Ballet is Ethnic!

  I really enjoyed this week's reading, "An Anthropologist Looks at Ballet as a Form of Dance" by Joanne Kealiinohomoku (what a name!). The main point of this article to me was how to view ballet as a form of ethnic dance. Kealiinohomoku states that "... in the generally accepted anthropological view, ethnic means a grouo which holds in common genetic, linguistic, and cultural ties, with a special emphasis on cultural tradition. By definition, therefore, every dance form must be an ethnic form." (39) This statement seemed to stick out the most for me, because she is essentially proving her point that just because ballet is a dance form stemming from western culture, doesn't mean its not ethnic (or then superior to other dance forms from non-Western cultures). Ballet is very much so an ethnic dance.
 Another part of this article I found interesting was Kealiinohomoku's discussion on the false idea of "primitive dance." She is very insistent on the fact that there is no such thing as "primitive dance" (and I would have to agree with her) and her reasoning for this is that many Westerners view "primitive" cultures as reflective to what preceded our own culture. Kealiinohomoku completely rejects this idea with the statement, "... let it be noted that no living primitive group will reveal to us the way our European ancestors behaved" (37). This leads to the argument that every culture is equally ethnic to each other, and so are their art, and in this case, dance forms.
  Towards the end of the article, Kealiinohomoku goes into detail on the "ethnicity of ballet." She describes how culturally revealing it is to see stylized Western customs on the stage, such as the age of chivalry, weddings, mourning customs, etc. (40) and how Western culture has become accustomed to the tradition of stage usage, three part structured performances, curtain calls, etc. (40). She also described Western aesthetic values which consist of slender bodies, lifts, and revealing of the legs. All of these components contribute to the "look" of ballet, and if something were to break from this form, Westerners would jump to deem it exotic or even wrong. This leads to Kealiinohomoku's question of "Why are [Westerners] afraid to call [ballet] an ethnic form [of dance]? (41) She even is so kind as to answer this question for us with, the fact that Westerners refrain form using the word ethnic in reference to themselves because they, themselves, use the word ethnic to describe "savage" or "exotic" cultures, so of course they would never use it to describe their civilized culture!
  In the end, I have come to agree with Kealiinohomoku, that ballet can indeed be seen as an ethnic dance, just as Westerners have and will view dances form other cultures as ethnic.

"Primitive Dance" (according to Google Images)

"Ethnic Dance" (according to Google Images)

"Ballet" (according to Google Images)

Picture Sources:
http://www.dancer.com/u_media/MariaRiccettoLiftFullSize.jpg
http://www.siliconeer.com/past_issues/2008/may2008/CC-dance.jpg
http://www.freewebs.com/pangabriel/BUSHMEN%20DANCNG%20III.jpg