An Excellent 'Ethnic' Performance: Lucnica in Multicultural Melbourne

Abstract

This paper interrogates the performance of Slovak traditional music and dance by Lnica: Slovak National Folklore Ballet in Melbourne's Hamer Hall in October 2007, using data collected by means of an audience survey. It seeks to articulate, in this case, how hegemonies within Australia's multicultural society were enacted and reproduced by this performance and its reception. Although the Australian population is comprised of roughly 250 ancestries, many are marginal, receiving little or no attention in scholarship or in public discourse. Australians with Slovak ancestry are few relative to the Australian population, numbering only about 12,000. Consequently, the significance of this performance of Slovak traditions on stage at Melbourne's most prestigious performance venue was enhanced, throwing into relief the challenges faced by marginal groups in constructing identity and determining their place in the dominant British Australian social landscape. Half the audience were Slovak Australians, a third were ethnically diverse, and a fifth were Australians who considered themselves to be of British ancestry. Analysis of quantitative and qualitative data generated by the survey indicates that the discourse produced was shaped by the hegemonies inherent in Australian society. Interpretation of the results suggests that the self-identification of Slovak Australians in attendance was contingent upon the very presence of members of the dominant British Australian group, and upon the high value placed by Slovak Australians' upon British Australians' positive regard for what was portrayed on stage.