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Parallel Traditions: State Folk Dance Ensembles And Folk Dance In "The Field", Anthony Shay

Pomona Faculty Publications and Research

In this introductory essay I put forth several concepts and elements that can be profitably examined before any meaningful analysis of these ensembles and their choreographic output can be properly addressed. These include issues of authenticity and representation, as well as the variety of social and technical restrictions and limitations—political, financial, artistic—faced by the artistic directors of these companies. Thus, the main intent of this essay is to establish a theoretical and methodological model for the study of professional and semi-professional state folk dance ensembles as well as the numerous amateur performing and exhibition groups that emulate the state dance …