Dance and Self-Accompaniment

The interrelatedness of music and dance is acknowledged by ethnomusicologists and choreologists alike. It is also acknowledged that both music and dance can be analyzed separately for purposes of study, since one is primarily an aural art and the other is primarily a visual art; and further, because in many instances the performances are discrete, even though they usually occur simultaneously. However, when dance is self-accompanied the interrelatedness of dance and music reaches an apex; and both the dance and music must be studied in their relationships to one another. This paper suggests a number of considerations for the purpose of establishing taxonomies which could guide further studies of dance and self-accompaniment. The first consideration calls attention to the self-evident fact that dance with self-accompaniment has unique problems, and that, consequently, the techniques employed in self-accompaniment of dance will tend to be unique also. The most obvious problem here is that of physical capabilities and endurance. For example, consider the breath control needed in order to play a flute while performing an acrobatic dance. Or, consider the effect that agitated body movements would have on a human voice. These problems are usually resolved in one of two ways: either the performances are sufficiently simple so that neither the dance nor the accompaniment is complex, understanding that the effectiveness of the performance will result from the combined efforts; or, the performances of one or both are used to determine the style which results. As an example of the first, no doubt the many sitting dances found throughout Polynesia (and in Hawaii especially) were a compromise for effective performance, for by sitting while playing the instruments a more pleasing musical performance resulted, and at the same time, while permitting the music performance to be sufficiently simple, danced bodily movements with the arms and torso could occur at the same time. Today in Hawaii many of the dances which were formerly performed in kneeling positions only are now performed standing and with foot movements and even with two idiophones where one had been used formerly. In this instance the second point of permitting the dance and music to determine one another's performances can be noted, for the modern standing adaptations of the old kneeling dances have had to change in several aspects of performance techniques. Using the foregoing considerations as an introductory background, a categorical analysis can be made; illustrative examples are drawn from Polynesia, an area I have studied first-hand for six years. There are four basic kinds of self-accompaniment. They are: