Dance and Gender Identity: Dance as a Symbol and a Tool of Reading Gender Relations. A Study Review

Abstract

Dance is a multidimensional phenomenon that has been approached and investigated in Greece and many countries in various ways. This resulted in a huge literature about the subject which reflects its multiperspectival character. Among the long research in dance, a great number of published studies used theories, not only from the social and humanistic studies, but also physical sciences as a theoretical background. In terms of social and humanistic studies, dance has been treated as a special aspect of local culture or generally of culture, as well as culture on its own. During the 80s, the theory of social and cultural construction of the identity was introduced into the humanistic and sociological research, through which it was argued that the gender is not a natural fact but, on the contrary, it has a cultural content, it is a social relationship and, therefore, consists in a cultural symbol. This was a theoretical approach that has been extrapolated to the dance study field. The aim of this paper is to show the research in dance studies in terms of the theory of the social and cultural construction of gender identity, as viewed by the dance researchers in Greece and other countries. Namely, through the review of relevant literature –international and Greek- and with reference to the concepts
of social gender, gender relations, gender identity and dance, the paper focuses on the critical presentation of methodological approaches in social construction of gender identity and dance that were published during the last 25 years. After the review, it was concluded that researchers define gender relations and gender social roles as practices constantly evolving and changing in time and space, rather than standard and consolidated practices. Moreover, tool-concepts, such as “dance”, “dance practices”, “acts”, “power”, “strength”, “social order” are used in order to interpret gender relations and gender social roles through dance, in which dance societies are approached as a “space” where any type of relation, including interpersonal relations between men and women, are reflected.