4 from ritual to theater and back: the efficacy ... - AAAARG.ORG

from ritual to theater and back 117
examples can be found in Asia, native America, medieval Europe,
Africa, and some western experimental performances – offer, I think,
the best model for the future of the theater.
Much performing among tribal peoples is, like the kaiko, part of the
society’s overall ecology. The engwura cycle of the Arunta as described
by Spencer and Gillen (1899, repr. 1968) in the late nineteenth century
4 is an elegant example of how a complicated series of performances
both expressed and participated in a people’s ecology. The fact
that the engwura is no longer performed – that the Arunta, culturally
speaking, have been exterminated – indicates the incompatibility of the
wholeness I am talking about and western culture as it is presently
constituted. In so far as performing groups adapt techniques from the
kaiko or engwura they are bound to remain outside the western
“mainstream.” But the chief function of the avant-grade is to propose
models for change: to be “in advance.” The engwura was an initiation
cycle that spanned several years; the last phase consisted of performances
staged sporadically over a 3–4-month period. Each phase of the
engwura took place only when several conditions meshed: enough
young men of a certain age gathered in one place ready to be initiated;
enough older men willing to lead the ceremonies (particularly decisive
in an oral culture); enough food to support the celebration. Then the
sacred implements and grounds were prepared painstakingly according
to tradition. Finally, there had to be peace among neighboring tribes –
sometimes the announcement of an impending engwura was enough
to settle a peace.
The engwura’s daily rhythm recapitulated its monthly rhythm: performance
spaces were cleared, implements repaired and laid out, body
decorations applied, food cooked and eaten. Each performance day saw
not one but several performances, with rest and preparations between
each. Each performance lasted an average of ten minutes, and was
characteristically a dance accompanied by drumming and chanting.
After finishing a performance, the performers rested for about two
hours; then preparations for the next performance began, and these
preparations took about two hours. The day followed a rising and
falling rhythm (figure 4.1). 5 The whole performance cycle constituted
and recapitulated the major events in the life-cycle of Arunta
males. Individual events were nested within, even as they as a series