Traditional Asian Performance in /and Modernity
Date: 16/5 full day symposium
Location: Roehampton University, London
CFP: This symposium will consist of the following:
1. practical workshops and work demonstrations focusing on traditional Asian performance techniques
2. Academic papers on the place of such techniques in modern and contemporary theatre and the place of traditional performance within modernity more broadly.
Performances like Ninagawa’s at the Barbican this Spring renew the well-worn, well-critiqued issues of exoticism, myths of a pre-modern Orient, and general otherness in well-meaning public discourse. Academic discussion has provided some heuristics for discussing the complex relationship between the West, Asian tradition, and Asian modernity, but these heuristics remain open to lively debate (e.g. the ongoing tension between concepts of a singular modernity, multiple modernities, and alternative modernities). Inasmuch as theatre served as a central example in multiple discourses of modernity across Asia, studying the ever-changing, varied relationships between traditional performance and modern theatre provides new insights into this debate.
As such, we invite papers on any of the following topics (or related topics):
1. The integration of traditional performance techniques into Asian modern and contemporary theatre.
2. The integration of traditional Asian performance techniques into Western modern theatre.
3. The evolution of traditional performance techniques in the modern and contemporary eras in Asia.
4. The relationship of the traditional to modern as figured in Asian theatre practices and / or Asian discussion of these practices.
5. The validity of this entire framework as a way of discussing theatre or theatrical modernity.
While a majority of our current speakers, performers, and workshop leaders focus on Japan and China, we welcome diverse offerings from across Asia. While we welcome papers that utilize Western theoretical models, we particularly encourage papers that ground themselves in Asian theory as well as practice.
Please submit a 100-200 word abstract for 15 minute papers by 15th Feb to Glenn Odom, [log in to unmask], or send an email to reserve a space to participate. If you have practical expertise in a traditional performance mode and would be interested in leading a hands-on workshop, please send along a CV and a brief outline of the materials you would like to cover (timing for these workshops is flexible, but will generally be 1 hour or less).
Thank you,
Glenn Odom
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