Taking the Lead: Engaging the ‘West’ on the Dance Floor

By: Chelsea BrownThe Colorado College

May 1, 2014

What Is Ballroom?

Senior Thesis QuestionsWhy did ballroom become a popular pastime?

How did ballroom bridge together the cultures of Japan and the ‘West’?

How did ballroom bring in ideals of westernization and allow Japanese people to interact with the ‘West’?

What did/does ballroom offer its participants? How did ballroom engage its participants?

Is ballroom dancing a third space?

Japanese Time Periods(from Nara to the Modern day)

Nara Period(710 – 784)

Heian Period(794 -1185)

Kamakura Period(1192 – 1333)

Muromachi Period(1338 – 1573)

Azuchi/Momoyama Period(1573 – 1603)

Edo Period(1603 – 1867)

Meiji Period(1868 – 1912)

Taisho Period(1912 – 1926)

Early-Showa Period(1926 – 1945)

Late-Showa Period(1945 – 1989)

Heisei(1989 ~)

Origins & Background of Nihon Buyō

Dance dates back to 712CE in the Kojiki

Kagura dancing is a part of the Shinto religion

Ancient time: Prior to Heian (794-1185), Kamakura period (1185-1333), and Muromachi period (1338-1573)

Imported dances gigaku, bugaku, and sangaku

Dances in the medieval period: ennen, furyu odori, kowaka mai, kyogen komai, dengaku

Dance & Kabuki During the Edo Period (1603-1867)

Okuni of Izumo, creator of kabuki dance

Dance during the Edo period was mostly done at festivals, such as the Bon Festival

In 1629, Tokugawa shogunate banned Women’s kabuki

Young Men’s kabuki preceded after this; however was banned on the same grounds in 1652

Dancing had a scandalous reputation, so it was rarely done by the elite

Ballroom Dancing & the West

Courts and state balls developed from the dance events held by Louis XIV (1638-1715) at the court of Versailles

Balls were regularly held at the Congress of Vienna, and new dances were choreographed just for the occasion

Popular dance: minuets, English country dance, Cotillion, & Quadrilles

By the 19th century, saw several changes for dance, such as the introduction of the waltz, democratization of ballroom, & dance as popular form of entertainment

The Changes of Meiji and the Re-opening of Japan•Emperor was restored to power and Japan’s doors were re-opened to the West. Huge infrastructure and cultural changes toward modernization.

The Rokumeikan“Hall of the Crying Deer”

Built in January 1881 and was officially opened November 28, 1883

Architect was Josiah Conder (1852-1920) and supported by Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru (1835-1915)

Rumors of sexual affairs and immorality of prominent figures among the Japanese elite

1887 dance lessons ended

1890 the Rokumeikan sold to Peers Association

Ballroom During the Taisho & early-Showa Periods (1912-1945)

Great Kanto Earthquake, September 1, 1923

Moga & Mobo

Megata Tsunumi & the Tango A Lo Megata

British Dance Instructors

French-style, British-style, tango aregentino, Broadway-style

The Taxi DancehallTaxi dancehalls got there start during the Prohibition era in America

Mizushoubai (“water trade”)

“…danc[e] to the sound of cheerful jazz music with a young woman in [their] embrace…just for the price of a bottle of beer, one can openly hold hands with a woman and dance madly with her for a few minutes… (qtd. in Mackie 72)

1930s government crackdowns on dancehalls

Ballroom as Alternate Reality & Cultural Play

“…ballroom dancing is the very attempt to respond to intercultural existence through the body, the prime location of any real existence” (Karatsu 2003: 418)

“Without the body there is no dance beauty, but also there is no dance beauty unless one transcends the body” (Gunji 1970: 67)

Orientalism and Occidentalism

The ‘West’ as being an alternate reality to engage

Cultural play as a separation from ordinary life

Play with another culture as liberation

Ballroom as a third space

Shall We Dansu? [i]n Japan, ballroom dance is regarded with much suspicion. In a country where married couples don’t go out arm and arm, much less say “I love you” out loud…intuitive understanding is everything. The idea that a husband and wife should embrace and dance in front of others is beyond embarrassing. However to go out dancing with someone else would be misunderstood and prove more shameful. Nonetheless, even for Japanese people, there is a secret wonder…about the joys that dance can bring (Shall We Dansu?)

ConclusionBallroom as embodying Japanese aesthetics, but also presenting them in a new way.

The interest in ballroom evolved with the time period.

Ballroom allowed Japanese people to engage with West in both literal and psychological ways.

Japanese people are not attempting to be western when dancing ballroom styles.

The idea of ballroom dancing as a third space also evolved with the changing time periods.

Thank You for Your Time