La danse immobile : iconographie et geste chorégraphique au Moyen Âge

In the rapidly evolving field of dance history and its iconography, the medieval period still remains in the wings. However, reinvigorated studies of images, highlighting their integration into places and practices, have made possible the escape from the constrained context of moral and liturgical debates on which dance is often still focused. The most recent works, therefore, tend to demonstrate how the representation of the dancing body in the Middle Ages, was in support of a vast and contrasting social imaginary, with moral implications, in addition to those related to entertainment and identity. In fact, it is permeated by various paradigms, such as the question of choros, metaphor of the Christian community, or that of Dionysian zeal, between divine ecstasy and demonic possession – or reprehensible gesticulation. The history of these iconographic patterns, issuing from antiquity, is marked as much by continuity as by innovation; they fuel the imagination of the body throughout the medieval period, and, without doubt, far beyond.