#ACreekGroovesinIceland : the story of how some self-care actually made me a "better" anthropologist

Hi. So A few weeks into being in Iceland, a dear friend suggested I fill some of my free time with dancing around Iceland. So I started #ACreekGroovesinIceland, currently featuring TEN videos on vimeo.  

It started off as simply a way to document my time, to have something to do when I didn't have interviews planned, and to take care of my body (if you know about "Sacred Practice" you know that we dancers need to move to grow, heal, and stay strong) 

I found a few ways this little project has actually really helped my research:

1.  I filmed with various lenses and thus, learned a bit more about my camera. What works, what doesn't, when the iPhone is ok, and so on.
2.  I learned a bit about editing. I got a bit more creative as time went on. These are FAR from professionally edited videos, but I learned alot in the process, especially as friends would suggest locations or editing techniques to try. 
3. THE MOST IMPORTANT AND SHOCKING.This turned out to be participant observation, in a way.

So, there wasn't alot for me to observe until the festival because....IT'S SUMMER AND EVERYONE LEAVES IN THE SUMMER. The dance commmnity has been SO supportive, skyping in and sending me more resources, but actual observation was a no-go. 

Through this little film series, I unintentionally was creating my own artistic work. Why do I see that as P.O? Well,

A.  As an "artist" I have been interested in site-specific dance for about three years now, maybe a bit more. So I ended up creating a very "Emily-aesthetic" series and was exploring this concept in various remote and non-remote places around Iceland.

B. Having my own "type" of work, is EXACTLY what goes down here. In fact, one particpant told me that the reason the RDF was developed was to create a way for dancers who were vastly different from being trained all over the world, to be able to support each other...a company was never going to be an option. By entering into that, albeit non-professionally, I let the reality of being an artist here sit in my body. 

C.   ^^^which brings me to the fact that having this artistic experience (current and not past) helped me to relate to and understand my participants in interviews/workshops on a deeper level. Sure, I wasn't doing work or dancing with them (except that I was able to do workshops so I was also doing that!), but I knew tactically what they meant as they would share personal experiences. 

D. So, I took on the role of a dancer in Iceland in the way many dancers in Iceland experience this role. No, I did not apply for funding or put on a show, but I expereinced it nontheless. 

E. These dances helped me express what I was feeling, in a raw and transparent form of reflexivity. Even the odd and more creative dances reflected the kind of day I'd had. 

So, this little experiment ended up in my research even though I did not intend for it too. It isn't insanely useful "data" ---- butit did allow me to embody this role in a way that was not possible due to the time of year of my field trip. It helped me understand that I can be an "experimental" anthropologist, and use my tactile knowledge in a neat way. SO thanks to the friend who thought of this and the friends who supported this and to my body for being able to do this..

All of the videos are (annoyingly?) linked below :) 

Installments (click on the number to get the video):

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

Enjoy and thank you, I leave Iceland in two and a half days. But I have so much to think through and decide on, and share. This blog will continue :)

Em