Dance and Transgression

Same sex dancing is something I have never considered or, truthfully, ever heard of. My own reactions to watching several short videos of same sex couples dancing surprised me. One clip showed two similar looking men dancing in identical outfits, their movements balanced and interlinking, the titles of “leader” and “follower” being exchanged frequently and fluidly. The man who one minute was leading the direction of the dance and spinning his partner (in what could stereotypically be deemed the “male” position) would seconds later be lifted into the air striking a beautiful pose (the stereotypical “female” position). Although this set-up allows for a balanced, ever-changing routine, I cant help but feel the idea of changing roles and to an extent purposes in the dance doesn't allow for storytelling and characterisation but instead makes the dance less aesthetically pleasing (in my opinion) than a man/woman partnership. What I enjoy, and thus find easy to analyse in a dance, is the difference in size,stature, strength, costume style and appearance in a male/female partnership. Perhaps it is a notion my upbringing has engrained on me, but I enjoy the combining differences of the tall, strong man, smartly suited and able to lift up and show off his shapely, flexible female counterpart in her glamorous, elegant dress. I find performances such as this more enjoyable to watch, the dancing more entertaining and a storyline/characters more easily identified within the piece.

I hold no grudge or prejudice against same sex dancing couples or the ideas of sexuality that go hand in hand with them. However, as this week we considered the idea of transgression, the crossing of socially acceptable borders and boundaries, I know from personal observation that some of the older members of my family would consider same sex dancing as really rather shocking and perhaps to a certain extent 'wrong'. My grandparents in particular, having been raised in an God-fearing era/society in which homosexuality was somewhat publicly unacceptable would, I can safely say, find the notion unusual and would prove very vocal in their opinions. They have found it striking in the past when I have introduced them to homosexual friends of mine, as the values engrained in them as children seem too difficult and deeply rooted to forget even, I believe, if they really wanted to. To refer back to the dancing and my disinterest in it, I find that diversity is required in a partner dance, whereas couples of the same sex and general appearance offer qualities more stereotypical to a solo dance rather than an effective partner piece.

Give us a wee dance, Emma!

After reading Johnathon Skinner's, "At the busk and after dusk: ceroc and the construction of dance times and places", memories of traumatising family parties of years gone by came flooding back to me. Having many years of experience in musical theatre, with particular interest in tap dancing, from a young age I have wrestled with the proposition, "Give us a wee dance Emma", "Sing us a song". My family never understood, (and still continue not to) why I point blanc refuse to give a performance of any kind to the living room of gathered relatives. Surely it would be easier to perform in the comfortable surroundings of your own home, infront of your loving relatives, than the anonymous, 2000 strong paying audience members of the Grand Opera House, they'd question. This said, still to this day, I just cant do it. When I'm on stage, in a sparkling outfit, face dazzling with make up, supported by music and lights, looking out into the dark audience, I feel invincible. A certain barrier between the audience and I exists.They cannot see my nerves or even my true nature/character to a certain extent. It is masked by the spectacle, the darkness. I am playing a character, who is brave and body confident, flirting with the audience as I entice them with my dance. If a make a mistake, it may go unnoticed amongst the spetacle. If not, the audience do not know me, therefore I care little. As Skinner notes, with regard to the flashing disco lights of a Ceroc dance hall, "The time and space assist the performers to 'lose themselves' in the music and their roles." (117)
In my own home however, I would most likely be standing in a brightly lit room, wearing my own average clothes and make up, propped up in front of the TV and looking directly into the expectant faces of my Great Aunt and her chums. I have no lights  or music to hide behide. I feel uncomfortable turning on the almost flirtatious confidence of a dancer-its a side of myself I wouldnt openly expose to my family in such close quarters. It is, as Skinner notes, the same as how many dancing Ceroc in the shopping mall "cannot suspend," "their work and feeling of family responsibility."(117)However, unable to hide behide the confident 'dancer' persona, I merely leave myself open to shyness and mistakes brought about by nerves. Therefore to this day I refuse. I found Johnathon Skinner's article related to these experiences on many interesting levels with regards to the difference time and place makes to the comfort/confidence of the dancer.

Looking Back at the Lecture: Week Two

   Hellzapoppin!

I was greatly affected when we watched the above video, "Hellzapoppin (1941)" in class this week. Although Id consider myself familiar, at least in a visual sense, with a large majority of dance styles, I have never seen anything quite like this!I was completely taken aback by the sheer energy and fearlessness of the dancers as they joyously throw themselves around their partners and the dance space with an almost childlike effortlessness. The raw, unpolished yet highly skillful movements keep the piece lively and the characters likeable, instantly making me dance along in my seat, itching to be able to join in! I have watched the clip many times now and have shown it to many others who are similarly enthralled by its energy and playful appeal, or, as William White calls it ,‘syncopated raw emotion’. (J. Skinner, Globalisation, Seduction, Addiction: the jive story, 3.)
After reading this week in Cressey's "The Taxi-dance Hall..." of the often lifeless, impersonal attitude of many taxi-dancers of 1930s USA, simply acting as dance partners for want of a job/money, I found pleasure in the carefree, excitable partnerships in this video, with this genre of dance clearly rooted in fast paced, almost instinctual and spontaneous exuberance . After what I have learned this week with regards to race politics in the Swing era, Id imagine at the time of this videos original release , audiences would have been interested, considering the dancers are all black, in this new style of music/movement that was slowly becoming popularised, filtering  out of  lively, crowded parties (attended in the majority by black people) and  eventually into mainstream radio and TV. I believe it would have appealed to audiences because of its daring, wild nature, much as it appealed to me this week!

