Dance as Living Heritage

Table of contents

The Event

The Hellenic Folklore Research Centre of the Academy of Athens, partner of the Dance as ICH: New models of facilitating participatory dance events (Dance – ICH) Creative Europe Programme organised a series of workshops in Athens (Greece), from Thursday the 14th to Saturday the 16th of December 2023. The workshops aimed to share experiences and knowledge about dance as living heritage of the 21st century and to meditate on the relation between dance ethnography, dance transmission and management in participative co-creative social contexts. The workshops, in which participated distinguished academic researchers from Greece and abroad, executive members of national and international agencies of cultural heritage management, as well as heritage communities were free, open to the public, and took place in the East Wind of the Main Building of the Academy of Athens

Centered on dance as living heritage, the Workshop focused on

dance research and knowledge,
dance experiences and practices, in relation to the post-modern framework of applicative cultural management policies.

Inspiring examples were presented and analyzed as sustainable models of interaction between dance ethnography research and dance educational programmes. In particular, sustainable models of interaction between dance ethnography research, dance educational programmes and dance cultural management practices as conducted in post-modern environments were examined. Additionally, their importance for heritage communities and their heritage was revealed and studied. Moreover, recognizing cultural heritage as an all-inclusive concept and emphasising on its importance as a socio-economic catalyser and as a powerful tool for sustainable development, the EU’s participatory policies and actions gained special attention.

The Chair’s Participation:

Professor Kavouras in his capacity as the holder of the UNESCO Chair “Anthropology of Traditional Music” affirmed our readiness to
collaborate on various fronts: within the community, academia, UNESCO, and notably in advancing transformative education by integrating the concept and practice of liberating learning through dance.

During his presentation, Professor Kavouras referred to the role of cultural anthropology in understanding the UNESCO Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage, particularly concerning traditional music. He addressed challenges in representing and repositioning traditional music, emphasizing cultural anthropology’s influence in shaping perspectives, navigating challenges and contributing to the safeguarding of cultural heritage within the context of UNESCO.