TEXtiles in Etruscan DANCE (8th-5th centuries BC)

Objective

TEXDANCE will explore Etruscan dance through textiles from 8th to 5th centuries BC. It will use the visual sources to analyse Etruscan society and its élite’s ritual practices in a multidisciplinary approach. This study will make us understand the movements of dance, their ritual functions, their diversity, their performativity and the social relations which intertwine. This is important to understand as textiles in Etruscan dance in particular reflect a different community organisation from the Mediterranean and contribute to question our contemporary European community organisations. Also, for the first time, the two-way transfer of knowledge between dance studies and costume studies will be connected via an innovative approach. The project combines three types of sources: primarily the iconographic representations as they constitute the most important documentation for Etruria, literary sources and archaeological evidence. TEXDANCE has seven objectives: 1. the types of dress and textiles used in dance; 2. dress motion; 3. the acoustics of textiles; 4. Etruscan fashion and dress identity; 5. Etruscan community organisation; 6. ritual textiles making; and, 7. the visuality of textiles. The comparative and interdisciplinary approach includes the history of dance, rituals and religion, performance studies, ethnoarchaeology, archaeoacoustics, sensory studies, motor praxeology, and visual studies. The application of new digital technologies is a crucial aspect with the opportunity to 3D model how cloths move in dance. Digital humanities will also play a fundamental role in the presentation and diffusion of the results that will be made available thanks to a fully open-access philosophy to the scientific community and the general public. Conceived as such, the project is fundamental for both the proposer and the hosting institution, and it will contribute to European excellence and competitiveness in the creation of a common and widespread European culture and history.