Notes on An Anthropologist Looks at Ballet as a Form of Ethnic Dance (Comprehensive Study Notes)

An Anthropologist Looks at Ballet as a Form of Ethnic Dance — Study Notes

• Purpose and framing

  • The author argues ballet can be understood as a form of ethnic dance, bridging anthropology and dance studies where communication has historically been poor between these fields.
  • She critiques anthropologists for avoiding dance as esoteric or outside their competence, while noting a few dance anthropologists are beginning to publish in social science venues and engage with other anthropologists.
  • Key aim: expose how terms like ethnic, ethnologic, primitive, and folk dance are used differently by dancers and scholars, revealing gaps in cross-disciplinary understanding.

• Sources and frame of reference

  • Re-reading influential writers to frame the discussion: DeMille, Haskell, Holt, the Kinneys, Kirstein, La Meri, Martin, Sachs, Sorell, and Terry.
  • Definitions from major dictionaries and authorities are considered: Webster’s New International Dictionary (2nd ed. with Humphrey) and (3rd ed. with Kurath).
  • The intense rereading reveals unsubstantial deductive reasoning, poorly documented proofs, half-truths, and ethnocentric bias in the literature.
  • Critique of reissued books: many updated editions preserve Western (Euro-American) dance content and pictures, signaling little attention to non-Western dances.

• Core problems with past scholarship

  • Wide divergence of opinions on the origins and purposes of dance: magical/religious vs courtship vs first form of communication vs art.
  • Debates about whether dance is serious and purposeful vs exuberant and spontaneous; whether it is tribal solidarity vs individual expression.
  • The literature tends to present contradictory claims about who dances, why they dance, and what constitutes a dance across cultures.
  • Western dance scholars often claim authority over “primitive” dances, which are said to be monolithic, though the author argues against such monoliths (e.g., there is no single “African dance,” but many Dahomean, Hausa, Masai dances, etc.).

• The myth of primitive dance and its critique

  • There is no such thing as a primitive dance; dances vary widely among groups labeled as primitive.
  • Sorell’s stereotypes of primitive dancers (no technique, but masterful control of the body; disorganized yet able to translate feelings into movement; spontaneous yet purposeful; serious yet social) are criticized as inconsistent.
  • Kirstein and Terry also present reductive stereotypes about primitive dances (e.g., emphasis on lower torso, “retardative and closed expression,” or paternalistic views toward American Indians).
  • The author argues these characterizations reflect an ethnocentric bias and a misapplication of Western concepts onto non-Western dances.

• Ethnic vs ethnologic vs primitive vs folk dance

  • The essay addresses a proliferation of terms and their misuse:
  • Primitive dance: rejected as a universal category; Hopi and other groups do not fit these broad stereotypes.
  • Ethnic dance: problematic as a catch-all label; may imply exoticism or othering when used carelessly.
  • Ethnologic (or ethnologic dance): used by some scholars to denote dances as expressions of a “race” or culture; criticized for implying static, timeless traditions.
  • Folk (peasant) dance: Redfield’s distinctions are used to separate primitive, folk/peasant, and more complex urban/elite traditions.
  • Redfield’s framework (primitive vs peasant/folk societies) is favored as a more precise basis for understanding dance in cultural context:
  • Primitive society: autonomous, self-contained, often nonliterate, economically independent.
  • Peasant/folk society: not autonomous; in symbiotic relationship with a larger society; largely illiterate but culturally integrated with a larger tradition.

• A call for better cross-cultural definitions

  • The author presents a working definition of dance:
  • Dance is a transient mode of expression, performed in a given form and style by the human body moving in space.
  • It occurs through purposefully selected and controlled rhythmic movements; the phenomenon is recognized as dance by both performer and observers in a given group.
  • Two crucial points:
  • It is human behavior with intent (not animal movement, e.g., birds or apes).
  • It is recognized as dance by a community, establishing shared meaning.
  • Differences in dictionaries reflect shifts in authorship (2nd ed. Humphrey vs 3rd ed. Kurath) and the need to be cautious about terminology like “tension” in dance language.
  • Martin’s relativism is highlighted: a universal form of dance does not exist; different cultures have different valid approaches under specific circumstances.

