Conversations on Ancient Dance I

Conversations on Ancient Dance

2 July 2026 (10am-1:30pm CET)

Online: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/c787cb7bdcf444568d92f5370d1480bf

Conversations on Ancient Dance is an initiative of the ICTMD Study Group on Music Archaeology, coordinated by Laura Gianvittorio-Ungar, conceived as a series of annual online study days dedicated to the study of dance in antiquity from a range of perspectives, including iconographic, textual, archaeological, anthropological, choreomusicological, and practice-based approaches.

Our first session explores ancient dance as a multisensory practice in the Graeco-Roman world, where movement, sound, gesture, rhythm, and spectatorship are deeply intertwined. Through case studies ranging from ritual and spectacle to pantomime, percussive dancing, ancient dance theory, and contemporary artistic re-enactments, the session examines how dance creates meaning across bodies, instruments, texts and images.

WEBINAR PROGRAMME AND WEBSITE: https://eventos.uva.es/149286/programme/ictmd-study-group-on-music-archaeology-conversations-on-ancient-dance.html

10:00–10:15: Introduction

10:15–10:45: A Choreomusicological Approach to Ritual Performances in Heliodoros' Aethiopika (Sylvain Perrot, CNRS)

10:45–11:15: Ancient Percussive Dancing: Choreomusical Bodies and Instruments (Laura Gianvittorio-Ungar, Universität Graz)

11:15–11:45: Learning to Listen with Skin, Blood and Bone: Dancing Echo and Eurydice (Marie-Louise Crawley, Coventry University)

12:00–12:30: Ummidia Quadratilla's Pantomimes, or Dynamics of Seeing and Being Seen (Karin Schlapbach, Université de Fribourg)

12:30–13:00: An Outline of Ancient Dance Theory (Sophie M. Bocksberger, University of Oxford)

13:00–13:30: Final Discussion

Contact

raquel.jimenez(at)uva.es, laura.gianvittorio-ungar(at)uni-graz.at