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Dear colleagues, The call below may be of interest. If so, please contact the organisers. All the best, Pat Dr Patricia Noxolo, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT UK ________________________________ From: Research [[log in to unmask]] Sent: 26 April 2015 15:46 To: Research Subject: Call for essays and papers for telling our own stories in dance ________________________________ Please excuse cross posting: After three Re:Generation UK conferences we have come to the point where we are putting together an edited book reflecting the wide range of thinking, doing and creating that dance artists and scholars have shared and are continuing to live. Please see attached pdf. for call for papers, essays etc… Please forward the pdf to others if you feel appropriate. 'Despite a strong creative presence in the arts through individual artists and companies identifying as ‘Black’ there is a distinct lack of publication regarding Dance of the African Diaspora from a post-colonial British prospective. Britain’s colonial history has left a close network of ‘Black’ family across Africa, the Caribbean, Canada and USA. While these stories of sometimes forced connections have left Britain’s aesthetic influences around the world and there is a plethora of British dancers who have worked professionally outside of UK the notion of Black dance from a post-colonial British perspective is still relatively untold. ' Proposals, questions and inquiries about this book project please contact Irene at [log in to unmask] Best wishes Irene Embodied Practices: Telling our own stories Dancing the African Diaspora from a post-colonial British perspective CALL FOR PAPERS and ARTICLES from: Dance artists will share the philosophy, think and practical application of their work giving insight into workshops and choreography they have devised, how they came to this and where their work has taken them artistically. Dance scholars exploring paradigms, practice and processes of what can be considered to comprise the ontology of ‘Black’ dance. Proposal submission deadline: June 22nd 2015 Submission of whole chapter deadline: December 19th 2015 Details Co-Editors Adesola Akinleye, Middlesex University, School of Performing Arts and Media Mercy Nabirye, The Association of Dance of the African Diaspora (ADAD), UK OVERVIEW: Despite a strong creative presence in the arts through individual artists and companies identifying as ‘Black’ there is a distinct lack of publication regarding Dance of the African Diaspora from a post-colonial British prospective. Britain’s colonial history has left a close network of ‘Black’ family across Africa, the Caribbean and USA. While these stories of sometimes forced connections have left Britain’s aesthetic influences around the world and there is a plethora of British dancers who have worked professionally outside of UK the notion of Black dance from a post-colonial British perspective is still relatively untold. This edited collection will include the work of scholars and artists from UK, Caribbean, Canada, Africa and USA with the aim to offer a (re)articulation of the physical and cultural mapping of Black dance. The aim in compiling this collection of reflections is to bring together both established writers, artists and those in the early stages of their research so that further consideration can be given to the value of approaching the study of Black dance from a range of perspectives. As the title suggest the book takes its inspiration from seeing Black Dance as a complex, broad socio-cultural network of relationships and rhythms that reach far and wide. Notwithstanding a minimal number of texts that take a historical look at what could be seen as ‘Black’ dance history in UK, and a larger number of texts that explore ‘Black’ dance in general from the Western perspective of USA, narratives that focus on the elements that create the culture of Black British, Caribbean and European dance remain unspoken. This book is a response to such persistent silence and omissions. The book explores the multi-layered, multi-dimensional nature of artists and artistic work that identifies as Black Dance. Rejecting the artistic injustice at attempting to classify Black dance as ‘one thing’ the book constructs the interwoven relationships of Black dance across the Diaspora from British mainland to Caribbean, Canada, Africa as well as drawing on reflections from artists in USA. ORGANISATION: The book is organised into four parts that present starting points for analysis and doorways into the culture of Black dance. • Paradigms: This section will focus on the range of concepts, ideas, ways of thinking and creating that scaffold the practice. Authors address questions such as what is the value of defining ‘Black’ ‘British’ Dance? What does ‘Black’ dance in general mean to a range of artists working in the field? How do we articulate Africanist dance principles such as the importance of spirituality, improvisation and polyrhythm? Also looking through the lens of gender constructs to interrogate dance forms such as CaribFunk in constructing an empowered female body. Also the role of the Black male body in concepts of masculinity and femininity. How do creative concepts of community and valuing the Elders voice manifest in the work? How do the traditional roles of ritual and embodiment challenge European philosophical traditions of separation of mind and body? • Processes: This section looks at ways of perceiving, understanding, digesting experience, and expressing for “Black’ Dance. This section re-articulates and restories history from the complexity of a ‘Black’ perspective. Focus ranges from the emergence of underground dance movements such as British (underground) Jazz in the 1970s and 1980s. What challenges have been made to the mainstream narrative of British dance history? How racial frameworks influenced the production of, and creative engagement with Black dance? How can training for dancers challenge racial barriers? What good practice cultivates a multi-cultural dance identity within white mainstream education? What processes have artists devised to challenge the visibility and the invisibility of the ‘Black’ artist? How have traditional dances from the Diaspora acted as frameworks for contemporary work? How have ‘Black’ dance artist’s worked as cultural translators in the spaces in which they work? • Products: What practice are necessitated and innovated by dance artists working today? What practical movement techniques are created through today’s artists responding to the field? This section looks at the phenomenon that arises from the ‘Black’ dance experience. From Dancehall as a Spiritual Practice in Jamaican Dance to improvisation as a principle for communication, what creative products have emerged from Black artists negotiating cultural identity within Europe, Caribbean and across the Diaspora? How do we make visible the cultural influences on mainstream arts that stem from African peoples? What are pathways and journeying have become a common experience for the ‘Black’ artist. • Personal reflections: This section acknowledges traditions of oral history and storying by presenting personal historical narratives written by artists in the field to deepen understanding of the impact of identifying as part of ‘Black’ Dance. Submission Details Proposal format: prospective contributors should submit 400-500 word overview of their chapter or essay, including a provisional chapter title, authors name and affiliation. (Finished Chapters are anticipated to be 3,000 to 6,000 words Finished essays are anticipated to be up to 1,000 words Please indicate if you will be using photographs in your text) Contact details (phone and email). Submission and inquires should be sent via email to [log in to unmask] Important Dates June 22nd 2015: proposal submission deadline July 6th 2015 Notification of acceptance and invitation to submit Chapters/ essay December 19th 2015 Full chapter /essay submission