tradition in art
I can start off by saying that I personally enjoyed both events that we went to this week, Pamina Devi and the Dutch art exhibit at the Met (probably because I already like Dutch artists). Also, I am a person who enjoys opera and some of Mozart’s other works, although I have not seen “The Magic Flute” done in its original version. I think that the choreographers of Pamina Devi did a fantastic job of fusing the two very different performance art forms together to bring people from different backgrounds together to have the same experience with this performance.
For my first experience with traditional Cambodian dance, I was entranced in the story told by the dancers’ movements throughout the entire show. I think that this performance was especially important, because it made a very important point clear; a dying art can be preserved through both tradition and expansion into evolving forms. The tradition we saw was one that has been past on successfully for centuries with elaborate costumes with certain ornaments such as different type crowns or pointed shoulder pads to represent class and color and skirts or pants to determine sex in the story. Another part of the long kept tradition that we saw were the essential part of the art itself were the intricate dance moves that very well indicated to the audience the emotion, thoughts, and intent of the characters. But the most poignant part of this tradition for me was the traditional music with four singers, two male and two female, and traditional instruments. Despite the vast differences, the free- flowing rhythm of the simple melodies reminded me of a tradition close to my heart. As soon as the first scene begun, I was immediately brought back to the Paumanauke Pow Wow that I had just attended this past August. Being of Native American descent I understand the importance and difficulty in preserving a tradition like the Cambodian Dance. Each year at the Pow Wow, the main attraction is the dance competition in which young people trained in the traditional dances get a chance to show off how well they will be preserving part of our heritage while one of the elders dictates the song they will be dancing to.
Another important factor of the preservation of art for future generations is the ability to adapt that art to the changing times that the people of that tradition experience. Pamina Devi achieved this through the placement of traditional dances to a text that is unfamiliar in the tradition, but Pamina Devi did not forsake their elders in creating a new performance. Rather they furthered the preservation the tradition of Cambodian Dance by selecting a new story that relates to the people and is something fresh that they have not yet seen and therefore sparking a new interest in the art. The Magic Flute is an applicable story for the people of Cambodia if for no other reason then the last line of the performance. In the very last scene of the performance the sub-titles indicate that Pamina and Preah Chhapoan dance with their friends Noreak and Nory on the winding difficult road that lay ahead of them of compromise. This is important for the Cambodian people for the reason that destroyed their country and traditions in the first place, a lack of political compromise. I do not mean to oversimplify the Pol Pot regime in any way shape or form, but compromise is a wise choice for all people.
We saw another aspect of the preservation of art on Wednesday when we visited Nadine Orenstein curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mrs. Orenstein explained to us the differences of print making in general, Dutch prints from others and of the time period, from one artist to another, and even differences of an artist or the same print in different series. Mrs. Orenstein also explained that the preservation of art was important in terms of visual art, because we see pieces of history that were part of people’s everyday lives. Mrs. Orenstein also explained that through the preservation of multiple prints of a period, an artist, or even more specifically a series, we can see the progression of technology, preferences, and even the mental processes of the artist on a particular part of art. All of those things make the preservation of art so important, because it is the preservation of history. And as cliche (couldn’t get the accents to work) as it might sound we learn from history.
Well I think that I’m about talked out on the preservation of art traditions.
October 12th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
I really liked how you state that the Cambodian dancers are not compromising their values by adapting to a western opera. I think it’s important to adapt to changing times in order to reinvigorate the art form. I also enjoyed how you compared the “long road ahead” to Cambodia’s postwar struggles. I never thought of it that way.
October 13th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
I agree with you about the importance of preserving one’s culture while adapting it to others. In order to preserve something, you need people who are willing to continue the tradition. One way to get people involved is to appeal to culture also. I love what you said about compromise being necessary; it is so true. Pamina was given a hard job, respecting her tradition while “compromising” it to appeal to us westerners.