Dance and Visual Culture
reflexions on the performativity of the image, female bodies in motion, and emotions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25145/j.cemyr.2026.34.13Keywords:
dance iconography, visual culture, material culture, cultural history of dance, medieval art, emotionsAbstract
The paper presents some considerations on the role, meaning, and agency of dance images in the Visual Culture of the Middle Ages. Taking the concept of dance-image as a starting point, it reflects on the performative turn in art history studies, on the relationship between representations of dance in medieval material culture and their narrativity. An anthropological approach also allows us to read choreographic scenes as figures and symbols linked to rituality in both the sacred and secular spheres. Overcoming the dichotomy between licit and illicit dances, the article proposes a reading of female dancing figures as a vehicle and expression of emotions, embodied in the dance itself and in the eyes of those who observe it as spectator.
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