Cerbyd Investigates- Appalachian Dancing

Describing cooperative participation in small-scale, semi-intimate networks of relations among people, community eludes the objective gaze. Tradition, imagined as some knowledge or skill that flows freely through generations, becomes suspect when it becomes self-aware. Both are concepts that served without question for many years; now both are recognised for the potential to conceal as much information as they convey. Who composes the collective term a community and what does membership in this kind of group entail? How does the label 'community' inform and frame the activities of a group and its members? What defines a tradition, and can these criteria even be observed and evaluated? If we call something a tradition, does that in effect make it so?
Elise Thomas, A. (2001) 'Practicing Tradition: History and Community in an Appalachian Dance Style' in Communities of Practice: Traditional Music and Dance (Spring - Summer, 2001), Vol. 60, No. 2/3. pp. 163-181

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• appalachian
• dancing
• cerbyd
• 2010
• collaboration
• art
• anthroplogy