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CoC has responded to requests for assistance in the revival of 9 endangered dances:
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"We have 2 more years in the field making documentations and ethnographic records of the extant sacred dance lineages in Bhutan," says Core of Culture Director Joseph Houseal, "- then another year to work with the museum art team for the final exhibition and tour of dancers. Being able to work toe to toe with the art restoration experts, religious advisors and curators that Honolulu Academy brings to this project, our Core of Culture methodology and research capacity deepens and fills new areas of understanding about dance. Honolulu's Director, Dr Stephen Little, has an inspiring vision about what an Academy of Arts can be and do. Core of Culture is proud to be a part of it."
One important ongoing aspect of Core of Culture's work is the creation of the Bhutan Dance Database and High-Definition Media Archive. "To date the Database has over 200 separate dance entries interfacing with more than 300 hours of high-definition video documentation," reports Database Designer and Research Associate Gerard Houghton. "Advances in user-friendly digital technologies help make a large amount of high quality visual material easily available to researchers, and make the Database an ongoing research tool as it grows. With this Database, Bhutan is leading the world in ancient dance preservation."
CoC has worked 23 Festivals at 15 Locations:
CoC has:
The Core of Culture team is made up of professionals from around the
world, including acclaimed Bhutanese filmmaker Karma Tshering. "
Working with Karma has been key to our success in Bhutan," says
Houseal, " his knowledge of local languages, talent as an artist, and
deep love for Bhutan became the working characteristics of our
project. Preserving ancient dances requires a multi-front approach,
and the strategic use of creative media is part of it, along with
archival and on-the-ground preservation strategies - we've been
fortunate to work with the best."