International Council For Traditional Music

The Power of Dance and Its Social and Political Uses
Author(s): Anca Giurchescu

Source: Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 33 (2001), pp. 109-121
Published by: International Council for Traditional Music
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1519635 .
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THE POWER OF DANCE AND ITS SOCIAL AND
POLITICAL USES1
By
Anca Giurchescu
Introduction
Elaborating upon
the social
aspects
of dance
(or dancing),
makes reference to its
most
general
and
comprehensive
features,
because dance is in essence a
particular
form of social interaction. Even if dance can be
artificially separated
from its social
context and considered
solely
in its
physical
features as an
independent
artistic
means of
expression,2
the social
component
is
implicit
to the
dancing person
as an
individual and as a member of a socio-cultural
community.
From this
perspective
dance structure
may
be considered as a
culturally
determined
"program"
where
social,
historical and environmental factors interlock with the
physical,
psychological
and mental features of the individual
(Giurchescu
1984:
35).
Considered as a
psychosomatic entity,
the dancer is the "soul and
body"
of dance.
He or she is the dance.
If we intend to
go beyond
a dance
description
and answer to the
question
WHAT is dance
(not only
how it is
performed)
dance should be studied in two
ways:
one is situated on a
syntactic
level and is made
up
of all social events
existing
in a
given community,
that
is,
dance is studied as a
living phenomenon,
here and
now;
the other is situated on a
paradigmatic
level and is
comprised
of the
philosophical/ideological, socio-political,
economic and cultural
systems
which
function in a
given community.
In other
words,
to answer
questions
on the role and
significance
of
dance,
the
study
of dance must include both
perspectives: dancing
as an
integral part
of a network of social
events,
and dance as
part
of a
system
of
knowledge
and
belief,
social behaviour and aesthetic norms and values. That
is,
an
anthropological perspective
should be correlated with the more
analytical
choreological
one;
together they comprise
the
analysis
of a dance
system
and the
structural make
up
of a dance in its formal features.3
'This article is based on the
keynote speech
"The
power
of dance
symbol
and its socio-
political
use" which
opened
the section on "Dance and its
socio-political asspects"
at the
17th
Symposium
of the ICTM
Study Group
on
Ethnochoreology, Nafplion,
1992 and
published
in the
Proceedings (Loutzaki
1994:
15-23).
As a former senior researcher at the Institute of
Ethnography
and Folklore in Bucharest
(1953-1979)
most of the comments and
examples concerning
both the social role of dance in
rural and urban
settings
and the
political-ideological
use and abuse of
dance,
stem from
empirical knowledge acquired
under the Communist
regime
and since 1990 in
post-
Communist Romania.
2 The
study
of dance in its
choreographic
features has been a
necessary
theoretical and
methodological approach,
which
helped
to disclose rules of
grammar,
define
concepts
and
provide
tools for dance structure and form
analysis.
See
Kaeppler
1972;
Report
of the IFMC
Study Group
for Folk Dance
Terminology
1974;
Dabrowska and Petermann 1983.
3
Is it
only
a one to one
relationship
between structure and
significance,
or can one and the
same
significance
be carried
by
different dance
types?
This kind of
inquiry
in Romanian
traditional culture shows that there are relations of interdetermination between the dance's
pertinent
traits and its
significance/function.
110 / 2001 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC
Sense, meaning
and
power
of dance
Being incorporated by
the dancer as a
kinaesthetic,
affective and mental
representation,
dance is not the
repository
of
meaning
but
produces meaning
each
time it is
performed.
For the semiotician A. J. Greimas
any
discussion about the
sense and
meaning
of
gestures (including dance)
should be centred around the
producer,
the
person
who creates
culture,
who
transforms,
organises,
and makes
sense of the world
(Greimas 1975:81).
The fact that
dancing
is
performed
in a
given
context shows that this
expressive modality
makes sense for the
performers
and the audience as well. An
important methodological requirement
in the
investigation
of
points
of view of dancers and
spectators
about dance
performances
are
dependent upon
socio-cultural
background,
aesthetic norms and
expectations.4
Dance is a
powerful symbol.
It does not
only
allude to the
changing
world,
but becomes an instrument of
change. According
to
Langer,
the
power
of
dance,
considered in its artistic
features,
lies in the ecstatic
function,
which takes
the dancer "out of
himself',
removes him from
everyday
life,
and
transports
him
into a virtual world of time and
space (Langer
1979:
190, 196).
