Jayla Anderson Photos.
Beneath a tent on the New Haven Green, dancers from CONTRA-TIEMPO were warming up—and it looked unlike any warm up most people had seen before. They weren’t stretching their backs or arranging themselves in splits on the ground. There were no low, slow lunges or squats. Instead, they performed what felt like a warm-up of the body, mind, and spirit, bursting into free, ebullient movement with each song.
There were 15 minutes to go until their workshop with the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, and they seemed fully ready to welcome New Haven into their midst.
Dance came to the New Haven Green this past Wednesday, as dancers in the Los Angeles-based company CONTRA-TIEMPO kicked off their “Community Get Down” as part of the Festival. In an afternoon of salsa, congo lines, and soul trains, the team welcomed students of all experience levels.
Some of them, like Bennie Morris, learned about the event in a less conventional way.
“This kind lady from Los Angeles invited me,” Morris pointed in the direction of a participant who asked not to be named. “I was coming from a meeting, but when the lady invited me God said, ‘You’ve never been asked for much in life,’ so I came. I’m so glad I did. We need more of this.”
As CONTRA-TIEMPO dancers commanded the space, Morris became a vibrant student as he joined in on introductions and a call-and-response warm-up.
“These arms are my arms,” the chants began, paired with demonstrated arm movements from whoever held the mic. “They’re not your arms, they’re my arms!”
Company dancers took turns passing off the mic to pinpoint different parts of the body, from the head and legs to the butt. As the call-and-response wound down, community members took turns leading the call and by the end, the message reflected that of CONTRA-TIEMPO’s company values. “This life is my life. It’s not your life, it’s my life.”
Soon, the mic was back in dancer and Resource Director Ruby Morales’ hands, where she explained the practice of what she called ancestral technologies.
“Movements are birthed out of moments,” Morales said. Movement, she continued, can spring from moments of resilience, persistence, and turbulence. That idea is fundamental to the work of the company, including its upcoming performance of “¡Azúcar!” at the Festival this weekend. As it has rehearsed in New Haven, the company has recruited several dancers from the community, including Mark Morrison, Charlee Grady, Sharon Dickey, IfeMichelle Gardin, and Rachel Graziano.
As the class moved forward, dancers encouraged students to move in ways that inspired them.
When teachers began with a lesson in salsa dance, the teaching was so fluid and collaborative that before a person could realize it, they’d learned how to salsa in four different ways. Company Apprentice and Teaching Artivist Maria “Mari” Garcia stood on stage, demonstrating footwork to the group of mothers, sons, volunteers, and eager students.
A 35-year chess champion, Morris said his dance experience is limited to teaching himself Swing Dance.
“Swing Dance is an art in itself,” Morris said. “What we did today was unique. This was my first time improv dancing in front of people. Now I know I can do it.”
The CONTRA-TIEMPO Company led the group through familiar dances as well as foreign ones. Throughout the workshop, the team played recognizable line dances such as V.I.C.’s “Wobble.” Before long, the company had taken the students on an entire dance journey, concluding with a soul train line.
“My favorite part was all of it,” Morris said with a smile. “If I had to choose, it would have to be the soul train. I grew up in the 70s, and it really took me back.”
Community members went through the line in pairs, strutting and popping through, each having their moment to shine. Company dancers mixed in with the crowd, each doing partner dances with the students. Faces lit up with excitement and the qualities of their movement were clear: These dancers know how to dance for joy–for the love of the art.
As the class concluded, company member Holly Johnston gave a grounding cool-down stretch with inspirational thanks.
“This is how we were born, and this is how we will surrender our bodies,” Johnston said. “Thank you that you are alive.”
CONTRA-TIEMPO's "¡AZÚCAR!" runs June 28 and 29 at the University Theatre, 222 York St., as part of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. Tickets and more information available here. Jayla Anderson is a recent graduate of Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School and an alum of the Youth Arts Journalism Initiative. She plans to attend Vassar College in the fall.