Stamping Ground spawns Aussie Billy Elliots
by Clare Sneddon (mother of new dance enthusiasts,
Sophie and David)
Reflections on the 5th annual event - 1-16th January, 2001
A man swims butterfly down the middle of the Bellinger River cutting a swathe down
its centre his body arcing and bending, rhythmic in the morning sun. The Lodge Café
is serving up coffee while customers gaze out the windows where scenes of cattle
grazing are framed.
But the children of Bellingen are experiencing something different. Those participating
in Peter Stock's, Stamping Ground Dance Festival (January 1-16, 2001) are up at the
Showground Hall in the Street Moves workshop. Bellingen offers a myriad of distractions,
but these children are all focussed on Blacker Conteh, their tutor. Concentrating
intently they make synchronized patterns with their bodies, like robotic flowers
opening and closing while Blacker sets the rhythm and scene. His godlike body an
icon of the convergence between traditional African and popular western street culture.
Some of the children have been cajoled , dragged and bribed to get them to the class.
Some come willingly. All of them, once here, are entranced . Now they are in Blacker's
world where their bodies take over from their conscious minds and they move in his
world.
"Check it out now - the funk soul brothers" entreats Fatboy Slim from the
small speakers. They move to the funk beat - some beautifully, others less so. All
are captivated by the aura of Blacker.
The Street Moves class is just one of many. Amongst a broad tuition program of 25
different action arts workshops the festival includes a range of introductory courses
for children and adults such as such as bootmen tap, funky jazz, Aboriginal and traditional
African dance. For those not ready to say the "D" word (much less do it),
there is also an acrobatic class for circus enthusiasts, a music making class, as
well as workshops for didgeridoo and other aboriginal exchange programs (including
an introduction to some of the male rituals of our indigenous culture).
But the classes have a common thread. They are all tutored by exceptional male teachers
who have the ability to communicate their passion for their art to children. This
is a rare gift. There is no need for imposed discipline. To the weary parent it seems
like magic is wrought here.
Peter Stock is the festival's founder and sole patron (apart from a $500 contribution
from the Bellingen Community Arts Society for which he was most grateful). He is
proud of the event's impressive track record and well-founded reputation. It has
the distinction of being Australia's oldest dance festival and is unique in that
it offers programs linking high-level dancemen with advanced & junior dancers
and new enthusiasts. Stock began dancing in his mid-teens when he took jazz classes
at the recommendation of his singing teacher. Then at 18 he began ballet studies
leading to a diverse dance career based in Australia and 17 overseas countries.
His love of performance is not limited to dance. For many years he produced trade
shows, cabaret, theatre restaurant and lavish revue in Melbourne, London, Japan and
throughout near Asia and Europe. This was in addition to directing productions of
West Side Story and Carmen at ages 19 and 22 respectively. As an aside he also mentions
having been in the Victorian State Opera chorus for several years and understudying
John Farnham for 12 months in a JCW stage musical. Clearly, the man brings a wealth
of talent and experience to this festival not to mention incredible dedication and
passion.
Stock says he works all year to pay the advance costs of the festival (he runs the
Rivers Dance Studio in Bellingen and boasts about the 47 boys currently enrolled).
This year he is only down a couple of thousand dollars. His willingness to make this
extraordinary financial commitment is less than surprising when you learn, after
probing into his early dance years, that Stock put himself through every dancing
and singing class that he ever took. He held down a full time job while attending
ballet school "full time". ABC TV choreographer, Jack Manuel (an important
mentor for Stock) advised he wouldn't be re-employed if he didn't improve his dance
technique. Stock does whatever it takes to make his projects happen.
If you ask him about the purpose of Stamping Ground he will tell you it is what
each participant makes of it. However his main aim in founding the festival was to
create awareness of male dance and provide positive role models for young boys and
men who wanted to give it a go. He also wanted to erode the cultural censorships
that people in our society impose on boys & men who dance or pursue other creative
interests.
Stock believes fervently in the benefits of arts education. He believes that boys
can develop strength of character from participating in music and dance classes.
It gives them a truly creative way of interpreting the world and makes them stand
up for what's important to them. "I always advise my male students that the
only reason they should ever give up dance is if they get sick of it. If bullying
peers question the value of dance they should tell those peers "its my business
and I'm doing it".
For its founder, another valuable feature of the festival is that children have the
opportunity to be taught by young male teachers an increasingly rare thing in our
society. Conversely the tutors also have the opportunity to forge friendships with
children. This phenomenon was evident in the festival's classes and especially at
the final performance.
Stock's analysis is that children respond positively to younger teachers because
they pose less of an authority figure. Maybe. Or maybe it's just that the children
delight in the novelty of the situation. Whatever the reason, the chemistry was obvious.
But despite the fact that Stamping Ground is aimed at showcasing male dance and ideas
about it, it is not exclusive. Girls and women are welcome to participate and do
so in large numbers. Stock says "better boys = better men = a better world"
and believes more girl dancers and mums need to encourage boys to participate in
the arts experience. The research evidence is in about the value of arts training
and enrichment. It's high time our education systems seriously embraced arts practice
in daily curricula. He also notes that girls also suffer from inhibitions about dancing.
He believes that if girls have not taken dance lessons by the age of 10 they may
already be too self-conscious to participate. Many of their peers have been taking
classes for several years and have reached a level of proficiency that non dancers
can find intimidating.
Stock is convinced that dancing is innate in us all, as an outlet and a form of expression.