The dancer
becomes a
very
sensitive
medium,
able to
express
and transmit
feelings,
experiences
and ideas
which,
at a
deep
level of
significance,
are not
verbally
translatable. A discussion about the
power, meaning
and
practice
of dance is
encapsulated
in
Blacking's
statement:
The
power
of dance rests in acts of
performance by
dancers and
spectators
alike,
in
the
process
of
making
sense of dance rather than in the cultural
products
of those
processes,
and in
linking
dance
experience
to other sets of ideas and social
experiences. (Blacking
1984:
20).
The fact that dance is not reducible to
any
other form of human
activity
reveals its
significance
and
justifies
its existence. Therefore dance has
always
been an
important
symbolic
instrument in ritual
contexts,
in art
events,
in social communication and
political
action. It follows
then,
that studies of dance should have a double
orientation-towards the
people
and towards their
practices.
Dancing
as a multi-dimensional cultural text.
A holistic and
integrative perspective
on dance
brings
into discussion the
concept
of "cultural
text",
a
concept
that could
integrate
all the dimensions that define
dance as a coherent and
dynamic
factor of
culture,
and
bring together
the
anthropological
and
ethnochoreological perspectives
on dance.5
According
to the
theory
of cultural
text,
it is the socio-communicative relevance of a dance
performance
that endows this
process
with the
quality
of text
(Schmidt
1973:
144).
A dance-text is not
only
a
choreographic
structure,
but a "frame-function" that
relates a certain social interaction to a certain structure of dance
elements,
in
4
In
1976,
in a
village
of southern
Romania,
people
over
forty
considered the urban
up-to-
date dances
performed by
the
youth
as
meaningless practices,
as
disorganised,
wild
jumping.
Conversely,
for the
youngsters
moder
dancing
made a lot of sense: it served both as
symbol
and instrument of social
change
from the rural
culture,
represented by
local folk
dances,
to
urban culture
symbolised by
a more international
repertoire.
5
The
concept
of "cultural text" was introduced
by
I.M. Lotman in his studies on cultural
semiotics
(Winner 1976,
Sukman
1978).
THE POWER OF DANCE / 111
accordance with a
given type
of communication:
folklore, ritual, art, educational,
political,
etc.
(Constantinescu 1983).
In the
process
of communication dance does not function in isolation but
incorporates non-choreographic components
such as
pantomime, expressive
or
codified
gestures,
facial
expressions,
music,
verbal
utterances,
texts/poetry, props,
costumes,
staging, proxemics,
and social rules. These are
hierarchically
structured
and
interact,
thereby producing meaningful
dance
processes
within a framework of
social contexts that are
constantly changing.6 Consequently,
dance movements are
not
always
of
primary importance
and
may,
in certain
contexts,
function
only
to
support
and reinforce other
expressive
elements that are the
principal
carriers of
meaning.
For
example,
in the Romanian
paparuda
ritual for
invoking
rain,
the
rhythmical organised
movements
support
the
song
text, costume,
and ritual actions
that all
together carry
its
unique message.
On the level of social interaction the
performance
of the chain dance hora
by
the Vlach7
minority
at dance events
organised
in
Denmark,
provides
an illustrative
example. Dancing
serves several
purposes: strengthening
ethnic
identity, pre-marital
interaction,
social
integration,
re-enforcing
traditional rules of
behaviour,
teaching
children to
dance,
showing
social and
prestige
status,
and entertainment. In order to achieve these
goals,
the
interest of all
participants (dancers
and
onlookers)
is focussed
primarily
on social
interaction and much less on the dance
process
reduced to the basic
patterns
of
movements.
Only sporadically,
small
groups
of dancers
along
the
winding
hora
chain
improvise
with
high intensity, demonstrating
their dance
ability
for
acquiring
artistic
recognition.
Due to its multi-dimensional
character,
dance is used in certain
circumstances to
"package" political-ideological, educational,
religious
or
economic
messages.
A multi-dimensional text does not occur in isolation from other similar or
dissimilar texts enacted
by
a
given
social
group
and which are held to be
mutually
dependent
and in active
interrelationship
within the framework of a broad socio-
cultural context
(for example, weddings,
ancestor
celebrations,
family
festivities,
informal
gatherings, sport
activities,
staged performances).
