The Working Conditions of Dancers During the First Half of 20th Century

Abstract

The article describes and critically analyzes the labor conditions of dancers of the official and non-official scopes of dance in Buenos Aires, Argentina, during the first half of the 20th century, focusing on the period of the First Peronism (1946-1955). The article proposes that dance practice was professionalized during the 1940s and 1950s, and it considers particularly the labor aspect. I argue that, due to the social and political context based on the defense of workers’ rights, the dancers of the official scope (Teatro Colón) were able to improve their labor rights. On the other hand, I argue that, due to the origin of the local modern dance (the private company “Ballet Winslow”), also in the 40s and 50s, another type of production is established in the Argentine dance practice: one that is marked by the labor precarization of dancers and that persists until the present time in the unofficial scope.