Elina Seye | University of Helsinki (original) (raw)

Research Articles by Elina Seye

world of music (new series), 2020

Web Site: http://www.journal-the-world-of-music.com/ Subscription and advertising inquiries are t... more Web Site: http://www.journal-the-world-of-music.com/ Subscription and advertising inquiries are to be sent to the publisher: • VWB -Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung, Amand Aglaster

This book is an ethnographic study of the sabar tradition; the traditional dances and rhythms of ... more This book is an ethnographic study of the sabar tradition; the traditional dances and rhythms of the Wolof people in Senegal. The focus is on sabar dance events, social occasions centered on recreational dancing and the accompanying drumming. The study investigates how the sabar tradition is collectively embodied in these events, and how the sabar is culturally constructed as a tradition in performances and in discourses. However, both the choreo-musical and the verbal constructions of the sabar tradition do not concern only the aesthetics of dance and music but also wider socio-cultural values. Therefore, sabar dance events are approached in this study as complex performances with multiple layers of meanings. Central concepts to the study are tradition and performance. Tradition is understood here as something that is continuously (re)interpreted and negotiated. As the study shows, the sabar tradition is attributed different meanings depending on the context and the person in question; despite the fact people often base their actions and statements on the idea of an unchanging shared tradition. Performance, on the other hand, is a theoretical term that is used for two purposes. First of all, sabar dance events are analyzed as performances, as particular, clearly defined situations that include both dance and music, as well as other kinds of actions. This approach makes it possible to overcome the Western music-dance dichotomy and demonstrate how dance and music intertwine in the improvisatory interactions characteristic of sabar events. Secondly, performance refers to the ways that people present themselves, how they embody their social roles and interpersonal relationships within the rules and ideals of sabar events that provide the framework for individual performative actions. Based on fieldwork experiences and research materials collected in Senegal and elsewhere since 2000, the study presents the sabar tradition as one of the cultural metaphors that are used to mediate and internalize the ideals of “good life”. In the case of sabar dance events, these ideals include Wolof conceptions of appropriate social roles and harmonic interpersonal relationships. These ideals are embodied through the performative actions and interactions of participants at sabar dance events, where dance and music are the primary means of communication. As the analyses demonstrate, the adherence to the collectively defined rules of tradition is the prerequisite of the choreo-musical conversations between dancers and drummers, even though these rules are constantly negotiated in performances. In sabar dance events the aesthetics of sabar dancing and drumming, as well as prevalent social roles and relationships, are repeatedly embodied and thereby constructed as tradition. The sabar tradition is, and has long been, a valued part of Wolof culture and ever present at various celebrations and gatherings. The study claims that the tradition has remained relevant even in contemporary urban environments, because sabar dance events ultimately promote prevailing social norms and good morals, and because the sabar tradition is flexible enough to incorporate new elements, thereby also allowing young people to use it for negotiating their social roles and their relationships with others within the performative frame of sabar dance events. *NOTE! This is my doctoral dissertation that has been published as a printed book only! You can order the book from the publisher through the link provided.*

Spacing Dance(s) – Dancing Space(s): Proceedings: 10th International NOFOD Conference, Odense, Denmark, January 27–30 2011, 2011

In my paper I am analyzing the diverse spatial constellations present at Senegalese sabar dance e... more In my paper I am analyzing the diverse spatial constellations present at Senegalese sabar dance events, especially how space is used in sabar dancing for the embodiment of social relationships. The space created in sabar events is essentially a space for social interaction, but in distinction to everyday reality interaction takes place primarily non-verbally through drum rhythms, dance movements and other kinds of gestures. Although the modes of communication separate these events from everyday life, also real friendships and conflicts find their expression in sabar dancing. Sabar events usually take place in open air but the physical surroundings rarely have much importance, it is rather the presence and actions of the participants that create the space of performance. Here the sabar drummers are in a key role: with their playing they give signals that mark e.g. the beginning and ending of an event. Sabar dances are performed as short improvised solos and anyone of the participants can take part in dancing. With one or a few people at a time moving to the centre of the dance space towards the drummers to dance and back again, distances between participants are significant, as well as how they position themselves in the dance space.