After all, we all make our dance in private. Stamping Ground is an opportunity for
adults and children to find that expression socially, regardless of their level (or
lack) of skills. The fact that TV producers from the ABC and SBS who were filming
documentaries about the event also participated in workshops is illustrative of Stock's
ability to seduce new enthusiasts to the excitement and high energy of collaborative
dance. Everyone seemed so absorbed in the business of dancing the teachers so involved
- that one could hardly help but be drawn into the experience.
Stock speaks of the emergence from the 5 year old festival of considerable cultural
shift in local attitudes to male dance, and of an emerging Stamping Ground movement
style based on the largely unexplored possibilities of male energy and dance. Of
all the festival's outcomes, one suspects that this is the one that most excites
him. Certainly, the concert piece created in the "Action Moves for Boys"
workshop was quite unusual. The workshop catered for boys aged 6-12, its mercurial
tutor, Travers Ross, is 16 and has been training for 13 years. The piece featured
in the concert extravaganza "Burning up the Tallowood" showcased an item
from each of the workshops offered at the festival.
"Action Moves" comprised a combination of stances and acrobatic movements
that the workshop's participants developed together under Travers' guidance. Although
the piece borrowed from stereotypical images seen on film clips and ads, the result
was not hackneyed but rather a vibrant expression of young male energy. Even the
air guitar made an appearance but overall the piece retained enough original material
to be spontaneous. It was a representation in dance of some of the things that are
boys business.
It was a remarkable piece made more so by the fact that several of the participants
had refused to attend the dance workshops and were not even aware that they were
dancing. Travers and the Action Moves boys are the main subject of an ABC Australian
Story about Stamping Ground to be screened later in 2001.
Similarly , the piece performed by the festival's skilled dancemen to Madonna's "Don't
Tell Me" hinted at the Stamping Ground style referred to by Stock. It displayed
a range of dance styles from acrobatic strength to soft fluid movement. The piece
progressed through each man's virtuoso performance. The audience was captivated by
their individual contributions as well as the way the dancers meshed in unison sequences.
Above all it was a celebration of male dancers which challenged the audience's preconceptions
about dance - and had them cheering.
In spite of and perhaps because of the participant's wide range of ages, skills
and ability, the performance was highly entertaining and especially uplifting for
parents.
Stock's strategies aimed at getting people to dance appear to be effective. The hallmark
of this sprawling festival as it occupies community spaces and outdoor locations
for site-works and ceremonies, is spontaneity, and this is one of the secrets of
its success. Such flexibility would be difficult to achieve in Sydney where the high
costs of rent, and administration make pre-bookings and deposits necessary. Stock
acknowledges that the positioning of the festival on the outstanding Mid North Holiday
Coast, an area renowned for it's stunning waterways and natural features, contributes
to its success. As well as the festival's tuition structure in being able to choose
from a smorgasbord of classes without making a commitment to one class for any length
of time.
To keep the event fresh and cutting-edge Stock assembles a tutoring faculty of about
20 men each year including about 10 specialists who've not previously attended. Aside
from a comprehensive range of dance-based workshops the tuition program includes
a diverse sprinkling of other action arts such as stuntwork, aerial wire-work, sword,
commedia mask, street-theatre, yoga, and experiential workshops for mature such as
body-mind centering, kinesiology, feldenkrais and dance therapy. Stock also points
out the tutors understand the festival is a modest budget event and that this consequently
attracts tutors who are genuinely interested in what he's trying to achieve through
Stamping Ground. These men understand that they are not just aiming to turn out better
dancers at the end of the intensive fortnight. A major victory of the event is that
each year the tutors and performance directors establish new creative alliances with
each other and return to their home base inspired to advocate male dance by initiating
new training ideas, classes and projects.
In the context of the current high incidence of young male suicide Stock's work becomes
more important. Watching the young and mature participants flourish in these classes
many of whom had never danced or performed before, it is obvious that self esteem
is being built here.
Its a great pity the NSW Ministry for the Arts (Regional Arts) reject modest funding
assistance for the event on the basis of "insufficient professional development".
While professional development appears to be an intrinsic part of the festival's
work ( just ask the visiting danceworkers such as studio teachers, choreographers,
and the many professional level and advanced dancers who attend) the building of
confidence and genuine relationships between young boys seems a far more important
criteria for funding assistance in a society seeking new ways to instil a sense of
worth in its youth. The value of passion in one's endeavours is surely integral to
this lesson and something all the participant's take away from Stamping Ground. The
performance recital with concert pianist, David (Shine) Helfgott and 50+ men &
boys had the audience cheering and weeping, and was another highlight of Stamping
Ground 2001, underlining the power of passionate commitment.
Stamping Ground has been growing every year since its inception in 1997 with
383 participants this year. Stock attributes much of the event's success to its reputation
as a place of innovation and fun, to "word of mouth" - and the more recent
efficiencies of marketing on the WWW. He predicts the net will bring a steady increase
in participants over the next few years. Certainly, by any standards the festival
would be judged a success. For example, participants came from as far afield as Canada,
New Zealand, Singapore, Cairns, Perth and Arnhem Land. Not only did the participants
learn more about dance, they learnt about themselves and how they related to their
peers and their teachers. These are lessons that can be applied to many aspects of
their lives. To dance socially is to interact on an intimate and joyful level. This
joy is celebrated each January in Bellingen at the invitation of Peter Stock and
his admirable team of impressive men teachers.
Clare Sneddon - January 2001