Proceedings Dance & Spectacle Thirty-third Annual International Conference University of Surrey, Guildford and The Place, London, UK July 8–11, 2010 Society of Dance History Scholars Proceedings Dance & Spectacle Thirty-third Annual International Conference University of Surrey, Guildford and The Place, London, UK July 8–11, 2010 The 2010 SDHS conference, “Dance & Spectacle”, was held July 9–11, 2010, at the University of Surrey, U.K. Each presenter at the conference was invited to contribute to the Proceedings. Those who chose to contribute did so by submitting pdf files, which are assembled here. There was minimal editorial intervention — little more than the addition of page numbers and headers. Authors undertook to adhere to a standard format for fonts, margins, titles, figures or illustrations, order of sections, and so on, but there may be minor differences in format from one paper to another. Individual authors hold the copyrights to their papers. The Society of Dance History Scholars is not legally responsible for any violation of copyright; authors are solely responsible. Published by the Society of Dance History Scholars, 2010. Contents 1. Adair 1 2. Alzalde 9 3. Argade 19 4. Briand 33 5. Carr 49 6. Carter 61 7. Cramer 69 8. David 79 9. Daye 89 10. Friedman 97 11. Grau 109 12. Grotewohl 115 13. Hamp 123 14. Hardin 131 15. Holscher¨ 137 16. Kew 145 17. Klein 153 18. Lenart 159 19. Main 169 20. Mathis-Masury 177 21. Mercer 185 22. Milanovic 195 23. Milazzo 201 24. Monroe 211 25. Mouat 217 26. Paris 229 iv 27. Phillips 235 28. Ping 243 29. Richter 253 30. Rottenberg 265 31. Sabo 271 32. Schmidt 281 33. Schroedter 291 34. Sparling 307 35. Speer 319 36. Tai 325 37. Thorp 335 38. Tuan 345 39. Uytterhoeven 355 40. Vass-rhee 361 41. Wang 367 42. Wawrejko 377 43. Whatley 385 v vi SDHS 2010 Adair ‘Within Between’ – engaging communities and refusing spectacle in contemporary dance practice in East Africa Christy Adair York St John University Abstract Western perspectives of dance in Africa frequently focus on spectacle and ritual. The newly emerging art form of contemporary dance in East Africa challenges such perceptions. This paper argues that the dance practices being established, specifically in Kenya, offer new insights into contemporary dance in relation to dance training, dance communities and gender. Lailah Masiga from Kenya is one of the few female dancers in an art form which is dominated by men and after dancing and training with Opiyo Okach, director of the first contemporary dance company in Kenya, she began making her own work. Many works are either solos or duets as resources are limited and such works are easier to rehearse and to tour. This paper discusses her solo ‘Within Between’ which addresses issues of female genital mutilation and is performed by Masiga. The discussion will consider the issue of spectacle in relation to the subject of the work and the explicit video which demonstrates the practice of female circumcision and is part of this solo. Masiga secured funding to tour the work to three rural areas in Kenya after premiering the work at The Solos and Duets Dance Festival at the Go Down Arts Centre, Nairobi, 2007. She received very different responses from communities ranging from gratitude that she was addressing such a controversial issue to extreme hostility. To some extent Masiga’s work, together with other Kenyan artists practice dance as a refusal of spectacle through their approaches to dance and their engagement with communities. The work also draws on a strong dance tradition in which dance practice has been embedded in communities but often read as spectacle by western audiences. Introduction Western perspectives of dance in Africa frequently focus on spectacle and ritual. Contemporary dance in East Africa challenges such perceptions. This paper discusses the emerging dance practices, specifically in Kenya, which offer insights into the art form. Many contemporary dance works in Nairobi exemplify dance engaging communities without spectacle. Lailah Masiga, one of the few female performers in an art form dominated by men in East Africa, created a solo, Within Between, which addresses issues of female genital mutilation (FGM). Masiga performed the work in Nairobi, Kenya and Canberra, Australia receiving very different responses to the solo in each location. She also toured the work to rural areas in Kenya where it was met with both gratitude and hostility. This paper locates Within Between in the specific contexts for contemporary dance in East Africa and the wider context of dance studies. 