The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Thursday, October 12, 2017 — 5B

COMMUNITY CULTURE PROFILE

COURTESY OF CENTER FOR PERFORMANCE STUDIES

CWPS: Travel, art and 
the shaping of an identity

The Center for World Performance Studies provides a 
space to delve into rich performance traditions globally

Sometimes, you have to 

travel far to understand.

The 
Center 
for 
World 

Performance 
Studies 
is 
a 

multidisciplinary 
program 

that offers a certificate to 
graduate 
students. 
CWPS 

collaborates with the College 
of Literature, Science and 
the Arts, Rackham Graduate 
School 
and 
other 
schools 

within 
the 
University. 
It 

teaches its students how to 
engage in theoretical and 
aesthetic issues that stem 
beyond the performing arts. 
As part of the certificate, 
students 
receive 
funding 

to travel abroad to do their 
projects.

For graduate dance student 

Fabiola Torralba, the program 
allowed her to reconnect with 
her culture when she traveled 
back to Mexico. She went last 
summer to the region known 

as the Costa Chica, which 
encompasses 
Oaxaca 
and 

Guerrero. Not only did she 
visit her family, but she gained 
the opportunity to question 
more about her heritage. 

During this trip, she asked 

her 
grandmother, 
“What 

are we?” She remembered 
her 
grandmother 
saying, 

“We’re mestizos,” meaning 
of mixed race. After that, her 
grandmother was unsure of 
what to say.

“I do remember was what 

wasn’t said,” Torralba said. 
“I wondered, ‘What about my 
aunts and cousins who look 
black?’ — not knowing that 
there was a name or a way to 
identify that. There was no 
word that I knew of.”

Torralba later found out 

that there were articles and 
photographs 
covering 
the 

people in these communities 
of 
the 
coastal 
region 
of 

Mexico. From here, she was 
able to gain a sense of self-
identity 
that 
was 
lacking 

earlier.

“I 
think 
that 
as 
an 

undocumented 
immigrant 

growing up in the U.S., I 
didn’t have many models or 
many people to talk to about 
my experiences, and this was 
during the time before there 
was 
immigration 
reform, 

before it was a popular issue on 
a national level, before there 
was the word Dreamers,” 
Torralba said. “People didn’t 
really talk about immigrants 
in the years that I was 
growing up, so I looked to the 
stories of African-American 
experiences and slavery and 
colonialism. They anchored 
me in some way, and gave 
me something to familiarize 
myself with.”

Not only has this experience 

allowed Torralba to explore 
her culture, it allowed her to 
connect with other family 
members and teach them more 
about the heritage. When 
Torralba went to Mexico in 
the summer, her cousin, who 
is also a dance student, joined 
her.

“When my cousin first got 

off the bus ... she was stunned 
because it was the first time 
she saw so many people that 
were like her,” Torralba said.

The first time Torralba’s 

cousin heard the term “Afro-
Mexican” was through dance 
itself. By learning about the 
story of Afro Mexican dancing, 
her cousin was able to learn 
more about herself, Torralba 
said. 
This 
recognition 
of 

cultural diversity within art 
is what has been lacking in 
education.

“To 
me 
this 
is 
new 

information, 
but 
this 

community 
has 
been 

organizing for 30 years, and 
that kind of shows how out of 
touch or disconnected I have 
been, and we have been, in 
academia, and maybe in the 
US in general,” Torralba said.

Another 
important 

discovery Torralba made was 
the injustice the community 
has been facing. She realized 
they have been hiding their 
research, 
because 
outside 

artists have come, imposed 
their gains and left without 
ever coming back.

She hopes to give back to the 

community, as a researcher, 
a dancer and as a someone 
that 
is 
highly 
committed 

to social justice. Torralba 
believes that she should use 
her resources at the CWPS 
and the University, as well as 
her medium of art, as a way 
to develop relationships with 
these communities and raise 
awareness about the existence 
of these communities.

While the program allows 

students to travel back to places 
of their heritage, it also allows 
American students to explore 
other cultures. This can be 
an invaluable experience to 
students for their artwork and 
understanding of others.

“We try to foster a sense of 

finding roots,” said Michael 
Gould, Director of CWPS. “For 
example, it might not be a place 
of direct cultural connection, 
but if you have a connection 
to another culture, we give 
the opportunity for people to 
have a deeper experience in 
another culture.”

Gould himself lived in Japan 

for three years while playing 
for a band. The experience 
informed his art making, and 
he wants his students to be 
able to see the richness in art 
abroad we don’t always have 
in the U.S.

But 
sometimes, 
the 

complete opposite can happen 
too.

Professor Anita Gonzalez 

teaches classes in CWPS and 
heads the Global Theatre 
and Ethnic Studies minor. 
Through 
these 
programs, 

she has taken many students 
abroad.

“What I’ve learned from my 

international experiences is 
that when American students 
travel over to other places 
they learn more about their 
own cultural roots,” Gonzalez 
said. “Often they’ve been 
just caught up in their own 
lifestyles, 
and 
when 
they 

travel away, or go into another 

cultural 
community, 
they 

suddenly realize more about 
who they are and where they 
came from and how they’re 
connected to either race or 
geographical space, or even to 
a type of family.”

When Gonzalez wants to 

connect back to the Cuban 
grandfather she never met, she 
turns to writing. Eventually, 
she made her first trip to Cuba, 
which allowed her to finally 
see the place she has so often 
thought about.

