Early Dance

Chair: Emily Winerock, [email protected]

A caucus of scholars, teachers, and performers who share a common interest in dance forms and movement practices from before the nineteenth century.

The Early Dance Working Group organizes and helps coordinate early dance panels for the DSA and other conferences, encourages interdisciplinary explorations and collaborations, and facilitates mentoring for those entering the field.

One key goal of this working group is to promote a broader base of recognition for the work of scholars and scholar-practitioners in the field of early dance. Another goal is to help film, theater, opera, and music organizations that are producing works calling for early dance reconstructions or original creations based on historical dance styles to find specialists in the relevant style.

To support these goals, the Early Dance Working Group maintains an early dance resources website: https://earlydance.wixsite.com/resources

The interests and backgrounds of members vary widely. Some members primarily explore the literary, cultural, political, religious, or social contexts of dancing, while others focus more on somatic and kinesthetic components. In addition to contributions as scholars and educators, many members are also specialists in dance reconstruction, performance, and staging of early dance material.

Anyone with interests in any of the many periods embraced by the term “early dance” is invited to join the Early Dance Working Group. The working group meets during the DSA annual meeting.

For inquiries about membership or about activities of members, please contact Emily Winerock at [email protected].