The Slovene Research Initiative (SRI) and CSEES are excited to welcome to campus Dr. Rebeka Kunej from the Institute of Ethnomusicology of the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Science and Arts. Dr. Kunej will be conducting research in Columbus from September 16 – October 15. Her research interests include ethnochoreology, traditional dance, folkdance groups, history of folkdance festivals, the influence of folklorism on Slovenian dance heritage, methodology of ethnochoreological research, and anthropology of dance. While at Ohio State, Dr. Kunej will be working with the extensive collections that University Libraries holds related to Labanotation and Laban movement analysis.

Labanotation and Laban movement analysis are means of transcribing, documenting, and analyzing human dance movement, and in the past century and a half, many traditional dances, including Slovenian traditional dances, were notated in this way, providing invaluable documentation of traditional and folk dance ways. Ohio State University Libraries’ Special Collections hold the Dance Notation Bureau Collection, the largest collection of scores and notation related books in the country. Ohio State’s Department of Dance and its associated faculty also have strong connections to Labanotation and Laban movement analysis, including developing software to read, write, and analyze labanotation.     

The collections at Ohio State will allow Dr. Kunej to research different Slovenian folk dances, both as documented in Slovenia and in emigre communities in th U.S., focusing on how these preserve the heritage of Slovenian immigrants. She will also work closely with Professor Nena Couch (University Libraries). Professor Couch was an SRI exchange scholar in summer 2019 to Ljubljana, Slovenia, and is also interested in notations of Slovenian folk dance. During her time in Ljubljana, she accessed materials held in the National and University Library. On October 13, Rebeka and Nena will hold a panel discussion with Melissa Obenauf, the director of ZIVILI, a professional ethnic dance company in the U.S., that will focus on Labanotation, folk dances, and ethnic identity.