The purpose of the study is to formulate an argument as a basis for advancing the further justification and strengthening of (in)tangible cultural heritage of dance. The author systematically introduces the essential features of the various theoretical approaches and figures of thought relevant to dance studies and cultural studies. Furthermore, the potentials of the ‘intangible materiality’ of dance practice as a new perspective for research are pointed out, as well as the implications of the safeguarding and transmission of dance practice within the perspective of intangible cultural heritage. Moreover, the ambiguity of intangible heritage is discussed using the examples of two dance forms that have already been recognized as intangible cultural heritage: the Argentine Tango (2009) and the Rhythm and Free Dance Movement (2022). In conclusion of elaborated arguments and by means of concrete university seminar concepts, the author is able to clarify the potentials of the ‚performative dance-archive‘, the reference to the theoretical considerations that precede it, as well as the meaning and value of the ‘intangible’ within scientific field and in the field of practice.
Prof. Dr. Marie-Theres Albert