The TEXDANCE project proposes an original study of Etruscan ritual and religious practices, conducted through research on the textiles in dance.
In Etruscan ritual practices, dance had a key role and constituted an important form of non-verbal religious and social communication. It is what the TEXDANCE research project will explore in depth by focusing on dance’s props and textiles.
There are no studies of the relation between dance and textiles in Etruscan ritual practices. So the scope is to examine how textiles make us understand the movements of dance, their ritual functions, their diversity, their performativity, the ritual function of costumes in dance, and the social relations which intertwine.
TEXDANCE will explore Etruscan society and its ritual dance practices between the 8th and the end of the 5th centuries BC.
The project combines three kinds of sources:
– Primarily the iconographic representations as they constitute the most important documentation for Etruria.
– Latin and Greek texts as we have no usable Etruscan texts.
– Archaeological evidence.
Among the issues the project will address, the most important are:
- What kind of textiles and dress are used in dance?
- How are they used in this context?
- How do they indicate movements, and which ones?
- Are they Etruscan productions and can this be confirmed by archaeological finds?
- If not, what does a Mediterranean origin for the textiles mean in ritual practices and beliefs?
- Which social differences do the textiles reflect among dancers? Did textiles make sounds during the dance?