The Dialectics of Tradition in Dance

Abstract In this chapter, Timmy De Laet explores the role of “tradition”—understood as a discursive principle regulating discourse—and “traditions”—as lived and practiced realities—through their relationship with memory. By juxtaposing Walter Benjamin’s and Theodor Adorno’s theories on tradition and memory, De Laet introduces the dialectical relationship between continuity and discontinuity. Memory (embodied, living, and material) acts as a flexible yet anchoring force that helps in countering the common association of tradition with traditionalism. These historical and theoretical frames reinforce the idea that traditions are intrinsically relational and dynamic rather than exclusionary and conservative. From this perspective, De Laet aims to mobilise the double bind of de-canonisation and re-canonisation that shapes any avant-garde or anti-canonical stance. These reflections are useful to explain, for instance, how Belgian Moroccan dancer and choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui disrupts the perceived continuity of classical tradition while deeply connecting to the collective memories of spectators. De Laet concludes by referencing the concept of mnemohistory, introduced by Jan Assmann to differentiate between the study of the past as it was and the past as it is remembered. Consequently, dance traditions can be understood as ways of remembering the past and imagining non-traditionalist traditions, which escape rigid canonisation.