The primary focus of this work is the Interwar years (1919-1939), a time when dance came to the forefront of Australian consciousness, not only as an expression of worldwide modernity, but in terms of a new kind of local professionalism. Using dance as window through which to analyse Australian culture, this thesis explores notions of the dancing ‘body’ in Australia. For this research, the term dancing ‘body’ is used to indicate a kind of artistic identity that incorporates various elements of the mind, the physical being, the conscious and unconscious idea of ‘self,’ and the external perceptions and stereotypes about dancers. Importantly, perceptions and understandings about the dancing ‘body’ were not static during the Interwar period. They changed physically, emotionally, environmentally, socially, politically, and dynamically, depending on the genre of dance being analysed. This thesis identifies four main types of dance that became popular in Australia during the Interwar period—ballroom, physical culture, modern dance and classical ballet —recognising that each type presented a slightly different dancing ‘body’ to the world and was perceived accordingly. These types were differentiated by their dynamic, environment, relationships between dancers, level of professionalism, accompanying music, and societal or political purpose, yet all share an emphasis on the corporeal form, an element of performance or spectacle, and an association with femininity. / Additionally, and most importantly, each of these four dancing ‘bodies’ was primarily associated with one or more cultures other than Australian, including American, Russian, English, and German. As a result, the dancing ‘body’ in Australia remained a foreign concept, connected to a variety of overseas cultures and ‘performing’ those associations through movement. While it is true that individual Australians danced, choreographed, taught and lobbied for their art-form, the sense remained in Australia that dancing was not an inherent national activity and thus, simply could not resonate with traditional notions of national identity. It leads us to ask this very complicated question: considering the varied cultural associations of the dancing ‘body,’ was there such a thing as an Australian dancing ‘body’? Did dance ever fully articulate an Australian national experience, aesthetic or ethos? / This research shows that local insecurities about the abilities of Australian dancers and dance-makers was closely related to dancing being an imported activity, introduced through films, magazines, recorded music, and in the bodies of foreign dancers. Moreover, it was often those foreign associations of dance, associations believed to be strong enough to ‘infect’ an Australian dancer, that caused concern over the power of the dancing ‘body.’ The tensions between the four dancing ‘bodies’ of the Interwar period, and the almost mythological stereotype of the national Australian ‘body’ are explored in this research, differentiating it from other contemporary works on the history of dance. Rather than focusing only on professional tours, this research seeks to understand the dancing ‘body’ in relation to Australian notions of physicality, identity and modernity. / Using dance as a ‘window’ through which to explore aspects of Australian culture during the Interwar period, this thesis argues that societal perceptions about dance and dancers were fundamentally related to the differences between behavioural expectations of Australian men and women, and dance’s inherent association with foreign cultures. This research looks closely at these cultural associations, and analyses various attempts by Australian dancers to legitimise their artform during an era of rapid technological, political and social change.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/245014 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Vincent, Jordan Beth |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Restricted Access: Abstract and Citation Only Available |
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