Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Year: 2020
Volume: 15
Issue: 10
Page No. 2287 - 2293

Corporeality of Ballet as an Alien Dance Form in the Context of I-San Social Culture: Cultural Identity, Cultural Transmission and the Otherness of Bodily Experiences through the Concept of West Meets East

Authors : Peera Phanlukthao

Abstract: This qualitative research aims to analytical study the cultural identity through the position of ballet in the context of Northeastern region (known as I-San region) of Thailand to investigate the cultural transmission of ballet (West) that has covered its meaning to the Thai-body (East) giving a new meaning to the Thai bodily culture and to analyze the conditions of peculiarity of bodily experiences, through the concept of West meets east in the context of ballet pedagogy. The study was conducted at the Department of Performing Arts, Mahasarakham University, Thailand. The relevant research data were methodologically analyzed after they were significantly collected. The research is presented by the descriptive analysis. The results indicate that the form of ballet is considered as Western entertaining dance form which does not belong to the Thai tradition. The stereotype and status quo of ballet in the Northeastern Thailand has gradually been a part of the society even though it is an alien dance form that has been introduced to the context of the Northeastern Thailand. It is because ballet has been persuasively served the Northeastern society such as providing cultural entertainment to people and its community and involving cultural events and education. The ballet pedagogy at the Department of Performing Arts, Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Mahasarakham University, Thailand has been subtlety manipulated to suit the background of students whose experiences were considered as non-ballet experiences and being dominant with traditional dance in Thailand due to their ability of ballet perception and praxis in ballet are narrowly limited and unfamiliarity before they were enrolling to become students at the Department of Performing Arts, Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Mahasarakham University and the corporeality of ballet suggests that the body of I-San dancers who are currently studying in majoring ballet are considered as the body of I-San culture and its origin derives from the East culture but encoding w ith the meaning of ballet as Western culture. Therefore, bodily experiences in the body of I-San dancers have been transforming its meaning from the East into Western culture but remained a sense of original cultural body known as East I-San.

How to cite this article:

Peera Phanlukthao , 2020. Corporeality of Ballet as an Alien Dance Form in the Context of I-San Social Culture: Cultural Identity, Cultural Transmission and the Otherness of Bodily Experiences through the Concept of West Meets East. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 15: 2287-2293.

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