1. Dance of the Realm from Gerald Jonas’ Dancing
Prepared by
Dr. Kay Picart
Edited by Jessica Labbé and Dr. Kay Picart

2. Review Question:
According to Jonas, what is the link between dance and class/rank?

3. Review Question:
What is the link between the social construction of gender and dance? Give examples.

4. Review Question:
Where does the use of dance as an instrument of political power have its roots?
Raphael’s Galatea

5. Review Question:
According to Jonas, what was the key to success at court?

6. Review Question:
Name and describe the early court dances.

7. Discussion Questions:
How would you characterize the evolution of court dancing? Do you think evidence of these early dances can still be seen in popular dance of the 20th-21st Century?
Portrait of Louis XIV

8. Review Questions:
What King differentiated between amateur and professional dance? Why did he do this?

9. Review Question:
What is dwo?

10. Review Question:
What are the origins and symbolism of the Bedoyo?

11. Review Questions: What do the movements of the Bedoyo symbolize?
What is the essence of this dance?

12. Review Question:
What are the two “radically different styles of male dancing” (91) found in the wayang wong?

13. Discussion Question:
What is the paradox of Javanese dance?

14. Discussion Questions:
Is a clash between the traditional and the modern inevitable? Can/should they be reconciled?

15. Review Questions: What is the relationship between gagaku and bugaku?
What is bugaku and what does it signify?
Bugako dancer’s Ryoto costume

16. Final Remarks
Courts come into existence as instruments of political, military, spiritual & cultural authority. Their primary purpose is to manifest power. In its administrative structure & content, court dance embodies hierarchy. (107)

17. Final Remarks
Court and court dances are expensive, & ultimately it is the people who pay the bills. Where court forms, like ballet and bedoyo, are encouraged to migrate outside the court, new participants, spectators, & patrons become involved. (107)

18. Final Remarks
The power of dance to communicate the past glories of a community—and by so doing—bind the present community closer, is expressed by Professor Opoku:

19. Conclusion
“When you hear the drums, it sweetens the inside of your head, as we say in the Asante language, like sugar, and you become aware that you belong to a great people.” (107)

20. Concluding Questions:
Does dance still establish political and social hierarchies?
Do you think dance that is entwined with political aims is not “true dance”?