The article is a brief introduction to the issues special theme focusing on the Ethnography of Performing Arts. This collection of articles is dedicated to the ethnography of dance and ritual theatre. It presents the contributions by M.V. Osipova (who analyzes traditional Ainu dance practices in contemporary Japan), S.I. Ryzhakova (an article on the transformation of martial practices into dance and stage performances in India), A.V. Kinyaeva (a study of Tazia phenomena in Iran and India), A.A. Glazovsksaya and S.V. Alferov (respectively, Irish and Scottish dances as both national and global phenomena) and characterizes them in the context of research into the performing arts of the particular communities and cultures in different countries of the world.
Svetlana Ryzhakova (Wed,) studied this question.