This thesis compiles views on music and dance scattered throughout the Pāli Canon and its commentaries. It starts with negative views, widely considered the most characteristic, and lists the...Show moreThis thesis compiles views on music and dance scattered throughout the Pāli Canon and its commentaries. It starts with negative views, widely considered the most characteristic, and lists the spiritual, emotional and even social reasons given in the early texts for the avoidance of musical art forms. The rest of the work addresses less known, wholesome uses of music: ‘devotional’ compositions, apparently as old as the oldest strata of the Pāli Canon (according to the texts themselves, many eons older), and a handful of episodes where advanced practitioners are led to Nirvana by the lyrics of peasant songs. The last chapter is dedicated to two meditational states that seem to involve perceptions of beauty, the ‘beautiful-liberation’ (subha-vimokkha) and the samādhi of divine sounds of the Mahāli Sutta. The conclusion argues that a more balanced image of the early Buddhist approach to art is needed to make sense of modern Buddhism and its embrace of a perhaps not so foreign ‘Romantic’ aestheticism.Show less
Taking Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), Samir Calixto in his dance-theatre play of the same title offers a new interpretation of an old order. In his work, God is a vain tyrant, Satan a...Show moreTaking Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), Samir Calixto in his dance-theatre play of the same title offers a new interpretation of an old order. In his work, God is a vain tyrant, Satan a tragic hero, Adam a weak marionette, and Eve a brave leader who, with determination and hope, guides Adam out of the Paradise towards enlightenment and a new beautiful world. This thesis aims to examine the difference in portrayal of gender roles in the two works. The main research question seeks to explore performance of gender roles in the background of gender studies and literary criticism on Milton. The sub-questions investigate how literature influences dance and what is the relationship between the two art forms; how the physicality of dance and lack of dramatic text affect possible interpretations; and whether Eve can be seen as the embodiment of the masculine. The emergence of modern dance, particularly understood as a form not based on narrative, is described along with the notion of intermediality and postdramatic theatre. A conceptual base regarding gender theory and adaptation studies is set out with examples from Milton's poem before an in-depth analysis of Calixto's performance.Show less
A prominent aspect of traditional Japanese dance is that it contains parts or dances that are called “male” or “female” that can be danced by dancers of either sex. This study analyses the parts...Show moreA prominent aspect of traditional Japanese dance is that it contains parts or dances that are called “male” or “female” that can be danced by dancers of either sex. This study analyses the parts called “male” or otoko-furi and “female” or onna-furi within yosakoi dance, a modern style of Japanese folkdance through movement analysis and questionnaires. The research question is as following: What are the features of otoko-furi and onna-furi within yosakoi dance, and do these parts resist or affirm gender stereotypes? It becomes clear that it is hard to define otoko-furi and onna-furi, even though the parts contain contrasting movements. Furthermore, contrary to traditional dance the gender of the body of the dancer matters for the execution of the part. This forces dancers to conform their dancing part to the sex of their body, and affirm gender stereotypes rather then resisting them.Show less
