Keywords: Ensembles, Presentational dance

This paper discusses the role of choreographic networks in the dissemination of choreographic styling in Romanian Banat and how this relates to what locals consider as ‘authentic’ (correct) in staged performances of Banat dances. First I discuss the network of choreographers who are present and past dancers in Ensemble Timișul. I follow this with my observations that, among this network, dance is transmitted using informal rather than formal methods. I observe that the acceptable mode of choreography is the combination of individual dances as danced in Banat villages, with some patterning introduced to move around the stage, and that the performance aesthetics have the emphasis on synchrony of movement. Finally I discuss the view that a ‘good dancer’ must dance with precision to the beat of the music with the emphasis on exact timing, and that choreographies should only include dance and customs elements that come from one ethnographic zone.