The Wetr Dance Group in New Caledonia as an Exemplar of Choreography to Build a Sense of Community

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K12270
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 01070:Theory of art practice-related
• Research Institution: Otemon Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: Tomita Daisuke 追手門学院大学, 社会学部, 教授 (70623809)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 身体感覚のシミュレーション / キアスム / 感応／魅惑／ダンス / 共同体の意識 / 舞踊の継承

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aimed to investigate the signification of the somesthesis inherited by the Wetr chieftaincy of the Kanak tribe in Lifou island in New Caledonia. The author's previous studies have also focused on the choreography of the Wetr dance group. However, calamities such as the 2018 Osaka earthquake and the COVID-19 pandemic compelled the author to abandon the field investigations in New Caledonia. The study was extended for another year in hopes of the coronavirus disease being controlled. However, no foreigner is yet allowed to enter Lifou island. Therefore, the aspect of the Wetr dance group must be omitted from this study. The author is forced to attempt to extract material on the creation of a sense of community through choreography by reviewing relevant scholarly literature, other documents, and audiovisual materials previously collected or recorded. The revised study will also reconsider relevant cases in Japan and reference articles pertaining to French dance aesthetics.

Free Research Field

人文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

1については、聴解において、北プロヴァンスのカナクの舞踊とリフ島ウェッチのそれとを比較している件を認めた（一方に「禁欲的で飾り気がない」、他方に「見栄えのする」という表現が当てられている）。これは、カナクの踊りに「戦」の状況や身振りがあっても、その部族の振付により、同胞ないし他の観衆を鼓舞する度合いが異なることを意味する。
2については、実践考察や論考読解を経て、舞踊の「教える-習う」「見る-見られる」の関係に、身体感覚のシミュレーションを捉えた。これは、ある動きに魅せられる私たちの知覚には、すなわち舞踊を通じた共同体形成の可能性の条件には、身体感覚の潜在的な投射があることを意味する。