The Power of Dance and Its Social and Political Uses

Anca Giurchescu

Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 33. (2001), pp. 109-121.

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 THE POWER OF DANCE AND ITS SOCIAL AND
POLITICAL USES'
By Anca Giurchescu

Introduction
Elaborating upon the social aspects of dance (or dancing), makes reference to its
most general and comprehensive features, because dance is in essence a particular
form of social interaction. Even if dance can be artificially separated from its social
context and considered solely in its physical features as an independent artistic
means of expression: the social component is implicit to the dancing person as an
individual and as a member of a socio-cultural community. From this perspective
dance structure may be considered as a culturally determined "program" where
social, historical and environmental factors interlock with the physical,
psychological and mental features of the individual (Giurchescu 1984: 35).
Considered as a psychosomatic entity, the dancer is the "soul and body" of dance.
He or she is the dance.
If we intend to go beyond a dance description and answer to the question
WHAT is dance (not only how it is performed) dance should be studied in two
ways: one is situated on a syntactic level and is made up of all social events
existing in a given community, that is, dance is studied as a living phenomenon,
here and now; the other is situated on a paradigmatic level and is comprised of the
philosophicallideological, socio-political, economic and cultural systems which
function in a given community. In other words, to answer questions on the role and
significance of dance, the study of dance must include both perspectives: dancing
as an integral part of a network of social events, and dance as part of a system of
knowledge and belief, social behaviour and aesthetic norms and values. That is, an
anthropological perspective should be correlated with the more analytical
choreological one; together they comprise the analysis of a dance system and the
structural make up of a dance in its formal features.'

' This article is based on the keynote speech "The power of dance symbol and its socio-
political use" which opened the section on "Dance and its socio-political asspects" at the
17th Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Ethnochoreology, Nafplion, 1992 and
published in the Proceedings (Loutzaki 1994: 15-23).
As a former senior researcher at the Institute of Ethnography and Folklore in Bucharest
(1953-1979) most of the comments and examples concerning both the social role of dance in
rural and urban settings and the political-ideological use and abuse of dance, stem from
empirical knowledge acquired under the Communist regime and since 1990 in post-
Communist Romania.
The study of dance in its choreographic features has been a necessary theoretical and
methodological approach, which helped to disclose rules of grammar, define concepts and
provide tools for dance structure and form analysis. See Kaeppler 1972; Report of the IFMC
Study Group for Folk Dance Terminology 1974; Dabrowska and Petermann 1983.
Is it only a one to one relationship between structure and significance, or can one and the
same significance be carried by different dance types? This kind of inquiry in Romanian
traditional culture shows that there are relations of interdetermination between the dance's
pertinent traits and its significancelfunction.
110 / 2001 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC

Sense, meaning and power of dance

Being incorporated by the dancer as a kinaesthetic, affective and mental
representation, dance is not the repository of meaning but produces meaning each
time it is performed. For the serniotician A. J. Greimas any discussion about the
sense and meaning of gestures (including dance) should be centred around the
producer, the person who creates culture, who transforms, organises, and makes
sense of the world (Greimas 1975231). The fact that dancing is performed in a
given context shows that this expressive modality makes sense for the performers
and the audience as well. An important methodological requirement in the
investigation of points of view of dancers and spectators about dance performances
are dependent upon socio-cultural background, aesthetic norms and e ~ ~ e c t a t i o n s . ~
Dance is a powerful symbol. It does not only allude to the changing
world, but becomes an instrument of change. According to Langer, the power of
dance, considered in its artistic features, lies in the ecstatic function, which takes
the dancer "out of himself', removes him from everyday life, and transports him
into a virtual world of time and space (Langer 1979: 190, 196). The dancer
becomes a very sensitive medium, able to express and transmit feelings,
experiences and ideas which, at a deep level of significance, are not verbally
translatable. A discussion about the power, meaning and practice of dance is
encapsulated in Blacking's statement:

The power of dance rests in acts of performance by dancers and spectators alike, in
the process of making sense of dance rather than in the cultural products of those
processes, and in linking dance experience to other sets of ideas and social
experiences. (Blacking 1984: 20).

The fact that dance is not reducible to any other form of human activity reveals its
significance and justifies its existence. Therefore dance has always been an important
symbolic instrument in ritual contexts, in art events, in social communication and
political action. It follows then, that studies of dance should have a double
orientation-towards the people and towards their practices.

