WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH PROGRAMS

Danceintime can provide a program for Women's History Month (March), Women's Equality Day (August 26), or other Women's Events programs. These programs can include comments on the expanding role of women throughout history in politics, society, and the arts.

Called "Women Take the Lead," the show can also include instruction on how to lead and follow dance moves, with performances where women both lead and follow. In some cases, the ladies even switch roles so that someone who starts out leading ends up following and vice versa.

Traditionally in partnership dancing, men lead the dance, making all the choices and "creative decisions." Women just follow what is led. In professional level dancing, steps can be quite complex so that learning them requires a lot of practice and memory----a challenge that belongs only to the leaders. However in this lively dance presentation, ladies step up to the plate and learn this material, demonstrating that women can lead very capably, too!

The phenomenon of women leading partnership dances reflects their changing role in society. In the spirit of "art imitates life," DanceInTime brings you a presentation in which ladies embrace all the roles that are played by Latin dancers. This fun and inspiring dance presentation is based on the principle of women's innate equality and capability.

The audience members can bring their dancing shoes too, as the program gives them a chance to learn some dance steps (including the lead) if they wish! The program is guaranteed to be both empowering and fun!!

Every time this show is done, it's uniquely designed to best suit the venue, audience, and budget. The show can include any or all of these components below.

1. Performance by one couple.
2. Performance by a dance team. (The performance can include having the audience guess which dancer is leading and which dancer is following!)
3. Instruction for anyone in the audience who might like to try some moves.
4. Brief talk about the history of women's roles from antiquity to the present and how they have changed. Talk can include discussion of how dance roles reflect societal norms, and the tradition-breaking work done by this dance group.

This dance-related Women's History/Equality program is unique and always well received. You can see below some video clips below from a program that was run for Women's History Month in March 2011.

a. To see Barb speaking about women's changing roles in society, click here.
b. To see Barb speaking about women's changing roles in the arts (especially in dance), click here.
c. In keeping with the theme of the program, Barb and Glen danced Salsa and afterwards the audience guessed who was leading...Can you watch them (click here) and guess?

If you are interested in arranging a Women's-related program by DanceInTime, feel free to contact Barb any time (301-9806043 or BarbBtalks (at) aol.com). We produce all types of programs--large and small---tailored to your needs.

For those who are interested, you can read below about how women's roles in society and the arts have changed over the centuries.

***************************************

BASIC HISTORICAL SUMMARY OF WOMEN'S ROLES IN SOCIETY AND IN THE ARTS----OVERVIEW

As we all know, women are moving toward equality of status and opportunity in modern times. But it is instructive to trace the history of gender roles to help us understand where we are today and how far we have come. Sadly, women were often considered intellectually inferior to men and a source of temptation in past eras. And the role they have played in traditional partnership dancing reflects this submissive role. But these trends are changing, and increasingly women are playing lead roles on the dance floor as they do in life!

But first a look at the past…

1. PREHISTORIC  TIMES

In prehistoric times, our Neanderthals went from sexual promiscuity to males staying with and "dominating" one particular female. Prehistoric men were the hunters, decision makers and the defenders of their families. Women were submissive; they cooked food, made simple clothing to wear, provided sex on demand, and raised the children that resulted. Women were expected to be obedient, and men treated women as they saw fit--whether gently or brutally.

There were high rates of infanticide until the development of agriculture. When babies were born, if they couldn't be "supported by the land," they were left to die. Anthropologists estimate that 50% of female newborn babies were killed by their parents during the Paleolithic era. Sometimes these children were actively killed, but often they died by the more passive means of neglect and intentional malnourishment. As you might guess, there was a surplus of males in those times.

2. ANCIENT TIMES

In general, ancient societies were run by men, whose status depended on physical strength and skill. There was very little emphasis on teaching girls to read and write; instead they were taught household skills like spinning, weaving, sewing, and cooking. Women had no say in choosing a marriage partner.
Socrates once asked his friend Critobulus, "Is there anyone with whom you talk less than your wife?" The friend answered, "There are few or none, I confess."

Generally, Greek women wore concealing clothing and were not free to do what they wanted. In Athens (even though it is sometimes considered the birthplace of democracy) Athenian men didn't allowed their wives to leave home very often. When they did go out, it was for specific purposes which were often religious duties. Fathers controlled women prior to marriage and chose who a girl would marry. A woman's spouse controlled her after marriage.

Upon marriage, the new couple would be escorted to the home of the groom. The bride would only be a full member of this new household after producing her first child. Women had little power in Greek society and were not regarded highly until producing a child. Most men regarded women as necessary only to produce children.

