Dance and Sexuality: Many Moves
- 24 March 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in The Journal of Sex Research
- Vol. 47 (2-3), 212-241
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00224491003599744
Abstract
This literature review of dance and sexual expression considers dance and religion, dance and sexuality as a source of power, manifestations of sexuality in Western theater art and social dance, plus ritual and non-Western social dance. Expressions of gender, sexual orientation, asexuality, ambiguity, and adult entertainment exotic dance are presented. Prominent concerns in the literature are the awareness, closeting, and denial of sexuality in dance; conflation of sexual expression and promiscuity of gender and sexuality, of nudity and sexuality, and of dancer intention and observer interpretation; and inspiration for infusing sexuality into dance. Numerous disciplines (American studies, anthropology, art history, comparative literature, criminology, cultural studies, communication, dance, drama, English, history, history of consciousness, journalism, law, performance studies, philosophy, planning, retail geography, psychology, social work, sociology, and theater arts) have explored dance and sexual expression, drawing upon the following concepts, which are not mutually exclusive: critical cultural theory, feminism, colonialism, Orientalism, postmodernism, poststructuralism, queer theory, and semiotics. Methods of inquiry include movement analysis, historical investigation, anthropological fieldwork, autoethnography, focus groups, surveys, and self-reflection or autobiographical narrative. Directions for future exploration are addressed.Keywords
This publication has 117 references indexed in Scilit:
- Salsa Dance and the Transformation of Style: An Ethnographic Study of Movement and Meaning in a Cross-Cultural ContextDance Research Journal, 2008
- “Splendid Dancing”: Filipino “Exceptionalism” in Taxi DancehallsDance Research Journal, 2008
- Thinking Critically about Strip Club ResearchSexualities, 2007
- Exploring the Motivations and Fantasies of Strip Club Customers in Relation to Legal RegulationsArchives of Sexual Behavior, 2005
- Naked Power: The Practice of Stripping as a Confidence GameSexualities, 2002
- A deviant process: The sojourn of the stripperSociological Spectrum, 1998
- Some aspects of nudity in theatre danceDance Chronicle, 1995
- Public sex performances in patpong and explorations of the edges of imagination1The Journal of Sex Research, 1992
- Topless dancers: Managing stigma in a deviant occupationDeviant Behavior, 1992
- Counterfeit intimacy: A dramaturgical analysis of an erotic performanceDeviant Behavior, 1988