Savarese describes the key events in the history of the 20th-century theatre and culture: when dance – and generally performance – replaced and superseded dramatic theatre, the neo-avant-garde began to separate itself from the avant-garde, social contexts of art began to prevail over its aesthetic autonomy, art regained its metaphysical dimension and took the place of religion, at the same time it immersed deeper in the life of societies, and finally the West blending with the Orient began its postcolonial penance