Hybridity refers to the act of combining different elements or being of mixed character. Cultural hybridity then implies a mixture of a set of traits that are made up of distinct cultural entities. It is strongly related to themes of interculturalism, and post-colonial theory. In performance, cultural hybridity is present when the piece is a merger of elements from contrasting cultures and ideals. Since dance is an expression identity, and we live in a highly globalized world, hybridity is very relevant to dance today.
In Dramaturgy in Motion, Catherine Profeta describes the importance of hybridity when discussing interculturalism. Firstly, hybridity was difficult to avoid particularly in Ralph’s rehearsal rooms of the piece Geography due to its inherent mixture of American and West African dance styles. Questions of appropriation and the hybrid nature of the United Stated became apparent. Hybridity is able to address the questions as it incorporates the ideas of pushing back against categorization made by colonial power structures and the ideas of this lack of categorization being a bi-product of the domination of these power structures.
These questions struck in my mind as I realized that we are in a point in society where assimilation and hybridity is integral. I come from a society where a multitude of cultures and blended and while we can be seen as a land of appropriation and see it has diffusion – the creation of something beautiful. It also tied back into the concept of research mentioned in the previous chapters as the opportunity to use current information on and off the strange to create something innovative and refreshing. I see my country in a similar way. I see hybridity as the threshold of creativity and therefore very important to dance and all other forms of art.
Benton, Lauren. 2000. "On Cultural Hybridity: Interpreting Colonial Authority and Performance." "On Cultural Hybridity: Interpreting Colonial Authority and Performance." Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History 1. no. 1: 1-100. Oxford Dictionaries Accessed 7 Jan 2018. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/hybrid.
Hi Gabi,
There is also a moment where Profeta mentions that the notion of hybridity has its problems. It often feels like a threat to the culture of the place where the hybrid process can be interpreted as an obliteration and the “original” culture becomes unrecognizable. Also people feel personally threatened that their sense of self can be obliterated. Profeta didn’t see that as a problem as much as that some cultures are more privileged – economically, politically — and the “hybrid” reflects those discrepancies in power. But, as she also mentioned, hybrids are powerful because of the admixture, and they are the products of intercultural encounters that also challenge nationalism – the political structure that Arendt identifies as the what excludes refugees from recognition as enfranchised human beings.