Dance illuminates issues of genocide
More than 350 lawyers, law students, educators, and activists are assembling at Harvard today for a conference on the legacy of the Nuremberg trials. But it won't be just the usual academic fare. One of the highlights will be an event quite off the beaten path: a dance. Specially commissioned from postmodern choreographer Liz Lerman to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the landmark trials, ''Small Dances About Big Ideas" tackles such themes as justice, vengeance, and forgiveness in the context of genocide -- then and now.
The operative word might just be ''now." Lerman hopes the work will honor the efforts of those who've confronted the issue of genocide, including people who've been victimized by it and are brave enough to come forward and talk about their experiences.
''There is some text in the piece from Nuremberg, and I hope Americans listen to that text and it makes us question what we're doing right now," said Lerman by phone recently from Takoma Park, Md., where her company is based. ''Genocide is real and living now in the world. It's not just something that happened 60 years ago, and I have big questions about what we should do about that. It's not just a legal issue but a spiritual one."
Lerman's company gives the world premiere of ''Small Dances" today and tomorrow for conference participants and Saturday night for the public in a free program that also includes an excerpt from Lerman's new work-in-progress about genetics, ''Ferocious Beauty," and the work ''Prelude/Prayer" by artistic director Peter DiMuro, who was a stalwart of the Boston dance scene before joining Lerman's troupe.
Genocide may be a hefty assignment for a dance. But Lerman, 58, was a history major at Brandeis University, and she and her 30-year-old company, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, have long dealt with weighty issues, from religious faith to the effects of closing down shipyards. Lerman maintains that dance can be for and about everyone, and she is a trailblazer in multigenerational, community-based dance.
Martha Minow, one of the conference planners, has been impressed by Lerman's ability to use dance to illuminate difficult subjects. A professor at Harvard Law School, Minow says Lerman ''came immediately to mind" for the conference, titled ''Pursuing Human Dignity: The Legacies of Nuremberg for International Law, Human Rights & Education." ''I'm moved and amazed by how she can take very deep issues like immigration, life and death, the history of the state of Israel, and make them subjects of dances," Minow said.
Like most of Lerman's creations, the roughly 40-minute ''Small Dances" unfolds as a blend of dance, music, theatrical imagery, and sociopolitical text. Lerman sifted through reams of documentation, drawing on material from Nazi Germany, Bosnia, South Africa, and Rwanda, including poetry and radio news clips.
Dancers portray a variety of characters, including a forensic anthropologist, a reporter, testifiers, and Raphael Lempkin, who coined the word ''genocide." Three ''Norns," whom Lerman describes as ''the crones of Norse mythology who gave legal advice to the gods," act as a sort of conscience for the piece, reflecting the unsettled complexities of the issues. ''They are our moral compass," Lerman explained.
For Lerman, the commission is a validation of the difference art can make in people's lives. ''It's been really interesting to tell people about this commission," she said. ''People's jaws drop. I think it's really important for people to understand that art can make an impact. I look forward to the day when this isn't so unique, that dance can provide this kind of personal and collective experience."
Minow is convinced that a powerful work of art can transform a conference from a talkfest to an unforgettable experience. ''I believe that having the arts connected with academic and public policy discussion can tap into the desire to make a difference," she said. ''It gives people a focal point, a touchstone as they think about these issues, and a structure for dealing with the emotions that these issues raise."
''Small Dances," she says, could trigger the kinds of discussions integral to the conference. ''We're interested in creating public awareness of mass violence, what causes it and how to respond to it, and I'm sure this dance will elevate awareness in a challenging way," Minow said. ''It's incredibly moving. When I saw it [in rehearsal], I felt very overcome and had the sense that now there is something to talk about. The dance gives us material to try to frame our confusion, our anguish, our hopes."
Liz Lerman Dance Exchange presents "Small Dances About Big Ideas" Saturday at 8 p.m. at Harvard University Dance Center, 66 Garden St., Cambridge;
617-496-2222 (tickets free, but reservations required).
