Thinking about the Korcula Conference

A summary in the form of a Limerick

 

I was saying this morning to Portula

There’s sword dance galore in Korcula

But what does it mean

When they leap or they lean?

All dancing cries out for analysis.

Now dance is a system of knowledge

You don’t learn it by going to college

You can dance in your bed

For it’s all in your head

Thinking does not mean paralysis.

Dancing with sword or without

Leaves me with a feeling of doubt

Are these really dances

Or poses with glances?

Structured movements transformed to the festive.

Sword dance shows male virtuosity

And can be more than just curiosity

But the absence of theory

Is a reason to worry

Will comparisons lead us to synthesis?

Moving dance from farm to the stage

For a while was all of the rage

Some dancing was crude

Now felt to be rude

Not fit for the “R” word -- revival.

What about beheading a bull?

About which the papers are full

“Its our sacred past

And we want it to last

To time im-mem-mem-morial.”

Authenticity has become now the “A” word

But from this we vow to more forward

But where will we go

When the world wants to know

Which dances are really traditional?

To a festival we’ll move on our meeting

And from there we’ll send you our greeting

Transylvania’s first on our list

Several others are not to be missed

To continue our trek, we insist.

At festivals old dances revive

Lost figures mysteriously survive

From rituals of old

Or so we are told

Pagan fertility rites clearly alive.

Other festivals have quite different forms

Identity is one of the norms

Revitalization of Zapin

A dance form now equal to rappin

In Malaysia its causing a storm.

But beware when a festival’s fame

Aims at glorifying a dictator’s name

Calus had its basis in healing

But on stage it’s just jumping and reeling

Festival time is more than just happy.

When a festival is aimed at the “other”

Don’t dance what you earned from your

mother

Those tourists will not understand

What your ancestors declared to be grand

Outsiders want something more snappy.

For ourselves there’s a different agenda

Fieldwork in Greece or with the Venda

Some work on survival

For the rest there’s revival

With a glance back to history or folklore.

Meanwhile back at the seaside

Our new president was seen to preside

Here Marianne held sway

Mixing hard work with play

Never letting enthusiasm subside.

Egil Bakka is leaving the board

Now this is a two-headed sword

He gave us a balm

To keep us all calm

We extort him to continue his viligance.

Elsie, Tvrtko, Iva, Naila, and Ratko

attended our personal affairs

Dancing, eating, participating, observing

interwoven with consummate care

Indeed, it will be a menace

If we go to Venice

To uphold such a star-studded aire.

We all know that greatness is rare

Yet that is what we participants declare

So while singing its praise

Let our glasses all raise

To a conference extraordinaire.

 

Adrienne Kaeppler