Privat
Aleksandar Arabadjiev studied Cultural and Social Anthropology at the University of Vienna. He is currently a PhD student in Ethnomusicology at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) at the Institute for Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology. He conducted several years participant observations within the Macedonian community in Vienna as part of his master research and published the book Identity and Diaspora along with several academic articles. He has presented his work at international conferences and participated in various scholarly and artistic projects. Currently he teaches Macedonian tambura at the MDW and works as a project assistant in the Digitization Department at the University of Vienna. In addition, he leads an orchestra he founded for traditional Macedonian and Balkan music, with which he regularly performs across Europe in concerts, dance workshops, and educational projects.
I dance therefore I am – Dance and Identity among Migrant Communities from Today’s North Macedonia in Vienna
My dissertation project investigates the role of dance as a medium of cultural transmission and identity negotiation within the communities from today’s North Macedonia in Vienna. I am particularly interested in how intergenerational dance transmission, participation in folklore ensembles, and embodied memory shape both individual and collective identity. Despite migration and the challenges of maintaining cultural practices abroad, traditional dance remains a key site for sustaining community cohesion and cultural knowledge. The research focuses on a local sites of practice, such as dance workshops, performances, and community gatherings, and on the role of media, digital platforms, and online networks in circulating dance knowledge and repertoire. Using ethnographic methods, including participant observation and ero-epic discussions, the study examines the processes, actors, and embodied practices involved in maintaining, adapting, and transmitting the dance traditions from North Macedonia in a urban diasporic (Viennese) context.