Contemporary Dynamics in Rwandan Dances Identity, Changing Creativity and the Globalisation of Affect
Plancke, Carine
Contemporary Dynamics in Rwandan Dances Identity, Changing Creativity and the Globalisation of Affect / Carine Plancke .-- Edinburgh : : Edinburgh University Press, , 2016
20 p.
Dance Research -- Vol. 34, núm. 2, Winter 2016, p. 150 - 168
RESUMEN: In contemporary Rwandan society, a revitalisation of "traditional" dances can be observed which manifests in the proliferation of your dance troupes, especially in urban areas. This revival is part of the drive, which has characterized Rwanda, to reconstruct itself after the traumatic 1994 genocide and to create a new, unified nation that strives to be "modern" and integrated into the global market economy. This article explores the repertoire and dynamics of current Rwandan dance performances as they embody the new national identity, pointing to differences between the practices and views of dancers trained in the pre-genocide period and dancers from contemporary youth troupes. In this respect, two divergent views of creativity, found among these two categories of dancers, are distinguished: a perspective that privileges improvisation as a key creative process, on the one hand, and a view of creativity as innovation and the realization of novel, pre-designed forms, on the other. With regard to the affective power of these performances, the article advances that contemporary dance shows generate affect, as bodily intensity, among the onlookers captured by the flow of spectacular, homogeneously performed dance forms. While evocative of Rwanda's new national identity, the latter neutralise connections with the dancers' subjective history and erase the dances' sociocultural background. In a final note, the changing dynamics in Rwandan dances are linked beyond this specific case study to the flow-closure dialectic of globalisation. It is suggested that dance's dual nature of both rhythmic flow and visual form is what makes it such a privileged marker of identity in our uncertain and violence-generating global times. (TRADUCCIÓN: En la sociedad contemporánea de Ruanda, se puede observar, especialmente en la áreas urbanas, una revitalizació de las danzas "tradicionales", que se manifiesta en la proliferación de compañias jovenes de danza. Este revival es parte de la inercia, que ha caracterizado Ruanda, después del traumático genocidio de 1994, para crear una nueva nación unificada que intenta ser moderna e integrarse en la economia global de mercado. Este artículo explora el repertorio y la dinámica de las actuales performances de Ruanda, como parte de una nueva identidad, comparando las interpretaciones previas al genocidio con las compañías nuevas. Mientras que unos se centran en la improvisación como pauta del proceso creativo, otros se centran en la innovación sobre formas prediseñadas, neutralizando la subjetividad de los bailarines, y obviando el pasado sociocultural de los bailarines.) PALABRAS CLAVE: dance performance, cultural creativity, national identity, globalisation, trauma, post-genocide Rwanda
Contemporary Dynamics in Rwandan Dances Identity, Changing Creativity and the Globalisation of Affect / Carine Plancke .-- Edinburgh : : Edinburgh University Press, , 2016
20 p.
Dance Research -- Vol. 34, núm. 2, Winter 2016, p. 150 - 168
RESUMEN: In contemporary Rwandan society, a revitalisation of "traditional" dances can be observed which manifests in the proliferation of your dance troupes, especially in urban areas. This revival is part of the drive, which has characterized Rwanda, to reconstruct itself after the traumatic 1994 genocide and to create a new, unified nation that strives to be "modern" and integrated into the global market economy. This article explores the repertoire and dynamics of current Rwandan dance performances as they embody the new national identity, pointing to differences between the practices and views of dancers trained in the pre-genocide period and dancers from contemporary youth troupes. In this respect, two divergent views of creativity, found among these two categories of dancers, are distinguished: a perspective that privileges improvisation as a key creative process, on the one hand, and a view of creativity as innovation and the realization of novel, pre-designed forms, on the other. With regard to the affective power of these performances, the article advances that contemporary dance shows generate affect, as bodily intensity, among the onlookers captured by the flow of spectacular, homogeneously performed dance forms. While evocative of Rwanda's new national identity, the latter neutralise connections with the dancers' subjective history and erase the dances' sociocultural background. In a final note, the changing dynamics in Rwandan dances are linked beyond this specific case study to the flow-closure dialectic of globalisation. It is suggested that dance's dual nature of both rhythmic flow and visual form is what makes it such a privileged marker of identity in our uncertain and violence-generating global times. (TRADUCCIÓN: En la sociedad contemporánea de Ruanda, se puede observar, especialmente en la áreas urbanas, una revitalizació de las danzas "tradicionales", que se manifiesta en la proliferación de compañias jovenes de danza. Este revival es parte de la inercia, que ha caracterizado Ruanda, después del traumático genocidio de 1994, para crear una nueva nación unificada que intenta ser moderna e integrarse en la economia global de mercado. Este artículo explora el repertorio y la dinámica de las actuales performances de Ruanda, como parte de una nueva identidad, comparando las interpretaciones previas al genocidio con las compañías nuevas. Mientras que unos se centran en la improvisación como pauta del proceso creativo, otros se centran en la innovación sobre formas prediseñadas, neutralizando la subjetividad de los bailarines, y obviando el pasado sociocultural de los bailarines.) PALABRAS CLAVE: dance performance, cultural creativity, national identity, globalisation, trauma, post-genocide Rwanda