How does the ballroom dancing motif function in the play? What is its significance? What does it reveal about the characters?
We, as the audience, are introduced to ballroom dancing in the first few pages of the play, where Sam is guiding Willie in the art of ballroom dancing. Sam says, "Your shoulders, Willie..your shoulders! Don't look down! Look happy, Willie! Relax, Willie!" (4). Although on the surface it may seem that Sam emphasizing the technical components of ballroom dancing and maintaining a professional face, Sam is actually idealizing the art of ballroom dancing as a way to momentarily repress the internalized racism and unfair treatment received black Afrikaans in an apartheid system. Sam and Willie are waiters in a deserted St. George's Park Tea Room on a wet and windy Port Elizabeth afternoon, reading white comic books and scrubbing floors--so ballroom dancing is a perfect escape.
Now, what makes ballroom dancing a perfect expressive art for idealistic visions? Historically speaking, ballroom dancing is enjoyed by the white upper class society and is a manifestation of elegance and propriety. Ballroom dancing thus essentially represents the highest tier of society and greatest form of upper class tastes, vanity, beauty, and leisure. These ideas surrounding ballroom dancing are mostly in contradiction with the waiters' lives; they are suppressed by the apartheid system and are required to obey all white people no matter their status, age, or gender. Furthermore, according to the Bantu Education Act of 1953, Africans in the European community do not belong to any level above certain forms of labor and are undeserving of human cultural absorption into the European community. Once again, ballroom dancing is ultimately representative of the European community and its ideals, so this motif of ballroom dancing in the play definitely seeks to highlight the need for an escape from the oppressive apartheid system.
However, when looking at ballroom dancing form the perspective of Hally (a 17 year old white boy who is friendly with the waiters since childhood), ballroom dancing is viewed as a miracle because of the lack of "collisions" and the dancers idealistically will never encounter accidents (essentially colliding and disrupting the whole magical beauty of ballroom dancing).
Sam: There's no collisions out there Hally. Nobody trips or stumbles or bumps into anybody else.That's what that moment is all about. To be one of those finalists on that dance floor is like...like being in a dream about a world in which accidents don't happen." (45)
Hally comes from a socially disruptive family where his dad is a "cripple" and his mom is struggling with his dad's alcoholism, ultimately portraying an unhealthy and abusive family. Despite coming from a different background and being of a perceived superior race through the arbitrary system of apartheid, Hally also views ballroom dancing as an escape from his belief that "[j]ust when you're enjoying yourself, someone or something will along and wreck everything" (47).
I think the use of ballroom dancing as a motif in this play ultimately ties the contrasting lives of the waiters and Hally together all into a dream which they escape from a world of collisions and accidents of various forms. The very nature of ballroom dancing exudes "primitive emotions" and allows for the characters to personally and emotionally engage in this dream where miracles do come true. It shows that despite how egregiously different their social backgrounds may be, this tendency to romanticize is certainly inherent in human nature.
This is a really interesting take on the ballroom motif; I never thought about it that way. I like how you choose to focus on the character's perceptions of ballroom dancing as opposed to the dancing itself, because that tells us so much more about the characters. I don't know if I necessarily agree with Hally about ballroom dancing being a release of "primitive emotions", but I do think it's a form of catharsis for both Sam and Willie. This becomes even more evident by the end of the play when Sam and Willie use ballroom dancing to comfort each other after Hally left. I'm not as certain about ballroom dancing's relation to Hally, but the point you made about how it shows that romanticizing is a universal tendency is quite interesting!
ReplyDeleteThe quote "Your shoulders, Willie..your shoulders! Don't look down! Look happy, Willie! Relax, Willie!" (4) also struck me as interesting. While I hope I am not analyzing too much, Sam tells Willie to not "look down" and "be happy." While this applies to the physical aspects of ballroom dancing, they are also universal tips. It is as if Sam is telling Willie to act and be strong. In class, we always talked about how Sam and Willie see ballroom dancing as a temporary escape, I've never thought about how Hally also felt the same. He was very interested in this topic and even started writing a paper on it. In a way, dancing is a common ground for all the characters in that they can express themselves freely.
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