Virility and Grace: Dance, Masculinity, and National Identity in Twentieth-Century New Zealand

This paper offers a rethinking of masculine identity in twentieth century New Zealand through an examination of male dancers and dance by men. From 1905, when the first All Black rugby team performed haka in the United Kingdom, to 2005, when a rugby player won the first season of the televised dancing competition, Dancing with the Stars, this paper presents a history that places at its centre the moving body and analysis of representations of masculinity. Dance, often deemed an inappropriate occupation for men and absent from most histories, is discussed here in relation to forms undertaken by New Zealand men: haka, ballet and contemporary dance. By examining how dance embodies and communicates expression, gender and sexuality we can reflect on the changing definitions of New Zealand masculinities in the twentieth century.

The history of twentieth century New Zealand performing arts is often told as a parable of escape in which the talented have to depart the colonial isolation of New Zealand and sojourn in the cultural richness of civilisation. Keith Sinclair’s 1959 History of New Zealand presented the attempts to produce art in the late nineteenth century as failures of judgement. ‘New Zealand was not yet able to make her artists or poets feel at home.  In Paradise Reforged, James Belich argued that during the so-called ‘recolonial’ period (1880s-1960s) New Zealand produced ‘talent that was surplus to local requirements’ leading to the situation where ‘the culturally talented were often physical expatriates.’ General histories of New Zealand have so far not allowed for men who danced to make an entrance, let alone take centre stage in the story of New Zealand.

By examining issues surrounding men and dance, a history of New Zealand unfolds that raises questions surrounding masculinity and femininity, body image, race, nationhood, emotional expression and sexual orientation.