Mirroring an Exposed World :: Dance Dancing Art Papers

Mirroring an Exposed World I recently saw a photography piece, "Dancer" by Irving Penn on exhibit at the Whitney Museum. The striking thing about the photos was not that they were of a nude Alexandra Beller, but that hers is not what one would typically think of as a naked dancer's body. She's not tall and thin with well-defined muscles and barely developed breasts. No. She's fat. Beller took a big risk posing nude for Penn's camera. She dared people to see her as a dancer, not just a fat woman. She dared people to see her as a sex symbol, not just a fat woman. She dared people to see her as an emotional woman- sensitive, powerful, frightened, bold, shy, loving, rebellious. She owns her body, and she challenges the audience to own their hesitation and move past it to see her exposed for the woman she really is. The exhibit made me immediately curious about Beller and her work. Formerly dancing with Bill T. Jones' company, Beller is now choreographing her own works. When I heard she would be presenting her latest work, It's Not You, It's Me at the Joyce Soho, I got out my umbrella and waited for over an hour in a standby line to see her perform. My friends had teased me for wanting to see Beller's show, saying "Wouldn't it be weird. I mean you saw her naked," and "Do you think she'll dance naked too?" But that was one of the reasons I wanted to see the show. I really identified with Beller in many ways. I was deeply impressed with her confidence to pose nude in the first place. Obesity, seen as repulsive, is despised at best, yet politely ignored. But Beller will not be ignored. I wondered what it was that gave her this confidence in her body. And I wondered what she would express with her body in her dance works. I was compelled by the risks she had taken with Penn, and compelled to see what else she would risk. When I saw It's Not You, It's Me, particularly the last piece, 50 Ways to Find a Mate, I was bombarded by feelings of pain, sadness, confusion that come with rejection, insecurities that are connected with bodies and body images. I got the feeling that Beller, though a beautiful and talented dancer is still an imperfect woman who struggles with her self-confidence, especially in romantic relationships.