There are
many
examples
where
dancing
is used as a substitute for other
types
of
activity
or where
dances
(or
dance
elements)
are constituent
parts
of
symbols belonging
to
totally
different realms of
activity-such
as
politics,
war, economics, tourism, education,
religion,
and medicine.9
6
Each of these constituents
may,
for theoretical and
analytical purposes,
be studied as
autonomous means of
expression.
7
A
Romanian-speaking population
of north-east
Serbia,
which settled in Denmark and
southern Sweden in the mid-1960s.
(Giurchescu 1989)
8
For
example, during
the Communist
regime,
a folklore ensemble has recreated on
stage
the
ritual of
swearing
brotherhood
(of
the
region Banat)
to
support
and reinforce the
political
idea of brotherhood and
harmony among
the
minority groups
in Romania.
9
At the election for the Roma
party
in 1991-when a famous accordion
player
was a
candidate because he
taught generations
of
young
musicians-no
political speeches
were
held.
Instead,
thousands of
participants expressed
their enthusiastic
approval by playing
music and
dancing
for hours on a stadium in Bucharest.
GIURCHESCU
The semiotic levels of dance
Understanding
a dance text means
reading
it in all the
complexity
of its intra- and
inter-textual
relationships.
A dance text
may
reveal the
following
levels of
meaning:
* a
deep
transcultural level related to the
psychosomatic perception
and self
explanation
of a dance
performance
which can be
metaphorically
translated as
feelings,
moods, intentions;
* a
conceptual
level,
referring
to
acquired knowledge
about
dance;
* a ritual
(mythical)
level,
where the dance-text has
symbolic, metaphorical
significance;
* a level of social interaction where
dancing
functions as a
metonym
for
social
status,
gender, age, kinship,
etc.
(Hanna
1979:
100);
* an artistic level where
dancing
has a
spectacle
character.
All these levels co-exist and interact.
Since different levels of culture
change
at different
rates,
the
synchronic
state of culture includes its
diachrony (Winner
1976:
115)
and offers the
possibility
for the
comparison
of several
evolutionary stages
within a dance tradition. An
example
is the
healing
ritual
cdlug performed by
a
group
of men at Pentecost.
Although formally
interdicted under the Communist
regime,
this ritual is still
practised throughout
the Danube
Valley, showing
various
stages
of transformation.
In the area where the
cdlug
had a
simple
structure
strictly
related to its
healing
function,
the loss of its ritual
significance
was followed
by
a
progressive
disintegration
of the
practice,
because no other means of
expression
had the
power
to
carry
a new
meaning. Conversely,
in the area where variants of
cdlu~
have a
complex
structure and
expressive
elements
(dance, music, costume,
theatrical
actions)
with artistic
values,
the
participants may
choose
among
a broad
range
of
significance
from ritual to entertainment. The
capacity
of
cdluS
for
symbolic
transformation lies in its
polysemic
character which ensures the
cilu$
existence in
a
constantly changing society.
A dance
system changes
because of
changes
in world
view,
need of
expression, socio-political
and environmental conditions.
However,
dance
activities
may
in turn contribute to
transforming people,
their
patterns
of
interaction,
and the
surrounding
world. We should
perhaps inquire
into the future
of folk
dancing
in traditional social
contexts,
considering
the new circumstances
when
disco-dancing,
for
example,
becomes the most
important
dance event for
young people
with other
expectations.
Research carried out in
Transylvania
in
1995 showed that the
discotheque
has now substituted for the
"village
dance"
taking
on
premarital
and entertainment functions and
becoming, paradoxically,
the
place
where
teenagers practice
local traditional dances to recorded music.
The social function of dance
Dancing
is
primarily
a non-verbal medium of communication which establishes
contact between
humans,
or between humans and the
supernatural
world.
Considering
the social level of
interaction,
movement
patterns
and
style (way
of
performing),
as well as the use of
space
and
proxemics,
function as
symbols
for
social
relationships
between
individuals,
between individuals and
groups,
and
between
groups
(ethnic,
religious,
social, etc.)
with
respect
to
gender, age, kinship,
marital
status,
profession,
outsider or
insider,
and other criteria. Research on the
system
of
premarital
ceremonies in
Romania,
for
example,
demonstrates that the
common dance
event,
the
"village
dance",
functions as a "show-case" for both the
prescribed patterns
of interaction between
young
men and
girls,
and for the marital
strategies
carried out
by
families.10 With
regard
to
gender roles,
it should be
stressed that the whole event
develops
under male
domination,
while the
girls
are
in a submissive
position
to both the
family
and the
young
men.
