I would so love to see more authentic world dance choreographed by people from and trained in the traditions. Indian, Pacific Islander, Chinese, African, North American aboriginal... there are so many different dance traditions from each of these cultures.
I have been a little bit, well, unsure about some of the African-influenced dances they've done. The dancing itself has been great, and I think the choreographer(s) involved have been respectful, but... why are the dancers always, it seems, dressed as Hollywood "savages"?
Mind you, I struggle with cultural appropriation issues all the time, because I'm a white person who is drawn to a great many cultural, artistic, philosophical and spiritual traditions from other cultures, many of which have been colonised, oppressed and exoticised by the West. I can only hope I'm being respectful, not appropriative. But it makes me perhaps hypersensitive when I see representations of other cultures in Western media.
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Sun, Jul. 13th, 2008 07:46 pm (UTC)I have been a little bit, well, unsure about some of the African-influenced dances they've done. The dancing itself has been great, and I think the choreographer(s) involved have been respectful, but... why are the dancers always, it seems, dressed as Hollywood "savages"?
Mind you, I struggle with cultural appropriation issues all the time, because I'm a white person who is drawn to a great many cultural, artistic, philosophical and spiritual traditions from other cultures, many of which have been colonised, oppressed and exoticised by the West. I can only hope I'm being respectful, not appropriative. But it makes me perhaps hypersensitive when I see representations of other cultures in Western media.