Greece: Dance and Dancing as intangible cultural heritage

Traditional dance and dance practices are essential elements of Greece's living cultural heritage. Despite social and economic changes over the years, dance continues to flourish, playing a crucial role in the (re)shaping and (re)expression of diverse social groups. In both rural communities and major urban centers, dance remains vibrant, with ritual, ceremonial, festive, improvisational, presentational, and educational dance events serving as key spaces for social interaction, communication, and expression. A significant factor in revitalizing this intricate dance culture, which weaves dance into the fabric of everyday life in Greece, is its institutionalization. Within this context, the film explores the role of dance scholars who navigate various settings—combining dance ethnography, teaching, presentation, representation, preservation, and promotion—while acting as facilitators for dance heritage communities. The film follows these scholars, core members of the Hellenic dance heritage community, as they connect, engage, and interact with local, rural, urban, diaspora, and hybrid dance communities. Through examples of educational, presentational, festive, ceremonial, ritual, and improvisational dance events in Athens [Attica, Central Greece], Kythnos (Thermia) [Cyclades, Central Aegean], Nea Vyssa [Thrace, Northeast Greece], and Serres [Macedonia, Northern Greece], the film highlights how these practices contribute to the embodied experience of dance and dance practices as living heritage.