Moreover,
due to its instrumental
power,
dance
may
be used for
structuring, maintaining,
or
changing
a social
system
in accordance with a
given
group's
ideology
and
socio-political
interests. For
example, dancing
at the event
called hora is used
by
the Vlach
population living
in Denmark in two antithetical
ways: firstly,
to create a
symbolic
framework in which the
unity
of the
group
is
reinforced and the
symbolic
bonds with their homeland traditions are
strengthened;
and
secondly,
to remodel the social
group
and
prepare
the
youth
for
achieving
a
higher
socio-economic status and
integration
into Danish
society
without loss of
identity.
Rules of
behaviour,
functioning
in
everyday
life,
are
symbolised
and
reinforced in the framework of a dance event
by
the
placement
of the onlookers in
space
and of the dancers in the dance formation. For
example,
in northern Romania
(Maramureq
and Oas
areas)
men and women are
segregated
and
children, grown-
ups,
and old
people
are
placed
around the dance
space according
to a
prescribed
hierarchy.
Their
proxemics
allow
very
little
personal space. People
are
tightly
linked
together, symbolising
social
closeness,
which also characterises the
family
and
neighbourhood everyday
life.
The use of
space
also functions as a
metonym
for social
hierarchy.
In the
Romanian dance culture
(and
in
many others)
the
space
in front of the musicians is
considered the
space
of honour which
conveys prestige
status and
public
recognition
for the dancers and their actions.
Moreover,
the social structure of the
village
is
symbolised by
the
arrangement
of the
participants
in the dance
space,
the
places being
inherited from older members of the families
(in
Oas).
The
placement
of the dancers in a chain dance formation is a
metonym
for social and artistic
hierarchy.
For
example,
in the Vlach chain dance hora the
leading
dancer is
followed
by
his
family
or friends
ranged according
to
prestige
status and
age,
the
chain
being
closed
by
a relative of the leader.
Compact groups
of best friends
cannot be
split by
an "outsider".
Youngsters
are massed at the end of the
chain,
while small children are carried in the dance with
great pride by
their
parents.
It is a common
practice
that a
very
skilled dancer becomes the leader of
his
age group
in all kinds of events and social activities
during
a whole
year.
In
many
dance cultures movement
patterns
are
definitely
ascribed to men or women.
The attributes connoted
by
these movements
may
translate into
superiority/inferiority,
dominant/subordinate,
aggressive/subdued
or
public/private
types
of
relationships.11
10
Research has been carried out over a
longer span
of time in
Maramures,
northern Romania
(Giurchescu, 1986).
More
recently,
similar research has been done
among
the Vlach
minority living
in Denmark
(see
note
8).
I
Transformation of social status is
expressed
and enforced
by
the
way people
dance and
behave at a dance event. In order to show
emancipation,
for
example,
women
may adopt
men's
vocabulary
of
movements,
they may
lead the
chain,
they
even
may participate
in
rituals
prescribed
for
men,
and refuse to
obey
the "old fashioned" rules of
etiquette.
See also
GIURCHESCU
Dancing
has a
unifying power.
It has the
power
to
integrate
individuals or
groups
of different
social,
political
and ethnic affiliations. The
unifying power
lies
in the shared dance
language.
Recent field research carried out
by
a team of
Hungarian
and Romanian scholars in
villages
with mixed
populations
in
Transylvania (Romania),
demonstrates that
dancing
is an
important
means of
expression
shared
by
both nationalities in the framework of a common dance event
(a wedding,
for
example).
Dance and dance
style
as
identity symbols
Being
both human and
socio-culturally
determined,
dance
may
function as
identity
symbol.
Due to a
range
of
pertinent
traits dance marks both the relations of an
individual or
group
with an identifier
(original group
of
people
or set of ideas and
norms),
and differentiates the individual or
group
from all
others,
revealing
its
uniqueness.
The
concept
of
identity
is
polysemic.
One of the
meanings
is
personal
identity
as
opposed
to
group identity (myself
and the
others).
