Strait shows evidence of cultural borrowings from our island neighbors, Western culture and beyond. The Chamorro dance competition illustrates this transaction. Nonetheless, the festival engages in the transmission of traditions and indigenous knowledge. (De)Compartmentalizing Ourselves
In many Pacific cultures, the term traditional dance is often used to describe contemporary or 19th century dance practices; and there is a fine line between tradition and contemporary creativity. In Guahan, the authenticity debate needs to take stock of this conversation. Discourses about “what is real, accurate Chamorro dance” would benefit from problematizes these dichotomies. How dance is conceptualized at Dinana Minagof signals the need to take stock of our identity so we can properly honor the island’s hybrid heritage and lineage. There is something problematic about the division of dance at the festival into categories: contemporary, Spanish, ancient. Contemporary Chamorros hold all these moments of history at once. Reflections about how the people carry these story lines simultaneously need to be discussed. How do these historical moments inform one another? What are the implications of this framework or way of viewing our history? Reconciling the Guahan Chamorro mixed identity and viewing history as a constant unfolding continuum is a clear challenge in the Guahan dance renaissance. Decolonizing notions of Contemporary
The showcase began with the contemporary section reflecting “how we see Guam today”, these are the words of Frank Rabon. One of the gumas perform what looks like the Carolinan stick dance, singing “we are the world” in Chamorro. Another group takes on the Lion King theme. Gorgeous children are dressed like flamingos, lions, trees and sing Elton John’s ‘Circle of Life’ in Chamorro and English. These selections represented modern Guam. You can see in these presentations, there is an unabashed influence of popular American culture. This signaled to me the need to re-articulate contemporary Chamorro dance – to rethink who we are and what contemporary creativity means for the Marianas Island context. What are our conditions of innovation? How does our indigenous epistemologies inform this creativity? What are the semantics of Chamorro dance? What are the principles and protocols around performance and borrowing? How do our unique environments inform our dance traditions: the qualities of the sea, the air, the ground below, the flowers, and the animals? In Maori context, Royal states performing arts should enable “nature to find expression through human creativity”. How does the land and sea of Marianas find expression in Chamorro 6 ・ Marianas History Conference 2012