Dancing as a multi-dimensional cultural text.

A holistic and integrative perspective on dance brings into discussion the concept
of "cultural text", a concept that could integrate all the dimensions that define
dance as a coherent and dynamic factor of culture, and bring together the
anthropological and ethnochoreological perspectives on dance.5 According to the
theory of cultural text, it is the socio-communicative relevance of a dance
performance that endows this process with the quality of text (Schmidt 1973: 144).
A dance-text is not only a choreographic structure, but a "frame-function" that
relates a certain social interaction to a certain structure of dance elements, in

In 1976, in a village of southern Romania, people over forty considered the urban up-to-
date dances performed by the youth as meaningless practices, as disorganised, wild jumping.
Conversely, for the youngsters modem dancing made a lot of sense: it served both as symbol
and instrument of social change from the rural culture, represented by local folk dances, to
urban culture symbolised by a more international repertoire.
The concept of "cultural text" was introduced by I.M. Lotman in his studies on cultural
semiotics (Winner 1976, Sukman 1978).
GIURCHESCU THE POWER OF DANCE / 111

accordance with a given type of communication: folklore, ritual, art, educational,

political, etc. (Constantinescu 1983).
In the process of communication dance does not function in isolation but
incorporates non-choreographic components such as pantomime, expressive or
codified gestures, facial expressions, music, verbal utterances, textdpoetry, props,
costumes, staging, proxemics, and social rules. These are hierarchically structured
and interact, thereby producing meaningful dance processes within a framework of
social contexts that are constantly changing.6 Consequently, dance movements are
not always of primary importance and may, in certain contexts, function only to
support and reinforce other expressive elements that are the principal carriers of
meaning. For example, in the Romanian paparuda ritual for invoking rain, the
rhythmical organised movements support the song text, costume, and ritual actions
that all together carry its unique message. On the level of social interaction the
performance of the chain dance hora by the vlach7 minority at dance events
organised in Denmark, provides an illustrative example. Dancing serves several
purposes: strengthening ethnic identity, pre-marital interaction, social integration,
re-enforcing traditional rules of behaviour, teaching children to dance, showing
social and prestige status, and entertainment. In order to achieve these goals, the
interest of all participants (dancers and onlookers) is focussed primarily on social
interaction and much less on the dance process reduced to the basic patterns of
movements. Only sporadically, small groups of dancers along the winding hora
chain improvise with high intensity, demonstrating their dance ability for acquiring
artistic recognition. Due to its multi-dimensional character, dance is used in certain
circumstances to "package" political-ideological, educational, religious or
economic messages.8
A multi-dimensional text does not occur in isolation from other similar or
dissimilar texts enacted by a given social group and which are held to be mutually
dependent and in active interrelationship within the framework of a broad socio-
cultural context (for example, weddings, ancestor celebrations, family festivities,
informal gatherings, sport activities, staged performances). There are many
examples where dancing is used as a substitute for other types of activity or where
dances (or dance elements) are constituent parts of symbols belonging to totally
different realms of activity-such as politics, war, economics, tourism, education,
religion, and m e d i ~ i n e . ~

Each of these constituents may, for theoretical and analytical purposes, be studied as
autonomous means of expression.
' A Romanian-speaking population of north-east Serbia, which settled in Denmark and
southern Sweden in the mid-1960s. (Giurchescu 1989)
For example, during the Communist regime, a folklore ensemble has recreated on stage the
ritual of swearing brotherhood (of the region Banat) to support and reinforce the political
idea of brotherhood and harmony amonithe minority in Romania.
At the election for the Roma party in 1991-when a famous accordion player was a
candidate because he taught of young musicians-no political speeches were
held. Instead, thousands of participants expressed their enthusiastic approval by playing
music and dancing for hours on a stadium in Bucharest.
112 / 200 1 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC

The semiotic levels of dance

Understanding a dance text means reading it in all the complexity of its intra- and
inter-textual relationships. A dance text may reveal the following levels of
meaning:

a deep transcultural level related to the psychosomatic perception and self

explanation of a dance performance which can be metaphorically
translated as feelings, moods, intentions;
a conceptual level, refening to acquired knowledge about dance;
a ritual (mythical) level, where the dance-text has symbolic, metaphorical
significance;
a level of social interaction where dancing functions as a metonym for
social status, gender, age, kinship, etc. (Hanna 1979: 100);
an artistic level where dancing has a spectacle character.