Because the
personality
of an individual can be
paradoxical (sometimes
under
socio-political
pressure),
contradictions
may appear
in
relationships
between
thinking, verbalising
and
acting.
For
example,
at a hora dance event in Denmark
(1989),
a Vlach
argued
that he was Serbian. A few minutes
later,
watching
a
group
of Serbians
dancing,
his comment was: "Look at
them,
they
cannot dance the
way
we do!"
The
relationship
between
personal (psychological) identity
and social
control can also be
expressed
or mediated
by
dance. With reference to Romanian
dance
tradition,
it
may
be translated as: individualisation versus
socialisation,
informal versus
formal,
innovation versus
tradition,
variability
versus fixation. The
dancer's need to
express
his or her own artistic
personality
comes into conflict with
the
necessity
to
integrate
into the social
group,
to interact with other
performers,
and to
reproduce
the
traditionally
set dance
patterns.
This contradiction causes an
inner tension which
generates
a certain
energy expressed through creativity.
In
contrast to traditional folk
dancing,
characterised
by
variation and
individualisation,
staged performances
are based on
homogeneity
and
synchronism,
on self
control,
and on the
integration
of the individual into the
group. Compared
with vernacular
dancing
these
guided performances
have
great
impact
on a local audience which
appreciates
them as "true artistic achievements".
Aware of this
fact,
the Communist
management
used the forceful aesthetic
impact
of folk dance
performances
for
encoding messages congruent
with their
ideology
and actual
policy.
Group identity
is the
way
an individual identifies with
others,
according
to a set of common
traits,
interests and
experiences.
Frederik Barth in Ethnic
Groups
and Boundaries
(1969) argues
that the
concept
of
identity
is actualised in
two
ways:
*
through
internal
cohesion,
where social interaction is based on common
cultural
competence
(as
for
example,
an
implicit knowledge
of the dance
idiom,
of the rules of
behaviour,
of the
meaning
of
symbols);
the studies dedicated to those
categories
of dances which have a
gender
and
age group
affirming
function,
such as
Hip Hop (Torp 1986).
*
through
boundaries raised between
groups
in which interaction with
"others" is
limited,
due to the lack of shared
knowledge
and common
experience.
As
long
as a
group
manifests its cohesion
by segregating
the
"in-group"
from the
"out-group",
and succeeds in
remaining
different,
it is able to maintain its
identity.12
There are two modalities for
group
identification: a
subjective
one,
which
refers to
ideology (the
conscience of a common
origin),
and an
objective
one,
which includes material markers:
language, way
of
dressing, religion,
beliefs, food,
dancing,
music
making,
etc.
(Royce
1982:
20-21).
From this
perspective
the role of
tradition and traditional
symbols
is
very important.
Tradition
gives stability,
the
awareness of
belonging
to a certain
group
and to a certain
place.
For
example,
urbanised
peasants
return
periodically
to their
villages, just
as the Vlach
living
in
Denmark do because
they
need the contact with their homeland. The same need for
roots
justifies
the
organisation
of traditional dance events in urban
settings.
A
Vlach told me: "We
bring
with us to Denmark the moroi
(spirit
of the
dead)
and
the hora
(dance event),
but all
weddings, baptisms
and burials are done at
home,
in
the
village".13
Traditional
symbols may
also function to differentiate
groups.
From this
perspective
of national and international
festivals,
which at an
ideological
level
aim to
unify people,
are in fact used to
strengthen
local and
regional identity
via
the
originality
and
authenticity
of their
performances
that are
symbols
for
differentiation.
Dance as national
symbol
Many
case studies dedicated to the
socio-political aspects
of
dance,
have
analysed
the
way
dance is used as a
symbol
for the
nation-state,
as
opposed
to ethnic or
regional
communities. The ethnic
group
and the nation have common
traits,
but
should not be confused with each other. Max Weber
gave
the
following
definition
of the nation: "...a
community
of sentiment which would
adequately
manifest itself
in a state of its
own;
hence a nation is a
community
which
normally
tends to
produce
a state of its own"
(Weber
1977:
21).
