From Pots to Performance:
Dance and Image in Archaic Greece

Tyler J. Smith (University of Virginia)

Images of dance and revelry, commonly referred to as 'komast' scenes, were produced in black-figure vase-painting throughout the 6^th century BC. This paper will survey the evidence for such scenes with particular attention to dance models and performance theory. Although a specific style of bottom-slapping dance may be recognized in the painted pottery of Corinth, Athens, Laconia and elsewhere, the representations should not be regarded as photographic depictions of the past. While dancing of this kind was perhaps being performed in each of these places and beyond, in a large number of examples the vase-painters appear to be working from artistic models rather than from live performance. At the same time, there are certain instances, such as in Boeotian iconography, where the context of the dancing, and in fact the style and appearance of the dancers themselves, quite obviously reflects local trends and tastes. The likelihood that the reveling figures of Archaic Greek art portray named dances from antiquity, such as the kordax, will be further addressed.