Tämän artikkelin tarkoituksena on avata uusia näkökulmia afrikkalaista musiikkia Suomessa koskeva... more Tämän artikkelin tarkoituksena on avata uusia näkökulmia afrikkalaista musiikkia Suomessa koskevaan keskusteluun. Itse musiikin sijaan tarkastelumme keskiössä ovat afrikkalaismuusikoiden kokemukset ja toimijuus musiikin ammattilaisina Suomessa.

Popular Music and Society, 2019

This article explores connections between music and anti-racism. Based on our analyses of recent ... more This article explores connections between music and anti-racism. Based on our analyses of recent anti-racist demonstrations and musical media productions, we have constructed an ethnographic description of musicians’ involvement in anti-racism in Finland. Our study makes visible how in predominantly white societies, individual musicians’ own relations to (anti-)racism, as well as different articulations and meanings of race in general, have become issues that an increasing number of musicians must negotiate. By relying on a multidisciplinary theoretical framework, our study provides different approaches to the complexity and the multidimensionality of the meanings of race, racism, and antiracism in music.

RUUKKU Studies in Artistic Research, 2019

In my PhD thesis Performing a Tradition in Music and Dance (2014), I analyzed sabar dance events ... more In my PhD thesis Performing a Tradition in Music and Dance (2014), I analyzed sabar dance events as ‘places’ for (re)constructing social relationships, identities, and tradition. In these celebrations, the participants in a sense perform themselves and their relationships to others present, embodying communal conceptions of their social roles and the related norms and values, but sometimes also challenging them. These performances of self can thus primarily be identified as cultural performatives, following Butler, but they still happen in the frame of the dance event, which allows also expressions deviating from the performatives of everyday situations. Here, I will consider how the modes of performance in sabar dance events can be characterized in addition to the obvious repetition and variation of traditional dance genres. Additionally, I will reflect on the value of practical involvement in performance as a methodological tool in ethnographic fieldwork.

Artikkelissa esitellään Musiikkiarkisto JAPA ja Maailman musiikin keskuksen hanketta ”Afrikkalais... more Artikkelissa esitellään Musiikkiarkisto JAPA ja Maailman musiikin keskuksen hanketta ”Afrikkalaisten muusikoiden historia ja merkitys monikulttuurisessa Suomessa”, joka kartoittaa eri Afrikan maista kotoisin olevien muusikoiden toimintaa Suomessa, keskittyen erityisesti 1980- ja 1990-lukuun. Hankkeen tarkoituksena on tallentaa muusikoiden muistinvaraista tietoa omasta toiminnastaan, samoin kuin kartoittaa ja mahdollisuuksien mukaan arkistoida heidän hallussaan olevat julkaisemattomat aineistot.

Sabar is the traditional style of dancing and drumming of the Wolof people in Senegal. The word s... more Sabar is the traditional style of dancing and drumming of the Wolof people in Senegal. The word sabar refers to the drums played by the Wolof géwël (griots) and the rhythms played on these drums as well as the dances associated with the different rhythms. The same term is sometimes used for events where improvised sabar dancing is the primary form of entertainment. After presenting the sabar as practiced in such social dance events, I will turn to professional performances of sabar dances; specifically, two newer forms of sabar dancing both of which mainly take place on stage: choreographed versions of sabar dances by ballets such as folkloric dance companies and dancing connected to mbalax, the most popular genre of Senegalese pop music.

What makes these professional performances significant for present day development of the sabar tradition is that they affect the scenes of social dancing in several ways. The professional dance performances of ballets typically strive towards an authentic representation of tradition and therefore represent an ideal form of what sabar dances should look like, which can be seen to influence the aesthetics of social sabar dancing as well. Similarly, movement sequences created for mbalax video clips are regularly adopted into the social dance repertoire. Also, professional dancers from ballets and dance groups performing with mbalax bands are sometimes invited to perform at sabar events, where their choreographed performances contrast with the usual social dynamics of the events.

