Ballroom
Unlike other Asian countries, Japan is always said to be affiliated with western civilization and culture. The culture of Japan has been reported to have several similarities specifically with the US culture. However, the culture of Japan and that in the US has also been significantly different. The ballroom has been in existence for a long time and has gone through several transformations over the period. The nature of Ballroom is that it is sensitive to current events and culture. The similarities between the cultures of Japan and America have led to the similarity between ballroom in America and Japan. However, the ongoing developments in Japan and America are different, and thus the genre has its difference in the two nations.
The societal acceptance of humor is different in Japan and America. Most of the events that would be viewed as being humorous in Japan turn out to be considered to be in an insult in America, or even rudeness. Similarly, Americans will crack the usual jokes that will not be acceptable in Japan. For example, Ballroom in Japan is viewed as a free expression of sexuality (Karatsu, 416). Japanese will not be at any offense making a joke about men who like ballroom as being perverts, and thus their primary interest is the girls who want the same dance. The version of the ballroom in America, “Can we dance” involves dancing styles that include men dancing with fellow men. A joke that could be likened to the Japanese one is that of joking about the sexuality of men. However, joking about the sexuality of men in the American ballroom could involve making homosexual comments, which is not odd in America. Homosexuality is a taboo in the Japanese culture and making such a comment will be met with harsh criticism and will not be taken as any form of humor. The Japanese culture is based on extreme Buddhism, and no one will be at peace while making such comments. Another joke that will be taken differently in Japan and America is a joke on the age of ballroom superstars. Americans will freely joke on the age of an old ballroom star by saying that he will soon blow a thousand candles. Such a joke will be understood in the American setting and people will ignore it as a joke aimed at creating humor and should not be taken seriously. In the Japan setting, however, the elderly are highly respected, and no one will dare to make jokes about their old age. Making a joke on the age of a Japanese star will be taken as rudeness and will be taken more seriously in a Japanese setting than is the case in the American context. Such differences in the perception of humor cause a significant difference in the development of ballroom in Japan and America.
The penetration of Ballroom in the family setting is different for both America and Japan. First, the roles of women are clearly defined in Japan. The Japanese family structure defines a wife to be a subject to her husband and that she should consider the welfare of the man before anything else. The roles extend to the performance in ballroom music where the female dancers are expected to steal the show more often in a bid to entertain their male counterparts. The men interested in ballroom have in many instances been criticized for being involved due to the female dancers, a fact that proves the Japanese ballroom as being male-dominated. The setting is however different in the American context (Merom, 30). The Americans are brought up to believe that a family is a partnership that does not specify rules depending on gender. Setting roles for a wife in America can be met with a lot of criticism, and no one will dare do such a thing. The impact of family setting is evident in the ballroom performance with men regularly performing roles that would appear to be for women if the Japanese ballroom was to be taken for reference. The development of ballroom faces more challenges in Japan than in America due to the setting of the family. For example, a Japanese woman will have more difficulties convincing their husbands to allow them to attend music classes than is the case in America. An American woman has the freedom to make her own decision and the support from her husband is only considered to be an added advantage and not a must have before making any decision. The Japanese setting is however different since the husband has total control on the decisions that his wife is allowed to make. Generally, the difference in the family settings in America and Japan has led to a significant difference in the development rate in the ballroom genre. The ballroom has developed faster in America than in Japan and women are at more liberty to develop their ballroom talents in America than is the case in America.
The definition of success in ballroom field in Japan is different from that in America. The Japanese culture views success in terms of society’s appreciation whereas, in America, success is based on individual efforts. Ballroom involves dancing in pairs, and each dancer is expected to have a specific dancing partner with whom they grow in the field together. The success in the ballroom in Japan is measured in terms of a couple and not individual performance. For example, if a member in a dancing couple underperforms, the blame goes to the duo. Similarly, credit for a well-taken performance in the field goes also to the duo. The seriousness of the matter is evident in the way the community treats a break up in the ballroom sector. A dancer who decides to break up with their dancing partners is deemed to fail in their career since society in Japan does not recognize breakups. Whenever an individual succeeds solely in Japan without the society benefitting from the success, the immediate judgment is that such an individual is selfish. Such a notion is used to judge dancers who break up with their partners, and their careers fail due to the loss in popularity. The case is however different in America. Americans view success in terms of an individual’s efforts. An individual in America is not obliged to help society in any way. The notion is still evident in the ballroom genre where a decision to break up with a partner is viewed as a strategic move towards growing one’s career. The Americans view individuals who decide to break their dancing and performance partnerships as being courageous and bold enough to make such decisions. The differences in the performance of ballroom in Japan and the US do not, however, exhaust the opportunity of similarities.
The development and performance of ballroom have several similarities in Japan and America. First, the genre is considered from the social aspect of both nations. In Japan, for example, the ballroom is used to entertain the audience and has been widely accepted as a form of recreation. The use of the dance in various social activities such as weddings has improved the popularity of the genre (Harman, 30). Similarly, in the US, the ballroom is widely accepted for entertainment purposes. The genre has been used in various functions that include big parties and celebrations due to its popularity. The nature of ballroom as a partner dance makes it fit well in the entertainment sector with couples choosing recreational centers that play ballroom. Also, the fact that Japan borrows most of its culture from the west gives ballroom a significant following in Japan with most followers choosing to stick with the American way of performance. The similarity is further motivated by the beliefs from most Japanese who believe that ballroom was brought to Japan from the west and thus should maintain its original tune to maintain originality. Also, the cultures of both nations allow space for entertainment and thus use the genre to serve such purpose. The performance of ballroom in both nations follows the original system of partner dance and the gender of the parties involved in the dance is not a serious factor to be considered. Generally, the ballroom has been accepted both in the US and Japan as an entertainment genre that has done well to dominate the social organization.
The ballroom has been incorporated as a competitive dance in both the USA and Japan. The competition in the ballroom has been expanding with time from local competitions and has blossomed to international levels over the past few years (Juliet, 48). Several national competitions have been being held in both nations to give a platform where ballroom stars have been getting a chance to showcase their talents and compete among one another. The USA, for example, has been holding the National Dance-sport Competition where ballroom has regularly been appearing. The competitive nature in the sports helps the growth in the genre as participants prepare to showcase the best of their talents. On the other hand, the Japan Dance Grand Prix features different music genres and ballroom has not been left behind in the competition. The nature of the competitions in both nations is similar, and also the rules governing performance are identical.
In sum, the ballroom has been developing day-in-day-out in Japan and America. The development of ballroom in Japan borrows significantly. However, the genre has presented significant differences in the recent past with differences appearing due to the cultural differences in the two nations as well as the different perception of humor. Despite the differences, the genre has presented significant similarities in Japan and America. Generally, the ballroom can be said to be different and similar in Japan and America.
Works Cited
Harman, Vicki. “A Social History of Ballroom and Latin Dancing.” The Sexual Politics of Ballroom Dancing. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2019. 29-50.
Harman, Vicki. The Sexual Politics of Ballroom Dancing. Springer, 2018.
Karatsu, Rie. “Cultural absorption of ballroom dancing in Japan.” Journal of popular culture 36.3 (2003): 416.
McMains, Juliet. “Becoming Beautiful: Ballroom Dance in the American Heartland by Joanna Bosse.” Middle West Review 4.2 (2018): 47-49.
Merom, Dafna, et al. “Social dancing and incidence of falls in older adults: a cluster randomised controlled trial.” PLoS medicine 13.8 (2016): e1002112.