Being Inspired, Being Possessed: Performative Techniques for the Embodiment of the Spirits in Burmese Urban Ceremonies

Abstract

Dance is regarded as the expression of spirit possession in Burma. In nat kana pwe (private urban ceremonies), the nat kadaw (spirit medium) dances, embodying consecutively the Thirty-Seven nats, a defined pantheon of spirits whom devotees propitiate in order to gainhealth and wealth. In embodying these as well as other spirits, the medium moves fluidly between human and animal, masculine and feminine, young and old, refined and harsh spirit characters. The ritual performance is supported and controlled by the clashing sound of the hsaing waing, the Burmese tuned drums and gongs ensemble. Together, the movements of the nat kadaw and sound of the hsaing ensemble make the spirits come into presence in the ritual space, so that humans can interact with them. This paper investigates the affects and effects of spirit embodiment from the perspective of sound and movement analysis. Addressing the Burmese conceptions about spirits and spirit possession, the paper highlights the exchanges of embodied feelings that link musicians, dancers and spirits during a ceremony. Drawing on fieldwork videos and ethnographic descriptions, the paper considers the coming-into-presence of the nat Nankarine Medaw, the Buffalo Mother of Bago, and analyses the different performative techniques (dramatic representation, spirit dance) and mimetic processes through which this spirit person is danced and sounded, thus allowing her concrete and bodily manifestation.