This work contains the Proceedings of the Conference at the University of Surrey, Roehampton, November 8-9, 1997. Strong signals from both the profession and dance scholars prompted "Preservation Politics", the first major European conference to examine our relationship to past dances and dance styles. Dance is now clearly wanting more of a past. Reconstruction is increasingly seen as a political manoeuvre, to establish a power base for cultural identity as well as for the art itself. The radical reworking of heritage to make it new is a compelling theme for many of today's choreographers and the reconstruction of lost work has burgeoned into a major enterprise. These Proceedings reflect the breadth of participants in the Roehampton conference: choreographers, scholars, dancers, rehearsal directors, critics, notators, as well as representatives from the other arts, all engaged in one of the most important artistic debates of our times.