The Spectacularization of Soviet/Russian Folk Dance

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Shay
Keyword(s):  
Folk Dance ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Dance Company ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Invented Tradition ◽  
State Ensemble ◽  
Professional Dance ◽  
The Government ◽  
Classical Ballet ◽  
Former Ussr

In the early 20th century, folk dance had been used to show symbolic support for several nation states by transporting masses of peasants to major urban centers to perform in festival settings. Igor Moiseyev, a well-known dancer and choreographer with the Boshoi Ballet, was appointed by the government of the former USSR in 1936 to found a professional dance ensemble, to be named the State Ensemble of Folk Dance of the Peoples of the USSR, but called the Moiseyev Dance Company in the West. Following state directives, he prominently featured the dances of the Russian ethnic majority in his repertoire. In this essay Shay suggests that, in fact, Moiseyev spectacularized folk dance by creating choreographies with spectacular movements in what was essentially an invented tradition based on classical ballet rather than using authentic folk dances.

Raqs-e melli

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Shay
Keyword(s):  
Fine Arts ◽  
Folk Dance ◽  
Persian Literature ◽  
Islamic History ◽  
Dance Company ◽  
Invented Tradition ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Classical Ballet ◽  
Dance Companies ◽  
Village Life

Iranian-Armenians Madame Cornelli, Madame Yelena Avakian, and Sarkis Djanbazian, all of whom had learned ballet in Russia or Europe, came to Iran where they opened private dance studios. They began the process of modernizing Iranian dance for performance on proscenium arch stages. To accomplish this task, in a choreophobic environment like that of Iran of the late 1920s to the 1950s, they engaged in two important activities. First, they created a new dance genre, an invented tradition that the Ministry of Fine Arts designated as raqs-e melli, national dance. This new dance form borrowed from classical ballet, Armenian and Iranian solo improvised dance, Armenian and Iranian folk dances, and other Western sources. Second, in order to appeal to the educated class of Iranian Muslims who were familiar with the West, they adopted themes that were taken from Persian literature and pre-Islamic history, as well as bucolic scenes from village life. Their studios were the first sites of dance recitals and concerts using Western-style stages and techniques. In the 1950s, the Iranian government founded the first professional dance companies—a ballet company and a folk dance company—based on the techniques and work begun by these teachers.

Staging the Folk: Choreographic Issues of National Representation

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-246
Author(s):  
Anthony Shay
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Folk Dance ◽  
Ethnic Representation ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World ◽  
Classical Ballet ◽  
Dance Companies

This article looks at the multiple ways that folk dance has been staged in both the nineteenth century when character or national (the two terms were used interchangeably) dance was widely used in classical ballet, and the twentieth in which Igor Moiseyev created a new genre of dance related to it. The ballet masters that created character dance for ballet often created ballroom dances based on folk origin, but that would be suitable for the urban population. This popularity of national dance was the result of the burgeoning of romantic nationalism that swept Europe after the French Revolution. Beginning in the 1930s with Igor Moiseyev founding the first professional ‘folk dance’ company for the Soviet Union, nation states across the world established large, state-supported folk dance companies for purposes of national and ethnic representation that dominated the stages of the world for the second half of the twentieth century. These staged versions of folk dance, were, I argue an extension of nineteenth century national/character dance because their founding directors, like Igor Moiseyev, came from the era when ballet dancers were trained in that genre.

Reda, Mahmoud (1930--)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Shay
Keyword(s):  
Arab World ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Folk Dance ◽  
Belly Dance ◽  
Dance Company ◽  
Invented Tradition ◽  
The 1950S

Mahmoud Reda, a pioneer in the modern staging of traditional and folk dance in the Arab world, began his movement career in gymnastics and other sports. He was a member of the Egyptian gymnastic team in the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. He toured Europe with Astaria, an Argentinian dance company, before returning to Egypt to found his own company, the Reda Troupe. In the choreophobic atmosphere of Egypt in the 1950s in which dance was equated with prostitution, and with a little funding from friends and family, he managed to give a highly successful concert that attracted critical acclaim and eventual government support. In order to succeed with the Egyptian public of the time, he offered dances that sanitized belly dance, eliminating the overtly sexual sharp vibrations associated with that genre and introducing instead soft undulating movements for the women and highly athletic movements for the men. With this newly invented tradition of Egyptian dance, he added narrative elements in his dances that created a nostalgic world of Egyptian villages in which youths and damsels wore highly stylized costumes that only vaguely resembled actual rural clothing styles.