After having a baby, a woman would show it to her husband and he decided whether to let it live or "expose" it, a common form of infanticide. Exposure was a common practice. This meant exposing a baby to the elements and not taking care of it. That way, one was not actively murdering the child and there was also the chance that the baby might be rescued by a passerby. Babies of either sex might be rejected in this manner, but it happened more often to baby girls.

Interestingly, in addition to women who became wives, there were also poor women in Greece who were prostitutes or were "kept" (supported) by men. Such women were not respected, but they moved about society much more freely than wives. These lower class women held a variety of jobs such as innkeepers, vegetable sellers, etc. But regardless of what class a woman was, her overall status was inferior to men's.

It is interesting to note that in ancient societies, there was still some variation in how women were regarded. For example, in Sparta, women enjoyed higher levels of status, power and respect than in any other classical society. They controlled not only their own properties, but also those of any male relatives who were away in the Spartan army. One estimate is that women were the owners of at least a third of all land and property in Sparta. Perhaps even more important, the laws of divorce were the same for men and women in Sparta. Spartan women typically wore short dresses which may seem like a small matter but reflects significantly on how women were regarded.

3. MEDIEVAL TIMES

A woman's place in medieval society was determined by the standing of her husband (or otherwise by her father or brother). A man might go off to fight for years in a war and leave his wife in charge of things while he was away. But the moment he returned, his wife was expected to relinquish power to him, even if she had done a better job of overseeing than he had. When a woman lost her male protector, she often lost her identity and became a social outcast.

As one would expect, medieval women were dominated by the men in their family. They had to obey fathers, brothers, and other males in the family, even to the point of being beaten into submission if they dared disobedience. Women could not be heirs to their father's titles. Instead, these passed from father to son or between brothers.

In medieval villages, women were paid less than men for doing the same job. Documents from medieval England say that for "reaping," a man could get 8 pence a day while a woman would get 5 pence. For "hay making," men would earn 6 pence a day while women got 4 pence. A medieval woman could not advance into a trade, and medieval guilds generally barred women from membership. Of course, women wouldn't think to complain about these disparities; they were simply facts of life.

Women's lives were hard and they didn't have any choice in who they married. Marriages were arranged by parents. However, unlike women, men sometimes had some choice in who their bride would be. The family of the girl who was to be married gave a dowry, or donation, to the boy she was going to marry. That would stay with the boy forever.

Women typically had many children and childbirth was painful, with no medication to ease the pain. Many women died during childbirth or shortly after by bleeding to death, or because of infections. Some died because their baby was turned the wrong way or too large to be delivered. Women were expected to have children to help with farm-work, and there was little birth control. So not having children wasn't really an option for women at that time.

However during this period, we do see evidence that a shift was beginning in how women were viewed.

The church afforded protection to women and raised up how they were regarded. Chivalry was introduced with the custom of honoring and protecting women. It should be noted that while this at least represents an attempt to be kind to women, the presumption of weakness and the need for protection, make it a far cry from equality.

Nuns were often educated and they played an important role in religious life in Europe.

Notably, some women became rulers, such as Queen Elizabeth in the 16th Century in England, Catherine the Great in the 18th century in Russian, and Queen Victoria in the 19th century in England.

4. WEDDING RITUALS

Throughout history, marriage has been an important event in the lives of many women.

Reading through the history of women's roles in society uncovered some interesting facts about some of our traditions surrounding marriage. Below are a few examples:

The expression "tie the knot" is from Roman times when brides wore a girdle that was tied in knots. The groom had the fun of untying them.

Diamond engagement rings come from medieval Italians, who thought that diamonds were made from the flames of love.

And Spartan soldiers from ancient Greece were the first to hold stag parties. The groom partied with his male friends the night before his wedding and that marked the end of his "carefree" single days.

The idea of brides wearing a white dress became popular after Anne of Brittany did so in 1499. Prior to that women would just wear their best dress for the ceremony.

In biblical days, the color blue was thought to represent purity, rather than white. So brides and grooms would wear a blue band around the bottom of their wedding clothes--and that gave rise to our tradition of "something blue."

Here is the original meaning of the wedding cake:
Ancient Romans baked a caked of wheat or barley and broke it over the bride's head as a symbol of her fertility.
Later, people started to pile up several small cakes, one on top of the other and had a tradition where the bride and groom would kiss over a tower of these cakes. If they kissed without breaking it down, they believed that would mean a lifetime of prosperity.

