After being brutally interrupted last time, we are giving again this presenation by Prof. Andriy Nahachewsky, with better security. We remind that his book "Ukrainian Dance: A cross-cultural approach" (2011, McFarland Press) is a classic in the field of dance studies, and has been instrumental for our forays into dance from the perspective of cognitive semiotics. As the abstract shows, Andriy will focus on the role of gaze in dancing, and how it differs in presentational and participatory situations. All are welcome to the room, or to the zoom link with cameras turned on, from 15:00 for self-presentations. No one else will be allowed to enter. The talk will start at 15:15.

In this reprise presentation, I focus on how Ukrainian dancers use their eyes while dancing, focusing on a strong contrast between participatory situations (when the dancers are primarily dancing for themselves), and presentational settings (such as dancing on stage for non-dancing spectators). 

In participatory contexts, sight, sound, and touch are integrated as the dancers communicate with each other: to negotiate space, to facilitate improvisation and interaction, to attend to each other. Dancers may look unfocusedly into space as they bring their attention to sound and kinetic inputs. They might also glance at their fellow dancers’ bodies to see how they move, attend to a distraction, or look at each other during conversation or to connect more personally, among numerous options.

Staged dancers also use their eyes coordinate movements, though much of the necessary information about dancers’ bodily interrelationships is regularized and automated in rehearsal. In both narrative and non-narrative choreographies, staged dancers also specifically use their eyes to represent their interconnectedness to each other and the audience. The eyes are used to see but especially to be seen looking. Communication through the dancers’ eyes is a powerful factor for both participatory and presentational dance, albeit in strongly contrasting ways.

Nahachewsky, Andriy. “Using the eyes in Ukrainian dance.” Dance, senses, urban contexts: Proceedings of the 29^th Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Ethnochoreology, 44-58. Kendra Steputat, ed. Graz, Austria: ICTM Study Group on Ethnochoreology and the Institute of Ethnomusicology, University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, 2017.

Nahachewsky, Andriy. “Choreographing eyes in Ukrainian staged folk dance.” In The choreography of traditional dance on stage: Crises, perspectives and global dialogues,137-153. Ed. Dunja Njaradi, Miloš Rašić, Krešimir Dabo. Beograd: Ensemble of Traditional Dances and Songs of Serbia „Kolo” and The Institute of Ethnography SASA, 2024.