Dancing the subject of 'Java': International modernism and traditional performance, 1899-1952

Abstract

This article surveys the 'Javanese' work of non-Javanese 'ethnic' choreographers and dancers of the period 1899 to 1952, including Mata Hari, Ruth St Denis and Ted Shawn, Ada Forman, La Meri, Ram Gopal, Nataraj Vashi and Michio Ito. I will also consider the work of Eurasians such as Fred Coolemans, Takka-Takka (who danced with her husband 'Yoga-Taro') and Ratna Mohini, as well as the Javanese modernist Raden Mas Jodjana, to evaluate how they imaged versions of Java on international stages. I consider further the lasting significance of 'Javanese' movement in modern dance and touch briefly on the transformation of interpretive dance to burlesque, and the rise of 'ethnic dance', in which dance serves to educate about Indonesia as a foreign culture, rather than merely entertain. The Javanese movement's end coincided with Indonesian independence, when Indonesia began to organise cultural missions to represent the nation.