This research centres on the Balinese performance tradition known as topeng which translates as Balinese masked dance-drama. In Bali this genre is performed traditionally in spaces reserved for religious ceremonies. The research questions the extent to which, and how, it may be possible for a non-Balinese person to embody a culturally coded, sacred object (the mask) and how a woman is able to make meaning and express herself within a genre which is traditionally the preserve of men. The research has therefore sought to develop an individual and intercultural approach to both the design of new masks and their performance. The thesis critiques modes of cultural understanding in relation to notions of balance, based on colonial and dualistic trajectories between Bali and the UK. Alternative modes of exchange explore in-between and hybrid space that is informed by Lo and Gilbert’s dynamic model of intercultural practice which they visualise as a ‘spinning disc held by an elastic band’ (Gilbert and Lo 2002: 45). The key issues explored are notions of training; the relocation of ritual and the cultural specificities of ‘home’; mask-making and design; non-Balinese stories on which to base alternative performances of topeng, ones that more strongly position female characters; and finally the embodiment of Balinese masks from a traditional and also a somatic perspective. The practical form the research takes is through making masks and devising performances, the outcomes of which form a part of the thesis. The thesis both discusses and practically demonstrates how particular modes of embodiment, for instance cakra work, somatics and experiential anatomy may serve as strategies to communicate to a Western perspective how to bring ‘life’ to the mask, how to make it ‘work’ from a Balinese position and how these modes can assist in the process of intercultural (self) translation.

This research aims to analyse the role and consequence of state patronage and promotion of Thai classical dance after the revolution of 1932, when the patronage of court dance changed from royal to state support. This research examines connections between the authority of the state, nationalism, Thai identity, and the invention of tradition, by focussing on the reconstruction of Thai classical dance, the promotion of spirituality in the Wai Khru ceremony, and dance pedagogy. This study uses historical research and ethnography through participant-observation, and interviews with senior dance teachers, national artists, masters of the Wai Khru ceremony, and dance artists in the Fine Arts Department, and also draws on the researcher’s personal experience in dance training as a dancer and dance teacher for several years. The thesis offers a detailed analysis of the socio-political context and cultural policy in relation to the establishment of the Fine Arts Department and the Dramatic Arts College; the national institutions whose main roles were to preserve, perform and offer training in traditional dance. After the revolution of 1932, the Fine Arts department played an important role to authorise, preserve, and standardise Thai classical dance. The function and meaning-making processes surrounding dance changed in accordance with the development of Thai identity and cultural policy. During the period 1932-1945, state policy emphasised the homogeneity of ‘Thai-ness’ and civilization, and traditional dance was adapted and combined with classical, folk and western elements. However, after the mid-1940s, the socio-political and cultural policies changed; the state operated the project of cultural revivalism. The court dance style and its rituals were revived with the establishment of a code of ‘classicalism’ which became the central aesthetic identification of Thai identity. The newly-coined classicalism has become the standard, and has been passed on to succeeding generations in the new educational system. These new invented traditions were preserved as if they were sacred, a practice which continues to the present.

How Belly Dance practitioners in England construct a sense of self-identity, social-identity and identity-in-practice in a border-crossing Belly Dance ethnoscape is of interest for this research project. What kinds of identities-in-practice do Belly Dancers in England construct in order to authenticate their performance? By applying social theories of education and identity formation, in particular Holland et al’s “figured worlds” (2001), it is possible to critically frame the development of a practitioner’s Belly Dance identity over a period of time. The research presents the case that Belly Dance in England has an identifiable past and present practice, one that continually wrestles with ownership of what is apparently a Middle Eastern cultural export. Drawing from a literature based case study of two pioneering artists in the early 1980s, Hilal and Buonaventura, the research describes a distinctive English Belly Dance tradition and identities. There is an explanation of how the English Belly Dance form has since competed on the global stage. The research also describes how current inheritors of that tradition −Anne White, Caroline Afifi and Siouxsie Cooper are taken as case studies− appropriate and signal Egyptian Belly Dance as the dominant reference point from which to authenticate their dancing practice; whilst at the same time subverting the Orientalist paradigm underpinning the Belly Dance trope. Identifying “narratives of authenticity” enable the current generations of English Belly Dancers to form distinctive Belly Dancing identities-in-practice. Drawing from both social theories of education and identity formation and reflexive ethnographic modes of inquiry, Walk like an Egyptian examines Belly Dance in England as a translocated dance form, and the mechanisms which allow its authenticity are analysed. In answer to the research question it is possible for an English practitioner of Belly Dance to produce an authentic Belly Dance performance through the production of various narratives of authenticity, narratives which both borrow from and resist pre-existing narratives of authenticity.

This study explores the possibilities of incorporating Bharathanatyam into the Roman Catholic Holy Mass in South India to enhance the liturgy. This thesis argues from the stand point of theology of inculturation, Pope’s encyclicals and Vatican I and II documents on culture, liturgy and the Church. It also looks into the history of the use of dance in the liturgy. A study is undertaken on Bharathanatyam to show that this is one of the Indian indigenous art forms with appropriate dance techniques to interpret the Gospel and the related messages effectively and creatively. The theology of dance discussed in this thesis forms the base for liturgical dance. This will help the congregation for active participation, to celebrate the Holy Mass more meaningfully and to make it relevant to their context. This thesis answers many questions in regard to liturgical dance. During the research, it is found that when the culture is integrated into the liturgy, it is not only the liturgy that can transform the culture but the culture can also transform the liturgy. The incorporation of Bharathanatyam in the Holy Mass can bring transformation in the local communities by bridging the gaps between the religious communities, caste identities and gender.

The thesis constitutes an examination of contemporary dance in the 1990s in Greece as exemplified in the case of three dance companies - SineQuaNon, Oktana Dancetheatre and Edafos Company – major exponents of the bourgeoning dance scene of that time. The focus is on a particular historical moment, the year 1995, and on three choreographies – ProsOlotoixos [Tour de Force] by Apostolia Papadamaki (SineQuaNon), Daphnis and Chloe by Konstantinos Rigos (Oktana Dancetheatre) and Enos Leptou Sigy [One Moment of Silence] by Dimitris Papaioannou (Edafos Company) - as indications of the vitality of contemporary dance of the times which caused major changes in dance policy. The main hypothesis is that contemporary dance of the 1990s became a site where ideas of change and renewal, pertinent in social milieu became embodied, but at the same time, the companies proposed alternative notions of community, cosmopolitanism and gay identities. The three cases reveal the complex interplay between dance and its social, political and historical context, centering on processes of modernisation of the country and cultural discourses. The thesis explores the emergence of a new generation of artists who negotiated and captured aspects and tensions of the process of modernisation and connected their practices to new artistic identities in accordance with the changing context. The research has been influenced by recent efforts outside Greece to re-examine dance in its social, historical and economic context and to bring the body into historical and contemporary analyses of culture. This methodology highlights the web of power within which contemporary dance was involved, and following post-structuralist critique of history, examines dance history, not as a linear progressive development but through a re-negotiation of power balances between discourses, bodies and institutions.

No description available.

Sociable folk dancing in the UK is an organised group activity in which a significant number of people take part, often practising folk styles which have their origins in other countries. These groups are generally not run for profit, operate under the radar of media attention, and consequentially their activities remain largely hidden from view. This thesis addresses the fact that there have been no in-depth studies of these groups. It reports on the findings of a detailed ethnographic research project, to offer in-sights into the practices and motivations of participants in social dance. The thesis answers the key question: ‘What is the meaning and significance of participation in these folk music and social dance styles to those taking part?’. An interdisciplinary and ethnographic research approach was adopted to investigate two such folk styles: Cajun and Zydeco, and Scandinavian. This approach allowed research participants to make a significant contribution to the focus of the research, and to inform the subsidiary questions: ‘What are the concerns and interests of those involved in social folk dance?’, ‘What is it that makes involvement in these dance practices so appealing?’, and ‘What are the overall benefits of being involved?’ The research produced an interpretive account of these practices, through investigating sites of participation in these dance styles in the UK, which were explored by means of immersive involvement in their dance practices. This gave an insight into the way in which participation was organised and managed, and allowed for introductions to be made which were followed up with thirty in-depth interviews. The study revealed that despite the stylistic differences between the two dance styles and how they are practised, both nevertheless benefitted participants in similar ways. That dance events are organised on a not-for-profit basis was particularly important to participants, and encouraged loyalty and cooperation, promoting feelings of empowerment and ownership. An atmosphere of supportive inclusion was also built in to the loose organisation of events and activities, which allowed a consensus to develop where social attitudes and ideas could be negotiated, cultivated, and shared. This created a sense of belonging to an unboundaried, and fluid community or social network, a safe environment in which participants were able to experience dance as a communicative and expressive dialogue between individuals and within the group. This thesis argues that participants found their involvement in these dance styles socially and personally satisfying, and that this made a considerable contribution to their individual wellbeing. The research found that sociable folk dancing served as a vehicle for community, improving participants’ sense of self-worth, supporting creativity, and well-being. These findings complement clinical research that champions dance, and social dance in particular, as a healthy and worthwhile leisure activity. This thesis supports the results of such scientific studies into the benefits of dance by providing supporting evidence from within a social setting. This has implications for further research, and for policy and practice, whether dance activities are pursued formally or informally and whatever their aim.

This research investigates sensory-somatic awareness based approaches to the conditioning, training and performance of Odissi dance in India. Through a multidisciplinary and embodied methodology it analyses the practices of three contemporary Odissi dance institutes and a selection of individual dancers in India, who are moving beyond the traditional methodology. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in India, this research explores how sensory-somatic approaches incorporated by these dancers generate meaning-making and in what ways this enriches the dancers’ experience of dancing Odissi. As an outcome of the fieldwork, the term sensory-somatic is proposed and analysed in line with the dancers’ embodied experience of dancing Odissi. The analysis entails a paradigm that embraces the corporeal, sentient and socio-cultural bodymind, and the sensory aspects of senses, sensation, perception, sensibility and sensuality. These form two layers: the somatic and sensory which merge together as the sensory-somatic awareness. It takes into consideration the sensory perception and awareness leading to an agentic, enactive and embodied meaning-making and emotional engagement of the dancers. It also examines how the changing socio-cultural situation has been continuously affecting the Odissi dance embodiment. This thesis does not address the religious aspect and the experience of the audience in Odissi performance. The main focus remains the dancers’ individual experience of learning and performing Odissi dance. Moving away from the study of Odissi dance just as a reflection of the state, regional culture and representation of mythologies, this thesis is an investigation of the Odissi dancer’s meaningful, embodied and lived experience of Odissi dancing. It contributes to the debates on body-mind relationship, emotional engagement, place of the ‘self’, the student-oriented learning, psychophysical training and performance, and rasa-bhāva aesthetics. This study reveals that the sensory-somatic awareness is based upon reflexivity, independent enquiry, psychophysical health, bodymind awareness and leads to empowerment, agency, autonomy, plurality, confidence and responsibility, a level of relief from gender biases, and an inclusive approach to learning and performing.

This thesis examines the practice of an Argentine Tango dance community in the East Midlands, England. It is an ethnographic study whose objectives are to investigate this instance of a local transcultural dance practice in order to learn about participants’ motivations; their experience of and identification with Argentine Tango; and the meanings produced in the process of their participation. As a social dancer, teacher and insider researcher, I employ embodiment as a key methodological strategy in order to engage with and share the experience of dancing with participants; to gain sensory understanding and bodily knowledge of the practice; and in the process to gain access to further avenues of meaning-making amongst participants. The study considers questions arising directly from my teaching role to do with the transmission and reproduction of the dance, authenticity, the production of meaning, the construction and performance of identity and the imaginative construction of post-modern cultural practices. The nature of space and place is considered, as is Turner’s distinction between liminoid and liminal activity with regard to ritual and communitas in relation to Argentine Tango. Alongside participant discussions, I explore various perspectives on the cosmopolitan appropriation and exoticisation of Argentine Tango; the diffusion, re-territorialisation and globalisation of Argentine Tango since the late 1980s. Data was produced using ethnographic tools, including video recording, shared reviewing and feedback from participants. The thesis analyses findings to show how participants project narratives of the imagination into their dancing, thereby providing frameworks of meaning which crucially underpin and sustain this practice. These imagined narratives are compared to journeys, both literal and of the imagination, enabling the creative construction of new identities, the exploration of self in relation to others and an escape from everyday life in postmodernity.

This research explores the lives and experiences of female exotic dancers with the aim of gaining an empathic understanding of their involvement in the stripping industry. The stereotypes and generalizations of exotic dancers and the stripping industry undermine the exotic dancer's ability to be seen as an individual with her own story and her own experiences. The participants of this research were selected through convenience sampling and consist of three female exotic dancers. The researcher interviewed the participants using a semi-structured interview format and focused on the dancer's experience within the exotic dancing industry, her family history, her relationships, and personal life. The data was analysed using thematic network analysis. The thematic networks are often contradictory and inconsistent with the common stereotypes and ideas held about exotic dancers. The results indicate that some exotic dancers experience meaning, healing, gratification, and power within their work and live responsible, productive lives. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)