EDITORS’ LETTERS
For the last year and a half, as we closed each journal, we have announced that we would address the death of another great one in the next journal. First, the trio of Merce, Pina, and Michael, then Jill Johnston (covered in this issue), and now the Mama, La Mama, Ellen Stewart. In African-American Southern folklore this kind of large migration to the other side would definitely mean a big conference is being held in heaven and great changes are needed in the world. Even if folklore is lore for many or most, this is a great opportunity to conference here. These five each changed definitions and the potential for dance and theater in the world. Too often I hear my contemporaries almost bragging that “everything has been done” and/or that all art is just recycling. I think this is not the legacy that has been left to us. I think we need to take a hard look at the cracks in the foundation that need sealing and the places that need to be broken open. It is up to us to distinguish the difference and either use the tools we have inherited or invent new ones. And while we contemplate that, hats off for La Mama.
All the best,
Trajal
• • •
Dear Readers,
Ishmael Houston-Jones’ work borders death, identity, the personal as political with unmediated urgency: we younger makers and doers might learn a thing or two about what kind wishes and expressions we are putting into the world when we make dances, get on stage and ask to be watched.
The opportunity to delve into Ishmael’s artistic career was a privilege. There’s still a lot to be uncovered. For those of you out there who write and theorize: write a book about these choreographers working in the 1980s who have not been formulated into a “time” yet.
And the next time you see Ishmael, please ask him this question: “How can one tell when a sow is in heat and what does one do when one finds out that she is?” I assure you the conversation will be interesting.
Keep discussing and dancing,
Moriah