All these levels co-exist and interact.

Since different levels of culture change at different rates, the synchronic
state of culture includes its diachrony (Winner 1976: 115) and offers the possibility
for the comparison of several evolutionary stages within a dance tradition. An
example is the healing ritual ccilug performed by a group of men at Pentecost.
Although formally interdicted under the Communist regime, this ritual is still
practised throughout the Danube Valley, showing various stages of transformation.
In the area where the ccilug had a simple structure strictly related to its healing
function, the loss of its ritual significance was followed by a progressive
disintegration of the practice, because no other means of expression had the power
to cany a new meaning. Conversely, in the area where variants of ccilug have a
complex structure and expressive elements (dance, music, costume, theatrical
actions) with artistic values, the participants may choose among a broad range of
significance from ritual to entertainment. The capacity of ccilug for symbolic
transformation lies in its polysemic character which ensures the ccilug existence in
a constantly changing society.
A dance system changes because of changes in world view, need of
expression, socio-political and environmental conditions. However, dance
activities may in turn contribute to transforming people, their patterns of
interaction, and the surrounding world. We should perhaps inquire into the future
of folk dancing in traditional social contexts, considering the new circumstances
when disco-dancing, for example, becomes the most important dance event for
young people with other expectations. Research carried out in Transylvania in
1995 showed that the discotheque has now substituted for the "village dance"
taking on premarital and entertainment functions and becoming, paradoxically, the
place where teenagers practice local traditional dances to recorded music.

The social function of dance

Dancing is primarily a non-verbal medium of communication which establishes
contact between humans, or between humans and the supernatural world.
Considering the social level of interaction, movement patterns and style (way of
performing), as well as the use of space and proxemics, function as symbols for
social relationships between individuals, between individuals and groups, and
between groups (ethnic, religious, social, etc.) with respect to gender, age, kinship,
GIURCHESCU THE POWER OF DANCE I 113

marital status, profession, outsider or insider, and other criteria. Research on the
system of premarital ceremonies in Romania, for example, demonstrates that the
common dance event, the "village dance", functions as a "show-case" for both the
prescribed patterns of interaction between young men and girls, and for the marital
strategies carried out by fa mi lie^.'^ With regard to gender roles, it should be
stressed that the whole event develops under male domination, while the girls are
in a submissive position to both the family and the young men.
Moreover, due to its instrumental power, dance may be used for
structuring, maintaining, or changing a social system in accordance with a given
group's ideology and socio-political interests. For example, dancing at the event
called hora is used by the Vlach population living in Denmark in two antithetical
ways: firstly, to create a symbolic framework in which the unity of the group is
reinforced and the symbolic bonds with their homeland traditions are strengthened;
and secondly, to remodel the social group and prepare the youth for achieving a
higher socio-economic status and integration into Danish society without loss of
identity.
Rules of behaviour, functioning in everyday life, are symbolised and
reinforced in the framework of a dance event by the placement of the onlookers in
space and of the dancers in the dance formation. For example, in northern Romania
(Maramure~and Oa? areas) men and women are segregated and children, grown-
ups, and old people are placed around the dance space according to a prescribed
hierarchy. Their proxemics allow very little personal space. People are tightly
linked together, symbolising social closeness, which also characterises the family
and neighbourhood everyday life.
The use of space also functions as a metonym for social hierarchy. In the
Romanian dance culture (and in many others) the space in front of the musicians is
considered the space of honour which conveys prestige status and public
recognition for the dancers and their actions. Moreover, the social structure of the
village is symbolised by the arrangement of the participants in the dance space, the
places being inherited from older members of the families (in Oas). The placement
of the dancers in a chain dance formation is a metonym for social and artistic
hierarchy. For example, in the Vlach chain dance hora the leading dancer is
followed by his family or friends ranged according to prestige status and age, the
chain being closed by a relative of the leader. Compact groups of best friends
cannot be split by an "outsider". Youngsters are massed at the end of the chain,
while small children are carried in the dance with great pride by their parents.
It is a common practice that a very skilled dancer becomes the leader of
his age group in all kinds of events and social activities during a whole year. In
many dance cultures movement patterns are definitely ascribed to men or women.
The attributes connoted by these movements may translate into
superioritylinferiority, dominant/subordinate, aggressivelsubdued or publiclprivate
types of relationships."

