Symposium Dancing diaspora: Opening up European Contemporary Dance (discourses)

Het symposium wordt gevolgd door het Research Seminar Dancing diaspora: Rethinking Contemporary Dance discourses op dinsdag 25 april. In een organisatie van KU Leuven, Universiteit Gent en Universiteit Antwerpen verwelkomt het seminarie (PhD) studenten en academisch onderzoekers, artiesten, dramaturgen and mensen die actief bezig zijn met het thema. Meer info en inschrijvingen hier.

Symposium

Op 24 april 2023 organiseren Culturele Studies (KU Leuven) en STUK, Huis voor Dans, Beeld & Geluid Dancing diaspora: Opening up European Contemporary Dance, een symposium dat sprekers samenbrengt met verschillende theoretische achtergronden om samen met dansstudenten, beoefenaars en geïnteresseerde publieken te denken over dans- en diaspora-culturen.

Ondanks zijn waan van neutraliteit en inclusie heeft de Europese hedendaagse dans lange tijd systematisch choreografen van kleur en dansstijlen die hun oorsprong kennen in cultureel diverse gemeenschappen systematisch uitgesloten of ze betrokken door mechanismen van culturele toe-eigening en exotificatie. In de afgelopen tien jaar hebben choreografen van kleur hun positie in het Europese dansveld teruggevorderd. Vanuit verschillende culturele achtergronden en referenties hebben die choreografen nieuwe choreografische strategieën geïntroduceerd en aandacht gevraagd en gekregen voor ondergerepresenteerde esthetieken en vormen van (belichaamde) kennis.

Binnen het kader van de Dancing diaspora willen we focussen op die recent gevormde werk. Met diaspora als theoretische lens brengen we de esthetische en discursieve strategieën in kaart die de choreografen gebruiken, analyseren we hun potentieel om het label European Contemporary Dance te deconstrueren en onderzoeken we hoe ze bijdragen aan een herdenken van (Europese) culturele identiteit.

Sprekers: Funmi Adewole (performer, dramaturg en dansonderzoeker), Fabián Barba (choreograaf, performer en dansonderzoeker), Cecilia Lisa Eliceche (moeder, danser, choreograaf en campesina).

Dit symposium is een samenwerking tussen STUK en Culturele Studies (KU Leuven) als onderdeel van het vak Contemporary Dance & Dance Studies.
Het vak Contemporary Dance & Dance Studies ontstond vanuit het cultural policy plan KU Leuven.
Het symposium en seminarie worden ondersteund door CoDA - Cultures of Dance, het Research Network for Dance Studies funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), en de Vlaamse Overheid/OJO-Initiatives

Deze editie van het Symposium is mede gefinancierd door het Creative Europe programme van de Europese Unie als onderdeel van DANCE ON, PASS ON, DREAM ON.

Speakers’ biographies

‘Funmi Adewole is a performer, dramaturge and dance researcher. She relocated from Nigeria to Britain in 1994 where she began a career which included touring with Physical theatre and African dance drama companies whilst working as an arts consultant and voluntarily as a dance advocate. She has an international reputation as a facilitator and speaker. In 2019, she was awarded a life-time achievement award for contributions to Dance of the African Diaspora in the UK by One Dance UK, the UK National Body for Dance. She holds a PhD in Dance Studies and is presently a senior lecturer in Dance at De Montfort University, England. Her research interests include dance as a profession, storytelling as performance and dance of Africa and the diaspora in professional contexts.

Fabián Barba was born in Quito in 1982, where they studied dance and theatre, and worked as a professional performer. Parallel to their artistic formation, Fabián followed classes on Communication and Literature. In 2004 they went to Brussels to join parts. After graduation, they became a founding member of Busy Rocks. They have created two solo performances: A Mary Wigman Dance Evening (2009) and a personal yet collective history (2012). In collaboration with Mark Franko worked on Le marbre tremble (2014) and with Esteban Donoso on slugs’ garden (2014). They also work as a dancer for Zoo/Thomas Hauert.

Due to their ongoing research on the legacy of colonialism and dance history, they have been invited to give seminars and workshops in several European countries, the United States, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Argentina. Since 2013 they have been guest faculty at the María Lugones decolonial summer school co-directed by Rolando Vázquez y Walter Mignolo.

In June 2016 Fabián received their master degree in Autonomous Design in KASK (Ghent). They are currently studying a Master in Cultural Studies with a specialisation in gender at the Universidad Andina Simón Bolivar in Quito.

Cecilia Lisa Eliceche is a mother, dancer, choreographer and campesina based between Salvador de Bahia, Brussels and Necochea. They are traversed by more than 500 years of colonialism in Abya Yala and inspired by ancestral times outside of linearity. The territories she walks inhabit her. The culinary arts as well as rituals of death, birth and life sustenance have become central to her work and life. She has worked with Janet Panetta, Etienne Guilloteau, Claire Croize, DD Dorvillier, Eleanor Bauer and has been dancing for more than 10 years with Heather Kravas. Since 2016, they have been sharing life and work with Brazilian artist Leandro Nerefuh and diving in the deep waters of Ayiti (https://haitioayiti.com/). In 2020, with the guidance of Ruro Caituiro, Cecilia with the company of Leandro gave birth to divine Toya. She’s a co-founding member of Dancing at the Crossroads (As We Walk). Cecilia is a spiritual daughter of Sosyete NaRiVeh and is proud to serve in the board of KOSANBA (the scholarly association for the study of Haitian Vodou). They are thankful to Houngan Jean-Daniel Lafontant, Egbomi Nancy de Souza. Moira Ivana Millan and Dr. Kyrah Malika Daniels for their teachings and friendship.