Danzare attorno alla statua: Rituali, schemata e suoni nelle epifanie divine. Un approccio archeologico alla performance

Representations of dance performances around statues are spread across a broad geographical space and a wide chronological spectrum in the ancient world. Yet it is only recently that these groups of dancers have been incorporated into the body of sources and documentation for the study of ancient dance within an archaeological approach to dance performances. This research field adopts an anthropological-religious approach, allowing us to explore the relationship between dance performances and cults and rituals. Furthermore, the study of archaeological evidence concerning dance as well as the context of its discovery sheds light on the function of dance performances in ancient societies in order to reconstruct the role of dance in the past. Taking into account this approach, this paper aims to investigate the representations of dancer groups around statues depicted and/or carved on various media. Moreover, the relationship between dance performances related to the deities of fertility, birth, and marriage will be investigated.