Theory and Methods in Dance Research: A European Approach to the Holistic Study of Dance

Abstract

This article attempts to summarize leading ideas in dance research within the European scholarly tradition and to draw attention to similarities and differences between the anthropological and choreological approaches. Thereby, we hope to shed light on dance research in general and to outline possible directions for future studies. The notion of a contrastive opposition between the American anthropological perspective on dance and the European choreological one has unfortunately been based upon rather broad generalisations rooted in lack of mutually shared knowledge, partly caused by language barriers and in gaining access to relevant information. Generalisations have tended to gloss over the diversity of trends and directions which characterize the efforts on both sides of the Atlantic in establishing basic theories and developing the necessary methods and tools for dance research as a science of its own. There are, however, basic differences between the development of European and American dance research (see also Kaeppler, this volume). Thus, among European dance scholars, the general trend has been to study dance and dance events within their own culture, whereas American dance scholars have tended to concentrate their studies on cultures different from their own. American dance scholars have often come from the field of anthropology and, therefore, they have naturally applied already elaborated theories and methods to the study of dance processes. Their focus has been on dancing people, therefore, they have seldom analyzed choreographic structure. Conversely, Eurpean dance scholars, who have come mainly from the field of musicology, have felt a different and explicit need to work towards the development of theories and methods deriving from the dance material itself as conceived in its pure choreographic features.