This paper examines the relationship between dance and political power across several cultures, arguing that choreographic traditions function as a form of propaganda that reinforces prevailing values and social hierarchies. Drawing on West African court dance in 15th-century Ghana, European ballet under Catherine de Medici and Louis XIV, and the Japanese Bugaku, the paper traces how bodily discipline, restraint, and symmetry communicate political order. It concludes with a proposed activist art project — multicultural street parades in major U.S. cities — designed to celebrate national diversity and resist the erosion of the nation-state system through participatory dance and performance.
The paper demonstrates thematic cross-cultural comparison. Rather than treating each dance tradition in isolation, the author identifies a shared variable — the use of bodily discipline to project political authority — and measures each tradition against it. This technique allows even a short essay to generate analytical depth by stacking examples that illuminate each other.
The paper opens with a thesis about the body as political propaganda, then moves through three case studies in ascending order of analytical complexity (Ghana → Europe → Japan). The Bugaku section serves as the analytical peak. The final two sections shift register entirely, proposing an original activist art project that applies the paper's insights to a contemporary political concern — the preservation of the nation-state system — before closing with a brief synthesis.
The body is used as propaganda in politics by physically asserting and demonstrating the values that a particular political regime embraces. In this respect, dance across many cultures translates a range of political values through carefully coded movement. In some cultures, such as that found in Ghana during the early part of the 15th century, the physical aesthetic of composure, confidence, and cool is demonstrated by dancers who strive to exude this sentiment no matter how upbeat, colorful, or exhilarating the dance happens to be. In many respects, these same virtues are required to advance through the political system in place, which is primarily pyramidal in nature, with the king positioned most prominently and lesser rulers following beneath him.
In West African court traditions, such as those practiced in Ghana, the dancer's body becomes an embodiment of political ideals. The emphasis on composure and restrained elegance — maintaining an aura of cool regardless of the energy surrounding the performance — mirrors the qualities expected of those who seek to rise within a hierarchical political structure. The dancer does not merely entertain; he or she models the comportment that the political order demands. Dignity of movement signals fitness for leadership, and the aesthetic of the dance thereby reinforces the values upon which the entire social hierarchy rests.
Some European dances, such as ballet, appear overtly political. The degree of angularity these dances require — with very tailored, specific movements — seems to reinforce the notion that people must ideally stay in their place and follow order. Such order was, of course, the defining characteristic of the royal court, which is precisely where much of the ballet during the time of Catherine de Medici and Louis XIV took place. It is noteworthy that adhering to such order was the primary means by which nobles could hope to advance in political rank and influence.
The refinement of movement in Catherine de Medici's ballets helped convey a staid sensibility that was overtly political. This is particularly true given that these performances were typically staged by the nobility for other nobles. The political agendas of both Catherine and Louis XIV were therefore effectively transmitted to exactly the right audience. Ballet in this context was not mere entertainment; it was a choreographed argument for a specific vision of social and political order.
This act of awareness would incorporate both traditional and unconventional measures. It would function primarily as a work of participatory art, bringing together different types of music, dance, and the display of national colors and flags. At the same time, it would serve as a form of protest against the eradication of nation-states. In that respect, it could reach people from a variety of angles — appealing simultaneously to cultural pride, aesthetic pleasure, and political conscience. Just as the historical dances examined throughout this paper served as vehicles for communicating political values to their audiences, these contemporary parades would deploy the same logic in service of a cause: the recognition that cultural diversity, embodied and performed, is worth protecting.
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