DanceMap: Innovation pathways and policies to promote European dance heritage at home and abroad

DanceMap takes an Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) approach to the European dance heritage of the 20th century. The project is grounded in the understanding that this particular aspect of dance heritage is equally at-risk as many traditional folk dances. There is a common conception (even among practitioners) of contemporary dance as a “history-less” art form, which is divorced from tradition and continuously seeks to reinvent itself. It was only in 2022 that the first instance of artistic dance was inscribed in the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: “The practice of Modern Dance in Germany” has now been affirmed as ICH, pointing towards its cultural significance, its historical context and its community-building qualities. Where this inscription falls short, however, is in its suggestion that Modern Dance is a uniquely German heritage, when in fact it is a much more international phenomenon, having flourished across Central and Eastern Europe in the early 20th century, before being scattered globally during the two World Wars and the events of the interwar period.

The DanceMap consortium recognises that modern and contemporary dance represent values which are central to the European project: They are collaborative, non-logocentric, embodied cultural practices that mirror European conviviality and frequently draw on marginal, migratory, queer or feminist experiences and perspectives. With this project, the consortium makes the case that Euro- pean dance heritage has been overlooked in its ability to build a contemporary image of the EU as a progressive, diverse and inclusive political and social entity. It seeks to correct this by piloting the DanceMap platform, which includes a digital workspace for researchers and a Dance Heritage Hub with a wide international reach and popular appeal. The DanceMap platform will be a map both in the geographical sense, showcasing examples of successful dance heritage initiatives all over Europe and making them accessible for a wider global public, and in the sense of a blueprint or roadmap towards effective and sustainable policy solutions at regional, national and European level.