As I began walking down the streets of downtown Vancouver with the intention of asking random strangers for a few moments of their time to discuss the influence of dance on society, I was unsure of what to expect. After countless rejections, 10-12 people took the time to have in depth conversations to share with me their own knowledge and experience of various forms of dance.
I began most conversations by introducing myself and asking if the people knew anything about North American Indigenous dance rituals. Most of them responded with a “hmm…not really,” or a just a straight up “no”. There was one elderly woman though whose cousin had competed in the women’s fancy dance category of multiple competitions across the province. She spoke to me about the sense of community felt around the organizing of such competitions and how she is appreciative of those who are able to express their culture through dance. As she said this, I too felt a newer respect for this tool of cultural preservation.
Others I spoke with enlightened me with the dance rituals of their own culture. I learned about different forms of Chinese, Irish and Russian dance. This was fascinating to me, as it brought to light that most cultures, if not every culture, uses dance to express unity and identity. Comparing these rituals made me realize how similar humans are despite differences in culture or ethnicity. Most people were also keen on learning more about Indigenous dance rituals after I briefly explained what unique qualities about different tribes could be learned by studying their dance rituals and movements.
This was very much a positive experience for me as I learned about the power of dance in society through the eyes of total strangers, while inspiring them to further explore the differences and variety in Indigenous culture and dance practices.