The Cultural Heritage of Dance and Research Practice

Abstract

In this chapter, the current official understanding of intangible cultural heritage and cultural practices will be presented as an introduction to the subject area of the cultural heritage of dance and the associated research discourse. Moreover, theoretical positions and already developed methods to approach dance practice are named. Particular attention will be paid to the situation in German-speaking countries, where very innovative approaches within dance studies have emerged in the last 20 years. The discussion of a previously conducted case study on the intangible cultural heritage of tango, which was inscribed in 2009, will illustrate the problematic nature of theoretical positions and conceptualisations as well as of the current critical debate on the topic. Following this, some initial and more detailed approaches can be elaborated with regard to the argumentation of the present text.