When thinking of racial segregation in dance, with black and white people prohibited from dancing together until the early sixties, I was reminded of cult movie/musical "Hairspray". This clip effectively shows the stereotypical portrayel of both black and white dancing styles in the early sixties. Although twenty years ahead of the swing era shown in "Hellzapoppin", the idea of dance diffusion is brought to the forefront, with many similarities in the use of loose, often wild, movements, carefree childishness and close contact between dance partners.

Happy Chinese New Year!

My first week of trying to think like a social anthropologist has proved challenging and exhilarating. Today I was lucky enough to stumble upon a Chinese dance ceremony, celebrating the Chinese New Year, outside an oriental restaurant in the Botanic area. A small crowd had gathered around a colourful dancing “Chinese Dragon” who was leaping and rippling to the beat of drums and symbols, whilst pretending to eat a small pile of scattered vegetables! (I captured some videos and photos of this which I will attempt to post alongside this blog!) Upon chatting to members of the dance troop, they informed me the ceremony was called, "cai ching", and that it was Chinese custom to travel around various Chinese run businesses in the area and to a certain extent “bless” them with good luck, symbolized through the dragon being revitalized and satisfied by eating the vegetables. The members of the dance troop varied greatly in age, from teenagers to elderly men, and not all of a Chinese decent. The younger men took it in turns to dawn the costume and perform the dance, with the dragon backing in and out of the restaurant, lowering and raising itself to varying rhythms which visibly required great strength and control of the leg muscles. The elderly men played the instruments and looked in as if moved and inspired I must add. The watching locals were intrigued and captivated, capturing videos on their mobile phones, many drawn out of the neighboring cafes and restaurants to watch.

In relation to the week one lecture and reading, this ceremony highlighted, for me, the themes of globalization through dance, as well as the notion of ‘transformation’ in the performer. The unlikely fusion of the Belfast Street I walk every day and the colorful explosion of Chinese rhythm, costume and dance emphasized the former, while the way in which the men giving life to the Chinese Dragon moved with such character and precision really highlighted the latter, with the notion of transformation and almost a heightened level of spirituality, as they ‘became’ the dragon. I found the ceremony really interesting and a breath of fresh air in Belfast, this style of dancing is really fascinating due to its ceremonial nature, varying rhythms and feats of incredible physical strength and discipline, I may go on to research it further!

Looking back at the Lecture : Week One

This week has come with two firsts- my first anthropology class and my first blog…and it hasn’t been easy. I'm finding it quite a struggle to get to grips with the differences in thinking required, approaching the lecture from a drama studies point of view as opposed to an anthropological one. I am used to analysing performances from a solely theatrical point of view, reviewing the technique used, or perhaps the effectiveness of certain dramaturgical features used, with little regard to the actor/performer involved. For this module, I realise importance falls on the people behind the performance. When, where, why and how people dance, with importance similarly placed on cultural, social, even economical factors. Where the drama course focuses on the falsehoods of performance, now I must also learn to focus on the more personal realities of it.

The week one lecture focused mainly on introducing the three main components to consider when analysing dance from an anthropological perspective. Swedish anthropologist Helena Wulff names these as meaning, function and choreography. I look forward to exploring different dance styles with these three categories in mind, as I felt I knew little of the dance styles we watched short video clips of in class. These included ceroc and chacha. I have dance experience in tap, jazz and a little hip hop, but have never ventured elsewhere, so I am excited to get out there and learn about new styles. I will definitely look into classes in the area and anticipate the ensembles classes in the coming weeks!

Before the week one lecture I would probably have answered the question, “Why do people dance” with a feeble response such as “They enjoy it” or “It's good exercise” at the very most. The lecture managed to open my eyes to the fact that people dance for many different reasons: letting off steam and channelling energy, perhaps as a form of protest and, in my opinion most interestingly, as a method of communication, often offering people a certain “fix of companionship”. Having really only approached dancing from a child's/young person's point of view (having learnt as a child) I have never learnt the more potentially romantic/passionate styles of dance, or really any partner-requiring dance form. I look forward to learning more of the social aspects of companionship etc from dance as the module continues.

The closing workshop section of the class proved highly beneficial in again highlighting the need for me to change and even challenge my own way of thinking. The questions asked to the tutor by the class were different to those I would have personally asked. They almost seemed rooted in psychology as opposed to a solid theory that I could comfortably research/learn, with questions such as, “Does dancing act as therapy for you?” and “How does it feel when you're dancing.” It proved thought provoking and interesting and I feel this practice will have helped me immensely by the time we hold the same interview-style workshop with the visiting dancers in weeks to come.