However, possibly the most significant change in these new professional forms of sabar dancing is that they are performed by both male and female dancers, whereas the social sabar dance events were previously the quasi-exclusive domain of women. Furthermore, presently many of the best-known professional sabar dancers in Senegal are men. In this article, I focus on the role of the male sabar dancers as performers of what is typically considered a female tradition. I approach the topic from the theoretical premises of performance studies where gender is seen as performatively constructed in social interactions. Sabar dancing as a social activity of women and its significance in performative negotiations of femininity has been discussed by several authors, whereas the position of male dancers within the sabar tradition has been largely left unexplored previously.

Musiikillinen improvisaatio: keskustelunavauksia soivan hetken kulttuureihin, 2015

Tässä luvussa käsittelemääni Senegalin wolofien sabar-perinnettä leimaa juuri musiikin ja tanssin voimakas yhteys: sabartanssit vaativat säestyksekseen oikeanlaista musiikkia, ja sabarrummuilla soitettu musiikki koetaan nimenomaan tanssimusiikiksi. Kuvailen tässä luvussa ensin sabarmusiikin ja -tanssin tyypillisiä esitystilanteita ja erittelen sen jälkeen esitysten osatekijöitä pohtien sitä, millaisia odotuksia perinne asettaa muusikoiden ja tanssijoiden toiminnalle sekä miten se ohjaa sabaresityksissä tapahtuvaa improvisaatiota. Koska tanssisoolot ovat keskeisessä roolissa sabarin esitystilanteissa, tarkastelen tässä luvussa erityisesti tanssijoiden panosta musiikillisen kokonaisuuden muotoutumiseen.

This article looks at African musicians in Finland and the ways that they negotiate ideas of ‘Afr... more This article looks at African musicians in Finland and the ways that they negotiate ideas of ‘Africanness’ in their professional activities. The specific environment of Finland with a relatively low number of people of African descent inevitably shapes the activities of these musicians. Our analysis, based on our many years of fieldwork among African diaspora communities, makes visible the multiplicity of sites where African music is played and performed in Finland, and the various contexts that influence the ways in which Africanness is articulated. In a predominantly white society, African musicians' roles extend from artists and ‘cultural ambassadors’ to active change agents in the fields of identity politics and anti-racism struggles.

Dance Ethnography and Global Perspectives. Identity, Embodiment and Culture., Feb 2014

This chapter discusses the performativity of Senegalese sabar dancing. The sabar is an individual... more This chapter discusses the performativity of Senegalese sabar dancing. The sabar is an individual dance form: it is danced as short improvised solos, with one or a few people at a time in the middle of the dance space. But it is also a social dance form, where each solo comments on others and communicates with the accompanying drumming. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, the chapter presents how local conceptions of social status become embodied and how identities and interpersonal relationships are expressed performatively in sabar dance events. Sabar dance events are separate from everyday life, but everyday life is often reflected in sabar dancing where friendships and conflicts between people can be articulated through movements and gestures.

Dance, Gender, and Meanings : Contemporizing Traditional Dance : Proceedings of the 26th Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Ethnochoreology 2010, Trest, Czech Republic , 2012

The sabar dances of the Wolof people are dominated by women, and therefore often considered a "fe... more The sabar dances of the Wolof people are dominated by women, and therefore often considered a "female tradition" and by several researchers also a means of female emancipation. The liberation from the norms of everyday life within sabar dancing is however limited by the conventions of the sabar tradition itself and by notions of acceptable conduct for the social events where dancing takes place. Among the Wolof, the higher the social status of a person, the more restrained her public behavior should be. Although dance events break the rules of everyday life to some extent, a woman may still risk her reputation for being too eager to dance or by dancing in a way that is not considered appropriate for the specific event. The paper examines how femininity is actually constructed in sabar performances, what kinds of femininities are being embodied through dancing.

Spacing Dance(s) - Dancing Space(s) - Proceedings: 10th International NOFOD Conference, Odense, Denmark, January 27-30 2011 , 2011

Sabar events usually take place in open air but the physical surroundings rarely have much importance, it is rather the presence and actions of the participants that create the space of performance. Here the sabar drummers are in a key role: with their playing they give signals that mark e.g. the beginning and ending of an event. Sabar dances are performed as short improvised solos and anyone of the participants can take part in dancing. With one or a few people at a time moving to the centre of the dance space towards the drummers to dance and back again, distances between participants are significant, as well as how they position themselves in the dance space.

