Mythopoetics of Dance: Archetypes, Ritual and Liminality in Modern Choreographic Art

Dance functions as a stable cultural code linking archaic rituals with modern choreographic forms. Through a mythopoetic approach combining cultural studies, Jungian analytical psychology, and van Gennep and Turner's theory of rites of passage, the article examines a wide range of material from shamanic practices and classical ballet to buto, contact improvisation, rave, and digital challenges. Archetypes such as the Shadow and Anima/Animus materialize in both the content and kinesthetics of movements. Dance's liminal nature creates space for temporary transformation of social norms and identity. The study demonstrates dance as an epistemological metaphor embodying body-mediated cognition, with mythopoeic structures ensuring its cultural vitality and ability to actualize archaic meanings.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the mythopoetic foundations of dance as a stable cultural code linking ar-chaic ritual practices with modern choreographic forms. The paper considers dance as a dynamic system rep-resenting universal mythologems through plastic vocabulary, choreographic drama and space-time organiza-tion. The author applies a mythopoetic approach synthesizing the methods of cultural studies, analytical psy-chology (K.G. Jung) and the theory of rituals of transition (A. van Gennep, V. Turner), to a wide range of materi-al – from shamanic practices and classical ballet to modern forms (buto, contact improvisation, rave, digital challenges). The key attention is paid to the role of archetypes (Shadow, Anima/Animus) in choreography, which materialize in both the content and kinesthetics of movements, as well as the liminal nature of dance, which creates a space for the temporary transformation of social norms and identity. The study demonstrates that dance functions not only as an art of movement, but also as an epistemological metaphor embodying an alternative, body-mediated way of cognition. In conclusion, the continuity of mythopoeic structures in dance is substantiated, ensuring its cultural vitality and the ability to actualize archaic meanings in conditions.