KEBIJAKAN POLITIK KERUKUNAN ANTARAGAMA DI INDONESIA ERA REFORMASI

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-424
Author(s):  
Jamaluddin Jamaluddin
Keyword(s):  
Transition Period ◽  
Religious Life ◽  
New Order ◽  
Reform Era ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Accommodation Space ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Government ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Cultural Reality

Indonesian reformation era begins with the fall of President Suharto. Political transition and democratic transition impact in the religious life. Therefore, understandably, when the politic transition is not yet fully reflects the idealized conditions. In addition to the old paradigm that is still attached to the brain of policy makers, various policies to mirror the complexity of stuttering ruler to answer the challenges of religious life. This challenge cannot be separated from the hegemonic legacy of the past, including the politicization of SARA. Hegemony that took place during the New Order period, adversely affected the subsequent transition period. It seems among other things, with airings various conflicts nuances SARA previously muted, forced repressive. SARA issues arise as a result of the narrowing of the accommodation space of the nation state during the New Order regime. The New Order regime has reduced the definition of nation-states is only part of a group of people loyal to the government to deny the diversity of socio-cultural reality in it. To handle the inheritance, every regime in the reform era responds with a pattern and a different approach. It must be realized, that the post-reform era, Indonesia has had four changes of government. The leaders of every regime in the reform era have a different background and thus also have a vision that is different in treating the problem of racial intolerance, particularly against religious aspect. This treatment causes the accomplishment difference each different regimes of dealing with the diversity of race, religion and class that has become the hallmark of Indonesian society.

Approaches to Dance (1): Influences

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Mark Franko
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Education ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Columbia University ◽  
Dance Company ◽  
Professional Dance

This is an autobiographical account of the intellectual and artistic influences on the work of Mark Franko. It touches on his professional dance career with the Paul Sanasardo Dance Company and his choreographic career with his own company NovAntiqua, his graduate education at Columbia University, and the development of an interdisciplinary approach to theory and practice that blends the activities of the dance scholar with those of the dancer-choreographer.

The national question, identity and the crisis in South Sudan

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dylan Yanano Mangani ◽  
Richard Rachidi Molapo
Keyword(s):  
Political Identity ◽  
South Sudan ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Political Control ◽  
Social Patterns ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Liberation Movement ◽  
Nation States ◽  
National Question ◽  
The Government

The crisis in South Sudan that broke out on the 15th of December 2013 has been the gravest political debacle in the five years of the country’s independence. This crisis typifies the general political and social patterns of post-independence politics of nation-states that are borne out of armed struggles in Africa. Not only does the crisis expose a reluctance by the nationalist leaders to continue with nation-building initiatives, the situation suggests the struggle for political control at the echelons of power within the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement.  This struggle has been marred by the manufacturing of political identity and political demonization that seem to illuminate the current political landscape in South Sudan. Be that as it may, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) hurriedly intervened to find a lasting solution however supportive of the government of President Salva Kirr and this has suggested interest based motives on the part of the regional body and has since exacerbated an already fragile situation. As such, this article uses the Fanonian discourse of post-independence politics in Africa to expose the fact that the SPLM has degenerated into lethargy and this is at the heart of the crisis.

APPLICATION OF AZERBAIJANI FOLK DANCE IN KHOREOGRAPHICAL COMPOSITION

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 218-226
Author(s):  
Terane MURADOVA
Keyword(s):  
Modern Dance ◽  
Stage Structure ◽  
Musical Instrument ◽  
Folk Dance ◽  
Main Condition ◽  
Successful Work ◽  
Professional Dance ◽  
Classical Traditions ◽  
Dance Groups ◽  
Different Parts

Login: The article is dedicated to the embodiment of Azerbaijani folk dances on the professional stage. The main condition for the stage embodiment of folk dances is to take into account the laws of composition and stage criteria. When talking about the stage structure of folk dance, a number of important factors need to be clarified. The composition consists of several parts. These parts consist of dance combinations. For this, dance must express the parts of the composition as exposition, binding, development and complementary. Development: Angle factor is very important in stage arrangement of folk dances. The choreographer must take into account that the audience can see the artist from ane direction. Therefore, this fact should not be ignored during the making of the composition. One of the lyrical compositions of Azerbaijani folk dances is based on the “Uzundere” dance. The character of the dance,its lyrical and melodic melody make it possible to perform it as a bridal dance. “Uzundere” dance is ona of the solo dances. However,duet performances are also observed. It should not be forgotten that this danse is performed not only by women but also by men, and each performance has its own dance elements. The most common and professional version of the dance “Uzundere” is a also composition by a female dancer. One of the dances we have analyzed is the “Gaval dance”. The place of this musical instrument in national art is also reflected in dance. The musical content of the “Gaval dance” consists of two different parts. It includes both a slow-paced lyrics and a fast-paced section. These parts change during the dance. This sequence may be repeated several times, depending on the structural properties of the composition. The choreographic content of the dance has been preserved both as a solo and as a collective expression. Result: Based on our analysis and research, the main features of modern dance art can be characterized by the following provisions. As a result of the establishment and successful work of professional dance groups, the development of national dances has reached a new stage, and this process has been reflected in both folk dances and compositions based on the composer’s music. She based the stage arrangement criteria of folk dances on the professional synthesis of world classical traditions and Azerbaijani traditions with Azerbaijani choreography and national dance traditions.

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