lo Research has been carried out over a longer span of time in Maramurev, northern Romania
(Giurchescu, 1986). More recently, similar research has been done among the Vlach
minority living in Denmark (see note 8).
" Transformation of social status is expressed and enforced by the way people dance and
behave at a dance event. In order to show emancipation, for example, women may adopt
men's vocabulary of movements, they may lead the chain, they even may participate in
rituals prescribed for men, and refuse to obey the "old fashioned" rules of etiquette. See also
114 / 2001 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC

Dancing has a unifying power. It has the power to integrate individuals or

groups of different social, political and ethnic affiliations. The unifying power lies
in the shared dance language. Recent field research carried out by a team of
Hungarian and Romanian scholars in villages with mixed populations in
Transylvania (Romania), demonstrates that dancing is an important means of
expression shared by both nationalities in the framework of a common dance event
(a wedding, for example).

Dance and dance style as identity symbols

Being both human and socio-culturally determined, dance may function as identity
symbol. Due to a range of pertinent traits dance marks both the relations of an
individual or group with an identifier (original group of people or set of ideas and
norms), and differentiates the individual or group from all others, revealing its
uniqueness. The concept of identity is polysemic. One of the meanings is personal
identity as opposed to group identity (myself and the others). Because the
personality of an individual can be paradoxical (sometimes under socio-political
pressure), contradictions may appear in relationships between thinking, verbalising
and acting. For example, at a hora dance event in Denmark (1989), a Vlach argued
that he was Serbian. A few minutes later, watching a group of Serbians dancing,
his comment was: "Look at them, they cannot dance the way we do!"
The relationship between personal (psychological) identity and social
control can also be expressed or mediated by dance. With reference to Romanian
dance tradition, it may be translated as: individualisation versus socialisation,
informal versus formal, innovation versus tradition, variability versus fixation. The
dancer's need to express his or her own artistic personality comes into conflict with
the necessity to integrate into the social group, to interact with other performers,
and to reproduce the traditionally set dance patterns. This contradiction causes an
inner tension which generates a certain energy expressed through creativity. In
contrast to traditional folk dancing, characterised by variation and
individualisation, staged performances are based on homogeneity and
synchronism, on self control, and on the integration of the individual into the
group. Compared with vernacular dancing these guided performances have great
impact on a local audience which appreciates them as "true artistic achievements".
Aware of this fact, the Communist management used the forceful aesthetic impact
of folk dance performances for encoding messages congruent with their ideology
and actual policy.
Group identity is the way an individual identifies with others, according
to a set of common traits, interests and experiences. Frederik Barth in Ethnic
Groups and Boundaries (1969) argues that the concept of identity is actualised in
two ways:

through internal cohesion, where social interaction is based on common

cultural competence (as for example, an implicit knowledge of the dance
idiom, of the rules of behaviour, of the meaning of symbols);

the studies dedicated to those categories of dances which have a gender and age group
affirming function, such as Hip Hop (Torp 1986).
GIURCHESCU THE POWER OF DANCE / 115

through boundaries raised between groups in which interaction with

"others" is limited, due to the lack of shared knowledge and common
experience.

As long as a group manifests its cohesion by segregating the "in-group" from the
"out-group", and succeeds in remaining different, it is able to maintain its
identity.12
There are two modalities for group identification: a subjective one, which
refers to ideology (the conscience of a common origin), and an objective one,
which includes material markers: language, way of dressing, religion, beliefs, food,
dancing, music making, etc. (Royce 1982: 20-21). From this perspective the role of
tradition and traditional symbols is very important. Tradition gives stability, the
awareness of belonging to a certain group and to a certain place. For example,
urbanised peasants return periodically to their villages, just as the Vlach living in
Denmark do because they need the contact with their homeland. The same need for
roots justifies the organisation of traditional dance events in urban settings. A
Vlach told me: "We bring with us to Denmark the moroi (spirit of the dead) and
the hora (dance event), but all weddings, baptisms and burials are done at home, in
the village".13
Traditional symbols may also function to differentiate groups. From this
perspective of national and international festivals, which at an ideological level
aim to unify people, are in fact used to strengthen local and regional identity via
the originality and authenticity of their performances that are symbols for
differentiation.

