showing the best of me. This past Spring Break my volunteer work at Colegio del Cuerpo in Colombia made me appreciate the power of dance in an entirely different way and to more concretely embrace the Holton philosophy of working to build the values of respect, compassion, and service to others in global communities—as well as those at my school, in my local area and nationally.
My grandmother is originally from Colombia and my mother has very proudly carried on that heritage and passed it on to me. Many of our family vacations have been spent in the beautiful coastal town of Cartagena, once the seat of the Spanish empire over the Caribbean. We love strolling the historic old cobblestone streets, dining at chic restaurants in former Spanish colonial houses and singing and dancing along to Shakira and Carlos Vives songs on boat trips out to the Rosario Islands. As peace has come to
Colombia after decades of drug-related wars and violence, more and more foreign tourists are discovering Cartagena's magical charms. Yet outside the city's 15th century stone walls where the Spanish once fought off English pirates, a poorer, less romantic reality for Cartagena communities exists. Sadly, as foreign tourism has poured in, underprivileged children have been raised in an environment where crime, prostitution and sex abuse has prevailed—many times even promoted by their own families.
Left: Carolina with the children at the public school in Pontezuela; Center: Carolina with the visionary founder of the Colegio del Cuerpo, Alvaro Restrepo; Right: Carolina with some of the professional dance company members and Academic Director May Posse
El Colegio del Cuerpo (literally translated as The School of the Body) or "CdC" was founded 20 years ago by the visionary choreographer, dancer and journalist Alvaro Restrepo to try to fight this depressing dynamic for the city's poor. Restrepo, who grew up in Cartagena, excelled in his academic and artistic studies. He ultimately chose dance as his career path and was lucky enough to get a grant from the Colombian government study under the icons of modern dance Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham in New York. While he had the possibility of pursuing a successful dance career in the United States, Alvaro felt he had a different calling and wanted to use his artistic talent to help those in need back home. Alvaro wanted to take what is a national and native passion for Colombians—dance—and turned it into a force for good. He approached Marie France Delieuvin, a respected French dancer and choreographer and then the Director of the Center of Contemporary Dance in Paris and invited her to design a dance curriculum for kids in Colombia. Marie France was intrigued. For a long time she had been eager to find a way to use the arts for social change. She visited Colombia and was struck by the incredible native talent there was. (Indeed, as my mom always says, dance for Colombians is like breathing!) She decided to partner with Alvaro and move to Colombia. Over the years she has contributed an incredible level of professional excellence and prestige to the company and education program.
Today, CdC provides dance education to thousands of children from extremely poor neighborhoods outside of Cartagena and teaches them to respect their bodies and inspires them to transform their lives for the better. Over the past two decades CdC has worked with over 8,000 children, providing them with dance classes, nutrition and health services, discipline and a strong sense of self. Some of the children go on to become members of the CdC professional dance company and teachers while others go into other studies and pursuits. The good thing is that in the 20 years CdC has worked with these kids, there has been no teenage pregnancy, no sexual exploitation or abuse. The parents are fully vested in their children's development. Furthermore, the children are afforded incredible opportunities to broaden their horizons. The company takes a large group of the younger kids when they travel which is amazing. They have come to D.C. and had a collaboration with the Washington Ballet, they've gone to New York, they've gone Hamptons to meet with Chinnoc tribes, they've performed in Korea and have seen snow for the first time. And they have been to the birthplace of ballet, Paris. They've learned about different cultures, mutual respect and a new way of seeing themselves and the world. This is definitely aligns with our school's view that by demonstrating understanding and acceptance of each person, we enable one another to thrive.
Over the course of my week volunteering and training with the CdC, I observed the professional dance company, trained with the dancers in the pre-professional track and worked as an assistant teacher in youth classes. There were so many things that struck me about these different components of my experience. First of all, I was so impressed and a little humbled by the dance classes. The dance teachers were excellent and they were tough! There was no coddling allowed simply because someone was coming from a poor background. Indeed, 90 per cent of the dancers and instructors come through the program from the Pontezuela community that CdC primarily serves. At first, my fellow dancers—teens and college age kids-- looked at me with natural skepticism—likely thinking I was going to get a pass because I was a privileged blonde American or "gringa." In stretch and contemporary dance class (set to cool modern music), I worked hard and by the end of the week, my classmates were asking where I was when I missed one class, telling me they hoped I would be there the next day.
Second and best of all I loved working with the kids in the local school who were mostly of indigenous or Afro-Colombian descent. At first, I was as shy as they were. I felt so foreign and almost intrusive. Yet I felt like after so many years of dancing and pushing myself to do my best and perform in front of total strangers, I felt I could push myself to help these kids. I was happy when I could instruct them on how to do a better turn out or extend their legs little straighter or jump a little higher. I only wish I had had more time with them. They were so bright and curious and full of happiness when they were dancing. It definitely made me think of the value in fostering education not only of the mind, but of the soul and spirit, as we believe at Holton. As Alvaro Restrepo said to me, he wants to show kids their bodies are a source of strength, rather than something that should be used for abuse or monetary gain. He wants them to open their minds to "escape the prison of the color of their skin and their daily economic issues." He relates the physical training and discipline that comes with rigorous dance instruction to gaining "mental and social wealth." Once they know they can they can have the discipline to transform themselves in this way, these kids can do anything.
Finally, having an opportunity to observe the professional dance company was a true gift. The professional dancers were amazing. Their athletic ability and grace rivalled any dancers I had seen on stage in Washington and New York. And yet, I had to keep reminding myself, they came from nothing---a poor, dirt-road town with hardly any running water. How could this be? It revealed to me that demonstrates that hard work, discipline and can lead to the greatest and human dignity. The CdC company tours internationally ever year, bringing cutting edge works to different cities. We got to see a sunset performance of the company in the Templo de Gadua—a bamboo cathedral" designed by world renowned eco-architect Simon Velez, set in the middle of the lake. The scene was pure magical realism—it could have come straight of out of a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel. One of the company members and leading dance teachers I met, Alexis Marimon, said that the capacity for transformation for the community through the CdC is incredible. He loves how he has been able to touch the lives of many children—artistically and socially—as he himself was. Alexis says CdC provides an "education of the body etiquette" and breaks kids' mindset that if you are born poor you will die poor—and that your only value is on the street. Year after year he has seen children transform as their minds and bodies are changed in a positive way.
Now entering its third decade, Colegio has won national and international recognition. Indeed, the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, feels that programs such as CdC are critical to creating a culture of lasting peace and different mindset in Colombian communities affected by "violence to the body." Artistic education is very important for everyone even those in the most modest of circumstances, it provides a source of inner strength and human excellence. Alvaro dreams of the day that he will complete his vision for a campus for El Colegio del Cuerpo on a land tract of four acres that the government has donated to him. There he hopes to be able to teach more children as well as instruct more dancers and educators in his curriculum and even start a summer camp. He hopes CdC will become a model for the world, an international center for education for peace through the art—and where different layers of society can meet--strata talent. I know he will find a way or make one!
Whether they end up being professional dancers or not, it is clear that dance has given the ability the children and students involved in El Colegio del Cuerpo to dream bigger for themselves and to understand their body is to be respected not to be abused. I will remember them each time I dance and next year, I hope I can bring some of my Holton classmates with me to the CdC so they too can teach, train and more importantly learn about the power of dance.
Left: "Drugs Can Ruin Your Dreams" graffiti outside the school at Pontezuela; Right: Dance performance by professional dancers at El Templo de Gadua.
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