The scientific problem of the presented thesis is the study of contemporary dance in Ukraine and its institutional process in the context of influences, patterns and interconnections with the cultural fields of contemporary dance in Europe and America, as well as understanding the possibilities of institutional strengthening of cultural processes to ensure the continuity and sustainable development of choreographic culture in Ukraine.
The representation and parity between different forms of choreographic culture is determined by the priorities of state policy, but to a large extent, it also depends on cultural studies that carry out fundamental work and articulate the current condition of culture by setting priorities. They also form the field of categories, terms and definitions for professional use and, in particular, determine
the composition of educational programmes, state programmes, as well as are essential for the development of laws, bylaws and labour legislation regulating the professional activities of dance artists.
For a long time, contemporary art, contemporary dance, contemporary theatre and performing arts, remained marginalised in Ukraine and were not perceived as an important component of the formation of contemporary Ukrainian culture. Due to changes in public consciousness, the Revolution of Dignity and the Russian-Ukrainian war, there has been an awareness of the importance of representing and researching not only traditional art forms, but also new contemporary forms that have yet to be institutionalised. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the activities of contemporary art and contemporary dance artists in Ukraine have acquired a new dimension – active cultural resistance to counteract the disinformation and special operations of the aggressor country, which systematically uses contemporary culture in its hybrid war against Ukraine on all continents.
Based on a comprehensive analysis, a direct correlation between the cultural policy of the state and the level of development of contemporary dance and the cultural process in general has been traced. Countries that were dominated by the Soviet Union (Poland and Lithuania), as well as those with totalitarian regimes (Romania and Brazil), have a difficult process of establishing democratic institutions and a weaker institutional environment. Countries with stable democracies have a much wider range of contemporary dance institutions and financial support opportunities, the greatest cultural influence on dance culture in the world, and are among the leaders in terms of the development of new technologies and the level of prosperity. In France, Germany and the Netherlands, a significant number of institutions are publicly funded, while in the United States and Canada, the independent and private sectors predominate. The influence of Western European countries at the global level is the most sustainable and
significant.
An overview of the development processes and historical background of contemporary dance in Ukraine has shown that it began in the early twentieth century and took place on the territory of ballet and its new forms, theatre, visual arts and interdisciplinary artistic practices by the followers of the Dalcroze system, as well as by the students of Bronislava Nijinska, Mary Wigman and Isadora
Duncan. By studying contemporary dance in the context of the modern culture of Ukraine in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the article traces and identifies the existing forms of its institutionalisation. In Ukraine, the independent sector successfully adopts foreign institutional experience, adapting it to the possibilities of the environment. However, the state sector of culture is represented by the old system of Soviet cultural institutions: theatres, houses of culture, creative centres, trade unions, concert venues, art schools, etc. Even though they are directly related to choreographic culture, these institutions are not institutions of contemporary
dance.
It is noted that dance is a demanding art due to the need for infrastructure, which forces contemporary dance to integrate into other systems (for example, of contemporary art) or activities (education, restoration, cultural diplomacy, etc.). It has been discovered that the presence of contemporary dance in national-level institutions (such as national dance theatres, the Institute of Music and Dance,
dance houses, dance centres or dance development centres, etc.), the existence of a high-quality cultural policy of the state in which dance obtains a worthy place, as well as the availability of transparent mechanisms for ensuring sustainable financial support, both from the state and independent sectors, make the development of dance culture, the dissemination of knowledge and cultural
practices diverse, powerful and fruitful.
