Ethno-aesthetics and Dance

In the beginning of the article the author, Joann Kealiinohomoku, explains how anthropologists see dance as something that can directly represent a culture. Western scholars disagree with this, they do not believe that dance should be seen as something that represents a specific culture. She explains that as she researched the history of dance and how it came about she found many contradictions and no real answers.

By explaining the term primitive, the author notes that this term should not be confused with primeval; we can see that there is no real evidence of a primitive dance, but only dances that can be performed by primitive people. As for primeval, it is hard to say anything about primeval dance because we know close to nothing about it. According to Sorell primitive dances have no technique or artistry. He says that they are “disorganized and frenzied, but they are able to transform feeling and emotions into movement”. He also states that primitives do not know the difference between symbolic dancing and concrete because they dance for any occasion. This statement can relate to ethno-aestheticism because by researching the meaning of a certain dance to a specific culture you can learn how that culture may have viewed the world and what things in the world they hold most important to them. At the same time, Sorell said that primitive people may dance for any occasion so this makes ethno-aesthetic analysis difficult because they might not be any reasons for doing a certain type of dance, it might be performed just for the sake of dancing.

Focusing on the ethnologic branch of dance we can see that each dancer has their own reasons for dancing and that we must take the dancers biased into consideration when analyzing a dance. Different people play different roles within the dance and it is important to recognize that.

According to Sorell a “folk dance” is one that has not been mastered or “refined”. It is a raw dance that has not been perfected. Others argue that folk dance may be the kind of dance that was performed during the time primitive man was evolving into civilized man.

With all the arguments brought up in the article, they go to show how important ethno-aesthetics are. To better our understanding of a dance, whether it be primitive, folk, or ethnic, we must attempt to share the same cognitive map as the dancer. Ethno-aesthetics can be used to our advantage in these studies and reveal a better and complete understanding of dance.

Ethno-aesthetics

Definition: Ethno-aesthetic analysis is used when trying to understand art done by indigenous people, by looking at the art within its context. To do this successful using cultural relativism is key; we must look at art under its own terms rather than placing it under western values.

We discussed multiple areas in class that should be kept in mind when conducting an ethno-aesthetic analysis. We must look at art as the indigenous people who created it do. Here are a few examples of how indigenous people see art:

-          Art is sacred

-          Art is community based

-          Art/artists are not “above” society

-          Art is useful and beautiful

-          Art must be understood within its cultural context

-          There is little/no pressure for creation

When we look at art we can possibly be assuming the stability of an object. Ethno-aestheticism can help us to have a general understanding of art, but we must take into consideration the flaws that may happen when analyzing art. The meaning behind pieces can be lost and not accounted for once the art is displayed in a gallery or in a museum because it takes away the social aspect. Also a lot of art that is created strictly for tourism is derived from these original pieces that hold great significance, but once recreated for tourists it is not the same. Indigenous art is usually strongly tied with a specific place where the meaning, or stories, behind the art were created. In western art we do not go through this same process, our art usually are byproducts of a manufacturing process.

By studying the ethno-aesthetics of a piece of art we can grow closer and have a better understanding of a culture. The Calavera Revolucionaria is a great example by Jose Posada that we looked at in class. After reading the ethno-aesthetic analysis of this piece I have gained a better understanding of the artist and exactly what he stands for. There is a lot of information to focus on in this kind of analysis. We’re not only looking at an image, but diving deep into it and also its cultural representation. Calavera Revolucionaria is an image of a female calavera riding a horse and swinging a lasso over her head. That is the main gist of the image, but after reading the article it is obvious that a lot of detail, that may normally go unnoticed, was put into this image. Posada is known for his artwork and it relation with the revolution in Mexico. This image was a very strong one for its time and represented the things that Posada saw in the world around him. He was living in a time of great political unrest and in a social revolution. He depicts these things within his artwork, and from understanding that and the representation of the images he creates we can learn a lot not only about him, but the time the pieces were created, and his culture.