Les corps d'ailleurs en danse contemporaine: une inclusion par le stigmate

The author investigates bodily norms affecting dancing bodies, recalling the question which bodies matter in contemporary dance. Contrary to ballet, which seeks to harmonize bodies, contemporary dance draws on somatic heterogeneity. Marginal bodies, traditionally excluded from ballet, are also given access to the stage through contemporary dance performance (black, overweight, disabled bodies). The author demonstrates, however, that these ? atypical ? bodies only gain visibility through stigmatic thematization. The marks of exclusion are explored from an ethnographic fieldwork in Switzerland, supported by examples from later surveys in Scotland, Montreal and Paris. Crossing choreographers? discourses and performances? observations, the author questions the politics of representation and body?s agency.