The construction of space for translocal music-dance practice gatherings
Séminaire du CREM
21, allée de l’Université, Nanterre
Présentation
With Kendra Stepputat *
Around the globe, people meet to practice music and dance. In many instances, this music-dance practice is not the one they grew up with, but one they encountered at a later stage of their lives. Such encountered music-dance practices might be translocal, meaning they are not bound to one particular place, but practiced in many places that are mutually connected, crossing regional and national boundaries.
In this presentation, I will focus on two such translocal music-dance practices: Irish traditional (trad) music, and tango argentino. I will particularly focus on the social spaces in which these translocal music-dance forms are practiced.
While discussing issues of translocality with my colleague Felix Morgenstern it occurred to us, that even though regular gatherings of translocal Irish trad musicians (sessions), and regular gatherings of tango dancers (milongas) are based on very different practices, the way musicians and dancers create their respective practice space is amazingly similar. This includes how the space is constructed physically, and also how it mirrors both the practice, and social hierarchies within the formation. Based on these discussions between Felix (an expert Irish trad musician) and myself (a longtime tango dancer), I will present basic issues of space construction, use, and representation in a session and in a milonga.
* Kendra Stepputat is Assistant Professor and Head of the Institute for Ethnomusicology, University of Music and Performing Arts Graz,
Austria. She is currently Chair of the ICTM Study Group on Sound, Movement, and the Sciences. Her research topics include Balinese
performing arts, in particular kecak, and tango argentino in European perspective. The focus in her research is on choreomusical aspects of
performing arts. She is editor of Performing Arts in Postmodern Bali (2013), co-editor of Sounding the Dance, Moving the Music (2016, with
Mohd Anis Md Nor), Choreomusicology (WOM special issues 2020/1,2, with Elina Seye) and Perspectives in Motion (2021, with Brian Diettrich), and author of The Kecak and Cultural Tourism on Bali (2021).
The CREM (Centre for Research in Ethnomusicology) seminar takes place on two Mondays per month, from 10:00 to 12:00. Members of the CREM (doctoral students included) and invited researchers present their ongoing work. The presentations last 50 minutes, and are followed by a coffee break and discussion hour.
Occasionally, the seminar takes the form of a workshop which brings together several researchers around a common theme. In these cases, the seminar takes place over an afternoon, or sometimes an entire day.
Participation in the seminar is open to everyone. It is also integrated into the Master’s degree in ethnomusicology at the Universities of Paris Nanterre and Paris Saint-Denis.