What Women Know

The first time I saw “Women of The Cove” was at Webster University, back when Jennifer was beginning to shape the piece into the tour de force it would become. It was always a beautiful dance, full of rising and falling, moments of sadness and flashes of joy, dancers saying with movement what so many women throughout history always knew but were never able to speak aloud: We are all we have. This dance is a history lesson wrapped in an exhortation to lift each other, help each other, carry each other down the path of life that none of us ever walk down by ourselves–the problem is we have become immune to each other’s company thanks to computers and wireless phones, and we’ve lost our sense of community and our ability to admit that yes, we do need each other.

“Women of The Cove” seeks to remind us that there was a time that community was not just the group of buildings that make up a city block, it was the circle of humanity that you were born into, or moved into, and the only way to survive was to embrace your circle and live your life for the common purpose which, not just in the case of the citizens of Cades Cove but in the case of those of us living today, is simply this: Make the world better by giving the best of yourself. The dancers represent all the women who came before our generation, which has the luxury of relying on technology to soften our lives and keep us safe. The women who came before us did not have such indulgences. They only had each other.

From the Cades Cove Preservation Association:

The growth of the Cades Cove community was dependent upon new arrivals from remote places and from resident births. The early births in the pioneer families were anticipated with happiness but also with apprehension due to the harsh, isolated conditions and the absence of medically trained neighbors to assure the health and survival of child and mother. Initially, doctors were nonexistent requiring the women to independently do “the best they could” using their natural instincts and the knowledge which they transported into the Cove. The father would assist as best possible with much less instinct and intelligence in such matters. Too many children and mothers did not survive the birthing process.

Eventually, both out of necessity and training, midwives, the Angels of the Cove, appeared to assist in the birthing process, to support the early days of the child and to assure the recovery of the mother. They became affectionately called “granny women”. As many babies were born to midwives as were delivered by doctors. Many mothers actually preferred the kind and knowledgeable hands of the midwife. These were neighbors’ hands which shared common experiences. They carried the Bible, hoed the corn, washed the clothes, kindled the stove, wove the cloth and caressed the fevered brow. They cared about the Cove and the people who were the Cove. They typically had experienced the pain, joy, and sometimes agony of childbirth. They were experienced in the process and appreciated the value and beauty of new life to the family and the community. It’s no wonder that the women displayed confidence in the Cove “granny women”.

I did not see “Women of The Cove” again until March 4th, 2011, when it was performed by Common Thread Contemporary Dance Company at COCA on a rainy Friday night. This time I was seeing it through the lens of life experience, including a marriage, divorce, second marriage, and hospitalization for a major illness. This time I felt what it was like to have someone hold me up and carry me, to do the same for another woman who needed love and support and care. I was seeing it performed by strong women, powerful dancers with beautiful souls, some of whom had had to make hard choices in their lives–and then, as they stood in line with their hands covering their mouths, they disappeared. In their places stood the spirits of the women of the cove, the midwives and the mothers, the workers in the fields and in the home. And they danced for us, and told us what they knew, and reminded us that there is only one common purpose: Make the world better by giving the best of yourself.