This book is about the folk: the folk in folk dance, the folk in folklore, the folk in folk wisdom. When we see folk dance on the stage or in a tourist setting, which is the way in which many of us experience folk dance, the question arises are these the “real folk” performing their authentic dances? Or are they urban, well trained, carefully-rehearsed professional dancers who make their livelihood as representatives of a specific nation-state acting as the folk? Or something in between? This study delves more deeply into the folk, their origins, their identities in order to know the source of inspiration for ethno identity dances - dances prepared for the stage and the ballroom and for public performances from ballet, state folk dance ensembles and their amateur emulators, immigrant folk dance group performances, and tourist presentations. These dances, unlike modern dance, ballet, or most vernacular dances, always have strong ethnic references. It will also look at a gallery of choreographers and artistic directors across a wide spectrum of dance genres.
Author(s): Anthony Shay
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 342
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Contents
List of Figures
Staging the Folk: Introduction1
Choreographic Issues of National and Ethnic Representation
National/Character Dance
National Dances for the Ballroom
Moiseyev’s New Folk Dance
Authenticity
Parallel Traditions
The Peasant as Artist
The Rise of the State Folk Dance Ensemble
Representation of the Folk
Dance Competitions
The National Dance Brand
The Structure of This Book
Chapter 1: The Folk
Who Are the Folk? What Is Their Fascination?
Ethnogenesis: Who Are the Folk? Where Did the Folk Come From? What Are Their Origins? The Formation of Ethnic and National Groups
Peasants
Origins of Servile Farmers
Food and Subsistence
The Study of Peasants and Their Art and Their Lore
Free and Serf: Trials and Tribulations of Peasant Life
The Origins and Diversity of Peasantry
Staging the Folk
Other Kinds of Staged Folk
The Folk on Stage
References
Chapter 2: Mazowsze: Poland on Stage
Polish Ethnogenesis: The Slavs
The Piasts, ?–1385 and the Coming of Christianity3
The Establishment of the Polish Peasantry
Polish Nationalism
Jagiellonian Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1386–1795
Poland Divided: The Partition of Poland, 1795–1918
Poland Reborn: Poland as an Independent State, 1918–1945
World War II
Post–World War II Poland
Communist Poland, 1945–1989: The Failure of Collectivization
Collectivization
After the Fall
Traditional Dance and Music in Poland
Theatrical Dance in Poland Before World War II
Mazowsze Polish State Song and Dance Ensemble
References
Videolog and Discography
Chapter 3: Proper Peasants: Hungarian Ethno Identity Dance
The Nation State of Hungary
Hungarian Ethnogenesis
The Formation of Hungarian Peasantry
Medieval Hungary (896–1526)
The Ottoman Period (1526–1711)
The Dual Monarchy (1711–1918)
The Settlement of 1867
Hungary to the End of World War II (1919–1945)
Communist Hungary 1945–1989 and Collectivization
Post-communist Hungary
Hungarian Peasants in the Tide of Hungarian History
The Hungarian Peasant Under Communism: Collectivization
Peasants in Post-communist Hungary
Hungarian Music
Hungarian Dance
Theatrical Dance in Hungary
The Pearly Bouquet Movement
The Beginnings of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble (Magyar Állami Népi Együttes)
The RÁbai Period
The Táncház (Dance House) Movement
The Post-táncház State Folk Ensemble Choreographies
The Timár Period
The Mihályi Period
References
Chapter 4: Kolo Artistic Director Olga Skovran Stages the Serbian Folk
Balkanism
Ethnogenesis of the Serbs
Serbian Peasants
The Chosen People
Medieval Serbia
The Ottoman Period
First Sparks of Rebellion and the Establishment of the Serbian State to the Creation of Yugoslavia, 1804–1918
The Two Yugoslavias
World War II and the Second Yugoslavia
After the Fall
Music and Dance After the Fall
The Earliest Appearances of Staged Serbian Folk Music and Dance
The Appearance of the Choral Society
Dance
The Founding of Kolo, State Ensemble of Folk Dance of Serbia and KUD
After the Fall: Music in the Grip of Politics
Kolo Takes a New Direction: Tradicija Nova
References
Chapter 5: Mahmoud Reda and the Egyptian Fellahin
The Fellahin
Mahmoud Reda and the Fellahin
Dances of Egypt and Belly Dance
Mahmoud Reda
Representing Egypt
Mahmoud Reda’s Choreographic Choices
Mahmoud Reda and Modernism
Conclusion
References
Chapter 6: Hawaiian Hula, Patrick Makauakane, and Na Leie Hulu i ka Weiku
The Natives Are Restless
The Hawaiians (Kanaka Maoli)
Polynesians and Hawaiians
Contact
The Missionaries
The Reign of the Merry Monarch, King Kalakaua (1874–1891)
After the Merry Monarch
Hula
Mele
Musical Instruments
Movements
The Hawaiian Renaissance
Patrick Makuakane and Hula Mua
References
References
Videolog and Discography
Index
