Corporeal Politics: Dancing East Asia

Mezur, Katherine

doi:doi:10.3998/mpub.11521701

Katherine Mezur and Emily Wilcox, Editors

2020

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In Corporeal Politics, leading international scholars investigate the development of dance as a deeply meaningful and complex cultural practice across time, placing special focus on the intertwining of East Asia dance and politics and the role of dance as a medium of transcultural interaction and communication across borders. Countering common narratives of dance history that emphasize the US and Europe as centers of origin and innovation, the expansive creativity of dance artists in East Asia asserts its importance as a site of critical theorization and reflection on global artistic developments in the performing arts.

Through the lens of "corporeal politics"—the close attention to bodily acts in specific cultural contexts—each study in this book challenges existing dance and theater histories to re-investigate the performer's role in devising the politics and aesthetics of their performance, as well as the multidimensional impact of their lives and artistic works. Corporeal Politics addresses a wide range of performance styles and genres, including dances produced for the concert stage, as well as those presented in popular entertainments, private performance spaces, and street protests.

Series

Studies in Dance History series

ISBN(s)

978-0-472-07455-6 (hardcover)
978-0-472-12694-1 (ebook)
978-0-472-05455-8 (paper)

Subject

Citable Link

Figure 1.1. A group of nine men, some clapping their hands, watch two women on a small rug dance together with bent torsos and swirling scarves. In the background a man beats a drum.

Mu dan ting huan hun ji

From Chapter 1

Fig. 1.1. Two dancers performing in front of a group of several men. From Tang Xianzu 湯顯祖 (1550–1616), Mu dan ting huan hun ji: Yu ming tang yuan ben 8 juan 牡丹亭還魂記: 玉茗堂原本 8卷 (Shanghai: Sao ye shan fang, [18??]), j. xia.51b. Courtesy Hathi Trust). Available at https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11521701.cmp.1.

Figure 1.2. In front of two seated men in traditional clothing, a woman performs a dance with two swords. Scarves swirl around her as she kicks one foot up in the air behind her.

Nine Cloud Dream, approx. 1800-1900

From Chapter 1

Fig. 1.2. Nine cloud dream (gu’unmong), approx. 1800–1900, Detail. Korea; Joseon dynasty (1392–1910). Ink and colors on paper. Photo © Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. Acquisition made possible in part by the Korean Art and Culture Committee, 1997.21. This detail of a salon dancer accompanied by female musicians aptly illustrates the circulation of ideas and images throughout East Asia. The screen depicts scenes from the famous 17th century Korean novel Nine Cloud Dream, which is itself set in Tang dynasty China and centers on the conflict between Buddhist and Confucian values. Available at https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11521701.cmp.2.