Etnocoreologia italiana: ricerche e analisi sui balli tradizionali in Italia

After more than 30 years of intense research in all parts of Italy and having collected a rich audiovisual documentation, today it’s possible to engage in a critical reflection on the ethnochoreutic studies undertaken so far and to present a more reliable morphological analysis of the rich heritage of traditional dances. Among the many theoretical and methodological questions to unravel, the study examines the various methods of transcription of movement adopted in the past, including the fundamental semiologic criteria of the cinematographer Laban, and proposes the prospective of a multimedia analysis of choreutic expression as a must for the future.After a brief overview of the current state of International and Italian ethnochoreutic studies, the results and methodologies of my field research are presented. And it’s precisely beginning with the direct observation of the dances, through a process of induction and a comparative study, that this research arrives to identify typological constants, differences, and articulations of the dances, creating a sort of grammar of the ethnochoreutic language. There follows the construction of a parametric system of analysis of the structural components and rules that constitute the form of ethnic dance. In conclusion, there is the presentation of the processes of invention, diffusion, and transformation of dance both in its original contexts and in its new functions of spectacle, consumerism, and tourism.