Course content

This course provides an introduction to the two disciplines, Ethnochoreology and the Anthropology of Dance. It addresses, in a comparative framework, the contexts of emergence and the transformation through time of both of these and the ways in which they each treat key concepts such as dance, culture, tradition, movement, body, authenticity, fieldwork, ethnography, and so on. It also introduces students to the notion of dance as Intangible Cultural Heritage. In order to render the theoretical perspectives more concrete, the course draws upon empirical examples from all over the world. In this regard the course defines itself as an effort of Decolonising the disciplines of Ethnochoreology and the Anthropology of Dance, that for several centuries relied mostly on either Eurocentric examples or, at least, Eurocentric theories. The course aims, therefore, to cultivate a critical approach, which runs throughout the programme.

Learning outcome

Students who successfully complete this course will gain knowledge in

• the foundations of ethnochoreology and the anthropology of dance as complementary disciplines
• terminology and theoretical paradigms for the study of dance as cultural practice and knowledge
• methods appropriate to the ethnochoreological and anthropological study of dance and other movement systems
• diversity of topics and fields of study from ethnochoreological and anthropological perspectives
• dance as Intangible Cultural Heritage

Students who successfully complete this course will gain the following skills:

• A critical (decolonising) approach to study during the programme
• Researching dance through fieldwork - a hallmark of both disciplines
• Researching dance knowledge in cultural context

Learning methods and activities

The module is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, and discussions.

Further on evaluation

Digital school exam. You will be asked to write an essay of 2500-3000 words.

Specified printed and hand-written support material is allowed.

Specific conditions

Required previous knowledge

Requires admission to Choreomundus - International Master in Dance Knowledge, Practice, and Heritage

Course materials

Bauböck, Rainer & Faist, Thomas (2010) Diaspora and Transnationalism: Concepts, Theories and Methods. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Gore, Georgiana (2009) ‘Lost in translation? Cultural shifts, dance experience and meaning’ in Leena Rouhiainen (ed.) Dance - Movement - Mobility. Proceedings of the 9th International NOFOD Conference Tampere, Finland, October 23-26 2008.

Grau, Andrée (2010) ‘Figure skating and the anthropology of dance: The case of Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin’ Anthropological Notebooks 16 (3) 39-59.

Daniels, Megan (ed.). (2022). Homo Migrans: Modeling Mobility and Migration in HumanHistory. Albany: SUNY-Press, IEMA Distinguished Monograph Series.

Karoblis, Gediminas (2011) ‘Poland and Lithuania: the none-too-easy steps of the Mazurka when Suktinis becomes Krenciolka’. Darbai ir dienos 56: 193-205. Kaunas: Vytautas Magnus Universitety.

Mollenhauer, J. (2022) Cultural Dance in Australia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.