1 Adair SDHS 2010 Dance as spectacle For western audiences and dance students notions of dance in Africa are formulated through a range of sources including watching national dance companies, participating in classes and written texts. Within both dance scholarship and in critical responses to African dance, there has been a tendency to equate artistic practices from the continent with spectacle. The focus of such writing often discusses traditional dance practices. The contexts in which African dance are practiced in Europe and the States are significantly different to that of the African content. The images of spectacle which are often associated with African dance come from the touring national dance companies from Africa such as Senegal, Les Ballets Africains de Guinée and the Ghana National Dance Ensemble and to some extent companies such as Adizido Pan African Dance Company, based in London until its demise in 2005. Such works celebrate traditional dance forms which would have been performed often in rural settings for particular events. ‘Historically, dance is embedded in the ritual activities of specific communities …arts are not specialist pursuits set aside from everyday life’ (Nicholls in Asante, 1994: 53). In western countries, however, when African dance is practiced it is separate from the contexts from which it emerged. African Dance/ Contexts/Performances As Asante points out, In Africa, dance is part of a process that is ongoing and connected in such a way that it is inseparable from other phenomena in society. Therefore, one means something entirely different when describing dance in Africa (Asante, 2000:7) … it must always be viewed as an integral part of a larger system rather than as a self-standing, independent entity (Asante, 2000: 13/14). Another aspect of dance viewed as spectacle is the dance work offered for visitors to African countries. Tourists want to see the dance of Africa; governments want to use the power of the African dance as goodwill ambassadors, continentally and internationally; and the traditionalists encourage its preservation even as concrete and urban rhythms threatens its existence (Asante, 2000: 25). Indeed as Fleming points out, ‘most international art exchanges are political and economic investments’ (Fleming in Gere 1995:37). Certainly, touring companies from Africa play both a political and economic role as Edmondson (2007) writing about Tanzania and Castaldi (2006) writing about Senegal make clear. Such company performances also reaffirm audience’s expectation of dance from Africa providing a 2 SDHS 2010 Adair spectacle for their entertainment as does the recent show Afrika! Afrika! which toured in Europe. Such commercial shows and the dance provided for tourists contribute to the images of spectacle which have entered the popular imagination. Both contexts are driven by economics rather than aesthetic development. Nicholls suggests that, …under the corrosive effect of tourism, the culture of the host country is commercially exploited and becomes devalued, and consequently the local inhabitants lose dignity performing for the benefit of giggling strangers (R. W. Nicholls in Asante, 1994: 52). Nonetheless, dance plays an important role within the tourist industry specifically in East Africa. As Lange points out, within the tourist industry, dance is used as ‘a symbol to the outside world’ (Lange in Edmonson, 2007: 74). Further she suggests, when discussing Tanzania, that, The need for a symbol to the outside world has markedly increased since the state prioritized tourism in an attempt to compete with neighbouring Kenya, which has long dominated East African tourism (Lange in Edmondson, 2007:74). Despite the limitations of the provisions for popular audiences, such performances also offer the opportunity for viewers to gain some insights and information about specific aesthetic qualities found in African dance. Asante reports that, ‘some characteristics are: polyrhythms, polycentrism, angularity, asymmetry, soft knee…and isolations’ (Asante. 2000: 11). Such characteristics can also be identified in the work of some contemporary dancers. For such dancers, the focus on traditional dance, particularly in Kenya, can be problematic. Contemporary dance receives very little coverage in the national press and when it does writers are frequently ill-informed about the art form (Daily Nation February 12, 2010: 18), accusing artists of making work which is not authentic or relevant to African culture. There is another perspective to consider, however, which is articulated by Thiong’o. Writers, artists, musicians, intellectuals, and workers in ideas are the keepers of memory of a community (Thiong’o 2009:114). Whilst Thiong’o is arguing against the restrictions of linguistic practices after colonisation, his comment is relevant to consider in relation to Masiga’s work. Memories are not static and evolve in relation to time and location. FGM is a practice which is viewed by certain communities as being an important cultural practice which affirms the community and women’s identities within it. It could be argued that Masiga is resisting rather than keeping such memories and current practices. At the same time she is also embodying traces of traditional dance which is stepped in memories from specific communities. 3 Adair SDHS 2010 Communities The significance of the roles of communities in relation to African dance is frequently mentioned in dance texts.