Around the gl obe, 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 mig ht be translocal, meaning they are not bound to one particular place, but p racticed 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 tradition al (trad) music, and tango argentino. I will particularly focus on the soci al 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 dif ferent practices, the way musicians and dancers create their respective pra ctice space is amazingly similar. This includes how the space is constructe d physically, and also how it mirrors both the practice, and social hierarc hies within the formation. Based on these discussions between Felix (an exp ert Irish trad musician) and myself (a longtime tango dancer), I will prese nt basic issues of space construction, use, and representation in a session and in a milonga.
* Kendra Stepputat is Assistant Profes
sor and Head of the Institute for Ethnomusicology, University of Music and
Performing Arts Graz,
Austria. She is currently Chair of the ICTM Stud
y Group on Sound, Movement, and the Sciences. Her research topics include B
alinese
performing arts, in particular kecak, and tango argentino in E
uropean 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 speci
al issues 2020/1,2, with Elina Seye) and Perspectives in Motion (2
021, with Brian Diettrich), and author of The Kecak and Cultural Touris
m on Bali (2021).
With Kendra Stepputat *
Around the globe, people meet to practice music and dance. In m any 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 on e particular place, but practiced in many places that are mutually connecte d, crossing regional and national boundaries.
In this presentation, I will focus on two such translocal music-dance p ractices: Irish traditional (trad) music, and tango argentino. I will parti cularly focus on the social spaces in which these translocal music-dance fo rms are practiced.
W hile 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 (milong as) are based on very different practices, the way musicians and dancers cr eate their respective practice space is amazingly similar. This includes ho w the space is constructed physically, and also how it mirrors both the pra ctice, and social hierarchies within the formation. Based on these discussi ons between Felix (an expert Irish trad musician) and myself (a longtime ta ngo dancer), I will present basic issues of space construction, use, and re presentation 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 current
ly 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 Perf
orming Arts in Postmodern Bali (2013), co-editor of Sounding the D
ance, Moving the Music (2016, with
Mohd Anis Md Nor), Choreom
usicology (WOM special issues 2020/1,2, with Elina Seye) and Persp
ectives in Motion (2021, with Brian Diettrich), and author of The
Kecak and Cultural Tourism on Bali (2021).