Most of the time, the fluctuating nature of Texas’ weather is somewhat of a bother. We are forced to keep shorts and sweatshirts available at all times throughout the year. However, these sporadic weather patterns gifted us with the most perfectly beautiful day on Wednesday, as if February suddenly turned into late May.
Wednesday afternoon, the SMU campus transformed into a scene from a movie. Students threw footballs and frisbees on the Boulevard, napped under trees or lounged around on the grass doing their homework.
If you were walking to or from class around 3 p.m., you might have also seen another sight: about 30 people dressed in leotards in front of Dallas Hall dancing to tribal-sounding percussion music.
This was none other than the freshmen modern dance class. This event ironically occurred only a few days after my column last Friday, which admonished overall unawareness of the arts here at SMU.
On this particular afternoon, unawareness was not an option. Students were forced to acknowledge the existence of the arts here at SMU, seeing as how a class usually held in the basement of The Owen Fine Arts Center was relocated right onto the lawn in front of Dallas Hall.
The reactions we got were nothing short of comical. People overtly stopped and stared. Many simply slowed down as they passed by. Others tried their very best to look away and act as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening at all.
A few sat and watched the entire class, never looking away, taking in the entire experience. Some moved in close, while others kept their distance.
Although the reactions were varied, the overall emotional response was the same: we made people uncomfortable. The dancers were moving their bodies in an organic and almost ethereal fashion, captivating and certainly out of the ordinary. It wasn’t something you see every day, to say the least.
But I don’t think it was the dancers and their movements that actually made people uncomfortable. I think it was something much more along the lines of self-awareness. All of a sudden, onlookers had to take into account the fact that they were being noticed too, and that brought on some level of insecurity.
Those who passed by encountered something very much outside of their habitual pathways. They were forced to stop, perceive their surroundings and choose to respond in some way, whether it was to confidently approach this artistic phenomenon as something new and interesting or awkwardly slip on by, hoping not to be noticed.
This is the power of art. Performers are nothing more than enablers of artistic experience. It is our job to provide audiences with the ability to interpret their environment in a new way. Art is about expanding world-views, challenging opinions and providing alternative perceptions of daily life.
Again, I reiterate the abundant availability of these kinds of experiences here at SMU. It’s time to take advantage of them on our own, not just when they are thrust into our pathways. Art is present and alive on this campus.
Katie is a freshman majoring in dance, international studies and human rights.
