Research topics
This is a list of the academic articles published following the symposia of the ICTM Study Group on ethnochoreology. Those who know us will know that we keep everything databased and indexed! We are not aware this reference information is available elsewhere, so I have posted our data files here. …read more
This is a list of the academic articles published following the symposia of the ICTM Study Group on Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe. Those who know us will know that we keep everything databased and indexed! We are not aware this reference information is available elsewhere, so I have …read more
This blog note explains the way I (as a partially competent musician) have rationalised the concept of ‘meter’ from the perspective of dancing (at which I am more competent). The problem to somehow mediate between a dance concept and the established de facto western classical musical understanding of ‘meter’. From …read more
We have to think about why we are using notation and does it contribute to analysis. The wonder of the various mathematical notations is that they enable abstract logical deduction. Something that is not possible with say Roman numerals, written language or graphical dance notations. In the later there are …read more
At academic meetings the themes of ‘improvisation’ and the ‘individual’ are common, but what does this actually mean in the context of a chain dance? Here I summarise the three logical constructions that could be termed ‘improvisation’. First construction … non-Western music, in which one cannot really distinguish between improvisation …read more
Western classical works in music and dance are generally quite tightly fixed and rigid compositions, which can be notated, and are played or danced near identically every time. However, this is not typical of social dancing and many forms of music. … establish the rules according to which a dance …read more
At Easter in 2013 we took part in a ‘fieldwork experience’ with the ‘ICTM Ethnochoreology sub study group for field research’ in the village of Svinița on the Danube Gorge in southern Banat. This trip was organised by our Serbian colleague, Selena Rakočević, from the Institute of Musicology in Belgrade, …read more
Carnivalesque events known as fășanc, fărșang or fășang, nunta cornilor take place in Banat during the week preceding the start of the pre-Easter fasting, postul mare, (the precise week depending on catholic or orthodox calendars). These events mark the transition between the end of the winter and the beginning (re-birth) …read more
The annual celebration of the patron saint’s day for the local church is widespread. Within southeast Europe these celebrations mostly follow similar formats. These celebrations are known as ruga (plural ruge) in Banat, or in the Banat mountains also as nedeia (spelt in various ways). Ruge in Banat usually take …read more