Masters Thesis

Gulbahar, an Intercultural Chinese-Uyghur Dance-Drama Inspired by Romeo and Juliet and Medea

In this graduate project, I have explored a new intercultural dance drama by bringing together my background as a traditional Uyghur dancer with my studies into the Western theatre history and dramatic literature. The story of Gulbahar is informed and inspired by the ancient Greek tragedy, Medea, by Euripides and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. As for the dance performance, the artistic impulse comes from my experience of watching Martha Graham's "Cave of the Heart" based on Euripides's Medea. The title of this dance-drama Gulbahar is a common girl's name in the Uyghur community. Uyghur is a region in China; its official designation is Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where rich arts and culture developed through its long history. Uyghur remains as one of the most underrepresented regions in the Western hemisphere. By incorporating story elements from the well-known Western canon of dramatic literature, I have created a new dance drama rooted in Chinese Uyghur performing arts tradition. The integral part of this graduate project is the presentation of the traditional Uyghur costumes, props, music and songs. The visual images of costumes, instruments and props are given detailed explanations uncovering the origin and each of their symbolic meanings. Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, my proposed plan for a live public performance for general audiences became no longer possible. For archival purposes, the first act of Gulbahar and a solo dance which I recorded and edited myself are uploaded to the CSUN Electronic Thesis and Dissertation and published on Youtube ( https://youtu.be/9Hd74Ejykzg).

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