2014 Gesel Mason Interview

Ask me just that question of, you've heard me talk about it a little, but just what is this thing? Why do it 10 years later?

Okay. So, what are you doing? I mean why are you still working on this project 10 years later? If it's something that you started 10 years ago and that you did 10 years ago, why is it still happening?

That is a good question. Why am I still working on this project 10 years later? Actually I was invited to do this project again. In a lot of ways, I've been ... The presenter from University of Albany, Kim, invited me to do this project again. And it's funny, she actually invited me to do it a while ago, and I didn't want to. And I did something instead. But then she came back. She's like, "Are you sure?" [inaudible 00:01:07] like, "For you, Kim, sure."

But there's something else. I had the opportunity to learn a work by Rennie Harris. And I thought, "This is a continuation of this project. This is a continuation of No Boundaries." When I started thinking about what this, what 10 years could be, I realized I was actually doing an anniversary edition of this project. And when I did that, it was a really great opportunity to rethink what is this now? What does this piece mean now? What does this project mean now, No Boundaries, dance in the vision of contemporary black choreographers? How is this different from what it was 10 years ago?

And that's a really interesting question. I feel like I've learned a lot from this journey. When I first started this project, I just wanted to dance with some people who I found fascinating and amazing. And they said, "Yes." And this project became a living archive. It became a living, evolving repertory of work. And I realized how important that was and how important it was to keep doing it and keep sharing it with audiences.

But I feel like I ended up immersing myself in dance history and evolving and living dance history. So, there's pieces from 1940s, and now there's pieces from right now in 2013, and pieces that are coming from different backgrounds, Rennie Harris's pieces using hip-hop and house. And that's so relevant and current. And I love that my body is sort of evolving through all of this as well. So, it's kind of amazing to be part of a living, evolving archive. And I feel like it's influenced my dancing. When I first did this, I wasn't thinking of myself necessarily as a black dancer or someone who does black dance. And yet, through this journey, it's been so amazing to be like, "Yes, I am a black dancer. And that is not all of who I am." And I've always known that, but in some ways, I felt like I was pushing against it because I didn't want to be labeled or seen in a certain way. I didn't want my work or the work of my fellow artists and choreographers or the people I looked up to be seen as a certain way.

And now, I feel like I embrace it. In a lot of ways, I don't allow myself to be pegged. And I feel like because by doing this work, I have embodied what it means, what black dance is. And I know that it isn't one thing or one idea or one ideal. And I know that it's a label that is placed onto work, and nobody necessarily says, "This is what I'm doing." People do the work. People investigate their cultures, their beings, their identity. And it doesn't make something just identity-based work. It's American work. It's what dance does, investigates, asks questions. And we all ask different questions about different things. And identity sometimes is part of that. And sometimes it has nothing to do with identity. It's beyond that. It's more than that.

And it's been great to go on that journey through this piece over 10 years and watch my body change and watch myself get older and get a few more gray hairs. It's been a great journey. And I'm actually glad now to have the opportunity to share it, to continue to share it with new audiences and new populations and to do new work and to have it continue to evolve. Yeah, that's really exciting. What else?

I want to talk a little bit about the video. I gotta contextualize that.

Okay. Do you want me to sit ... Would it be easier if I sat over there-

Yeah.

... so it doesn't feel like there's somebody sitting in the room and you're talking [inaudible 00:06:28].

[inaudible 00:06:28]. I'm looking at this one dot. I found a dot to look at. Yeah, because otherwise I'll just ramble because it's all coming out of my head. That's what editing's for.

Yep. Exactly. Tell me about this video that you're making.

Yeah. When I first started this piece, I didn't necessarily know that I was going to be including documentary footage in between each of the pieces. I knew I wanted to do the work of these choreographers-

You know what, this is a really good shot. Do you mind if I change the camera angle on this, and then you'll have something to cut back and forth between?

Sure.

Because this is actually [inaudible 00:07:21]. Sorry. I don't want to interrupt your flow, but I think it'll make it visually more interesting.

I will take it. Some things have changed over the past 10 years. New technology. So, now do I look this way?

No. It's nice to have you looking sort of into the ...

Yeah.

So, I'm gonna put this to [inaudible 00:07:56] ... I gotta back up a little bit because I'm too close to you.

There's no clock in here.

I know.

I don't have my phone.

I've got a phone on me. Hold on a second. It is 2:51.

Okay.

So, I think I'll have you still ... If you want to address me this way, I think that'll look good. Yeah. All right [inaudible 00:08:45]. Good. All right, we're rolling again. [inaudible 00:09:10] ask you the question about the video again?

No. I think I got it. A few things have changed since I did this 10 years ago. A few more gray hairs, just a couple. But also technology has changed quite a bit. When I first did this piece, I didn't know that I was going to be using all the documentary footage in between each of the pieces. So, we were shooting footage, but I didn't necessarily know that they were going to be a part of the show. So, I had my little camera, my little Canon, nothing professional. I think eventually we figured out that we should use microphones.

There's shots of people sitting in front of light, terrible contrast. But at the same time, it's a part of the archive. It's a part of the piece. And what people were telling us then I think is still really important. But I also want to, as this archive continues to evolve and the repertory continues to grow and change and shift, I also want to continue to add the new video, the new technology. And I really am interested in doing additional interviews and going back and talking to some of the choreographers and finding out how their work has evolved in the last 10 years.

Some people are doing dance for camera now. Some people have retired. Some people, lives have changed in the past 10 years. And I'm very interested in their reflections about what this work is now, what it was then, what the project means now for them. So, yeah, as a part of this archive, you get to see what we were doing at the very beginning and how the piece evolves all the way up to the present time. And that includes really crazy footage from really old cameras. Yeah.

Cool.

Yeah. Anything else? I think some of it was in there on the floor, talking about that using that.

You got some really cool stuff in there.

Like I said, that's another image. And in there, I talked about Rennie's piece, and then I talk about the other choreographers. Just talked about the footage, talked about the why of doing it again, even a little bit about the hopes for what this piece is. I might even borrow some of the footage that ... Because I said it. I felt like I said it really clearly for [Erica 00:12:13].

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Sure.

If that's possible. What else?

Yeah, she had questions about that, too. I assume all of this footage can ...

Cross, yeah.

... go for either thing.

Yeah. Yeah, I think that's it.

Okay.

Thank you.

Yeah. Absolutely.