Text

theses

Twenty-first century intangible cultural heritage preservation efforts can be better understood by looking specifically at dance as a medium of cultural expression. As budgetary issues, lack of trained dance preservation specialists, and the passage of time increasingly threaten intangible heritage, this thesis focuses on the efforts of dance organizations in the United States to document and preserve dance forms, steps, and choreography. Further, this thesis submits that because dance is a key to transmitting American culture globally, more efforts should be made to preserve America’s dance heritage. Dance encapsulates many dimensions of social life, including communal celebrations, rites of passage, ritual observances, and religious observances. Outside the United States, many cultures have long histories of using dance traditions to transmit ancestral heritage, such as the Japanese Eisa dances from Okinawa Island, West African Elegba folklore dances, and Australian Aboriginal community dances. Dance also reflects specific moments of societal change. Several dance styles in the United States illustrate this concept. The Modern dance movement in the early 1900s epitomized artists breaking free from the strict structures of Ballet. Swing dance captured the ebullient mood of the roaring 1920s. African American youth found an outlet for anger and frustration in the 1980s through breakdancing. In a century of rapid economic, political, and social change, traditional dance forms are increasingly challenged by lack of funding, lack of public support and participation, and ever-changing societal pressures for gender confinement. Different countries place varying levels of importance on the safeguarding of art within the culture at large. In the United States, there is no large government agency tasked with intangible cultural preservation. Instead, smaller private agencies have begun the monumental task of recording, safeguarding, and preserving our dance legacy. This thesis investigates how dance communities and organizations in the United States are working toward developing programs to preserve dance traditions. Through case studies, dance preservation efforts in the United States and globally are compared. Formal interviews of individuals who work in the dance community and the dance preservation sector, in conjunction with research on dance history and dance preservation activities, highlight dance preservation efforts and approaches within the United States. Other nations’ approaches to dance preservation are also considered regarding best-practices that can be applied in the United States.

ETD_7971

M.A.

Includes bibliographical references

by Darcy Riley

doi:10.7282/T3TH8QMH

ETD graduate

The author owns the copyright to this work.