It has been
argued
that folklore is an
ideological concept
that was created
simultaneously
with the rise of national
consciousness. To folklore was
given
the role of
demonstrating
in front of the
whole world that a nation constitutes an
entity
with a characteristic
language,
a
12
Dancing
is an
important
marker of Vlach ambivalent
identity:
on the one
hand,
by
performing
their chain dance
hora,
the Vlach create boundaries which both
unify
the
group
and
separate
it from outsiders. On the other
hand,
by inviting
orchestras from
Beograd
and
performing staged
suites with dances from all the former
Yugoslav republics,
the Vlach
try
to hide their ethnic
identity
and
appear
as
Yugoslavs
or Serbs.
However,
during
the
bloody
ethnic and
religious
battles in former
Yugoslavia
in the
1990s,
when the Vlach wanted to
assert their ethnic
identity
and limit non-Vlach
participation
in dance
events,
they
hired
only
musicians from their homeland to
play only
Vlach dance melodies.
13
Research carried out in the
early
1970s in the outskirts of Bucharest revealed the existence
of several
dancing spaces
where
people
from different social
layers,
but
coming
from the
same
province (such
as
Oltenia,
Transylvania,
Moldova, Banat), gathered
to dance
together.
The
repertoire
was
comprised
of a few
regional
dances reduced to standardised
patterns,
thus
enabling everybody
to
participate.
GIURCHESCU
common historical
past,
a common world view and
way
of
living (Mesnil
1997:
26).
Since the
beginning
of the nineteenth
century,
in Central and South-Eastern
Europe,
folklore
(as
a
product
of the
Volksgeist)
was used in
politics
to
symbolise
the nation-state and to
strengthen
national awareness: "Rural
expressive
culture has
become emblematic of national
identity
and folklore
performances
have
played
a
large
role in
presenting
and
articulating
this association"
(Dubinskas 1984).14
In
contemporary
Romania,
traditional
symbols
are
manipulated
to
bring
the
past
into
the
present, thereby supporting
the
concept
of
permanence,
and to illustrate the
principle
of
"unity
in
diversity"
with reference to a
unitary
national culture as
expressed through
the
diversity
of its
regional
forms. What is
deliberately forgotten
in the reconstruction of the historical
past
are the
frequent
cohabitation with
migratory populations
and the
great capacity
of oral tradition for
integration
and
adaptation
of
foreign
elements.
Manipulation
of
symbols
It should be stressed that it is not the insiders of a
given
culture,
but rather the
outsiders,
who define and use
concepts
such as
folklore, tradition, authentic,
representative
and national.
Defining
folklore is in essence a
question
of selection
made
by
a
decision-making group
in accordance with the
ideology
and
political
interests of that
group.
It
designates aspects
of culture which
may
suit the
group's
aims and
principles.
Thus,
we should
inquire:
* Which
socio-political group
defines and selects the authentic and
representative products
of folklore?
* For what
purpose?
* Which are the criteria of selection?
*
And which are the characteristic traits
employed
to construct the ideal
symbol?
In the last
phase
of the Communist
regime
in
Romania,
characterised
by
increased
nationalism,
the
state-supported symbols
functioned to
bridge past
and
present,
to
reinforce the
concept
of
permanence,
to
symbolise
the
unitary
character of the
nation,
and to demonstrate its artistic
qualities.
A network of institutions and a
system
of
competitions
named "Cantarea Romaniei"
(Song
to
Romania)
was
given
the task to
select,
construct and disseminate these
symbols-symbols
that were
meant to build an
idyllic image
that would hide a
reality
full of
deep
contradictions
(Giurchescu
1987:
169-70). Through
these standardised and
pompous symbols
created
by
folklore
manipulation,
the
Party sought legitimisation.
However,
people
14
In the mid-nineteenth
century,
Romanian
revolutionary
intellectuals of
Transylvania
designated
cdluferul,
(healing
and
fertility
ritual
involving dancing),
which
they
considered
to be
genetically
rooted in the
antique
Roman
culture,
as a
symbol
of Romanian Latin
origin
and of their
long continuity.
Since
1850,
stylised
dance forms
originating
from the ritual
caluv,
were
performed
at festive occasions
throughout Transylvania. (Giurchescu 1992).