Dance as national symbol

Many case studies dedicated to the socio-political aspects of dance, have analysed
the way dance is used as a symbol for the nation-state, as opposed to ethnic or
regional communities. The ethnic group and the nation have common traits, but
should not be confused with each other. Max Weber gave the following definition
of the nation: ...a community of sentiment which would adequately manifest itself
"

in a state of its own; hence a nation is a community which normally tends to

produce a state of its own" (Weber 1977: 21). It has been argued that folklore is an
ideological concept that was created simultaneously with the rise of national
consciousness. To folklore was given the role of demonstrating in front of the
whole world that a nation constitutes an entity with a characteristic language, a

'' Dancing is an important marker of Vlach ambivalent identity: on the one hand, by
performing their chain dance hora, the Vlach create boundaries which both unify the group
and separate it from outsiders. On the other hand, by inviting orchestras from Beograd and
performing staged suites with dances from all the former Yugoslav republics, the Vlach try
to hide their ethnic identity and appear as Yugoslavs or Serbs. However, during the bloody
ethnic and religious battles in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, when the Vlach wanted to
assert their ethnic identity and limit non-Vlach participation in dance events, they hired only
musicians from their homeland to play only Vlach dance melodies.
l 3 Research carried out in the early 1970s in the outskirts of Bucharest revealed the existence
of several dancing spaces where people from different social layers, but coming from the
same province (such as Oltenia, Transylvania, Moldova, Banat), gathered to dance together.
The repertoire was comprised of a few regional dances reduced to standardised patterns, thus
enabling everybody to participate.
116 / 2001 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC

common historical past, a common world view and way of living (Mesnil 1997:
26). Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, in Central and South-Eastem
Europe, folklore (as a product of the Volksgeist) was used in politics to symbolise
the nation-state and to strengthen national awareness: "Rural expressive culture has
become emblematic of national identity and folklore performances have played a
large role in presenting and articulating this association" (Dubinskas 1984).14In
contemporary Romania, traditional symbols are manipulated to bring the past into
the present, thereby supporting the concept of permanence, and to illustrate the
principle of "unity in diversity" with reference to a unitary national culture as
expressed through the diversity of its regional forms. What is deliberately forgotten
in the reconstruction of the historical past are the frequent cohabitation with
migratory populations and the great capacity of oral tradition for integration and
adaptation of foreign elements.

Manipulationof symbols
It should be stressed that it is not the insiders of a given culture, but rather the
outsiders, who define and use concepts such as folklore, tradition, authentic,
representative and national. Defining folklore is in essence a question of selection
made by a decision-making group in accordance with the ideology and political
interests of that group. It designates aspects of culture which may suit the group's
aims and principles.

Thus, we should inquire:

Which socio-political group defines and selects the authentic and
representative products of folklore?
For what purpose?
Which are the criteria of selection?
And which are the characteristic traits employed to construct the ideal
symbol?

In the last phase of the Communist regime in Romania, characterised by increased

nationalism, the state-supported symbols functioned to bridge past and present, to
reinforce the concept of permanence, to symbolise the unitary character of the
nation, and to demonstrate its artistic qualities. A network of institutions and a
system of competitions named "Chtarea Romhiei" (Song to Romania) was given
the task to select, construct and disseminate these symbols-symbols that were
meant to build an idyllic image that would hide a reality full of deep contradictions
(Giurchescu 1987: 169-70). Through these standardised and pompous symbols
created by folklore manipulation,the Party sought legitimisation. However, people

l4 In the mid-nineteenth century, Romanian revolutionary intellectuals of Transylvania

designated ccilugerul, (healing and fertility ritual involving dancing), which they considered
to be genetically rooted in the antique Roman culture, as a symbol of Romanian Latin origin
and of their long continuity. Since 1850, stylised dance forms originating from the ritual
cdlug, were performed at festive occasions throughout Transylvania. (Giurchescu 1992).
During the "revolutionary" period of the Communist regime in Romania, cdlugerul dance
was banished, being considered the bearer of overly strong nationalistic connotation. It has
been revived and has become almost a compulsory part of official staged performances since
the mid-1960s when the Communist regime turned highly nationalistic.
GIURCHESCU THE POWER OF DANCE / 117

who could not be controlled and directed made their own choices, such as local
patriotism, prestige status, aesthetic satisfaction, or entertainment.15

