Dancing a Nation: Philippine Contemporary Dance and Narratives of the Nation

Abstract

So much has been written about the nation vis-à-vis other fields
in the humanities, literature in particular. My interest in dance
lies in its peculiar location within and vis-à-vis the discourse of
the nation. An ephemeral form, dance has elicited various, and
even contradictory, valuations; most of the time it is considered
a mere form of entertainment. It is undeniable, though, that
dance has articulated and informed our ideas of the nation and
nationhood. In this paper, I explore how three contemporary dance
companies based in Quezon City (The University of the Philippines
Dance Company, Airdance, and Dance Forum) have rendered
their imaginings of the Philippine nation. I focus on Philippine
contemporary dance because as a cultural practice, I believe that
it has choreographed the many trajectories and issues embodied in
the Philippines’s imagining of itself. A number of choreographies
by the three companies mobilize motifs, forms, structures, and
styles that constitute and signify the Philippine nation; they have,
in effect imagined a “national identity.” It is my hypothesis that
Philippine contemporary dance offers a space within which the
narrative of the nation, one which is different from that deployed by
the state, is created. Such space opened by contemporary dance in
the country has been selflessly offered by talented choreographers
who have, despite meager state support, been persistently creating
works under formidable conditions. These contemporary dance
choreographers have fleshed out a vision and philosophy of dance
rooted in Philippine realities.

Keywords: contemporary dance, culture, choreography, Dance Forum, UP Dance Company, Airdance