DOCTORAL THESIS Examining the Red Corps an Investigation Into The
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DOCTORAL THESIS Examining the Red Corps an investigation into the adoption, revolution, and continued development of ballet in China McLelland, Rowan Award date: 2019 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 07. Oct. 2021 Examining the Red Corps: An Investigation into the Adoption, Revolution, and Continued Development of ballet in China. by Rowan McLelland BA (Hons), MA, ARAD A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD Department of Dance University of Roehampton 2018 ABSTRACT In the mid-twentieth century in the People’s Republic of China, classical ballet was consciously adopted and institutionalised by the state. The systematic adoption of the form was part of a nation building exercise which made use of the bodies of ballet dancers for state ideology. Ballet dancers in China are highly refined and skilled, and are constituted in relation to Maoist thinking which promoted the development of physical virtuosity as a path to developing national health and international status. Under Mao, the cultivation of the physical body made links between individual virtuosity, personal morality and the success of the state. As such, dancers became tools of the revolution. These developments in dance reflected the social, ideological and political upheaval of the time, spread all over China, in one of the single largest efforts of this kind in the world’s history. In a short period, the state investment in ballet saw substantial changes in which dance became a legitimate profession, new genres of dance were established, new ways of training the body initiated, and new repertoire created. Classical ballet was successfully reconceptualised from an ‘alien’ genre to an indigenous one. As such, this period of Chinese history provides an excellent site for examining the mechanisms by which ballet is both responsive to and generative in, the socio-cultural political environment. This project highlights not only the large systematic and institutional developments, but also the experiences of the individuals who make up these systems and the effects the developments had on the bodies and lives of the dancers themselves. Using the experiences of dancers in China, it reveals the complexity and nuance of the body engaged in a cultural and artistic practice which reflects and generates socio political production. The dancer herself, her body, much like the dance practice, is an interdisciplinary, transhistorical, transnational site ripe for exploration. CONTENTS Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….p. 1 Part ONE Chapter One …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….p. 16 1.1 The Body Project ………………………………………………………………………………….…p. 19 1.2 Michel Foucault ……………………………………………………………………………………...p. 22 1.3 Erving Goffman ……………………………………………………………………………………….p. 26 1.4 Pierre Bourdieu ……………………………………………………………………………………….p. 28 1.5 Inter-theoretical Approaches …………………………………………………………………..p. 31 Chapter Two …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….p. 36 2.1 Chinese Conceptions of the Body …………………………………………………………….p. 36 2.2 Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism and the Body ……………………………………….p. 39 2.3 Daoism (Taoism) and the Body ………………………………………………………………..p. 46 2.4 Buddhism and the body …………………………………………………………………………..p. 47 2.5 Mind/Body Dichotomy …………………………………………………………………………….p. 48 2.6 Modern Conceptions of the Body in China ……………………………………………….p. 51 2.7 Influence and legacy of Chinese Classical Philosophy on Modern Chinese Body Culture ………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………p. 62 Part TWO Chapter Three …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..p. 64 3.1 The Evolution of Ballet in China PART ONE……………………………………………….p. 64 3.2 Sino-Russian Collaborative Period ……………………………………………………………p. 75 Chapter Four …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….p. 98 4.1 Evolution of Ballet PART TWO – Revolutionary Period and the Red Detachment of Women ………………………………………………………………………………………………………p. 98 4.2 Revolutionising Art ………………………………………………………………………………….p. 103 4.3 The Red Detachment of Women ……………………………………………………………..p. 110 Chapter Five …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….p. 127 5.1 Evolution of Ballet PART THREE – Revolutionary Period to Reform and Open Era…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………p. 127 5.2 Later Model Works ………………………………………………………………………………….p. 142 5.3 Experience of the Cultural Revolution on Individuals in Ballet ………………….p.146 5.4 The end of the Cultural Revolution ………………………………………………………….p. 147 Part THREE Chapter Six ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………p. 151 6.1 Creating a Dancer: Training the Body in China ………………………………………..p. 151 6.2 Training ………………………………………………………………………………………………….p. 159 6.3 Discipline ……………………………………………………………………………………………….p. 165 Chapter Seven …………………………………………………………………………………………………………p. 177 7.1 Not Another Don Quixote! Negotiating China’s Position on the International Ballet Stage ………………………………………………………………………………………………….p. 177 7.2 “If I See Another Corsaire or Another Don Quixote!”: Criticisms of Ballet Competitions ………………………………………………………………………………………………..p. 180 7.3 “Bridge of Aspiration”: Why Take Part? ………………………………………………..…p. 184 7.4 “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger”: Recognising Progression in the Competition Format ……………………………………………………………………………………..p. 186 7.5 “Nation Dancing against Nation”: Positioning Chinese Ballet in a Globalized Field ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..p. 191 7.6 Looking Inward: The Role of the Competition within China ……………………..p. 196 Chapter Eight …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..p. 201 8.1 Contemporary Ballet in China …………………………………………………………………p. 201 8.2 Contemporary ballet as Homogenizing Force ………………………………………….p. 205 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….p. 213 Appendices ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..p. 222 i. List of Plates ii. Participant Consent Forms: English Chinese iii. Conducting Fieldwork: Accessing the Field Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….p. 230 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research was made possible in part due to the financial support offered by the following organisations: the University of Roehampton, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) International Placement Scheme, Santander Travel and Mobility Scholarship, the Universities China Committee in London, and the British Association of Chinese Studies. Without their backing this project could not have been realised. Firstly, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to all the people who participated in this research. During my fieldwork I conducted approximately seventy interviews with current and former dancers, teachers, choreographers, administrators and company directors both in China and in the UK. These people generously gave me their time and expertise, patiently answered my questions, and allowed me into their world. Without them, this research would not have been possible. I am very thankful to the many friends and colleagues who offered help and suggestions on this project. I am particularly grateful for the tutoring and critical attention offered by my supervisors, Dr Geraldine Morris, and Professor Alexandra Kolb. They were generous and accommodating, and provided astute guidance with warmth and kindness. I would like to thank my colleagues at Roehampton Dance from whom I have learnt so much. I feel honoured to work alongside such brilliant, committed and generous scholars, and to call so many my friends. I am particularly grateful for the support Professor Andrée Grau, who was my original Director of Studies on this project. I worked closely with Andrée for five years, and considered her a great friend, teacher and mentor. She was responsible for some of the most profound changes in my thinking and understanding of the world. I cannot express my gratitude enough for her guidance on both personal and professional levels, and for her absolute faith in me. I miss her deeply. My friends and family offered abundant encouragement during this project. Pep talks, intellectual debates, cups of tea, dinners, glasses of wine, and late-night dances provided me sustenance. My parents offered financial and emotional support. Their respective visits to China during my fieldwork are some of my happiest memories. For everything, I am indebted to them. Finally, thank you to Loie Fuller (the cat) who kept me company during many a long evening writing. NOTES RomaniZation: I have opted to use the Hanyu PinYin system for Chinese names and titles. Exceptions are made, however, in cases when another romaniZation is official or has greater currency, or in cases where material is quoted from another source. Anonymisation: Following the ethics guidelines for conducting anthropological research I have routinely anonymised names and other details of participants. Names with inverted