The purpose of the study is to investingate the aspect of Orientalism appearing in the Contemporary European Ballet and to re-consider the value of the work. The Methodology for the study is to analyze its relevant dance literatures, and video materia...
The purpose of the study is to investingate the aspect of Orientalism appearing in the Contemporary European Ballet and to re-consider the value of the work. The Methodology for the study is to analyze its relevant dance literatures, and video materials Michel Fokine's 「Scheherazade」, Rostislav Zakharov's 「The Foutain of Bakhchisarai」, Maurice Bejart's 「Bakti」 and Jean Christoph Maillot's 「Scheherazade」.
I, the researcher tries to analyze the perspective of the Orient on the basis of the reconstruction of the Orient accommodated in Western ballet, i.e. the Orientalism seen from Western ballet works, and explore how it has made relations, changed, and developed in the course of the development of ballet. Also, while the existing choreographers attempted at overcoming with dance works as a movement of post‐colonialist resistance and for shedding light on Occidentalism, in this study, the current researcher, as a third world person, i.e., as an Asian, aims from the post‐colonialist perspective to understand, extend, and re‐highlight ballet from a novel angle.
I, the researcher tries to explicate Occidentalism in terms of the Orietalism seen from works by Michel Fokine, Rostislav Zakharov, Maurice Bejart, and Jean Christoph Maillot, whose works have the most appropriate choreographic propensities to this study and Orientalism among other works by Contemporary ballet choreographers after the emergence of Ballet Russes.
The Orientalism expressed in Fokine’s 「Scheherazade」 is characteristic especially in the sense that it describes Oriental women as sensual subjects of sex.
The Orientalism expressed in Zakharov’s 「The Fountain of Bakhchisarai」 divides the Orient and the Occident with Occidentalism. In particular, it delineates the Oriental as barbarous and violent civilization. Also, though its thematic narrative is established with Tatar in Mongolia, it applies Oriental images to the reconstruction of Oriental dancing with Indian hand movements, which means this work secure uniformity of Orieantal images only in India. It can be said that this is a case of a narrow‐minded extension of part of the Orient.
The Orientalism expressed in Bejart’s 「Bhakti」 shows neo‐Orientalist propensities in terms of its appraisal of Oriental religion. However, the choreographer’s subjective view is internalized in its reconstruction of the Orient since he did not well understand the Orient because of the cultural hybrid phenomenon due to his Western perspective of the Orient. In particular, as is not the case with other choreographers, the Orientalism described in Bejart’s work includes appraisal of Oriental religion and culture rather than negative Orientalism.
Maillot’s 「Scheherazade」 still follows and inherits the prejudice and preconception against the Orient with its Western views and ideas. In particular, this work, a reinterpretation of Fokine’s work, features much more obvious and drastic expressions free from the previous formalism and prejudice than its original work.
In conclusion, it was proven that Orientalism recurrently appears in Western ballet over time in various ways. Also, the Orient is unified by particular areas’ dances like Arabic or Indian dances whenever Oriental women’s movements are expressed in ballet. Even in the current 21st century, the structure of the Western world’s recognition of the Eastern world has not been changed so far though some amounts of changes occurred over time. The above discussed works by the choreographers still have some residues of the Western prejudice and preconception against the Orient because they are created from the Western perspective.