The Far East – An Alternative Perspective
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Chronicles, October 2006
Although I had taught workshops in Hong Kong many years ago and had the opportunity to explore the jungles and beaches of Borneo, climb Mount Kinabalu and tour around peninsular Malaysia, my experience with and knowledge of the Far East was minimal.
My recent Far Eastern tour started with an amazing vacation in Bali – a place which I consider to be one of the most beautiful, tranquil and relaxing on earth. Although this gentle tropical island has been noticeably transformed by tourism in the past few decades, the Balinese have managed to retain their traditions and their culture with all its charm, sense of beauty and graciousness intact. I don’t remember the last time that I felt so completely peaceful and unconcerned with the nasty realities of our contemporary crazy world. Frangipani flowers fell from the trees and sprinkled the ground, filling the air with their intoxicating essence. The tropical humidity felt like velvet on my skin and almost everyday I pampered myself with traditional Balinese Massages and luxurious 2 hour body scrubs and wraps concocted from local plants, flowers and spices, finishing with a soak in marble tubs filled with fragrant water and fresh flower petals. The radiant smiles, sincere sweetness and gentle spirit of the Balinese people are what touched me the most. It reminded me so much of Mexico (one of my other favourite places in the planet) and Mexicans before the invasion of so much of our North American lifestyle and values. I was also inspired to transform my intended future clinic in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, into a Balinese style day spa. Life should really be like this more often. In fact, I was so inspired with my time in this beautiful piece of paradise that I have organized another one of my dream vacation, week-long retreats in Bali this January. The retreat will include 20 hours of oriental technique and choreography classes as well as introductory classes to Balinese dance and a luxurious spa treatment.
En route to my first workshop in Korea, I had a brief stay in Singapore and was amazed at the beauty, the order, the efficiency and the general lack of bustle within the city itself. I was also impressed with the obvious absence of crime, as well as the politeness of its people. No pushing, no shoving, no swearing, so cutting in line. Big points in my book!
Finally, it was time to leave the lushness of the 30oC tropics and continue to Seoul, Korea. What (or should I say who) I found took me by complete surprise. In my previous experience with students from the Far East, I found them to be extraordinarily polite, but also extremely discreet and reserved. My welcome and hospitality was warm and relaxed, although extremely respectful. The reaction in class the following day was amazing to say the least. I began the class with my very “unusual” warm ups and, although I was trying to explain the “hows” and the “whys” of my rather radical approach, I felt that much was lost in translation. So, I decided to dance for them and show them what I was going to teach them after the warm-up. Seconds after the music started, the girls hooted, hollered, literally screamed and clapped right through to the last note of my dance. My image of discreet reserved oriental girls was instantly and seriously challenged as we all settled in for an unforgettable weekend of hard work, lots of fun, charming little gifts and many “I love you”s! Although oriental dance is a very new phenomenon in Korea, many of the girls have already been on several trips to Egypt and are obviously in earnest pursuit of feeling as well as information. They are extremely observant and quickly adapted to my styling and even though, after the class, I was informed that many of the students found the material very difficult, they apparently managed the sequences and choreography with relative ease. It was everything a teacher could ask for in a group of students and their unabashed enthusiasm and sincerity made it easy to forget that I had just experienced a wicked temperature drop of 45oC and was trying to adjust to -15o (this is why I LEAVE Canada in the winter!). They are not only enthusiastic, but have an innate sensuality and joy of life that makes oriental dance very natural for them. They also eat lots of garlic and chilies and take care of business (not to mention their guest instructors) instantly and with great care. As I was on the verge of a cold due to travel fatigue, airplane air, excessive air conditioning in Singapore and the temp change, the ladies immediately went out and bought me natural Korean supplements and herbal anti-cold remedies fed me chilies and garlic and presto no more cold! They are also very proud of their culture and their country and spent the day showing me the many sights of their capital city, including the amazing and majestic Royal Palace. The museums of Ethnology and Folk Culture gave me a wonderful introduction to this ancient people and their history.
The Koreans are, none the less, just as orderly and considerate as other Orientals. In spite of the endless press of humanity at rush hour, everyone calmly and patiently lined up and waited for people to exit the subway cars BEFORE trying to get in themselves. This was only one example of how efficient an effective the smallest bit of respect and consideration can be. I think that we could all greatly benefit from a stay in the Orient.
I was very sad to leave them, but happy to be on route to Hong Kong and warmer temperatures.
In Hong Kong, the weather was a perfect 20o, although pollution from mainland China’s factories dramatically compromised the air quality and view. However, I loved my walk through the park en route to class everyday. I continued my pursuit of massage that Bali had inspired and my hostess brought me to several centers of reflexology and Chinese Massage. The foot and leg session was wonderful, but the non-stop pummeling of the Massages were a major contrast from Bali, although they did help to restore my neck and shoulder sinews into muscles again. (Too many very long plane trips)! The ladies in HK had decided to make the most of my visit and I was scheduled for Shabi and Saidi on Thursday, Flamenco on Friday, full days of Oriental on Saturday and Sunday, Flamenco again on Monday and finally an extra workshop of Tunisian folklore and Turkish ROM on Tuesday. All classes were full and the students very enthusiastic, although more reserved than my wild Korean girls. During the course of the week I saw rapid improvement in the students as they became accustomed to my style and methods. My performance was Tuesday night (Valentines Day) and the audience was anything but reserved, which made the evening truly a celebration of the heart. I had one day of shopping madness before heading on to my first visit to Japan.
Although my assistant Muz had been unable to join me on the first part of my tour due to his ongoing research in Africa, we met at our rendez-vous at the base of Mt. Fujiyama and then were off to explore together the endless city called Tokyo. With only 4 days in Tokyo, I still don’t know much about Japan except that Tokyo is big big big beyond imagination. Although I have taught on several occasions and spent quite a bit of time in Mexico City and Sao Paulo, Tokyo took my understanding of enormous city beyond my previous realm of experience.
I began the weekend with a Friday night performance and after Korea and Hong Kong, the audience was indeed reserved. Mr. Muz was not at hand to help foster an ambience of revelry however, as he was busy attending a rigorous master class in Jujitsu. I was however, relieved when they girls approached one by one after the show to greet me and thank me, ever so respectfully. During class the next day, the group was very receptive although initially understated and extremely “careful”. However, by the end of Sunday’s classes, the girls were beginning to explore the realm of emotions and expression with greater and greater enthusiasm. The humor level continued to rise during the course of the weekend as well, as Muz adeptly translated my off the wall jokes and comments that make teaching and learning fun in spite of the work. In the words of my hostess who has lived and taught in Japan for 14 years, “they love and need this dance form”. As a result of the unprecedented educational and employment opportunities arising from the extraordinary economic boom of the 80s, Japanese women are exploring their very new and undefined role as real women, as they emerge from the traditionally narrow parameters of “femininity” in a male dominant country. We all have our explorations and journeys, regardless of our countries and cultures and oriental dance so graciously provides us with so many possible paths.
In summary, sweetness, courtesy, politeness by the beautiful dancers of the Far East was a complete delight. On the other hand, non-aggression and the lack of crime and violence were a very welcome and expected surprise. I appreciated these qualities enormously as a chronic world traveler and I imagine that living in such societies must be precious indeed. I look forward to my next tour with great anticipation.