Gaga For Dada

Durham is no longer the tobacco town it used to be. In need of a renaissance, the city is struggling to find some sort of new identity, which the municipal government cannot provide. But three ambitious artists have started a monthly arts cabaret and band showcase called CafZ Dada. The "DADA" acronym stands for the Durham Association for Downtown Arts--and it's changing the face of tobacco town.

The first page of the DADA website (www.durhamdada.org) prominently features the definitions of the words "Durham" and "renaissance," a sort of in-your-face-approach to their mission. Robert Stromberg (executive director and Duke O98), Jennifer Duerr (program director) and Randall Gilbert (development director) share a collective vision for the artist's haven that Durham has the potential to be. According to DADA, all Durham needs is renaissance--"a revival of intellectual or artistic achievement and vigor"--and these three are making it happen.

Yesterday, Recess Arts Editor Cary Hughes had the chance to sit down with the three visionaries to discuss what they do and why they do it. It was only appropriate that the meeting was at International Delights, a Durham eatery with a true cultural experience like the arts they're trying to cultivate. Over chicken phillies and hand-rolled cigarettes, they chatted about the fate of Durham and why they see the potential for something great.

CARY: DADA is an acronym for Durham Association for Downtown Arts, and your monthly event is called CafZ Dada. Can you explain exactly what this is?

JENNIFER: DADA is an arts movement that is working to support and help create an artistic scene that is centered in the downtown area of Durham. We want to support artists and help sponsor new people who are interested in arts of all kinds. We are very interested in grass roots support of those people, providing them both venues and events where they can showcase their work. And we want to help them do that and get people out and get them working downtown because part of our mission is to stimulate growth in the downtown area. We believe that an artistic scene or an artistic movement in the area supports development economically. If there's foot traffic in the downtown area at night and otherwise, people will want to be there.

ROBERT: I would turn it around backwards and say that the only way to build up downtown--to restart the downtown--is to first instill power and a place for that town's artists. So we're trying to be one of many people to do that, to give people a space.

The other difference for DADA--as opposed to saying, "I saw this really cool performance piece in New York by this group of artists from Canada," and then try to bring them to a venue in Durham--is that it's more important for us to find a venue for this really cool thing this guy that lives across the street from somebody who talks to somebody here. Sharing it here first, as opposed to bringing in outside talent.

The Durham Bands Showcase is pretty straightforward focusing on bands that are made up of primarily or secondarily Durham people. And giving them a place to play in Durham so they don't have to go to Chapel Hill to gig out all the time. And the cafZ was the event that started the organization, initially, and that's a multi-performance event. Basically, anything that fits on a stage fits at CafZ Dada. We have six prearranged performers and three open mic spots. Those are the two events that we're using right now to further the mission that Jen was talking about.

JENNIFER: And also a flexibility, I think, is important. CafZ Dada is a free event so people can come regardless of whether or not they have the cash to go out and see a show. So I think that's really important. We want to provide people with the chance to go see something even if they don't have any money because, I think, oftentimes, I think we get this sort of class exclusion in the arts. You're not going to go see a $35 opera if you're working at a coffee shop. It's just never going to happen. The beauty of what we do is the artists are there and the feeling of the whole experiential thing; it's really environmental theater at its base. We're creating an experience; it's not something you can write down, you can't take it home, you know, you're there and you experience this incredible thing, and that creates a feeling within you and you can't package that.

ROBERT: I think more specifically, and short term, we want to have a space where we can offer to artists--of course they can't always be free because how would we pay for it, but we can have our free event--we can have artists host shows where they otherwise might have to pay somebody a lot more money to have their space where we cover our budget from outside grants and some other sort of outside revenue. And as a long term goal to have that space, regardless of whether it's our space, that is available to artists in downtown in such a way that people from all parts of town, from all walks of life and all colors and money can come and feel that everybody is on the same page and present whatever it is they feel is important.

CARY: And each event is in a different location.

RANDALL: The cafZ is a touring cabaret this season, so we're going to different neighborhoods surrounding the downtown core. We're seeking out different venues that maybe people don't know about or that people aren't used to going to for arts events per se.

ROBERT: We're promoting traffic between neighborhoods. So people from the outside will go in where they might not otherwise, but they saw us in their neighborhood so they'll go over here to see it again.

RANDALL: So we're trying to develop in these first few years a greater audience base with a lot of diversity whether it's socio-economic or geographical so that when we have a place of our own, people will come from all these neighborhoods along with people from Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Carrboro.

JENNIFER: Right now, what we're doing is just the beginning. We're all lifetime art people and this is all we've ever really done. But this is really a work in progress; I see the programming and the like going a lot of different places. I think it really says something about Durham that this is in existence right now. It's kind of a phenomenon, actually, that we're involved in.

CARY: Speaking of phenomena, was the name CafZ Dada chosen while thinking of the Dada movement that began in France in the early part of the 20th Century?

ROBERT: There's a Dada movement? (everyone laughs)

RANDALL: Well, Dada was a movement that was both cultural and political. There's political connotations for most art. So, I think a lot of what we do is political as a secondary priority, obviously the first priority is the art itself, the cultural aspect, but there is a political aspect. And part of this political aspect of DADA is--as related to the former Dada movement--is that anyone can make art, anyone who wants to make art can call it art and we'll call it art. And it's a democratic approach to art where it's somewhat revolutionary. It's not only by everyone, but for everyone so everyone can participate and contribute and everyone can attend. And that's not so common in our capitalist society right now where it's only upper income people [who can afford to see the arts]. That's not what we believe in. So, the original Dada movement had something to do with these political connotations and art.

JENNIFER: And also it worked out as a convenient acronym. It just happened that it all came together.

ROBERT: And once we put those four words together it was obvious it had to be called CafZ Dada.

So Durham is evolving from an old tobacco town and becoming a place where artists can gather to share their work. The Durham Bands Showcase features all different genres of music from honky tonk to metal and everything in between, so there is certainly something for every type of music lover. The only requirement to participate is that at least part of the band is from Durham.

CafZ Dada encompasses music, as well as all other art forms, from performing to visual. This Saturday at 9pm Cabaret #5 will knock you out at the eclectic downtown venue, Ringside. It's a Globe-style performance space reaching up to four stories with a black and white tile floor and multiple bars. With plush couches and various off-beat rooms provide ample space for many performances.

For the most part, Duke is viewed as a separate entity adjacent to the city of Durham, but DADA offers the Duke community a way to get involved in the new Durham. CafZ Dada extends the opportunity for Duke students to participate in all aspects of the operation. Students are always encouraged to participate in the performance with any type of art, by either a prearranged performance spot or one of the open mic slots. The cabaret gives students other performance venues besides Duke's campus and a way to share their art with the community. And for those students who would like to spread the word of CafZ Dada and help make Durham a better city, volunteers are always needed to flyer before the events. However you might decide to get involved, CafZ Dada represents something that is accessible to all of us--it is art in it's most basic form.

By supporting DADA--whether it's by performing, volunteering, in the audience or with money--you're helping Durham become a city that Duke can be proud of, which is a very noble thing.