“Sometimes going back and 

finding your roots can be a 
life-changing experience, as it 
helps you see where you came 
from,” Gonzalez said. “And 
sometimes it’s a frightening 
experience, because you see 
that you’ve already been living 
in another place for a while, so 
you don’t have the connection 
that you would like to have.”

The intersections of art 

and culture are fundamental 
for many in understanding 
and reconnecting to their 
cultural heritages. Just as we 
learn about others and their 
backgrounds in their artwork, 
we often also learn about 
ourselves.

NITYA GUPTA
Daily Arts Writer

Herzog’s ‘Bells from the Deep’

in this series, three daily arts writers in 

varying states of mind visit the same 

place and write about their experiences.

baked.buzzed.bored.

this week’s destination:

Well, this is off to a promising start. There’s Mon-

golian throat singing, for one. But I really wish this 
had closed captions. I can’t even identify the language 
they’re speaking, let alone understand it. Oh wait, good 
ol’ Werner is translating for us now. That’s good. Man 
this singing is really fucking cool. I want to be able to 
do that. Those overtones, man. Also there’s like this 
banjo or something similar. That’s neat too. This lady 
in a white coat (not medical) is going on about like the 
earth and the foolishness of humanity. Something about 
a redeemer. I’m not really catching it all tbh. Oh my god, 
baked has churro ice cream. Update: it’s delicious.

“He thinks he’s jesus,” says baked.
This redeemer guy has some interesting things to 

say. Love thy neighbor, and all that, which honestly i 
can get behind. “I am the blood of the father, and I and 
the father are one.” That’s a bit more dubious. This all 
reminds me of the 19th century slavophile conception 
of the russian people as being uniquely religious, the 
true heirs of orthodoxy. This baptism honestly looks like 
child abuse to me.

I think I like gin less than i used to. Huh.
God, this choir is great. This is really cool. They’re 

just like a regular congregation tho. And they’re good. 
That’s neat.

This guy Yuri is introduced as a sorcerer and exorcist. 

That’s hardcore. This exorcism is really intense tho. 
Like, the screaming is kind of freaking me out.

I think i’ll just watch for a bit. There’s a bell ringer 

and I like it. Him. Man. Whatever. His parents probably 
were killed in the war or Stalin’s purges, he says. I sup-
pose it makes sense that he has found a form of solace in 
the ringing of the bells. Russian religious music is really 
nice. I think that’s the big take away.

—DAILY ARTS WRITER

So far I’ve seen two men crawl over a frozen lake and a man 
throat singing, what is going on?

Now we’re in a home and are witnessing an elaborate 
blessing of some sort over food. The person perform-

ing the blessing is a shaman. The family asked him to 

come so that they could ask which way to take their 

herd of cattle.

More throat singing by a frozen lake, this time 

with a banjo? This is fucking wild. I should be 
high for this.

There’s this man named The Redeemer who 

thinks he is some sort of Russian Jesus. “Man-
kind is headed straight towards the abyss” 
he says. “I am the word of the father, and the 
word of the father is one.” This dude really does 
think he’s Jesus.

A Russian Orthodox priest is cannonballing 

a baby into a pool of water. Child abuse?

There is an entire audience for an exorcism, 

and the women being performed on are scream-
ing, how are people watching this for entertain-
ment? Do they not Game of Thrones?

Yuri Yuri Yuri rings the bells. I think Kanye 

should sample this, the boys got rhythm.

It’s interesting that almost all of this mysticism 

in Russia takes place within Christianity. These 
traditions would seem so strange in any Western 
Christian community.

A woman just asked a stump to give her bones and 

muscles strength, I hope it works out for her.
I’m now much more motivated to visit Russia, almost 

exclusively so I can witness the throat singing in person. 

I would definitely recommend watching “Bells from the 

Deep,” one of the strangest films I’ve seen in years.

—JOSEPH FRALEY

Editor’s Note: Werner Herzog’s documentary, “Bells from the 

Deep: Faith and Superstition in Russia,” is a gripping documentary 
investigation of Russian mysticism, spanning all corners of the vast 

country. In it, Herzog explores self-proclaimed messiahs, centuries-old 
occultism and more — making for a rather memorable experience for 

our participating staffers, inebriated or otherwise. Enjoy.

 From there, she 
was able to gain 
a sense of self-

identity that was 

lacking earlier

“Sometimes going 
back and finding 
your roots can be 
a life-changing 
experience, as 
it helps you see 
where you came 

from”

Honestly, what the fuck is this? I was the one who had the gall to suggest this 

and all I wanna do is slap the shit out of myself. I take a swig of Buzzed’s 

gin because I don’t think one substance is enough to keep me at bay 

right now.

At times you have to admire Herzog’s inability to 

give very little shits about the content he creates. 

He’s just piecing together vignettes of people 

throat-singing and throwing water at 

each other while singing hymns. 

There’s no narrative here. It’s 

just as if he’s trying to grab 

you, the viewer, by your lapels 

while forcibly peeling open your eyes 

so you can witness the fuckery, good or 

bad (or anything in between), he happens to 

find on his global travails. Fuck you, Werner. I 

wish Klaus Kinski was here to bash your head in with 

a bottle.

This guy on the screen thinks he’s Jesus. He sort of looks 

like him too. Maybe if Christ turned water into meth instead, more 

accurately.

There’s a screaming baby being violently baptized. There’s a screaming 

woman being exorcised. There’s more throat singing. I’m too high for this shit. 

Goodnight.

—DAILY ARTS WRITER