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

1. Taking the Lead: Engaging the ‘West’ on the Dance Floor By: Chelsea Brown The Colorado College May 1, 2014

2. What Is Ballroom?

3. Senior Thesis Questions • Why 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?

4. Origins & Background of Nihon Buyō • Dance dates back to 712CE in the Kojiki • Kaguradancing 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, furyuodori, kowakamai, kyogenkomai, dengaku

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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

9. Ballroom During the Taisho & early-Showa Periods (1912-1945) • Great Kanto Earthquake, September 1, 1923 • Moga & Mobo • MegataTsunumi & the Tango A Lo Megata • British Dance Instructors • French-style, British-style, tango aregentino, Broadway-style

10. The Taxi Dancehall • Taxi 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

11. 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

12. 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?)

13. Conclusion • Ballroom 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.

14. Thank You for Your Time