Faculty: Ratna Roy
Phone number: (360) 866-6000, x6469
Fax: (360) 866-6663
e-mail: royr@evergreen.edu
The program has been studying the anthropology of dance as an academic
branch of learning and the value of approaching the study of culture through
one of humankind’s basic activities: dance. Although the art form of dance
has been too often maligned and trivialized in Euro-American culture, it
is, in most of the world throughout most of history, a powerful force in
the life of the human community. In the winter, we examined how one looks
at and defines dance in ways that respect its place in its own culture;
we will studied specific forms from several different cultures. The emphasis
was on reading, writing, understanding of ethnographic work, and research
rather than studio work in the winter. In the spring, we will go to India,
live with dancers, and complete a piece of ethnographic writing.
It is not necessary to be a dancer to enroll in this program.
Credit will be awarded in dance history, cultural studies, ethnographic
writing, and performance studies. Program is preparatory for careers in
dance, performance studies, anthropology, history, cultural studies. and
education.
TEXTS FOR SPRING:
ANTHROPOLOGY:
Clifford Geertz. The Interpretation of Cultures. Basic Books, 1973.
Norman K. Denzin. Interpretive Ethnography: Ethnographic Practices
for the 21st Century. Sage, 1997.
Ruth Behar. The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology That Breaks Your
Heart. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996.
Robert M. Emerson, Rachel I. Fretz, & Linda L. Shaw. Writing Ethnographic
Fieldnotes. University of Chicago Press, 1995.
INDIA: (readings suggested by Jeanne Hahn. We will miss her in India).
Stanley Wolpert. A New History of India.
Khushwant Singh. Train to Pakistan.
Bapsi Sidhwa, Cracking India.
R. K. Narayan. Malgudi Days.
OUR ITINERARY IN INDIA: (subject to some changes):
Students will arrive in India on April 10, early morning. They will
be received by Ratna. Jet lag will keep them in their rooms until April
11 sometime. As they get over jet lag, culture shock, and reorientation
on April 11, they will begin their rigorous schedule:
April 12-16: Intensive workshops with Urmila Nagar, the foremost doyen
of Jaipur gharana Kathak.
April 12-16: Museums for Arts students; meetings with Ramani Ranjan
Jena, Surendranath Jena, Madhavi Mudgal, Harekrushna Behera, and Dibakar
Khuntia (Orissi); Kathak Kendra (Birju Maharaj & Saswati Sen). Bharata
Natyam, Kuchipudi, and Manipuri gurus and their schools.
April 17-18: Jaipur (study the Rajput architecture and art).
April 19: Agra (study the Mughal art and architecture).
April 20-22: Varanasi (Hindu temples; Muslim silk weavers, and the
culture around the Ganga River).
April 23-24: Delhi: visit monuments in Delhi.
April 25-30: Orissa: a) tour of the temples in Bhubaneswar, Puri, and
Konarak. b) meeting with Gurus Pankaj Charan Das, Kelu Charan Mahapatra,
Gangadhar Pradhan. c) meeting with musicians: Banamali Maharana, Dhanu
Swain, Ghanashyam Panda, any others possible. d) Bhubaneswar and Puri museums.
e) meeting with artisans in silver, costumes, etc. in Cuttack.
April 30-May 2: Calcutta: meeting with Muralidhar Majhi; possibly with
Alok Kanungo & Sutapa; optional: Kalighat (for interested students);
Victoria Memorial Hall & British museums (for others).
May2-June1: Bangalore: Nrityagram: for intensive study of Orissi dance
as dance ethnographers/dance students.
June1-3: return to Delhi by train.
June 5: return to the US. Final presentations and evaluations.
We will study, learn, be together as a family, and have fun. We will
also hopefully create an international travel program that Evergreen will
be proud of
and hold as a model.