Session W3-1
Location: Room L101
Time: 12/27 09:00-10:30
Moderator: Li-chuan Lin
W3-1-1
Ballet Training System in Change in Taiwan
Presenter : Li-chuan Lin
Abstract
As Ballet has become popular and the training has expanded in the past centuries in Taiwan, this elegant style of dance has rooted together with existing Chinese Dance and later the adding of Modern Dance. The imported R.A.D. and Vaganova ballet training systems are the most popular styles in not just private dance studios but also in national run dance education especially in Dance Talented Program from K to 12, plus the university level dance programs.
The improvement on ballet training in both private and national levels is on the rise; however, the specific ballet training is usually in one standard and does not meet the cultural difference for Taiwan; and such research has rarely found. From the researcher’s point of view, the cultural uniqueness between Taiwanese and Europe, where ballet was originated, could be adjusted, therefore, there might be a chance to produce a special training system that will fit better for Taiwan. With this curiosity in mind, the researcher is interested in the debate regarding to current ballet learning system in Taiwan. This research is in the stage of finding the possibly outcome that might affect the process in this particular dance training pedology in Taiwan. Within cultural background differences, the perspective target might gain a better view on necessary adjustment; that could make the difference for Baller practitioner as well as the teaching faculty here in Taiwan.
W3-1-2
Shifting Landscapes: Cultural identity and appropriation in ballet
Presenter : Lisa Fusillo
Abstract
The current global discourse in dance about cultural appropriation, colonization and representations of "other' in choreographic choices, offers a complex and ongoing examination of the context of cultural identity in ballet through a contemporary lens. This paper offers a discussion of cultural representation in ballet as acculturation, appropriation, inspiration, and/or celebration of identity. Using the example of the ballet Le Tricorne (The Three-cornered Hat), this presentation relates to the conference theme and addresses the gap between appropriation and colonization, with specific attention to acculturation. The research poses that representation of cultural identities in context, can supersede perceptions arising from questions of appropriation. As one of the iconic ballets created for Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, Le Tricorne remains in the repertoire of several major ballet companies throughout the world a hundred years after its creation. The issue today is that this Spanish-themed ballet was a ballet created by a Russian choreographer, Léonide Massine who modified and theatricalized traditional Spanish dance in a balletic style. Promoted by the Russian impresario, Serge Diaghilev, the ballet has a Spanish libretto with the Spanish music by Manuel de Falla and designs by Spanish native son, Pablo Picasso. In a contemporary context, the issue of cultural representation is at the forefront of whether the ballet should continue to be presented. As such, this paper presents a perspective on the role of dance history and preservation with attention to and consideration of appropriation, acculturation, inspiration, and representations of cultural identity in ballet.
W3-1-3
Viralimalai Padukalam: the performative ritual procession of remembering the war heroes as a part of Tamil folk Mythology
Presenter : Ammamuthu Ponnambalam Rajaram
Abstract
The community festivals celebrated in Tamil Nadu were mostly as a part of the little traditions performed to the local pagan/community deities. There are umpteen festivals performed in different parts of the state, where these ritual performances appear to be similar except very few festivals. Viralimalai Padukalam is one among the unique community festival observed/performed by one specific community of the locality, where the rituals involves a community procession in their locality. ‘Padukalam’, which literally means the war ground in Tamil, means a ritual festival celebrated in different parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. These rituals were performed as a part of the Shakti cult involving animal sacrifices, penance such as walking on burning coal and the performances of enacting a story from the epic Mahabharata, which is performed theatrically. These rituals vary in their performative nature from different sections of Tamil Nadu and Kerala locating themselves as a part of community festivals.
‘Padukalam’ festival is performed both as a ritual as part of communion of the local communities in Viralimalai, whereas in other parts of Tamil Nadu, this Padukalam is celebrated as a performance, in some palaces padukalam is performed through a performative genre by using one of the vibrant theatrical form the ‘Therukoothu’, which is form of a dance drama from Tamil Nadu that includes extensive singing too. Alf Hiltebeitel (Professor of Religion, History, and Human Sciences from Columbia, teaching at George Washington University in Washington DC, USA) in his book the Cult Of Draupadi, Mythologies From Gingee To Kurukshetra Vol 2, 1988, clearly explains the practice of ‘Padukalam’ in different part of Tamil Nadu. He explains this festival as the connection between the ritual and mythology, as about the ritual is performed as a part of community festival in a Shakti temple which symbolises the remembering of the ancestors and the war heroes of the locality.
This paper discusses about the ritual in detail such as the ritual sacrifice, the ritual procession and the community participation in detail. This paper will also discuss about other Padukalam rituals of the country and the uniqueness of Viralimalai Padukalam in particular and its relation about the commemorating the war heroes in the Tamil mythology and tradition.
