DIANNE McINTYRE Group

In the Same Tongue

Modern dance powerhouse and cultural investigator Dianne McIntyre will premiere her new work, In the Same Tongue, at The Walker Art Center in October. The work explores a conversation between dance and music, and features innovative composer, musician and curator Deidre Murray, and poetry by American playwright and poet Ntozake Shange. In a video about her process, McIntyre says, “We have the language in actual words, we have the language of the music and we have the language of the dance.”

• What do you think it means to be a cultural investigator and how does it inform how McIntyre might choose who to collaborate with?
• Why do you imagine an artist might refer to music and dance as ‘language’?
• Do you believe you need to understand the language of an art form in order to enjoy a performance? 
• If the dance, music, and poetry are speaking different languages, how do you think they are able to speak to each other? In what ways do these ‘languages’ intersect?

McIntyre has been a dynamo in the dance world for over five decades. She has worked as a performer and a choreographer in concert dance, theater, film, and television. In 1972, at the young age of 25, she founded her dance/music company Sounds in Motion in New York. A couple of years later the company established its own studio in Harlem. In an interview with TimeOut, she spoke about dancing in ‘70s New York, “It was fantastic… It was a very high time for dance and for the arts in general.”

• How do you imagine the founding of Sounds in Motion shifted the dance economy and life in Harlem at that time? 
• Would you say that it is a good time to be an artist today? Why or why not?
• How do you think art opportunities have shifted in the past five years? How do you think they will shift in the next five years?
• What do you think inspires an artist to keep creating new work over a long career?

McIntyre is committed to strong engagement with the local community whenever her work is being presented, and local performers are incorporated into the production at each tour site. 

• What is the importance of connecting local artists with national or internationally recognized artists? 
• What challenges or successes do you imagine would arise through such exchanges? 
• How might these exchanges impact and develop the local performance communities long after the visiting artists’ residencies are over?

In an interview with Dance/USA, McIntyre talks about the first time she posted an audition notice. She mentions the advice of a mentor, “I’ll never forget what she said, ‘People will come because they’re hungry to dance.’ And that has not changed.’”

• What do you think it means to have a “hunger” for art? 
• Do you agree that the same hunger exists today for both artists and art-goers? Why or why not?
• Does performing art have any impact on culture and on society? Do you have examples?
• How do you think passion for the arts can be instilled in future generations?