Decolonizing Dance Movement Therapy: A Healing Practice Stuck between Coloniality and Nationalism in Sri Lanka

Article Information

Creative Arts Educ Ther (2021) 7(2):149–157 DOI: 10.15212/CAET/2021/7/20

Decolonizing Dance Movement Therapy: A Healing Practice Stuck between Coloniality and Nationalism in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Dance therapy or dance/movement therapy (DMT) in the modern sense is relatively new to Sri Lanka. Recently, there has been an interest in establishing it as a profession on the island. As DMT is in the very early stages in the country, I see the different directions that it can take. As a dancer, dance educator, and researcher, I see the importance and the potential of healing aspects of dance and movements. However, as an emerging discipline, I demonstrate that at least three directions that DMT in Sri Lanka could take—colonial, nationalized, and decolonial. My premise is that DMT becomes colonial, given its history and orientation, when it is introduced to a postcolonial site. As I argue, DMT imposes a particular colonial framework when introduced to a postcolonial site like Sri Lanka. At the same time, some try to frame DMT in an ethno-nationalist discourse by attempting to prove that dance therapy has already existed in Sinhala traditional ritual practices. Focusing on Sri Lanka, this article questions these colonial and nationalized approaches in DMT and suggests that a decolonial approach is possible.

Keywords: decolonial, dance movement therapy, Sri Lanka, coloniality, nationalism

摘要

现代意义上的舞蹈治疗或舞蹈/动作治疗 (DMT) 在斯里兰卡是较新的领域。近来, 人们已经有兴趣在这座岛国将其设立为一个专业。由于舞蹈治疗 (DMT) 在该国正处 于早期阶段, 我看到它可以发展的不同方向。作为一个舞蹈家、舞蹈教育家和研究者, 我看到了舞蹈和动作的重要性以及在疗愈方面的潜力。然而, 作为一门新兴学科, 我阐 明了舞蹈治疗 (DMT) 在斯里兰卡至少有三个方向可以发展——殖民化、民族化和去 殖民化。我的前提是, 鉴于舞蹈治疗 (DMT) 的历史和定位, 当它被引入到一个后 殖民地区时, 它就变成了殖民主义。正如我所论证的, 当舞蹈治疗 (DMT) 被引入到 像斯里兰卡这样的后殖民地区时, 它就强加了一个特殊的殖民框架。同时, 有些人试图 通过证明舞蹈治疗 (DMT) 早已存在于僧伽罗的传统仪式实践中, 在民族国家主义话 语中对舞蹈治疗 (DMT) 进行框定。本文聚焦斯里兰卡, 质疑了舞蹈治疗 (DMT) 中 殖民化和民族化的方法, 并提出发展一种去殖民化方法的可能性。

关键词： 去殖民主义, 舞蹈/动作治疗, 斯里兰卡, 殖民主义, 民族主义