Other Articles by Elina Seye

Artikkelini luo katsauksen koreomusikologiaan: taman verraten uuden tutkimusalan historiaan seka ... more Artikkelini luo katsauksen koreomusikologiaan: taman verraten uuden tutkimusalan historiaan seka tanssin ja musiikin suhteita koskevien teoreettisten lahestymistapojen kehitykseen. Vaikka tanssin ja musiikin keskinaissuhteista on kirjoitettu 1950-luvulta lahtien, tarkastelut ovat yleensa keskittyneet maarattyihin esitysperinteisiin ja tanssiteoksiin. Tasta syysta tiettyjen tutkijoiden hahmottelemia teoreettisia ajatuksia ja analyysimalleja on vain harvoin sovellettu muissa tutkimuksissa. Voidaankin perustellusti sanoa, etta koreomusikologia on kehittynyt omaksi erityiseksi tutkimusalakseen vasta viime vuosina, kun useita tieteenaloja edustavat tutkijat (tanssintutkijat, musiikkitieteilijat, etnomusikologit, musiikkipsykologit ja kognitiotieteilijat) ovat keskittyneet kehittamaan teoreettisia ja metodologisia lahtokohtia tanssin ja musiikin, tai laajemmin liikkeen ja aanen, valisten suhteiden analysoimiseen. Tama viime aikoina kasvanut kiinnostus koreomusikologiseen teoretisointiin l...

world of music (new series), 2020

Spacing Dance(s) – Dancing Space(s): Proceedings: 10th International NOFOD Conference, Odense, Denmark, January 27–30 2011, 2011

Popular Music and Society, 2019

RUUKKU Studies in Artistic Research, 2019

Musiikillinen improvisaatio: keskustelunavauksia soivan hetken kulttuureihin, 2015

Dance Ethnography and Global Perspectives. Identity, Embodiment and Culture., Feb 2014

Dance, Gender, and Meanings : Contemporizing Traditional Dance : Proceedings of the 26th Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Ethnochoreology 2010, Trest, Czech Republic , 2012

Spacing Dance(s) - Dancing Space(s) - Proceedings: 10th International NOFOD Conference, Odense, Denmark, January 27-30 2011 , 2011

Esipuhe Louise Grayn kirjan Maailmanmusiikki (Into Kustannus, 2015)suomenkieliseen painokseen. P... more Esipuhe Louise Grayn kirjan Maailmanmusiikki (Into Kustannus, 2015)suomenkieliseen painokseen.

Preface to the Finnish edition of Louise Gray's No-Nonsense Guide to World Music (New Internationalist Publications, 2009).

Central concepts to the study are tradition and performance. Tradition is understood here as something that is continuously (re)interpreted and negotiated. As the study shows, the sabar tradition is attributed different meanings depending on the context and the person in question; despite the fact people often base their actions and statements on the idea of an unchanging shared tradition. Performance, on the other hand, is a theoretical term that is used for two purposes. First of all, sabar dance events are analyzed as performances, as particular, clearly defined situations that include both dance and music, as well as other kinds of actions. This approach makes it possible to overcome the Western music-dance dichotomy and demonstrate how dance and music intertwine in the improvisatory interactions characteristic of sabar events. Secondly, performance refers to the ways that people present themselves, how they embody their social roles and interpersonal relationships within the rules and ideals of sabar events that provide the framework for individual performative actions.

Based on fieldwork experiences and research materials collected in Senegal and elsewhere since 2000, the study presents the sabar tradition as one of the cultural metaphors that are used to mediate and internalize the ideals of “good life”. In the case of sabar dance events, these ideals include Wolof conceptions of appropriate social roles and harmonic interpersonal relationships. These ideals are embodied through the performative actions and interactions of participants at sabar dance events, where dance and music are the primary means of communication. As the analyses demonstrate, the adherence to the collectively defined rules of tradition is the prerequisite of the choreo-musical conversations between dancers and drummers, even though these rules are constantly negotiated in performances. In sabar dance events the aesthetics of sabar dancing and drumming, as well as prevalent social roles and relationships, are repeatedly embodied and thereby constructed as tradition.