Egyptians believed that shoes had a lot of power, and they would exchange sandals when they exchanged goods. So when the bride's father "gave her away," he also gave the groom the bride's sandals. This was to show she truly belonged to the groom. That is how we got the tradition of tying shoes to the car of those getting married.

5. MODERN TIMES

In the late 19th and the 20th centuries, women have fought for and won many rights, moving them closer to equality with men.

Equity law developed in England and emphasized the principle of equal rights between men and women. In the mid 1800's, some laws began to be passed in the US that allowed women to own property separate from their husbands. (Although generally if they divorced, the husband kept legal control of both children and property.)

Greater numbers of women began to be educated in colleges. In 1870, one fifth of college and university students were women. But by 1984, women were earning 49 percent of all college degrees, putting them on parity with men. Also by the mid 1980's women earned 49 percent of all masters' degrees and a third of all doctoral degrees.

During the same era, women's vocational opportunities in this country expanded. This can be seen by their increasing representation in the professions. In 1890, five percent of the doctors in the US were women. During the 1980's that was 17 percent. In 1980, two percent of American lawyers and judges were women; but that rose to 22 percent in 1989. In 1930, there were almost no women engineers in the US and in 1989 the percent was 7 and a half---a rise albeit a small one!

Women joined the workforce of necessity during wartime when men were in the armed forces and that ushered many more women into jobs of all types. Their presence in the workforce has been growing since.

Women won the right to vote in this country in 1920 though their political role was still minimal for the most part. Finally over a half century later, Geraldine Ferraro of NY ran for VP in 1984. In 1981 Sandra O Connor was the first woman to serve on the Supreme court. The next year Bertha Wilson was named to the Canadian Supreme court. Eleanor Roosevelt was appointed to the UN in 1945 and was the UN's Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights.

Despite obvious strides, many women today believe there is still work to be done to achieve full equality.
A report in 1980 by the United Nations summarized the inequality at that time by saying that women are half the world's population, do two thirds of the world's work, and earn one tenth of the world's income and own one hundredth of the world's property. This reflects an extreme difference between the sexes when the entire world is considered, including underdeveloped countries.

Fortunately, in the US, the inequality is less extreme. But according to a Census Bureau report in 2000, American women earned about 77% of what men made in 1999. Overall, women still occupy lower ranking jobs than men, and they still do most of the housekeeping work.

6. THE ARTS, SOCIETY, & WOMEN'S ROLES

All of the arts are created by human beings and thus have some relationship to the society they live in.  Ann Daly, a writer and educator who specializes in arts and society, has said that "dance is an art form that assesses cultural, historical and political climates and translates these themes into a movement vocabulary. As such, dance is capable of serving as a medium for social commentary."

Daly said further that "Choreographers use movement in ways that echo the existing social structures. Yet in doing so, they are…perpetuating the status quo….And when the status quo supports the subordination of women, and the ability of men to manipulate and control them, there are consequences for women on the concert dance stage and in society. If her inferiority is reaffirmed in dance, women's chances for attaining equality in society are undoubtedly hindered."

In ballet, during the twentieth century, women came to be the stars on stage, but they were generally still under the direction mostly of men.  Men were typically the ballet masters, choreographers, directors, and producers as well as theater directors, according to Judith Hanna in her book “Dance Sex Gender.”  She reports that Gelsey Kirkland, a ballerina with the NY City Ballet wrote in her autobiography “Dancing on My Grave” that Balanchine was jealous of his female dancers dating as he wanted their “sole devotion.” 

Dance scholar and anthropologist Judith Hanna, from the University of Maryland, says in her book “Dance, Sex, and Gender” (1988) that modern dance was partly “a rebellion against male domination in both dance and society….The modern dancers no longer wore tight corsets which enabled men to get a good grip on their partners to lift them on stage.”  Along with looser clothing, came looser rules of dance, new ways of movement and newer and more equal relationships with men on and off stage.  In society at this time, women were achieving greater marital equality and the right to vote, receiving higher education, and entering the labor market.   In dance women were becoming choreographers, and dance company founders and managers.

For example, Doris Humphrey was a modern dancer and choreographer in the early 1900's. In some of her works, she challenged conventional gender roles and dealt with male and female dancers as equals. The dancers counterbalanced each other, held each other up, did symmetrical or identical steps, etc.  Although admittedly, in later years, her work reverted more to traditional gender roles.

