ABSTRACT
The gender studies from the United States take root in ground that has been fertilized by the theoretical and historiographical experiences specific to each country. In Italy, the English gender has been traditionally translated as sexual difference. In the relationship between gender identity and physical exercise, the feminine and movement are further bound in an association of symbolic order that has a negative connotation. Beyond the performance, the characteristics of the dancing body, and the role impersonated, identity, sexuality, and gender are imposed on the danseuse by the very nature of her being a woman. Linda Tomko outlines the state-of-the-art in gender studies, placing particular emphasis on those studies addressing dance in the Anglophone and the American context. Susan Foster draws on Anglo-American critical theory, on feminist theory in particular, and on her own personal experience in the practice of dance.