• The Hopi as a rigorous test case

  • The Hopi demonstrate that what are labeled as primitive dances can be highly organized, purposeful, and socially meaningful rather than spontaneous or “primitive.”
  • Hopi dances are often ritual or ceremonial and can be performed by a wide range of community members, not just special elites.
  • Observations from five Hopi villages (bean dances) across different winters show predictable village differences and also timely, creative innovations.
  • Hopi women participate significantly; there are no formal shamanic dances by designated “leaders” (e.g., shamans or witch doctors) in certain contexts; the dance event is a communal, orchestrated performance with varied roles.
  • Hopi dances are not uniformly “serious” in the sociological sense; some include humor, satire, and clowns.
  • The Hopi do not fit stereotypes such as outright ecstatic exaltation or universal life-event dance triggers (birth, marriage, death) that some theorists claimed as universal for primitive dances.
  • The Hopi example challenges the idea of a static, ancient, unchanging tradition; instead, it shows intentional variation, village-style differences, and intergenerational transmission of innovations.
  • The essay argues against the claim that primitive groups lack naming of individuals; Hopis show knowledge of who innovated within a village or society, even if there is no single “choreographer” figure.
  • The author notes that DeMille and others used Hopi dances as primitive examples, and she argues these classifications do not hold up under close observation.

• Implications for how we read cultures through dance

  • The Hopi case undermines the notion that primitive or ethnologic dances are static or unrefined; instead, they are dynamic and culturally meaningful.
  • The critique extends to cataloging and photographing non-Western dancers in ways that erase individual artists’ names unless they appear in Western media spotlight (e.g., favoring Western performers in captions).
  • The essay emphasizes that all dances are subject to change; the belief that some dances have remained unchanged for millennia is a convenient but erroneous simplification.

• The problem of Western bias and the ethics of labeling

  • The author argues that Western dance scholars often use “ethnic” as a euphemism for exotic or non-modern forms, creating an implicit hierarchy that places Western ballet as the default standard.
  • Ballet is treated as “ethnic” in the sense that it reflects Western cultural traditions (its rituals, stage practices, and aesthetics), yet it is not universally accepted as ethnic by all scholars (La Meri’s view that ballet is not ethnic).
  • The essay asserts ballet is a product of the Western world and should be recognized as such within its own ethnocultural context, even as it travels globally and is adopted elsewhere.
  • The author cites Martin’s and other scholars’ statements to show the complexity of declaring a form as universal versus ethnic and stresses careful, explicit definitions to avoid conflating aesthetics with cultural origin.

• Ballet as an ethnicity-based view (the central argument)

  • The essay argues that ballet, though globally performed, is rooted in Western European cultural traditions and is thus an ethnic form when considered within its cultural framework.
  • Ethnicity in this sense includes shared linguistic, genetic, and cultural ties and a history of European influence; when ballet appears in Japan, Korea, or elsewhere, it becomes a borrowed, alien form rather than a purely universal one.
  • The argument uses examples of common ballet themes and aesthetics (courtly motifs, stars, modern stage conventions, Western musicality, and costume/imaged cues) to illustrate its Western origins.
  • The author stresses that ballet’s “look”—the silhouette, the lifted lines, the long legs, the notable feet—reflects cultural aesthetics and bodily ideals valued in Western traditions; other cultures have different aesthetic ideals that would alter how ballet is perceived if viewed from inside those cultures.
  • The Koshare ballet based on a Hopi story is cited as an example of how silhouettes can resemble ballet even when the underlying form is non-balletic, illustrating how cross-cultural reception can be misleading.

• The broader takeaway and call to action for scholars

  • Reject the notion that there is a single, timeless, primitive form of dance; instead, study dances within their specific historical, social, and cosmological contexts.
  • Use precise definitions that distinguish dance as a form of human expression with intentionality and communal recognition, not as a universal or static tradition.
  • Use the term ethnic dance thoughtfully, recognizing ballet and other Western forms as ethnic in the sense of reflecting a particular culture’s traditions, not as derogatory labels or vague exoticism.
  • Acknowledge the dynamism of all dance forms, including non-Western ones, and respect the agency of named dancers, choreographers, patrons, and institutions within their own cultural frameworks.

