World Dance Heritage Research Centre

Welcome to World Dance Heritage, with research, culture, lessons, teaching and customs of dance.

This site is about promoting and celebrating all dance forms from all over the world.

Dance as Heritage

If you are interested in dance from an academic perspective, you can read the Ph.D. of Dr Valeria Lo Iacono on dance as a form of intangible cultural heritage here. There are also sections about topical issues and advice and about different dance genres, including travel experiences related to dance.

Country style dancing
Dance in the theater

The site aims at promoting dance and giving as much information as possible about this topic.

A Dancer’s Perspective

I have danced since I was little and I have tried different types of dance in my life.

The dance genre I practice the most now is belly dance Egyptian style, but I am always interested in trying different forms of dance to enrich my expressive repertoire.

The articles in this site are written from the point of view and experience of dance practitioners and those who are involved in this activity/art form in one way or another.

I consider the dimensions of experience, feelings and multi-sensory perceptions to be very important in trying to understand dance.

As well as writing articles of my own, I always welcome input from other dancers in the form of guest articles, interviews or feedback.

Please feel free to contact me if you have opinions, stories or knowledge you would like to share among the dance community.

Dance Research Download

Dance as living heritage paper download

Cultural Heritage Platform

Dance is an expression of culture and, therefore, part of the heritage that people transmit to each other around the world.

In 2003, with its Convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage, UNESCO finally acknowledged the importance of forms of heritage that depend on traditions and activities rather than just on objects and monuments.

For example, performing arts (such as dance), oral traditions, activities and the like can now be added to the lists of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Since 2003, dance forms such as Argentinean tango and Spanish flamenco have been added to the UNESCO lists.

The heritage section of this site acknowledges the heritage and cultural dimensions of dance, covering topics, issues, debates and questions about dance genres as forms of cultural heritage of humanity.

For example, topics such as transmission, identity, globalisation, tradition and innovation are all relevant to the discourse about cultural heritage.

Travel and tourism are also topics that can be linked to cultural heritage and that have certainly affected the way dance is performed in many countries.

Flamenco dancers
Flamenco dancers in a festival in Spain – Centre for Dance Research.
Hire a researcher for heritage studies