Manipulation of concepts
It may be argued, from a theoretical point of view, that vernacular folklore and
stage-adjusted folklore exist in indivisible and unbroken continuity. However,
considering the practice of symbolic transformation and manipulation, it is
necessary to formally separate the here and now processes of folklore from
selected products (dance, music, costumes) that are performed within the
framework of a spectacle, and which are generally called "folklorism".
The passage from folklore to folklorism in South-Eastern European countries is in
essence a symbolic transformation from social to artistic significance, and from
variation to fixed forms. Folklore and folklorism can exist as two simultaneous
systems of communication, mutually influencing each other.16 The major
difference between folklore and folklorism lies in the fact that folklore is a non-
controllable process, while folklorism results from strictly guided selection and
transformation of folklore. Therefore folklorism was, and still is, used in cultural
politics as an important instrument for education and social change. In order to
legitimate folklorism, the Communist cultural management equated folklorism
with folklore by covering up their basic difference and presenting all forms of
folklorism as "present day folklore" and "folklore of the socialist epoch.
Conversely, the uncontrollable, living tradition was marginalised, being considered
subject to pollution and disintegration. According to this theory, real and authentic
folklore should exist only in the artistic and crystallised forms as presented by
professional and amateur ensembles." Because it bears such connotations as
originality, purity, and genuineness, the concept of authenticity was, and still is,
invoked to support this theoretical confusion. However, authenticity is a romantic
construction. If authenticity has the connotation of "truth", then every performance
which makes sense for the people is implicitly authentic. Conversely, in the
context of a stage performance even the closest reproduction of a folklore model
still remains an imitation.

l5 In Hungary, for young people who opposed the rigidity of the Communist regime as
expressed in stereotyped symbols, improvisation became the most important trait of folk
creation. The wide-spread ranchas movement (free performance of traditional dance and
music) was governed by the principle of improvisation.
l6 In the context of festivals, performances on stage may exist side by side with free dancing
off stage, thereby providing the opportunity for people to experience and compare these two
contrastive situations. An obvious border between them is shown by the fact that in
principle, everybody may participate in the free dancing, but only selectedltrained dancers
perform on stage.
" For the vlach of former Yugoslavia, for example, the term folklore designates only stage
folk dances, those which are taught by an instructor, while the local, traditional dances,
those defined by specialists as t i e folk dances, are not given a particular term. They are
only common horas.
118 / 2001 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC

Current trends in Romanian traditional dance

To conclude, I present some results of my research concerning the impact of forty-
five years of cultural policy in Socialist Romania on people and their traditional
culture, both at a conceptual level and at the level of socio-cultural practice.18
The pressure of state cultural management for substituting living folklore
with new symbols was primarily a question of changing people's mentality and
ideological horizon. According to local objective and subjective circumstances,
people could choose to answer either on the informal level, continuing to preserve
the folklore communication that could not (and cannot) be controlled, or to enter
the official arena by adopting the manipulated new means of expression.19

1. With regard to traditional dancing it may be stated that the thread of

tradition, though fragile, is not broken and dancing and music-making are
still functiona~.'~According to the opinions of peasants, village dancing
as opposed to modem dancing and dancing on stage is considered a
meaningful but ordinary activity, which has no particular value beside its
social one. Traditional dancing has been restricted in many places to
important calendrical celebrations, to weddings, and to family gatherings.
2. In spite of a seeming de-centralisation since 1990, people still
conceptualise folklore as a stock of artistic products, which have a real
value only if they are displayed on stage. Therefore, stage performances
in the context of local, national and international art-competitions and
festivals are the most common and prestigious modes of folk dance
existence. For dancers with long practice on stage, the representation of
learned dance patterns becomes a new reality, which they transfer to
traditional contexts as well.
3. Organised dance transmission is restricted to performing groups. The
taught repertoire is generally confined to selected dances that are shaped
for stage performance. Thus, youngsters are not taught to dance or to
enjoy dancing, only to perform a given dance form, while others of the
community progressively become consumers of spectacles and other
cultural commodities. The majority of adults still have a latent dance
competence, while many youngsters have lost ties to traditional dancing
because the traditional ways of transmission are gradually disappearing.
4. With reference to the present situation (1999), it is striking how often
people complain: "We have no more artistic ensembles, we have no more
culture". Being considered exclusively an artistic activity, the stage
performance has the power to endow the dancer with the quality of artist

