Aboriginal leaders: Russian ice dancers' routine still offensive

[Peikko 1,575]

This year, the theme for the ice dancing original dance was folk dancing. The dance was supposed to represent the "flavor" of one country or another.

Some skating pairs, like Israelis Roman and Alexandra Zaretsky and Georgians Allison Reed and Otar Japaridze, chose folk dances that represented their own country. Others chose to honor other cultures. Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir did a flamenco, Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White did an Indian dance while Russians Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin did an Aboriginal dance.

When the Russian pair did the Aboriginal dance at the European Championships in January, they drew criticism from Aboriginal leaders who found the dance and costumes and offensive. Domnina and Shabalin toned down their costumes and removed their face paint, but made no changes to their Aboriginal dance.

More accurately, the dance they did was more likely their interpretation of how Aborigines danced. Though they claimed to have done research on Aboriginal dances, leaders in Australia found it to be offensive. Watching the dance last night, one can understand why.

At times, Shabalin led Domnina around by her ponytail. They mugged, stuck out their tongues and mimicked the hand over mouth gesture that was once associated with American Indians. (<a href="http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/assetid=b99212f4-077e-4f09-9ad5-1ecbba00675e.html#russians+third+after+original+dance" target="_blank">See it here and judge for yourself.) After the dance ended, the crowd gave the Russians what could generously be called a lukewarm reception.

After seeing the dance last night, an Aboriginal dancer wrote:

The dance is certainly unlike anything I've seen and other than a few complex lifts, the performance didn't really entertain me. It looked wrong on so many levels ... When creating a dance or theatre work, even as contemporary indigenous dancers, it is a part of our practice to follow cultural protocols and consult with traditional elders who understand the meaning behind the movement. It is respect for our traditional cultural laws, language groups and elders, for this information to be passed on correctly.

An Aboriginal leader continued:

"I am offended by the performance and so are our other councillors," Bev Manton, the chairwoman of the NSW Land Council said.

"Aboriginal people for very good reason are sensitive about their cultural objects and icons being co-opted by non-Aboriginal people - whether they are from Australia or

Russia

.

"It's important for people to tread carefully and respectfully when they are depicting somebody else's culture and I don't think this performance does."

Watching this dance was like watching an old movie, like seeing Mickey Rooney's offensive portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi in "Breakfast with Tiffany's, or seeing a period show like "Mad Men," where one of the main characters dressed in black face. The dance was anachronistic. Considering that the pair slipped from first to third, it was not a winning routine, either.

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I don't know about offensive, but everything about it was ugly!

[Peikko 1,575]

[one...two...tree 2,762]

We watched it last night and it was just silly.

The Americans who did the Indian theme though were terrific.

[Peikko 1,575]

I like the British pair as well, very jolly

Yeah, they were not technically brilliant, but that was reflected in their scores.

[Ali G. 37]

They're Russian, watch them complain about the judging and so on...

The Aboriginal people don't seem to understand the concept of being conquered too well.

Edited February 22, 2010 by Booyah

[spookyturtle 9,465]

They're Russian, watch them complain about the judging and so on...

The Aboriginal people don't seem to understand the concept of being conquered too well.

That's a douchebag statement if I ever heard one. Australia treats the Aborigines like #######, but you think that's ok?

[Nagishkaw 510]

Hair pulling.... is that something Aboriginal's are known to do?

[scandal 951]

Why does he have pot leaves on his head?

[Revenesque 2]

Why does he have pot leaves on his head?

That's what I said to hubby.

I'm waiting for a couple to come out as Adam and Eve--that would be cool!

[Danno 1,228]

So now we are going to have "authenticity" tests for every performance?

IF this stuff was not so fun to laugh at it would be sad.

[neoconsnightmare 0]

perhaps they offended some australian aboriginies, but then white cowboys/cowgirls in the united states could complain that the non americans offended them; the american couple who did the indian (east) routine were offensive to indians; or the canadian flamenco dancers were offensive to the people of spain.

bottom line, is may very well have offended the aboriginal population of australia...but why?

[MrsCat 6]

perhaps they offended some australian aboriginies, but then white cowboys/cowgirls in the united states could complain that the non americans offended them; the american couple who did the indian (east) routine were offensive to indians; or the canadian flamenco dancers were offensive to the people of spain.

bottom line, is may very well have offended the aboriginal population of australia...but why?

There is something called protocol which they did not adhere to. If they wanted to mimic Aborigines then they should have approached the culture they wanted to dance like, ask for permission, gain understanding, and then make the dance their own.

Very uneducated and simplistic understanding if you think wearing cowboy hats is equally offensive as pretending to be a savages.

Edited February 23, 2010 by MrsCat

[Scott & Lai 12]

I'm waiting for a couple to come out as Adam and Eve--that would be cool!

Before or after they ate the fruit?

[neoconsnightmare 0]

There is something called protocol which they did not adhere to. If they wanted to mimic Aborigines then they should have approached the culture they wanted to dance like, ask for permission, gain understanding, and then make the dance their own.

Very uneducated and simplistic understanding if you think wearing cowboy hats is equally offensive as pretending to be a savages.

1) what YOU 'think' is 'uneducated' and 'simplistic' is your thing. you have no proof what you say is fact;

2) where did i say anything about them 'pretending to be savages'. that's YOUR language, not mine. if you THINK that's the case, again, that's YOUR issue;

3) 'wacko'? do you just say baseless stuff, or do you have a point...one beyond OPINION. see, thats the wonderful thing about OPINION in a world of 'free speech'. i can voice mine, and you can voice yours. when you resort to name calling, i'm better than you, so guess how 'name calling' will go? you dolt.

4) i noticed you didnt mention the american couple dressed as east indians? were they 'savages' in your mind, too? yet NOBODY has said anything about that.

5) how in the HELL do you ask a culture of several hundred thousand people (about 460,000 per the 2006 census) to do an ice dance version of something that is traditional to them? you don't. you study, and then improvise.

6) now, you and i disagree. i'm not trying to change your mind on the topic, but you sure as hell won't change mine. now, you did name calling first, i'll get the last name calling in between us. if you like, we can be done.

wasn't that fun?

[MrsCat 6]

^

Thin skinned much.