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Dancing National Ideologies: The Athens Festival in the Cold War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 August 2016

Stacey Prickett  and
Steriani Tsintziloni
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Abstract

The international Athens Festival was prominent in shaping a cosmopolitan identity and openness within Greek society. During its first decade (1955–1966), the Festival also functioned as a significant form of cultural diplomacy. Audiences were exposed to elite dance companies from nations such as the U.S., which functioned ideologically and diplomatically. Our presentation interrogates the construction of a dance field in Greece and the shaping of aesthetic values, contextualized within socio-cultural tensions. Research exposes imperatives of a rising superpower consolidating its position, revealing multiple types of influence on Greece and other nations in a battle of political wills with the USSR.

Type
Research Article
Information
Congress on Research in Dance Conference Proceedings , Volume 2016 , Fall 2016 , pp. 306 - 314
Copyright
Copyright © Stacey Prickett and Steriani Tsintziloni 2016 

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