Бүжгийн судлал дахь фото зургийн нотолгооны загвар: Т.Туулын Монголын балет (2022) номын фото эхэд хийсэн контент шинжилгээ

A Photographic Evidence Model in Dance Studies: A Content Analysis of the Photographic Materials in T. Tuul’s Mongolian Ballet (2022)

Abstract

Dance, as an art form that exists only in the moment of performance and is inherently ephemeral, has long posed one of the most complex challenges in dance studies in terms of systematic and scientifically grounded documentation. This article employs the photographic images included in T. Tuul’s Mongolian Ballet (2022) as primary research material and investigates the potential of photography as a form of scientific evidence for revealing dance history, movement vocabulary, stage–spatial composition, visual symbolism, and socio-ethnographic data.
The study develops and implements a new methodological framework termed the Dance Photographic Evidence Model (DPEM), which operates across four analytical levels: (1) Movement–Technique, (2) Scenography–Space, (3) Iconography–Color–Costume, and (4) Socio–Ethnography. A distinctive feature of this model is its triangulation method, whereby findings are validated through the comparative integration of photographic, textual, and oral sources.
The analysis demonstrates that photography should not be regarded merely as supplementary illustrative material in dance research; rather, it constitutes an independent source containing multi-layered data, capable of substantiating historiography, visual culture, and institutional development. This study offers an original contribution, grounded in Mongolian material, to the historiography of Mongolian ballet, the study of visual archives, and the theoretical and methodological discourse of international dance scholarship.