Functions of dance in wedding rituals from an evolutionary perspective: test on ethnographic data
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | Wedding ritual practices and marriage ceremonies are present in every human society. At the same time, dance, which is very often their part, is also a worldwide phenomenon. Dance is an act, an expression, or a ritual that has a long history and a wide variety of forms and contexts in which it is performed. From the perspective of signalling theory, dance is understood as various sequences of actions and movements that may carry different types of information. Previous studies propose that one type of information transmitted through dance is mate quality signalling; display of attributes relevant for strategies of sexual selection. Wedding rituals are perceived as rituals with clear reproductive function - their symbolic contents are predominantly related to reproduction (symbols of virginity, purity, mate quality, commitment to mate, etc.). This connection to reproduction suggests that dance in a wedding ritual may play some role in mate selection. Using cross-cultural ethnographic data (from eHRAF and D-PLACE), I attempt to offer an explanation of why dance is such a common component of wedding rituals from an evolutionary point of view and analyze communicative functions of dance to assess whether dance signals mate quality. If it can be shown that wedding dance functions as a signal of mate quality, it can help elucidate some characteristics of dance in specific socio-ecological conditions. For example, why specific groups (e.g. women) are excluded from dancing or performing dances in public after reaching a certain age or status. |
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