The countries surrounding the Baltic Sea - Denmark, Estonia, Latvia,
Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Sweden - have
experienced immense social and political change, from the territorial
maneuverings of Sweden, Russia, and Denmark, the reunification of
Germany, to more recent moves towards independence of Eastern Bloc
countries as the Soviet Union crumbled. Tensions surrounding the Baltic
Sea have not dissipated but rather new challenges and contentions have
emerged, resulting in a multicultural and multilingual region. Dance in
the region has been tightly interwoven with political trends and events,
yet the dance history of the region to date has focused almost entirely
on state sponsored folk and classical dance.
Dance, Diversity and Difference presents contemporary stories of
dance, revealing the diverse voices of dance practitioners and
demonstrating the ways in which dance has connections with families,
societies, governments, the economy and can offer fresh insights into
cultural and political change.