ABSTRACT
The singular composition of this section clearly reflects the singularities of its subject and its field of study. The keyword “identities” crystallizes the theoretical efforts of the several decades of research in the human sciences, outlined by Andrée Grau in her introduction. From work in anthropology to the various aspects of cultural studies approach, the last few decades of social science research have given the field of dance new insights into the customary boundaries between high-brow and low-brow dance, between concert and social dance, and between western and nonwestern dances. It is no longer possible to think of dance as anything but a human and social practice, to ignore the bonds between dance’s staged forms and its everyday practices or, even more, to ignore the fact that dance, like any other human practice, is subject to the pressure of political relationships and is in itself a place in which power is exercised.