During
the
"revolutionary" period
of the Communist
regime
in
Romania, cdlu~erul
dance
was
banished,
being
considered the bearer of
overly strong
nationalistic connotation. It has
been revived and has become almost a
compulsory part
of official
staged performances
since
the mid-1960s when the Communist
regime
turned
highly
nationalistic.
who could not be controlled and directed made their own
choices,
such as local
patriotism, prestige
status,
aesthetic
satisfaction,
or
entertainment.'5
Manipulation
of
concepts
It
may
be
argued,
from a theoretical
point
of
view,
that vernacular folklore and
stage-adjusted
folklore exist in indivisible and unbroken
continuity.
However,
considering
the
practice
of
symbolic
transformation and
manipulation,
it is
necessary
to
formally separate
the here and now
processes
of folklore from
selected
products (dance, music, costumes)
that are
performed
within the
framework of a
spectacle,
and which are
generally
called "folklorism".
The
passage
from folklore to folklorism in South-Eastern
European
countries is in
essence a
symbolic
transformation from social to artistic
significance,
and from
variation to fixed forms. Folklore and folklorism can exist as two simultaneous
systems
of
communication,
mutually influencing
each other.16 The
major
difference between folklore and folklorism lies in the fact that folklore is a non-
controllable
process,
while folklorism results from
strictly guided
selection and
transformation of folklore. Therefore folklorism
was,
and still
is,
used in cultural
politics
as an
important
instrument for education and social
change.
In order to
legitimate
folklorism,
the Communist cultural
management equated
folklorism
with folklore
by covering up
their basic difference and
presenting
all forms of
folklorism as
"present day
folklore" and "folklore of the socialist
epoch".
Conversely,
the
uncontrollable,
living
tradition was
marginalised, being
considered
subject
to
pollution
and
disintegration. According
to this
theory,
real and authentic
folklore should exist
only
in the artistic and
crystallised
forms as
presented by
professional
and amateur ensembles.'7 Because it bears such connotations as
originality, purity,
and
genuineness,
the
concept
of
authenticity
was,
and still
is,
invoked to
support
this theoretical confusion.
However,
authenticity
is a romantic
construction. If
authenticity
has the connotation of
"truth",
then
every performance
which makes sense for the
people
is
implicitly
authentic.
Conversely,
in the
context of a
stage performance
even the closest
reproduction
of a folklore model
still remains an imitation.
15
In
Hungary,
for
young people
who
opposed
the
rigidity
of the Communist
regime
as
expressed
in
stereotyped symbols, improvisation
became the most
important
trait of folk
creation. The
wide-spread
tdnchds movement
(free performance
of traditional dance and
music)
was
governed by
the
principle
of
improvisation.
16
In the context of
festivals,
performances
on
stage may
exist side
by
side with free
dancing
off
stage, thereby providing
the
opportunity
for
people
to
experience
and
compare
these two
contrastive situations. An obvious border between them is shown
by
the fact that in
principle, everybody may participate
in the free
dancing,
but
only
selected/trained dancers
perform
on
stage.
For the Vlach of former
Yugoslavia,
for
example,
the term folklore
designates only stage
folk
dances,
those which are
taught by
an
instructor,
while the
local,
traditional
dances,
those defined
by specialists
as true folk
dances,
are not
given
a
particular
term.
They
are
only
common horas.
GIURCHESCU
Current trends in Romanian traditional dance
To
conclude,
I
present
some results of
my
research
concerning
the
impact
of
forty-
five
years
of cultural
policy
in Socialist Romania on
people
and their traditional
culture,
both at a
conceptual
level and at the level of socio-cultural
practice.18
The
pressure
of state cultural
management
for
substituting living
folklore
with new
symbols
was
primarily
a
question
of
changing people's mentality
and
ideological
horizon.
According
to local
objective
and
subjective circumstances,
people
could choose to answer either on the informal
level,
continuing
to
preserve
the folklore communication that could not
(and cannot)
be
controlled,
or to enter
the official arena
by adopting
the
manipulated
new means of
expression.19
1. With
regard
to traditional
dancing
it
may
be stated that the thread of
tradition,
though fragile,
is not broken and
dancing
and
music-making
are
still functional.20
According
to the
opinions
of
peasants, village dancing
as
opposed
to modem
dancing
and
dancing
on
stage
is considered a
meaningful
but
ordinary activity,
which has no
particular
value beside its
social one. Traditional
dancing
has been restricted in
many places
to
important
calendrical
celebrations,
to
weddings,
and to
family gatherings.
2. In
spite
of a
seeming
de-centralisation since
1990,
people
still
conceptualise
folklore as a stock of artistic
products,
which have a real
value
only
if
they
are
displayed
on
stage.