• Key quotations and ideas to remember

  • “There is no primitive dance.” (The author’s central myth-busting claim throughout the piece.)
  • “The mass of art” question in simpler cultures raises questions about who counts as an artist and how collective creativity is defined.
  • Martin’s view: ballet as the great Western dance form, with a unique tradition and aesthetic, but not necessarily the only or universal model of “dancing.”
  • The relativity of aesthetics: “It is impossible to say that any of these approaches is exclusively right or wrong” and “they are all absolutely right, therefore, for the specific circumstances under which they have been created.”

• Important dates, scholars, and references (for context and exam recall)

  • Kealiinohomoku’s own study and framework:
  • Master’s thesis: “A Comparative Study of Dance as a Constellation of Motor Behaviors among African and United States Negroes” ( Northwestern University, 1965; revised 1970). $1965, 1970$
  • Foundational sources re-examined:
  • DeMille, The Book of the Dance; Sorell, The Dance through the Ages; Kirstein, The Book of Dance; Terry, The Dance in America; Martin, Introduction to the Dance; Martin, The Dance; La Meri, Ethnic Dance. $1939, 1949, 1956, 1960, 1967, 1963, 1967, 1967, 1965$
  • Referred dictionary editions: Webster’s International Dictionary, 2nd ed. (Humphrey) and 3rd ed. (Kurath). $1950, 1966$
  • Redfield’s primitive vs peasant framework: Peasant Society and Culture (1969). $1969$
  • Other cited works and studies: Frazer’s The Golden Bough, Sachs’ World History of the Dance (outdated as a source by the author). $1947, 1937, 1967$
  • Noted Hopi examples include Hopi bean dances and village-level variations observed in the 1960s. $1965, 1968$

• Connections to broader themes

  • Ethnocentrism in scholarship: the temptation to essentialize non-Western dances while preserving Western “high art” forms as universal or normative.
  • Cross-disciplinary dialogue: shows how anthropological methods influence dance history and how dance studies can illuminate cultural context.
  • Practical implications for teaching and curating dance histories: emphasize the named people, local practices, and evolving traditions rather than static stereotypes.
  • Ethical considerations: avoid exoticizing or reducing non-Western dances to a single label; recognize the agency of non-Western dancers and communities in shaping their own dance histories.

• Summary takeaway for exam-ready understanding

  • Ballet can be treated as an ethnic form when analyzed within Western cultural context and history, but this does not diminish its global reach; it highlights how culture shapes aesthetic norms and interpretations.
  • Do not assume primitive, ethnologic, or folk labels describe a timeless, uniform set of dances; real dances are diverse, historically situated, and constantly changing.
  • When studying world dances, distinguish between the concepts of ethnicity, ethnology, and primitivity, and use Redfield’s primitive vs folk distinctions to interpret cultural systems.
  • Use a careful, explicit definition of dance that includes intentionality and communal recognition to avoid misclassifications across cultures.

• Quick-reference glossary (one-liners)

  • Ethnic dance: a dance form rooted in a specific group’s genetic, linguistic, and cultural ties; usage should be precise and context-aware.
  • Ethnologic (ethnological) dance: dance forms used as objects of cross-cultural comparison and analysis; often tied to ethnology.
  • Primitive dance: a discouraged category; not a uniform form but a misnomer for diverse, culturally situated practices.
  • Folk (peasant) dance: dances embedded in small-tradition communities that interact with a larger great tradition; not autonomous from the broader society.

• Endnotes and further reading (for deeper study)

  • Kealiinohomoku recommends Gertrude P. Kurath’s bibliographies (Ethnomusicology, 1970) as a better foundation than Frazer/Sachs-era sources for cross-cultural dance analysis.
  • Explore the tension between viewing ballet as ethnic versus universal, and how that affects interpretation and pedagogy.
  • Consider how captions, photographs, and the portrayal of non-Western dancers in Western texts shape our understanding of their art.