Journal of American Folklore: Introduction

Dance has long played an important role in the construction of Latin American national identities, and growing interest in the body as a focus of research has created a new impetus for dance ethnology. Nevertheless, academia in the United States as well as in many other countries has been slow to accept dance studies, in spite of the important roles that dance has played in the early development of the disciplines of anthropology and ethnomusicology. This introduction discusses the history of dance in the fields of folklore and ethnomusicology and then considers the contributions of this special issue of the Journal of American Folklore to debates about transnationalism, globalization, changing ethnic identities, and gender roles. Conflict between insider and outsider perspectives on such issues can be partially resolved, it is suggested, through participatory or reflexive methods. Dance ethnography is thus shown to be an essential tool for the study of changing social realities in Latin America today.