Therefore,
stage performances
in the context of
local,
national and international
art-competitions
and
festivals are the most common and
prestigious
modes of folk dance
existence. For dancers with
long practice
on
stage,
the
representation
of
learned dance
patterns
becomes a new
reality,
which
they
transfer to
traditional contexts as well.
3.
Organised
dance transmission is restricted to
performing groups.
The
taught repertoire
is
generally
confined to selected dances that are
shaped
for
stage performance.
Thus,
youngsters
are not
taught
to dance or to
enjoy dancing, only
to
perform
a
given
dance
form,
while others of the
community progressively
become consumers of
spectacles
and other
cultural commodities. The
majority
of adults still have a latent dance
competence,
while
many youngsters
have lost ties to traditional
dancing
because the traditional
ways
of transmission are
gradually disappearing.
4. With reference to the
present
situation
(1999),
it is
striking
how often
people complain:
"We have no more artistic
ensembles,
we have no more
culture".
Being
considered
exclusively
an artistic
activity,
the
stage
performance
has the
power
to endow the dancer with the
quality
of artist
18
This
information,
which
represents
the insiders'
point
of
view,
may provide
an
empirical
background
for further
generalisation.
19
In
fact,
in both rural and urban
settings
not
only
one but several modes of
choreographic
expression
are shared
by people
in a variable balance:
local-traditional, modern-
international,
theatrical
performances
of folklore and art or cultivated dance
performances.
20
In the
village
Certeze
(district
Oas Northern
Romania) dancing
in a
pavilion
called
ciupercd (mushroom)
still exists as a ritualised social interaction with
premarital
functions.
The
topography
of the
village
and its
kinship
structure is
symbolically represented
via the
inherited
spot
where the
young
man dances. The
dancing space
is the realm of men: no
young
woman is allowed to enter without
being
invited. For
overcoming inferiority
and
subordination, girls
use
spells
and witchcraft in order to be invited to dance and
get
married.
giving
him or her
pride
and social
prestige.
Hence,
he or she
expects
to be
rewarded for
performance (payment,
awards,
travel
abroad).
If
expectations
are not
fulfilled,
an ensemble
may disintegrate
and the
disappointed
artists will
only
seldom
reintegrate
themselves into the
common traditional dance event-the
village
dance.
5. The
competitive
character of
festivals, however,
reinforces awareness of
the artistic value of their local tradition. The search for
originality
results
in the revival of obsolete
dances,
some of which
may
be re-actualised in
traditional social contexts.
Considering
the dance
reality
within the
present socio-political
context,
the researcher faces its multi-dimensional existence in both traditional and new
settings.
The
people,
in
turn,
experience
dance not
only
in
one,
but in several social
contexts,
from ritual to
stage performance (such
as the ritual
cdlus).
The multi-
functionality
of the dance is
explained by
its
polysemic
character and
by
the
paradoxical complexity
of the human
personality
that is able to combine tradition
with
modernity
into a
"magical" thinking
with a
pragmatic
world-view,
and still
truly
believe that dance
conveys supernatural power.
Facing
this
complex reality,
the researcher has the dilemma of
choosing
between a reflexive attitude and involvement. Should he/she remain an
objective
analyst, aiming
to understand and
explain
the
existing reality,
or should he/she
try
to influence cultural life
patterns,
interests,
expectations
and
system
of values? The
false
dichotomy opposing
academic research and
practice may
be
surpassed
if the
researchers realise that their
very presence
in a
community gives
raise to a network
of interaction where insiders and outsiders influence each other.21
Responsibility
and involvement should characterise our
actions,
thoughts
and
statements;
working
with dance means
working
with
people
and the results of our
inquiry
concern
them.
Traditional folklore is
rapidly changing
and the
process
cannot be
arrested.
Therefore,
research and documentation of the
existing
cultural
reality
is
of
primary importance.
At the same
time,
sustained
activity
for re-contextualisation
of
dancing
and
music-making,
as well as
practical help
for
discovering
new
ways
for
raising
folklore from a local to a
global
level,
should become
important
subjects
for the new
generation
of researchers in dance
ethnology.
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GIURCHESCU

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The Power of Dance and Its Social and Political Uses

Author(s): Anca Giurchescu

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