The sabar tradition is, and has long been, a valued part of Wolof culture and ever present at various celebrations and gatherings. The study claims that the tradition has remained relevant even in contemporary urban environments, because sabar dance events ultimately promote prevailing social norms and good morals, and because the sabar tradition is flexible enough to incorporate new
elements, thereby also allowing young people to use it for negotiating their social roles and their relationships with others within the performative frame of sabar dance events.

*NOTE! This is my doctoral dissertation that has been published as a printed book only! You can order the book from the publisher through the link provided.*

Dance, Senses, Urban Contexts. Proceedings of the 29th Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Ethnochoreology, 2016, Retzhof Castle, Styria, Austria, 2017

This paper presents a project on the simb lion dance and its performers in Senegal. The project c... more This paper presents a project on the simb lion dance and its performers in Senegal. The project combines research and artistic work for studying and presenting the simb, a local form of entertainment, where young men dance dressed up as lions with colorful costumes and face paint. The aim is to investigate the meanings of the simb in the contemporary urban context of Dakar. One of the themes examined is how media imagery, especially photos and films shared on social media, affects the practices of simb, and how social media are used by dancers to construct their identities as artists and to promote their performances.

In the sabar tradition of the Wolof people in Senegal, West Africa, drumming and dancing are tigh... more In the sabar tradition of the Wolof people in Senegal, West Africa, drumming and dancing are tightly intertwined. Sabar drumming is first and foremost music for dancing, and sabar dancing always needs its musical accompaniment. Sabar dancing is typically done as short improvised solos based on a few traditional movement patterns connected to each specific dance rhythm, which can be repeated and combined in different ways and also modified to some extent. Although the dancer must dance in rhythm, in relation to the underlying beat of the music, the dance movements do not simply follow the rhythmic patterns played by the drummers. Rather a dancer uses the rhythmic framework provided by the drummers to add her own rhythmic-kinetic patterns which then are made audible by the solo drummer who follows and comments the dancer’s movements with his playing, using traditional rhythm patterns. Thus, a dancer actually becomes the leader of the group of drummers, some dancers taking the musical lead more confidently than others. As this paper aims to prove, sabar dancers do pay a lot of attention to what their dance “sounds” like, mediated by the drummers, not just to the kinetic qualities of their movements. The paper will also demonstrate though video examples how sabar dancers lead the music with their movements.

"The Senegalese sabar music and dance do not only share the same name but are also tightly intert... more "The Senegalese sabar music and dance do not only share the same name but are also tightly intertwined. For Senegalese people sabar drumming is first and foremost music for dancing, not something they would listen to without having the possibility to dance and therefore also rarely published as records. Sabar dancing of course needs its musical accompaniment, but the dance movements do not follow the musical structures in a straightforward manner. Rather a dancer will use the rhythmic framework provided by the drummers to add her own rhythmic-kinetic patterns which then are made audible by the lead drummer who follows and comments the dancer’s movements in his playing.

Thus, in order to understand the dynamics of sabar music, it seems inevitable to look also at sabar dancing. This is certainly the view of the Senegalese themselves: if someone is able to dance to sabar rhythms, it means that he perceives them in a culturally correct way. So for a researcher it is important to find out what a dancer hears, not just what patterns the drummers are playing. Furthermore it is obvious that dance is a part of the musical whole in the sabar although the audible dimension of the movements needs to be mediated by the lead drummer. However, most people – not just musicians – are quite aware of what the traditional movement patterns of sabar dancing “sound” like.

Since conceptions about how a certain rhythm should be danced to and how certain dance movements should be played to guide the actions of the dancers and the musicians in a sabar performance, they have to be considered by the researcher as well."

