La retorica del corpo. La danza di denuncia dell’ «Exposition Universelle» di Rachid Ouramdane

Nothing seems more remote from politics than dance. Yet when a body is capable of occupying a cultural space, such an action is already dense with political implications, with an ideological or anti-ideological matrix. The art of dance in fact can be considered the confirmation or questioning of cultural images of the body and the lexicons and syntax that affect these structures. The translation of gestural language into verbal language entailed in every communicative operation inevitably involves a manipulation. This paper addresses some elements that constitute the complex relation between dance and politics by analysing a recent work by the little-studied Algerian artist Rachid Ouramdane: Exposition Universelle (2011). Particular attention, in line with the theme of this issue of the journal, is reserved for the performative devices devised by the artist to reveal the power exerted by art and technology.