By Francis Scudellari
Fifty thousand years ago when the first modern humans began a journey out of Africa that would eventually allow our species to spread across the continents, they took their inquisitiveness, their inventiveness, their imagination and their varied forms of self expression along with them. This would serve them well as they struggled against harsh climates and diminishing resources, prodded to travel on in search of even more promising homes. We are all the products of that ancient journey. Today, both scientists and artists are working to help us see our connection to this past, and each other.
Over the years, Archaeologists have found small traces of our paths out of Africa. They’ve uncovered cave paintings and dug up the remnants of pottery, sculpture, story telling and the song that our ancestors left along the way. Now geneticists are uncovering even more of that mostly untold and forgotten story by delving into the information stored in our DNA.
National Geographic’s Genographic Project has used DNA collected from today’s global citizens to try to reveal the genetic markers that trace the routes back from us to those early humans who first stepped foot outside their ancestral home continent of Africa many millennia past.
The desire to move, to seek out what better prospects may lie just over the horizon, dominates the human story. It is in fact, so much a part of us, you could say it’s in our very blood. The migrations came in waves over thousands of generations. They still continue today of course in a much different form, and despite the many outward differences in appearance (physical traits shaped by the varied environments each group settled in a very long time ago), which can make us look so physically diverse as we cross each other’s paths, the project is showing how intimately connected we all are.
Using the Genographic Project as inspiration, How We Are Connected (HWAC), an arts festival organized by the New International Center of Diverse Artists (NICODA) is trying to uncover similar connections, but from a cultural perspective. The HWAC project integrates theatre, dance, music, and multi-media from a broad range of artists, all responding to the deep inter-connectedness put forward by the science at the heart of the Genographic Project.
The desire to move, to seek out what better prospects may lie just over the horizon, dominates the human story. It is in fact, so much a part of us, you could say it’s in our very blood. The migrations came in waves over thousands of generations. They still continue today of course in a much different form, and despite the many outward differences in appearance (physical traits shaped by the varied environments each group settled in a very long time ago), which can make us look so physically diverse as we cross each other’s paths, the project is showing how intimately connected we all are.
Using the Genographic Project as inspiration, How We Are Connected (HWAC), an arts festival organized by the New International Center of Diverse Artists (NICODA) is trying to uncover similar connections, but from a cultural perspective. The HWAC project integrates theatre, dance, music, and multi-media from a broad range of artists, all responding to the deep inter-connectedness put forward by the science at the heart of the Genographic Project.
Not only does HWAC provide insight into the ways the modern and ancient forces of migration, both voluntary and forced, have contributed to the mixing of cultures and the interchange of different forms of expressions, but it also allows us to trace back the paths of development for each of those art forms and see how they’ve influenced each other as they matured together.
Last November, at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, HWAC put on display a sampling of our deep and varied cultural legacy. Combining the multifaceted talents of performers Yokko, Ahmad Maaty, SoSoon, Natalia Plaza, Daniel Bennett, Johan Vizcaino, Michael Billingsley, and Ray Arac, it was an evening that included modern and traditional dance, jazz and folk music, dramatic and spoken word performances, and then tied it all together with insightful panel discussions.
Dana Humphrey, an Astoria resident, raved about the event: “NICODA's launch showcase performance was a real treat! From music, to comedy to dance, I enjoyed every moment of it! I can't wait for their next festival"
Speaking about the performances, NICODA’s mission, and Executive Director Raquel Miller’s stewardship of the organization, Seth Bornstein, Executive Director of the Queens Economic Development Corporation said: “It was so exciting to see Raquel’s vision become a reality. The performing arts is a unifying force that ties together the diversity of Queens. I am delighted that Queens Economic Development Corporation is able to help Raquel and NICODA pursue artistic and business dreams.”
The success of the night’s programming was also trumpeted in the New York Daily News (see “Art imitates anthropology” by Irving DeJohn) and the Woodside Herald (see a PDF of the Nov. 25, 2011 issue, and scroll down toward the bottom for the review), among others.
In the coming weeks, I’ll be talking to the performers who participated in the November 2011 event, to share details about the creative process behind their art, why they’ve chosen to be a part of HWAC, and how it’s affected what they do.
Over the next several years, the festival will spotlight the cultural heritages of different regions of the globe. First up for this fall will be the Caribbean, and a group of performers who can trace their roots to its rich source of cultural history. They will bring their own unique personal perspectives, of course, but their art will also reflect the collective experiences of both their current and ancestral homes.
Perhaps in their performances we’ll even witness a cultural connection that goes much further back, traveling all those millennia to the African dawn of humanity. Some of the artists will be participating in the Genographic Project’s DNA testing to see how they fit into the story of humanity’s greatest journey. What will those tests reveal, and how will it affect each performer’s sense of self and of community? How might it affect the way they express their art, and the connections they see between what they do and the creative forms from other cultures and mediums?
Stay tuned. Later in the year, I’ll also bring you their individual stories and look at how they’ve been inspired by the Genographic Project to create in new ways, and to explore those new possibilities of connection.
Photos: Bryan Pace
Dana Humphrey, an Astoria resident, raved about the event: “NICODA's launch showcase performance was a real treat! From music, to comedy to dance, I enjoyed every moment of it! I can't wait for their next festival"
Speaking about the performances, NICODA’s mission, and Executive Director Raquel Miller’s stewardship of the organization, Seth Bornstein, Executive Director of the Queens Economic Development Corporation said: “It was so exciting to see Raquel’s vision become a reality. The performing arts is a unifying force that ties together the diversity of Queens. I am delighted that Queens Economic Development Corporation is able to help Raquel and NICODA pursue artistic and business dreams.”
The success of the night’s programming was also trumpeted in the New York Daily News (see “Art imitates anthropology” by Irving DeJohn) and the Woodside Herald (see a PDF of the Nov. 25, 2011 issue, and scroll down toward the bottom for the review), among others.
In the coming weeks, I’ll be talking to the performers who participated in the November 2011 event, to share details about the creative process behind their art, why they’ve chosen to be a part of HWAC, and how it’s affected what they do.
Over the next several years, the festival will spotlight the cultural heritages of different regions of the globe. First up for this fall will be the Caribbean, and a group of performers who can trace their roots to its rich source of cultural history. They will bring their own unique personal perspectives, of course, but their art will also reflect the collective experiences of both their current and ancestral homes.
Perhaps in their performances we’ll even witness a cultural connection that goes much further back, traveling all those millennia to the African dawn of humanity. Some of the artists will be participating in the Genographic Project’s DNA testing to see how they fit into the story of humanity’s greatest journey. What will those tests reveal, and how will it affect each performer’s sense of self and of community? How might it affect the way they express their art, and the connections they see between what they do and the creative forms from other cultures and mediums?
Stay tuned. Later in the year, I’ll also bring you their individual stories and look at how they’ve been inspired by the Genographic Project to create in new ways, and to explore those new possibilities of connection.
Photos: Bryan Pace
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