輕跳清唱之文化常續機制──從愛努族的舞扮動物談起

Simple Body Movement with a Capella as Mechanism of Cultural Persistence: On Modelled Animals Dancing of the Ainu People in Northernmost Japan

本文中，筆者以日本北海道之先住民愛努族為對象，先行描述該族在舞蹈演出時刻的動物扮裝，並進一步探討傳統時期至現代時空錯位，所述說的該項出演乃至整體古式舞蹈的抽象意涵。傳統愛努舞蹈曲目多與祭典儀式有關，而且往往和做為神靈之一的動物如熊隻、貓頭鷹、鯨魚等關係密切。動物在歌舞場域裡，從不會為人所忘卻，牠引領人類進入大自然世界，人們也以之為生活環境知識的導師。愛努舞蹈是一種身體的「動」態整合，參與者於適當時空中演出於外，過去族內眾人認肯，今日則外人觀者多以表演很像自己所陌生之動物樣態而稱許。動物類型舞蹈多為小型動作或稱「小動」或者短時動作或稱「短動」的內演過程，它很簡單，也非常直接了當，雖難獲日本國家架構下之藝術社群青睞，但，卻也因此常續性地以孤芳自賞姿態，永保了傳統的真紀錄。族人靠此來宣示文化，而文化的永續，那怕是在舞台商業場合上出現，總能代表一個族群的內涵所在。愛努族以動物扮演為要的歌舞，作為一種特殊之身體肢體演示的運動型態，只見清跳又輕聲，卻也於默默施作過程中，貢獻了族群認同與文化維繫的巨大時代任務。

This paper utilizes the Ainu People in Japan as subjects, describing their animal costumes in the dance performance. I then discuss the different meanings for the Ainu in pre-modern times and for the external audiences in the present when facing the same dancing content. Most of the Ainu dancing programs have a close connection to religious rituals and festivals, and almost all animals portrayed by the people during sacred situations, such as bears, whales, owls, and salmon are defined as god spirits. Animals have never been neglected by humans because they guide people to understand the natural world and serve as guides for living a proper way of life. Ainu dancing is a sort of culture-defined body movement. The Ainu participants have touched the deep minds of the dancers and established an inner tacit agreement to the knowledge of the natural world. All Ainu dancing programs, especially those related to animal themes, are characterized by brevity and accompanied by simple capella. The typical artist community in Japan often omits the existence of Ainu’s simple dances with short songs, allowing Ainu expressive culture to maintain traditional patterns without the struggles experienced in Japan proper with various art styles in dance and singing. Under the circumstances, the Ainu have continuously maintained traditional performances. Today no matter where the Ainu dancing performs, simplicity and brevity remain two key elements grasped by all dancers. An animal-dress-up dance performed by the Ainu undoubtedly constitutes a special type of organized body movement, significantly contributing to the maintenance of the Ainu identity during the unpleasant century of extreme assimilation manipulated by the nation-state administration.