Playing with the ongoing theme of dance in recent postings, here is one controversial piece of dance. The 2010 Olympics ice dancing competition just ended, and the aboriginal folk dance put together by the Russian team brought a lot of controversies in and out of the ice rink. Voila! (The video clip shows the original version performed in the past month before it had to be “toned down” at the Olympics.)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_uoToFGK6E[/youtube]
It has been reported that especially some indigenous Australians expressed their anger and frustration calling it as “appalling,” “a rip-off” and “exploitation.” Bev Manton, chairwoman of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council, wrote last month in The Sydney Morning Herald that “the faux tribal designs on the costumes and the skaters’ faces ‘are no more authentic or Aboriginal than the shiploads of cheap Aboriginal tourist trinkets that pour into our country from overseas.’”
Now, compare this to the U.S. team’s “Bollywood” impression, which has become a YouTube sensation and instant favorite amongst Indian communities.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1zTUcOmtg4[/youtube]
Apart from the quality of each performance itself, there are a series of questions that come to my mind. Why do some people consider the Russian pair’s dance offensive or feel uncomfortable while the majority enjoy the U.S. pair’s? (To my mind, it is not just a simple matter of the skating costumes, although one of the NBC commentators mentioned that the Russian team’s faux leaves hanging from their tribal costumes were “gimmicks” whereas the U.S. team’s Indian clothes were “authentic.”) If dancing is a means of cultural expression and human communication, what are the limits of cultural appropriation in dancing in which indigenous culture can be shared, celebrated, and replicated by nonnative members? When does cultural tribute stop being appropriation and become theft? Where is the line between them? How far is too far? While costume controversy seems to be a perennial source of woe and entertainment in figure skating, it is amusing to find these questions to be still valid, perhaps more than ever, in the so-called age of globalization.
What an interesting set of questions! This case definitely showcases how difficult it is to account for taste, since the criticisms of the Russian dance are definitely muddled: on the one hand, the dance is “theft,” but on the other it’s “inauthentic.” I guess both contradictory views can be true because it was so tacky. The offensive element, from my perspective, is that the Russian dancers and their coaches conceived of the dance as only broadly “aboriginal,” not specific to any tribal or ethnic group. Their defense was that they weren’t trying to imitate any particular indigenous dance, but just indigenous culture or indigenous-ness in general. Clearly they don’t see how failing to distinguish among cultural traditions is ignorant and almost silly. In the absence of any specificity, they seemed to fall back on mindless slapstick and stereotype.
On the other hand, I think the Americans dodged similar criticisms partly by publicizing their use of a consultant: the “traditional Indian dancer” mentioned by the NBC commentator. So they have the “cultural insider” defense. But also, because Bollywood is already full of spectacular and lighthearted entertainment versions of similar dances, the American dancers could be pretty sure they couldn’t slip into taboo territory (skate onto taboo ice?). You can’t really mock something that’s already blithely campy.
Thank you, Hyewon, for drawing my attention to this! I have just watched the two routines on YouTube, though the recording of the Russian couple was not the clearest. However, according to the Australian expert (?) talking at the end of the YouTube recording (copy of an original Al-Jazeera broadcast, talking about globalization
, neither their music, nor costume, nor moves /gestures were “authentic.” Their dance seemed at times more related to New Zealand Aboriginals than to those in Australia. So, as Talia wrote, the Russian couple fell back upon a careless, oversimplified and stereotypical handling of a culture that has been the victim of a carelessness of historical proportions. (I heard an Australian colleague at a conference referring to their “genocide.”) Such a misreading and misrepresentation at a global event is indeed revolting.
The American couple, on the other hand, had it all: their dress inspired by the traditional sari and kurta, the undeniably heterogeneous Bollywood song, and the moves harkening back to a good bhangra-clip. Plus, their dance had an overall aesthetic effect that served, to my mind, to honor India, in all its inherent heterogeneity.
Very interesting points raised here by Hyewon, Talia, and Szidonia. I wonder, though, if the same questions apply when the directionality of the appropriation is reversed. Check out this Bollywood scene that pays tribute to (or parodies?) the Beatles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5ky5ClIjL8
Are questions of theft and appropriation annulled when an indigenous culture appropriates the music and mannerisms of its one-time colonial oppressor? Or is Indian popular culture not considered indigenous because it already participates in a somewhat global commercial culture, where appropriation (even sampling and plagiarism) are accepted?
Jeff
I’d agree with Szidonia’s take here on the second couple’s performance as celebration of Indian culture rather than appropriation as exploitation. As a bit of background, they’re from the Detroit area, and their “consultant” is a disciple of a very well-known local Indian classical dance teacher, who my wife also studied with when she was young. All the Detroit desis that I know loved this performance, and so did their moms and mashis. They even talked about it more than the Indian dude who luged.
Thanks guys for your interesting and thought-provoking responses. Luke, it’s amazing that your wife once studied with this Indian teacher, speaking of six degrees of separation. No wonder they were so thrilled to see the performance!
The Russians did not appear to respect the culture of the indigenous Australians by truly imitating their culture on the ice. Rather they claimed a basic tone that would only be sufficient for viewers to surmise that their objective was to represent the Australian natives. They wandered through a routine of ice skating that was slightly modified to represent what one might envision the indigenous Australians possibly looking like in their daily activities. Had a particular ritual (as had been spoken of by Talia) been used as the model for the skating, and had the Russian skating team actually researched what the costumes should have looked like they could have had a performance which people would have not only enjoyed, but also become more familiar with the Australian native culture.