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SESSIONS Non-Technical Presentations, Panels & Workshops New Insights in Mexican Dance Research / Abstract Anadel Lynton Snyder One of the major problems which concern teachers of Mexican traditional and contemporary dance both in academic and ritual or social dance settings is the transmission of the qualitative nuances of dance styles which give them their character and thus their efficacy as aesthetic, ritual or social indicators of identity. Discussions on the differences which are intuitively evident between the dancing styles of men and women, different generations and different cultural settings for learning, within and outside the communities, in Indian and non-Indian, academic and non-academic, urban and rural settings, and exactly what these differences consist of in movement analysis terms has become a major topic of interest. The symbolic meanings of particular dance movements which the performers themselves understand intuitively but cannot describe easily in words may also become more clear through the use of movement analysis. This paper will summarize the historical development of the teaching of Labanotation and movement analysis in Mexico. It will then describe the initial stages of seven research projects by dance teachers, researchers and anthropologists which I supervised partially or totally as part of the first systematic training in the use of LMA for research in Mexico.. These projects sought to go beyond description for its own sake (documentation) to the use of movement analysis and notation as principal tool in the search for understanding. Plans are now current for a continuation of this work. I will briefly describe five studies currently in progress which contrast movement styles and two which search for symbolic meanings and their movement expression. These studies reached an initial stage of public oral presentation in March 2002 and continue towards publication. I will discuss the difficulties encountered in positing research questions where movement analysis and notation is essential. Six studies of Mexican traditional dance and one of contemporary dance will be introduced. The latter was carried out by Cristina Mendoza as part of her studies of the works of one of Mexico‚s major choreographers, Raúl Flores Canelo, in a search to define the use of contrast in his movement style. Two traditional dances presented in Easter celebrations by the Coras of Nayarit were analyzed and compared for their symbolic cosmography by Maira Ramirez. The nuances of a process of reconstruction of a traditional dance that had fallen in disuse and was being revived by elders were studied by Citlalín Valencia. Variations according to generation and place of learning between Mayo deer and pascola performers from Sinaloa were analyzed by Patricia Medina. Alejandra Aidé Esìnoza compared the dancing styles of men and women and young and old in sones de tarima in the Afromestizo community of El Circuelo, Oaxaca. Aída Martinez contrasted the performances of Yaqui deer dancers in Sonora with that of the students from the Academy of Mexican Dance who did field work in Sonora and were coached by traditional performers and those who did not have this opportunity. Nadzul Valle studied the performances of traditional Cora dance masters from Nayarit who came to the National Folk Dance School to teach and the processes students went through in attempting to learn the basic movement qualities. I will conclude with an evaluation of the difficulties encountered in these studies and of plans for future development of the use of LMA and Labanotation as research tools for the study of Mexican dance. Anadel Lynton Snyder - A founding member of Mexico’s National Center for Dance Research, Documentation and Information (1983), where she continues to work, along with performing, choreographing and teaching. She has developed Dancing in Community programs for indigenous, feminist and other local groups, and street performances, interactive events and cultural animation for peace and justice. She has been published in journals and research publications while trying to integrate her studies in anthropology, movement analysis and dance as a doctoral candidate at Temple University.
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