SHOULD I PERFORM THIS MUSIC?
A Response by Danielle Brown, Ph.D.
This essay is in response to a flowchart created by Tony Perman that tackles issues pertaining to cultural appropriation in music performance. To see the flowchart to which this essay responds, and to see other reflections to the chart by Tony Perman, Deborah Wong, I Putu Hiranmayena, Nkululeko Zungu, and Renata Yazzie, please refer to the article “Should I Perform This Music?” in Open Access Musicology.
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Around the time that I was asked to contribute to this article, I began watching a Chinese drama whose English title is Sweet Tai Chi. Being relevant to the topic (and not because I endorse it), I have decided to use this fictional drama as the basis to discuss the chart. Full disclosure: I am a Black woman, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, to parents from Trinidad & Tobago. My scholarly work has focused predominantly on music of the African diaspora, particularly from the Caribbean. So, it may surprise some that I am a martial arts enthusiast. My interest is partly due to the fact that, for as long as I can remember, my father has been a practitioner of Chinese martial arts. “Kung Fu,” as we called it, was a regular part of my experience growing up.[1] My brother and I even trained for several years as children under the tutelage of our father. Nonetheless, I had never actually watched a Chinese drama before, my Chinese film repertoire had been limited almost exclusively to martial arts films. I was hesitant to watch, fearful that I would get sucked in as I did with the first K-drama that I had ever watched. But I decided to watch it, and sucked in I was, binge-watching all 24 episodes in three days.
Sweet Tai Chi is centered around a young woman named Feng Piao Piao who had learned Tai Chi from her grandfather. He had secretly learned it from one of the four families deemed to be the gatekeepers of the original, authentic practice. These four families never divulged their martial arts secrets to outsiders, and Feng Piao Piao’s grandfather was considered a pariah for his thievery. Nonetheless, Wei Chu, the young heir to one of the four families wants to teach the “real” Tai Chi to outsiders, partly in fear that it will die out otherwise. However, he meets much resistance from his elders. He then meets Feng Piao Piao and sees the martial arts prodigy as an opportunity to realize his dream. The film, like the chart, brings up more questions than can be tackled here, but I would like to offer two for consideration below.
What’s your why?
One of the questions I would like to see on this well-considered flow chart is, “Why do I want to perform this music?” There are often sound reasons for wanting to perform a music that one does not claim as one’s own, including in the name of fostering representation and inclusivity. However, particularly in today’s society, where there are so many ways of increasing representation without performance, it is important that the why behind the performance is thought through. I would like to point out that even in education, learning a musical style does not always have to include a public performance. In my workshops, when I teach Caribbean music to those who do not claim Caribbean heritage, the purpose is for students to have an opportunity to learn through embodiment some of the intricacies of performing Afro-Caribbean music. The goal is never to have students present this music in a public performance setting. With that said, there may be a time when I choose to do so, and my reasons for doing so would be clear and well-considered. In Sweet Tai Chi, although Feng Piao Piao had begun learning Tai Chi at a young age, she refrained from showcasing her skill until someone was being assaulted. Otherwise, her “performance” was always in private until approved by the gatekeepers. My point being, we do not always need to publicly perform what we have learned, particularly if our performance may be harmful or disruptive. And because musical meaning can be fluid, we should revisit our whys to make sure they remain valid.
How do you perform?
An important question on the flow chart is “Do you respect or mock the community represented?” Later in the series, Wei Chu’s grandmother is concerned with Feng Piao Piao being allowed to represent the Tai Chi division in competition for fear of being mocked and embarrassed. Grandma was concerned with Feng Piao Piao’s technical mastery of Tai Chi, that is her ability to compete at an advanced level and represent the four families at a highly public event. The performance context is important. In addition, Wei Chu’s grandmother was also concerned with whether or not Feng Piao Piao had the love and reverence for the practice that had been ingrained and honed in members of the four families since childhood. Would Feng Piao Piao be able to exhibit such reverence in her performance? And we should note that technical mastery does not necessarily go hand-in-hand with respect.
I love the follow up question, “Would that community agree?” The self-reflection is needed. Indeed, what I appreciate most about this chart is the way that it forces one to self-reflect. The answers are not always easy to come by. For example, community members do not always agree on this topic, as evident in Wei Chu’s conflict with his grandmother and the other elders. I should add, that there are many power differentials at work in Sweet Tai Chi. The gatekeepers in the drama are wealthy and of privilege, while Feng Piao Piao comes from humble means. Power dynamics are also at work with respect to my father’s nearly half-century practice of Chinese martial arts. How do race, privilege, and power factor into these discussions? How and when do we move from cultural exchange to appropriation? Again, communities may not always agree on the answer, but it is important to stop and ask the question. One of the things I have always loved about music is its ability to serve as an entry point to learning about different people and cultures. Yet, it is important for us to be mindful of our positionality and position within those communities, to be ambassadors – and not “culture vultures” or dictators – of people and cultures to which we do not belong.
NOTES:
Kung Fu or Gōng Fū (功夫) is often used as an umbrella term to refer to various forms of Chinese martial arts. However, the term itself — which loosely can be described as meaning “skill gained through consistent effort or discipline” — is not exclusive to martial arts.
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