I would like to say that my definitions of Western and non-western societies are considered Western as being derived from Greek and Roman philosophies, and non-western being societies haven't yet been contacted by western society.
This last two weeks I have been reading about trying to understand different cultures, various biographies and recounts of experiences with some of the world's most influential teachers of classical dance from various cultures, and some basic philosophy, all leading to personal discoveries of how relevant what I am learning is now.
I have been learning about approaching statements with a philosophical point of view (looking for premise, and conclusion, using logic), I have also been learning during the same time frame that it is probable that western idea of philosophy was unheard of, and possibly inconceivable from an indigenous[generalizing] perspective during the time of pre-contact with western societies, due to philosophy being a western concept/value [within my current understanding of the idea from gathered sources I have collected thus far].
During the last few months I have also been reading about the great teachers of French, Italian, Danish, English, Russian, and American classical ballet traditions. I have learned that they(the teachers) varied so much in their opinions about the underpinning pedagogical techniques, and the overall aesthetics of what ballet should be, and yet somehow ended up all have a common goal generalizing the purpose of classical dance in the forms of being a tool with which to communicate to the audience something [this could literally be anything]through a codified system of movement, that vaguely resembles each different teachers interpretation of a 500(ish) year old art form.
All of this reading and comparison of teachers, and cultures has led me to realize that as Classical Ballet is a western art form, then it should never be forced upon any non-western society as a necessity, and this choice of participation must always be available to any individual, or society if there is any wish to preserve that society values, and culture, in tact.
This leads us to the idea that the individual or society needs to be the ones in charge of making this choice, not the bigger enterprises engaging in the exploitation of other societies with the idea that popularizing classical dance globally will seek better performing artists, and lead to higher profit margins[and the glory of Terpsichore]. Classical dance is for a very small audience globally, it should always stay this way in order to prevent more societies and their ways from being lost forever.
However if ballet is what a non-western culture would like to learn then the individual, or society that wishes to learn about classical ballet needs to be educated in the history of classical dance, and acknowledge that its origins are deeply rooted in western society. This will allow for the non-western society to attain a conscientious understanding that the experience of learning could heavily alter, or even destroy, the original culture of that society leaving those involved feeling as though they don't belong to any social group.
During this process of reflection currently have come to realize that there is currently no element of classical dance that accepts or allocates parameters for other cultures [non-western cultures, or non western cultures that have either been colonized, or become intermingled with western values, understandings, and ideologies] to actively be a part of classical dance societies[group, colony, field of study] while still maintaining their cultural values, and maintain their social norms.
This means that the International non-western communities could very well consider all of the teachings that I have learned through endless exploration of past teachers and teaching styles as "completely irrelevant, and non-existent" within non-western societies., and all the work to create a perceived conducive learning environment that would be completely viable within a western society looses all value and should fail and loose all appreciation, if placed within a non-western society.
This leads to a realization that the love that I have for classical dance[ballet] is one that only can be shared by people like myself whom have been raised with similar western values, or those whom have turned their back on fragments of their own culture [this may or may not be a bad thing] either by choice, or forced; and in order to share these values with which I personally care so much about one would need to explore new ideologies derived using intercultural communication in joint efforts from both western and non-western parties.
This would entail the participation of western, and non-western communities, with which the western community demonstrates a clear display of knowledge of classical dance, and brings this knowledge, along with western culture to the 'table', and the non-western parties would in turn bring their own dance ideologies and culture to the 'table'. If everyone is perceived as equal by both cultures then there it is probable that a new form of classical dance will be created, that blends multiple cultures.
Am I on an unacceptable train of thought? or is it all logical?
That's a lot to think through, but I have a few thoughts to pull out. I think while we can certainly generalize "Western" and "non-Western" societies to some extent, that dichotomy ignores the very real mixing that's already occurred in most/all countries, especially if you're defining Western as solely rooted in Greek and Roman philosophy. R/G philosophy certainly did not develop in isolation. Even their own original philosophies were indigenous, at one point (that's probably debatable, but that's how I'd argue since it arose from a specific people group). And even when we're talking traditionally Western countries, the UK has elements of Norse and Celtic culture also, and the US elements of pretty much everywhere but especially Native American and various African cultures. They're considered Western countries, but they have a diverse range of influences too. That's not discounting the majority influence or saying there's no tension; certainly there is.
ReplyDeleteBut in regards to ballet, I think it's really strong to say that only someone raised like you can appreciate it or love it without rejecting their own heritage. It might be more accurate to say that a fuller understanding of the art form requires a fuller understanding of its associated culture? But I love the last paragraph; that's indeed already happening in some companies like the National Ballets of China and Japan. I was watching their segments of World Ballet Day and listening to them talk about blending the cultures into newly created works, and it was very cool.
Have you read Joann K's "An Anthropologist Looks at Ballet as a Form of Ethnic Dance?" It's right up this post's alley. The PDF is here: https://www.oberlinlibstaff.com/acceleratedmotion/primary_sources/texts/ecologiesofbeauty/anthro_ballet.pdf
About the Western Vs. Non Western, In reality there are only a handful of non contacted societies left in the world. I was hoping that the mixed societies from the last 2-3000 years are already included in the western category[yes the wording is not very good making it look quite arrogant]. I was also hoping to ignore the current culture-mixing because who knows if there is a better way that could have been done, I wasn't alive then, and I don't know much about it. Hopefully the world is healing [at least it seems it might be]. I am more approaching the idea from a hypothetical point of view. For example, what if aliens saw ballet for the first time? or what is the Yanomami tribe in Brazil's northern states saw ballet for the first time I would be really curious to see it from their point of view. I will read the article.
DeleteI just read the article that you posted, I would yes consider Ballet as an ethnic form of dance as well. Ballet just happens to be an ethnic dance form of Humans. Not all Humans, but many of them, I wouldn't limit Ballet to exclude any humans as well, because if you look at different ballet companies around the world there are companies in a vast variety of countries and cultures. I am not going to personally say that Ballet is a part of any culture, however I still am trying to say that I feel as though through the book "Decolonizing Methodologies" by Linda Tuhiwai Smith, that she feels as though bringing ballet to a non-balletic(?) culture, could be detrimental to the society, not just the ballet, but everything that comes with it.
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