How to explain...

So...what's contemporary dance?

Perhaps the most dreaded question to be put forth to a member of the contemporary dance species. The answer is often inconclusive and leaves the questioner looking at best confused, and at worst returning to the cliched belief that you belong to some strange cult of people who get the most out of life by rolling around on the floor and leaping through grassy fields, Isadora Duncan* style.

Maybe I'm exaggerating...but it is frustrating to be asked to clearly define the indefinable and put in a box an element in your life that you are passionate about because it forces you out of the box, exposing you to fresh experiences.

Sure, it's possible to just give up and remain a defiant member of the facebook group Yes I'm a contemporary dancer..and don't ask me to explain. However, as artists we should be encouraging people to ask us the hard stuff, and have an amazing answer at hand so that they then become intrigued and commence a thorough investigation of our artform through becoming an avid audience member.

So, what do we say to those who don't know what contemporary dance is? What do we say in order to entice the uninitiated to our domain? I've been thinking a lot about this. Let me know if you've got an suggestions!

* I'm actually a fan of Isadora Duncan...and even though some of the representations of her work can make you giggle, she was a pioneer of contemporary dance and a woman who never baulked at confronting the rigid conventions of society. As being both a woman and a dancer, I found it an inspiration to read about her life.