Dance and Sexuality: Many Moves

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.

I thank Katherine Frank, Christopher Carrington, Laurie Frederick Meer, Donna Davenport, David Rowland, and the Journal of Sex Research reviewers for giving me helpful guidance on earlier drafts. Nilima Charya provided editorial assistance.

Notes

¹My cross-cultural work on dance, gender, and sexuality began in the 1960s (see all Hanna entries in the three reference categories). In an effort not to miss the burgeoning work on dance and sexuality, given that this topic cannot always be identified by title in databases, I asked some dance colleagues from an e-mail list of the interdisciplinary Congress on Research in Dance for their suggestions for relevant research, limitations of the research and study methodologies, and directions for future exploration. I am most appreciative of their contributions.

²Brutality is also seen as a predatory, spider-like female who kills her mate in The Cage, choreographed by Jerome Robbins in 1951 and performed to this day.