Laura Steil’s Dancing Esch case-study is a micro-historical project focusing on popular festivities and social dance, in the industrial border town of Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
There is little archival evidence of the numerous bals that took place in the local ‘dancings’ in the long sixties. Her project therefore relies on and valorises oral history and cultural memory. It also draws on various reenactement experiments, such as sensorial ‘pilgrimages’ in the nightlife district, intended to uncover the ‘vibe’ of a now vanished dance environment and culture. In May 2020, she discussed her project in the local newspaper Tageblatt and national radio station 100,7.