l8 This information, which represents the insiders' point of view, may provide an empirical
background for further generalisation.
l 9 In fact, in both rural and urban settings not only one but several modes of choreographic
expression are shared by people in a variable balance: local-traditional, modern-
international, theatrical performances of folklore and art or cultivated dance performances.
In the village Certeze (district Oa? Northern Romania) dancing in a pavilion called
ciupercci (mushroom) still exists as a ritualised social interaction with premarital functions.
The topography of the village and its kinship structure is symbolically represented via the
inherited spot where the young man dances. The dancing space is the realm of men: no
young woman is allowed to enter without being invited. For overcoming inferiority and
subordination, girls use spells and witchcraft in order to be invited to dance and get married.
GIURCHESCU THE POWER OF DANCE 1 119

giving him or her pride and social prestige. Hence, he or she expects to be
rewarded for performance (payment, awards, travel abroad). If
expectations are not fulfilled, an ensemble may disintegrate and the
disappointed artists will only seldom reintegrate themselves into the
common traditional dance event-the village dance.
5. The competitive character of festivals, however, reinforces awareness of
the artistic value of their local tradition. The search for originality results
in the revival of obsolete dances, some of which may be re-actualised in
traditional social contexts.

Considering the dance reality within the present socio-political context,

the researcher faces its multi-dimensional existence in both traditional and new
settings. The people, in turn, experience dance not only in one, but in several social
contexts, from ritual to stage performance (such as the ritual ca'lu~).The multi-
functionality of the dance is explained by its polysemic character and by the
paradoxical complexity of the human personality that is able to combine tradition
with modernity into a "magical" thinking with a pragmatic world-view, and still
truly believe that dance conveys supernatural power.
Facing this complex reality, the researcher has the dilemma of choosing
between a reflexive attitude and involvement. Should helshe remain an objective
analyst, aiming to understand and explain the existing reality, or should helshe try
to influence cultural life patterns, interests, expectations and system of values? The
false dichotomy opposing academic research and practice may be surpassed if the
researchers realise that their very presence in a community gives raise to a network
of interaction where insiders and outsiders influence each other." Responsibility
and involvement should characterise our actions, thoughts and statements; working
with dance means working with people and the results of our inquiry concern
them.
Traditional folklore is rapidly changing and the process cannot be
arrested. Therefore, research and documentation of the existing cultural reality is
of primary importance. At the same time, sustained activity for re-contextualisation
of dancing and music-making, as well as practical help for discovering new ways
for raising folklore from a local to a global level, should become important
subjects for the new generation of researchers in dance ethnology.

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21 Field research carried out in Romania by the ICTM Sub-study Group on Field Research
Methods and Documentation (1993 and 1995) exerted a strong impact on the active partners
of the research process and on the community as a whole.
120 / 2001 YEARBOOK FOR TRADITIONAL MUSIC

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The Power of Dance and Its Social and Political Uses
Anca Giurchescu
Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 33. (2001), pp. 109-121.
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[Footnotes]

11
"Hip Hop Dances": Their Adoption and Function among Boys in Denmark from 1983-84
Lisbet Torp
Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 18. (1986), pp. 29-36.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0740-1558%281986%2918%3C29%3A%22HDTAA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-N

References Cited

Power and Charm. Interaction of Adolescent Men and Women in Traditional Settings of
Transylvania
Anca Giurchescu
Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 18. (1986), pp. 37-46.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0740-1558%281986%2918%3C37%3APACIOA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-0

A Comparative Analysis between the "Cålus" of the Danube Plain and "Cålu#erul" of
Transylvania (Romania)
Anca Giurchescu
Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, T. 34, Fasc. 1/2. (1992), pp. 31-44.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0039-3266%281992%2934%3A1%2F2%3C31%3AACABT%22%3E2.0.CO%3B2-9

NOTE: The reference numbering from the original has been maintained in this citation list.
http://www.jstor.org

LINKED CITATIONS
- Page 2 of 2 -

Method and Theory in Analyzing Dance Structure with an Analysis of Tongan Dance
Adrienne L. Kaeppler
Ethnomusicology, Vol. 16, No. 2. (May, 1972), pp. 173-217.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0014-1836%28197205%2916%3A2%3C173%3AMATIAD%3E2.0.CO%3B2-A

"Hip Hop Dances": Their Adoption and Function among Boys in Denmark from 1983-84
Lisbet Torp
Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 18. (1986), pp. 29-36.
Stable URL:
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0740-1558%281986%2918%3C29%3A%22HDTAA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-N

NOTE: The reference numbering from the original has been maintained in this citation list.