Ethnography of Dance and Ritual Theatre: New Formats of Traditional Performances

The article is a brief introduction to the issue's 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 Tazi'a 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.