ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 offers a select example, of the ways in which western modes of perception impact upon the vernacular and hybrid practices of Korean dance. It engages the politics of classification whereby dance is divided into traditional, modern and contemporary genres, drawing on Dipesh Chakrabarty’s postcolonial theory to argue for a pluralized conception of modernity within dance. In so doing, the chapter critiques the western ethnocentrism embedded in aesthetic theories which fix upon a singular timeframe of traditional, modern and contemporary dance. The discussion herein refers to the work of a number of dance scholars (including Priya Srinivasan, Ananya Chatterjea and Mark Franko) to flesh out its argument. The chapter also draws on the work of Luce Irigaray as a way of thinking through the politics of locality within Asian dance. It draws on the work of dance critic and producer, Daisuke Muto, who envisages a series of encounters in the Asian dance scene that do not revolve around a western centre.