George Balanchine who choreographed ballets around the same time, made women the stars of his ballets. But his influence was mixed. He didn't regard women as equal human beings. He is quoted as saying, "In ballet woman is first. Everywhere else man is first." His love for women is evident in his life with many marriages, but he nonetheless felt that women were inferior to men. This is reflected in his ballets, as well, in which men dominate and women are submissive. In his choreographies, men do movements first and women follow. A women will replicate a man's movement, but do none of her own.

But as we move forward in time and look at recent approaches to dance, changes are increasingly evident.  By the later 1900’s there are numerous examples on stage of gender role reversal.  For example, Bill T. Jones lifts his partner in a show, but then shortly afterwards she, a diminutive woman, is the one lifting him.  Hanna cites a number of instances of role reversal where women lift/catch men—such as a Houston Ballet performance and a performance called “Resettings” by choreographer Senta Driver.  In 1981, Douglas Dunn and Dancers performed a dance where dancers paired off in couples of random gender, with men supporting women and men supporting men, as well as women supporting women.

Choreographer named David Dorfman, challenged stereotypical gender roles in works such as Kilter (1994) and Hey (1995). He had men and women do roughly the same moves, and partnering without regard to gender. His dancers, according to dance scholar Ann Daly, are simply "presented as individual human beings, seeking to establish their identities and relationships to each other."

Likewise, a Ph.D. candidate named Kat at Mc Gill University wrote that in some modern dances, men have generally been presented as carriers, enablers and restrictors of female movements while women are the ones being enabled, guided, supported, etc. " But she also observes that increasingly, the newer modern dances break from this view.  In a choreography by Gina Gibney titled "View Partially Obstructed" for example, a female dancer lifts and supports her male partner. At the climax of this choreography, five dancers dance together with two couples that are rearranged repeatedly by a fifth person. In the end, they all dance in unison, reflecting a new-found equality.

Kat's analysis is that in the end, this choreography refuses to subjugate either gender, constructing a new gender dynamic in dance. She says that in art, one has the ability to construct a new vision that isn't tied to the conventions of the times.

In the DanceInTime Program, “Women Take the Lead,” we partner without regard to gender to produce a very original show.  Indeed, it is much like what is described above in some modern dance choreographies.

7. TEACHING WOMEN TO LEAD AT DANCEINTIME:  CONCLUDING COMMENTS

And so now I come to how women's roles are viewed in Latin dancing done by Danceintime. I didn't know of all this history when I set out to teach Salsa. I did what came naturally to me. I had a class with more ladies than men, and wanted to partner evenly so the women would not have to wait and take turns dancing. I suggested that if any of the women wanted to learn the leader's part, it would be help even up the lead/follow ratio.  There are generally some women in class who are comfortable doing that.

I want to point out, as well, that I had to learn to lead in order to become a teacher. All dance teachers must know both the leader's and follower's parts. As a woman, if I teach a man, I have to show him what to do. If I teach a woman, I have to lead her so she can practice following. Thus I have to know both roles, and it is the same for a male teacher. Teachers must be proficient in both parts.

So in the spirit of Ann Daly's belief that women should not play only submissive roles in dance, at my dance company many women are trained to lead. Of course, we only do this if they are interested in leading, which not everyone is. We also teach men to follow. We consider it a high form of the art to learn both, and generally those who learn both parts are considered strong dancers.

I run dance teams and often have more ladies than men at the level of expertise required for the team. One day years ago, a friend suggested since I worked with so many talented women, that I make an all-women's Salsa team. That was years ago and the group has done many performances since.

Furthermore, to make an obvious point: I am a woman and I direct the dance company. I not only have to create choreographies and produce full length programs, I have to teach the dance classes, maintain a website, handle publicity, and all the legal paperwork involved in running any business in the world today. This represents a blend of roles---many conventionally taken by men.

But I believe that any notion of being held back by being a woman in this day and age is partly self-imposed. It never occurred to me that I couldn't or shouldn't do all these things, and so I simply made them happen. I was raised with a strong emphasis on achievement and no difference was expected between the boys and the girls in the family. So I didn't develop a habit of questioning my place or role; I simply set about to do what I was interested in. And I would encourage others in dance and other facets of life, to hold whatever goals they want, and work towards them. It has always been my personal belief that people can do a lot more than they think they can, if they don't handicap themselves by not trying…

Final Note:
Judith Hanna, the dance scholar and anthropologist cited above, also wrote "Dancing for Health: Conquering and Preventing Stress" which is another interesting dimension of dance.   For more info on her work, visit Ms. Hanna's website:  Judithhanna.com.


Return to previous page.