Dance, cultural heritage, and the training of future heritage “managers”: Anthropological reflections.
Résumé
This chapter addresses the concept of intangible cultural heritage, as proposed by UNESCO in its 2003 Convention, through a reflexive analysis of the development and implementation of the Erasmus Mundus Masters in “Dance Knowledge, Practice and Heritage”- Choreomundus, one of the aims of which is to train cultural brokers to mediate between the different parties engaged in the heritagisation of their own and others’ knowledge and practices. As a prelude, several isssues related to heritage are broached including that of cultural transmission and the use of heritage for identity construction. Drawing on their anthropological training and long-term studies amongst the Edo of Southern Nigeria and the Tiwi of Northern Australia and examining the notion of time as an illustration of their argument, the authors discuss some of the problems and contradictions generated both by heritage policies and the ways in which these have been put into practice. By focusing on the international and intercultural masters programme, they engage with both the theoretical issues underpinning heritage, whether tangible or intangible, and the pragmatic necessity for the training of future heritage “managers”. They present the pedagogic rationale developed by the four programme conveners, the aims of which are to equip students with the necessary tools and savoir-faire to engage with dance as a practice with its own specificities, to approach its “heritagisation” with a critical sensitivity, grounded in local values and practices, and to be prepared for their future roles of “cultural brokers”. Finally, they question the special contribution of anthropology to the programme and highlight the importance of fieldwork in heritage management training.