Vivere il qui e ora: le arti performative che fanno parte dei beni culturali immateriali

Abstract

Twenty years after the establishment of intangible cultural heritage, we want to take report of what has been done to protect these heritage and the difficulties encountered. Starting from the genesis of the acknowledgement of the importance of these heritage and the transposition by the various States of the UNESCO 2003 legislation, attention will be focused on the Italian situation with particular reference to the performing arts, in particular the dances; while in other countries they have found space and recognition, in Italy they struggle to find their definition. The dance, not characterized by tangibility, lives in the hic et nunc, the here and now, and this ephemerality creates many problems in terms of preservation and conservation. The challenges in the matter are different, it is easy to incur negative results such as freezing of traditions or "commercial" upheavals. There are several years that we talk about the nomination of some traditional dances, which would require special attention as their origins are in danger and/ or are at risk of distortion (e.g. pizzica pizzica), but still nothing has been done. This example will allow us to explore the difficulties posed by the performing arts, the new challenges and what has already been achieved in this field.