Book review of African Perspectives: Pre-colonial History, Anthropology and Ethnomusicology, ed. ... more Book review of African Perspectives: Pre-colonial History, Anthropology and Ethnomusicology, ed. by Regine Allgayer-Kaufmann & Michael Weber

Musiikin suunta, 2008

Book review

Musiikin suunta, 2008

Book review

Etnomusikologian vuosikirja, Dec 1, 2002

Etnomusikologian vuosikirja

Suomessakin on alkanut keskustelu akateemisen maailman ja tieteellisen tiedon dekolonisaatiosta, ... more Suomessakin on alkanut keskustelu akateemisen maailman ja tieteellisen tiedon dekolonisaatiosta, jonka yhtenä keskeisenä lähtökohtana on tietämisen tapojen moninaisuus maailmassa ja tavoitteena akateemisen tiedekäsityksen laajentaminen niin, että se ei perustuisi vain eurosentriselle käsitykselle tiedosta. Hahmottelen aihetta käsittelevän tutkimuskirjallisuuden pohjalta, mitä dekolonisaatio voisi tarkoittaa nimenomaan musiikintutkimuksen kannalta ja millaisia muutoksia tiedon dekolonisaatio mahdollisesti vaatisi suomalaisen musiikintutkimuksen kentällä. Väitän, että etnomusikologian tutkimusperinne voisi toimia lähtökohtana musiikintutkimuksen dekolonisaatiolle, sillä se on jo lähtökohdiltaan globaali, kaikkien maailman musiikkien tutkimisen tarpeellisuutta korostava tutkimusala. Vaikka etnomusikologian juuret juontavat kolonistista hallintoakin palvelleeseen antropologiseen tutkimukseen, alaa on jo vuosikymmenien ajan leimannut vahva eettinen ja itsekriittinen asenne tutkimuksen te...

World of Music, 2020

This article introduces the theme and contents of this double issue on choreomusicology. It summa... more This article introduces the theme and contents of this double issue on choreomusicology. It summarizes the historical development of research focusing on the relationship of music and dance, or sound and movement, especially within music and dance studies, but also in other disciplines. The authors advocate the term choreomusicology as an umbrella term for the various approaches used to investigate music-dance interrelations and related topics such as embodied music interaction. The focus is on combining views from ethnomusicology and ethnochoreology, which offer new potential to choreomusical research with their culturally sensitive insights based on ethnographic fieldwork, often including practical understanding of the traditions studied.

VWB - VERLAG FÜR WISSENSCHAFT UND BILDUNG, 2021

Lähes kaikkialla Afrikassa tanssi ja musiikki ovat läheisessä suhteessa toisiinsa, ja varsinkin r... more Lähes kaikkialla Afrikassa tanssi ja musiikki ovat läheisessä suhteessa toisiinsa, ja varsinkin rumpumusiikkiperinteisiin liittyy yleensä erottamattomana osana tanssi. Tuntemissani länsiafrikkalaisissa perinteissä tanssi ei kuitenkaan pelkästään seuraa rumpujen rytmejä vaan useimmiten myös lisää niihin jotain, mikä puolestaan vaikuttaa musiikillisen kokonaisuuden muotoutumiseen. Näin ollen musiikillista improvisaatiota tarkastellessa on näissä perinteissä otettava huomioon tanssin osuus yhtenä musiikin osatekijänä äänellisten elementtien rinnalla. Tässä luvussa käsittelemääni Senegalin wolofien sabar-perinnettä leimaa juuri musiikin ja tanssin voimakas yhteys: sabartanssit vaativat säestyksekseen oikeanlaista musiikkia, ja sabarrummuilla soitettu musiikki koetaan nimenomaan tanssimusiikiksi. Kuvailen tässä luvussa ensin sabarmusiikin ja -tanssin tyypillisiä esitystilanteita ja erittelen sen jälkeen esitysten osatekijöitä pohtien sitä, millaisia odotuksia perinne asettaa muusikoiden ja tanssijoiden toiminnalle sekä miten se ohjaa sabaresityksissä tapahtuvaa improvisaatiota. Koska tanssisoolot ovat keskeisessä roolissa sabarin esitystilanteissa, tarkastelen tässä luvussa erityisesti tanssijoiden panosta musiikillisen kokonaisuuden muotoutumiseen.

Ruukku Studies in Artistic Research, 2019