A GLANCE AT FOLK PERFORMANCE AND NON-NATIVE AUDIENCE

Performance is an interesting subject of study and it is the point of intersection for many academic fields within humanities and social sciences. The studies on performance, thus, could provide opportunities for exploring different aspects of human behaviours and their creative reflections on the matters that are intrinsic to the concept of performance. In pursuit of performance studies, one could come across various knots that connect performance with every aspect of the socio-cultural life of people by redefining the stereotypical notions of “stage”, “actors” and “audience.” Further, the studies on performance could not be placed on a single trajectory as several approaches, perspectives and orientations that have emerged ever since the delimitation of performance happened by opening up its boundary for interdisciplinary studies lead by the undefined ‘performance studies’ of Richard Schechner. However, by dealing with the performance as a live presentation in all perceived forms of “stages”, a significant question has been asked in this paper as a token of beginning on the “problematic” presence of audience as outsiders (non-native and non-belonging) who, by their nature of reception and response, are understood as those who have no concern either for the performance or for the performers. While each form, in the folkloristic sense, is comprising of its natural context along with a dedicated or defined audience, it seems to be a surprising phenomenon as it developed over a period of time as a result of the prodigious and irresistible globalization process. Thus, the unintended and unsolicited transformation, as an impact of globalization, in the traditional and modern performances has shaped the nature and role of ‘audience’, making it an insignificant and irrelevant entity for the consumption with aesthetic appreciation and conviction on the values demonstrated. So this article problematizes the nature of audience in the decontextualized performance context by drawing insights from performance studies, semiotics, and other cognate disciplines. Based on the insights drawn from the fieldwork on Sarhul festival held in Ranchi district a few years ago, this paper argues that the role of audience cannot be understood unless there is a clear perspective on the nature of performance and performance tradition as defined by the community.

Book review: Brahma Prakash. 2019. Cultural Labour: Conceptualizing the ‘Folk Performance’ in India

Brahma Prakash. 2019. Cultural Labour: Conceptualizing the ‘Folk Performance’ in India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. xvi + 332 pp. Bibliography, index. Rs 1195 (hardback).

Performing the Elements in Indian Eco-Theatre: Deepan Sivaraman’s The Legends of Khasak

This article considers The Legends of Khasak, a Malayalam play by Deepan Sivaraman, as a landmark Indian eco-theatrical production. I argue for the play as an important development in a nascent Indian eco-theatre, telling an ecologically significant tale about the relationship between humans and nature through performative and scenographic innovations that transform the theatrical space into a sacred grove, a place of deep significance in terms of ecological balance. This essay elaborates on how the play celebrates the pancha bhutas, the five elements of nature, by displaying their agency and invoking the pancha indriyas, or the five pathways of human perception, and thereby awakening an awareness of our status as ecological beings enmeshed in the non-human world. In The Legends of Khasak, Sivaraman has evolved an eco-material aesthetics of performance that, influenced by traditional folk performance forms and rituals and post-independence syncretic theatre, makes a lasting contribution to the development of an Indian eco-drama.

Folklore and Dialectical Materialism. A Case Study of Ethnomusicological Research in Communist Romania

"Romanian ethnomusicology has a series of less discussed and, implicitly, less understood topics. One of them is the relatively vast literature that addresses the new folklore that appeared after the installation of the communist regime and the folk music of artistic ensembles performed on stage. Most of the texts written on these subjects display a strong political and ideological pressure. Consequently, they are either forgotten or superficially perceived as evidence of a repressive regime, adding to the general belief that the communist regime turned peasant art into an instrument of propaganda. Starting from a study signed by Ioan R. Nicola on music collected from Mărginimea Sibiului, we will try to understand the theoretical horizon and the ideological limitations that influenced the way researchers wrote about contemporary music phenomena in the second half of the twentieth century. Despite the constraints, we argue that ethnomusicologists had at hand a coherent system of analysis of the folk music, which they had to adapt to the official ideology. Keywords: new folklore, amateur artistic ensembles, folk performance, ethnomusicologic research, communist ideology"

BENTUK MUSIK SALUANG SIROMPAK VERSI ABAH EMI PADA ACARA ALEK PEMUDA DI PARIK DALAM NAGARI TAEH BARUAH KABUPATEN LIMA PULUH KOTA PAYAKUMBUH

This study aims to describe Saluang Sirompak music of Abah Helmi version at Alek Pemuda event in Parik Dalam, Taeh Baruah village, Lima Puluh Kota regency, Payakumbuh City. This research belongs to a qualitative research using a descriptive approach. The main instrument in this study was the researcher itself and was assisted by supporting instruments such as writing tools and cameras. The data were collected through literature study, observation, interview, and documentation. The data analysis was conducted by collecting the data, clarifying the data, and summarizing the data. The results show that Saluang Sirompak of Abah Emi version is a folk performance art which is previously used as a ritual mean. Its song is in the form of a rhyme accompanied by Saluang and Gasiang Tangkurak musical instruments. There is no difference between the previous and current Saluang Sirompak song text anad between the old and present Saluang melodies. The use of the term Saluang Sirompak comes from the word Rompak /Rampok, so the lyrics are related to someone's desire to own someone by force. The musical form of Saluang Sirompak is a combination of Dendang accompanied by two musical instruments: Saluang Sirompak and Gasiang Tangkurak which form a complete unit. The music consists of three parts: part one (opening) of Saluang Sirompak and Gasiang Tangkurak instruments, part two (content) of Dendang accompanied by Saluang and Gasiang Tangkurak instruments, part three (closing) of saluang sirompak and gasiang tangkurak instruments. The music in Saluang Sirompak show has a minimum duration of 20 minutes. It starts with the Gasiang player who screams as a symbol of the beginning of part one. Dendang on Saluang Sirompak music is in the form of rhyme repeated alternately between one singer and another by singing one song, and this is the part two (content) of Saluang Sirompak music.Keywords: Saluang Sirompak music, Abah Emi’s version, Alek Pemuda event

Book review: Brahma Prakash (2019). Cultural Labour: Conceptualizing the ‘Folk Performance’ in India

Brahma Prakash (2019). Cultural Labour: Conceptualizing the ‘Folk Performance’ in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-01-9-949081-3, 352 pp., Hardback, ₹1,195.