THE DEVELOPMENT OF RITUAL IN THE CONTEXT OF TRANSFORMATIVE AND UNIFYING SOCIAL INTERACTION BASED ON PUBLIC PERFORMATIVE PRACTICES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31392/cult.alm.2026.2.59Keywords:
ritual, transformations, social interaction, liminality, public performative practices, dance/movement therapyAbstract
The article employs an interdisciplinary approach that integrates comparative-historical analysis of ritual practices, interpretative anthropology, phenomenological analysis of embodied experience, and case study analysis of contemporary performance practices with therapeutic effect. This approach enables the examination of ritual as a cultural, embodied, and social event. The article explores the development of ritual as a model of transformative and unifying social interaction within the context of contemporary performative practices. Ritual is examined not only as a cultural tradition but also as a dynamic process that adapts to social change, acquiring new forms and meanings. The paper analyzes how ritual actions in performative practices contribute to the creation of shared experience and the solidification of collective identity while simultaneously enabling individual transformation. Special attention is given to the intersection of ritual with artistic and therapeutic forms of performance, where it becomes a means of emotional expression, emphasizing its role in constructing social bonds and transforming individual experiences. The article introduces a conceptual framework encompassing the phenomena of ritual, liminality (following van Gennep and Turner), social choreography (understood as a mode of organizing collective embodied interaction), and the therapeutic potential of ritualized movement. This framework allows ritual to be analyzed as an integrated structure of social meaning, movement, and transformation. The article offers a new understanding of ritual as a flexible and adaptive model of social interaction, capable of responding to the challenges of contemporary life. Furthermore, the article considers ritual as a form of social action that plays a crucial role in the transformation of personal and collective experience. Particular focus is placed on the potential of ritualized movement as an instrument for fostering unifying social interaction within performative practices that integrate dance/movement therapy. Ritual is viewed not only as a cultural phenomenon but also as a tool for embodied processing of boundaries, transitions, and healing. The concept of social choreography is introduced as a methodological framework for further research, where movement and bodily presence become a language of social dialogue, resonance, and co-existence. The study emphasizes the importance of an interdisciplinary approach that brings together embodied practice, therapeutic work, and sociocultural analysis
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