Dance(A)cution

DanceAcution is a class in performance practice taught by Alex Ketley in collaboration with artist and death-row inmate Bill Clark.

Danceacution:

Performance Practice, Death Row, and the Evolution of Cultural Reform

DanceAcution is a unique course in performance practice taught by nationally recognized choreographer Alex Ketley along with guest Bill Clark who is an artist and writer incarcerated on Death Row. Creative expression does not exist in a vacuum but is deeply influenced by the societal contexts surrounding it. The students use the vast breadth of Bill Clark's life experience as the platform to develop their own artwork. This can take the form of writing, film making, dance, music, or theater. Bill offers some of his most inspiring writing to the class as a foundation for research and calls into the class weekly from the prison phone so the students can interact with him directly. Alex Ketley has built theater pieces from numerous creative vantage points and guides the students in the development of their work. At the end of the class there are performances that Bill attends via San Quentin's video conference system where he and Alex offer feedback to each student. Danceacution is an opportunity for students to engage their creative impulses through the lens of two artists deeply committed to the idea that art has the ability to affect meaningful change in our society.

The class was first taught at Stanford University.

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Published Reflections from Alex Ketley:

“In all my years teaching I have rarely had an opportunity to engage in a process that was so steeped in weight, social relevance, joy, and the sense that all the participants were being deeply impacted. DanceAcution was a class taught by me in collaboration with the prolific artist and Death Row inmate Bill Clark. Bill has been incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison for the past 30 years yet exhibits a depth of spirit and near relentless positive outlook that stands in stark contrast to his abhorrent incarceration. Bill called into the class every Tuesday from his cell to share his artwork and what his experience is like being an incarcerated artist. Bill’s family watched these classes online and the students were enthralled by his warmth, generosity, and brilliance. The class was then guided by my ideas around how to use the information gathered from Bill towards the development of their new artwork. This was not relegated to just dance. The students harnessed the full force of their talents to pursue projects that involved poetry, film making, music creation, and movement. As these multimedia pieces came together Bill thoughtfully offered his feedback and guidance even though he could not see these pieces from his prison cell. His interaction with the students were completely auditory and even within this limitation he contributed to the class beautifully. It is from the collision of seemingly disparate populations that we find common ground and slowly change perspectives. My group of Stanford students were brilliant, brave, and live in the free world. Bill said often that the state has incarcerated his body in a 4x12 foot cage, but his mind and spirit will always be free. To see these two worlds come together has profoundly impacted me. The artwork we make and the ways we teach can have profound reverberations. Bill is normally not one to be at a loss for words, but all he could say is “I’m astonished, moved, and filled with gratitude.”

Insight by Isabelle Claire Edgar:

“Last time I dreamed I was free; I was alone in an amusement park.”  Bill told us this once, on the phone during class. He said he often dreams that he is free, and each time it's different. I’ve learned, from taking this class, that Bill Clark is an incredibly skillful dreamer. 

Bill is a nationally recognized writer, artist, and educator who has been incarcerated on death row for the past 31 years in California. “My mind is free,” he reminds us when we ask him about his “predicament,” as he calls it. Choreographer Alex Ketley has invited Bill as his guest in Dance(A)cution, a class Ketley was inspired to develop while collaborating with Bill on several performance pieces built for Ketley's company.

The course has one basic objective: to make a creative project alongside Bill. The first couple weeks we learn about Bill, his artistic work, his predicament and more. The rest of the class is spent developing our projects with mentorship from Alex and Bill. This year we had dancers, documentary filmmakers, songwriters, animators, writers and more. The class concludes with a showing of these works.

Bill calls in from his cell which, he told us, is about the size of an average bathroom, and the class circles around a small speaker to listen. Bill emphasizes that the students can ask him anything — he is an open book. And along with the almost unfathomable optimism and light that he holds, he is also deeply honest. 

The U.S carceral system encourages those not implicated to avert their eyes. For those who can, it is disturbingly easy to look away. Learning from Bill has not only been learning about artistic expression, but about the strange details that only someone who has lived in a 170-year-old prison for over a quarter of a century would know. The details are impossible to ignore: that the windows in the prison look out to San Francisco Bay but they haven't been cleaned in decades so no light shines through them, that you can only flush the toilet every two hours, that they only serve broccoli stems and not the top of the broccoli, that Bill hasn't seen the night sky in thirty years. 

 It becomes immediately apparent that Bill has a deep well of joy inside him. Things are not good ideas, but “brilliant” ones, not exciting but “thrilling”. When I told Bill I wanted to collaborate on a writing project this year he said, “I think you and I are going to capture lightning in a bottle.” 

This year, Bill and I wrote together. He started one document, and I started another and we passed them back and forth. We shared about the places we grew up, the things we wonder about and of course, what we dream about. We have written nearly ten pages together and are hoping to continue writing after the class. 

 I am deeply inspired by Bill Clark’s wonder, care, and unwavering optimism.

I hope someday I can meet Bill at that amusement park.

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