Dance, Politics and Utopian Subversion: "The Rite of Spring" by Oscar Aráiz and Phaedra by Ana Itelman (1968-1970)

Abstract

Based on a study of the attempts to censor the contemporary dance works The Rite of Spring by Oscar Aráiz and Phaedra by Ana Itelman, we will try to analyze the role played by these artistic practices in the context of the widespread social protest which characterizes the late 1960s in Argentina. The aim is to analyze its critical potentiality on the basis of the model of a utopian subversion associated with a dispute over sexuality, the recovery of the body and the construction of subjectivity in the face of dictatorial power. Ultimately, the work will seek to reflect on the politicity of dance works, that is, on their ability for a political intervention in a specific historical context, while pointing out the difference between militant art and political art.