Performing abroad: ‘Lucnica Slovak National Folklore Ballet’ in Melbourne, 2007

Abstract

This thesis explores the significance of a Slovak traditional music and dance performance in Melbourne in October 2007 by Lucnica: Slovak National Folklore Ballet’. While the troupe represents a genre of traditional music performance that is revered by many Slovaks, it is also criticized in the community and scholarly narratives as being ‘artificial’. This thesis shows that Lucnica’s performances are deeply significant, however, and that they constitute a legitimate form of music folklore practice for performers and Slovak audiences, embodying the Slovak landscape and history, despite artistic modifications. However, by taking an interactional viewpoint, this thesis shows that on foreign soil, complex meanings were thrown into relief. While Lucnica’s stated mission is to spread Slovak traditional music culture abroad, it was found that in multicultural Melbourne, Lucnica’s performance generated a variety of discursive strands. The same performance confirmed and celebrated Slovak ethnicity for Slovak Australians, and at the same time, contributed to the discourse of British hegemony and marginalization of the same. A second, but equally important focus of the thesis, is that it addresses the dialectic between theory and data. Ethnographic notes were analyzed according to Goffman’s model for non-verbal interaction, an ethnographic interview was analyzed according to the methods of Conversation Analysis, and an audience survey was conducted. These varied data and methodologies were unified by adopting an over-arching Foucauldian theoretical framework, thus aligning theory, data, and methodologies, and giving findings added cogency.