Performance interpretation as a mechanism for the preservation and contemporary representation of intangible cultural heritage

Abstract

This study was a conceptual review exploring the impact of the intangibility of cultural heritage in the field of folkloristic science cultural presentations in the 21st-century sociocultural environment. Priority was given to the exploration of performance as the site of cultural maintenance, in terms of cultural transmission and the reinterpretation of traditional artistic meanings in shifting cultural environments. The research drew on theories in the cultural studies approach along with musicological and performance interpretation stances. The results propose that the performance of interpretation is an important means in the (re)construction of cultural memory as well as in the historically informed artistic tradition’s perpetuation. This study portrays how engagement with choreography and dance meaning at the interpretative level exposes the dancer to retain semantic, stylistic and structural elements of tradition while challenging the dancer to imagine and creatively transform these elements in contemporary musical culture. They further demonstrate that the fulfilment of intangible cultural heritage relies on situated interpretative attitudes that enable reinterpretations of conventional musical expressions, through which they become meaningful for contemporary listeners. The research significance has implication in the field of music education, performance culture and cultural policy with respect to intangible cultural heritage. Overall, these results provide a basis for the conceptual and teaching development of the musical conservation and transmission.