Between Magna Graecia and Rome: Towards an Archaeological Approach to Dance Performance in Cults

The study of material evidence on dance, combined with a particular attention to the contexts of discovery, sheds light on the uses of dance performances in ancient societies, allowing us to reconstruct the function and meaning of dance in the ancient world. Based on this approach, this chapter investigates the representations of female intertwined dancers painted or carved on various media in the Roman Empire. The most fruitful comparisons can be made in Southern Italy, where intertwined dances seem to be connected with the cycle of death and rebirth. The chapter argues that the dance scenes on Roman votive artefacts, along with the epigraphic dedications, point not only to a specific idea of ritual and dance performances in local cults, but also to an explicit preservation of their memory.