Les performances d’improvisation de Tanya Tagaq : une analyse descriptive de la culture ethno-pop

• Published in: Itinéraires
• Main Author: Stévance, Sophie
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: French
• Published: Pléiade 2015
• Subjects: Tanya Tagaq; ethno-pop; cosmopolitisme esthétique; katajjaq; performances d’improvisation; analyse performancielle; aesthetic cosmopolitanism; improvisatory performances; performance analysis; scipo; socio; inuit
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/itineraires/2765

Inuk singer Tanya Tagaq, who practices a form of throat singing called “katajjaq” in a pop-electro-experimental musical context, is likely to be representative of a whole generation of Aboriginal artists. Just like Tagaq, artists such as Lucie Idlout, Elisapie Isaac or Celina Kalluk go beyond their cultural range to feed themselves with various influences in order to integrate their creations to the transnational artistic production. Which specific aspects of Tagaq’s practice reveal, on the one hand, a more traditional practice and, on the other, a contemporary practice? How does this cultural dialogue manifest itself on stage? To better understand her aesthetic behaviour, we will consider how Tagaq builds her improvisations, based on traditional katajjaq and on Occidental musical and cultural codes. Once observed, these elements express the identity building of the young Aboriginal generation, whose multidisciplinary and transnational creation enriches and reflects this voluntary movement, not as a quest but as a conquest for a new cultural balance. This constant dialogue between her inuk roots and her integration on the transnational contemporary scene (two poles of attraction defining Tagaq’s cosmopolitan profile), is well served by ethno-pop. La chanteuse inuit Tanya Tagaq, qui pratique une forme de chant de gorge (katajjaq) dans un contexte de musique pop-électronique, nous semble particulièrement représentative de toute une génération d’artistes autochtones. Comme Tagaq, des artistes comme Lucie Idlout, Elisapie Isaac ou Celina Kalluk, dépassent volontiers leur aire culturelle pour se nourrir d’influences diverses afin d’intégrer leurs créations à la production artistique transnationale. Quels aspects spécifiques de la pratique artistique de Tagaq relèvent, d’une part, d’une pratique plus traditionnelle et, d’autre part, d’une pratique contemporaine ? Comment ce dialogue se manifeste-t-il dans les prestations scéniques de la chanteuse ? Pour mieux comprendre le comportement esthétique de Tagaq, nous ...