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Over the past few decades, there has been an upsurge in Native and Indigenous performance arts to revisit and remember--to tell through retelling-- stories of the past and how they [...]

An essay is presented which explores the ancient Indian dance performance treatise known as the Natyashastra. Topics discussed include the movement patterns and codes of the Indian classical dance which may be attributed to the principles of the Natyashastra, the aesthetic philosophy of the Natyashastra according to Indian classical dance scholar Kapila Vatsyayan, and the link between the caste system in India and the choreographic instructions of the Natyashastra.

This paper analyses how a group of researchers from different disciplines has been able to form creative collaborative spaces to model life together. Making mathematical models of life is a new way of creating biological knowledge – called systems biology – that ultimately aims to revolutionise medicine, by making it more effective through personalisation. By conceptualizing this interdisciplinary effort to create a new research field as a Scientific/Intellectual Movement, I analyse the entanglement of epistemic and social transformations, discussing how systems biology moved from the periphery towards the center of biology. Thereby, I am turning the focus on the spatial dimensions of Scientific/Intellectual Movements. More specifically, I introduce a topological approach detailing three interrelated spatial movements: aggregation, circulation and oscillation that together constitute the choreography of systems biology. They show how some strong, dispersed, local centers have effectively raised funds to build human capacity, organisations and infrastructures, while creating international networks. Through interaction with science policy makers, a global circulation of policies took place, stimulating the building of collaborative centers for systems biology, while the ending of funding programmes is now causing fragmentation again. As such, this paper argues that the choreography of systems biology as a Scientific/Intellectual Movement exemplifies how spatial (re-)configurations are fundamental to transformations in the knowledge landscape and the institutionalization of creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an examination of the aesthetics and philosophy of Argentine tango, arguing for tango's contradictory power of resistance to the tendency of cultural commodification in contemporary society. The dancing couple achieves a sense of sovereignty and improvisational freedom which is in tension with the increasing commodification and standardisation of art in the age of globalisation. Written partly from an auto-ethnographic, experience-based perspective, the article foregrounds tango's choreography of otherness, relationality, passion and playful improvisation in an attempt to elaborate on tango's significance as a dance of intimate resistance to political economy. What is produced in tango's 'space of touch' remains unproductive, unexplainable, and non-commodifiable. It is argued that Argentine tango might be able to resist total codification due to its improvisational nature and the politics of touch, passion and transgression that emerge from the ephemerality of the encounter, the ineffable 'tango moment'. Tango here is considered as a subversion of the social framing which it nevertheless needs in order to function; it performs the possibility of a transgression, intimately yet publicly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2010–2012 Christchurch (Canterbury) earthquakes in New Zealand caused loss of life and psychological distress in residents throughout the region. In 2011, student dancers of the Hagley Dance Company and dance professionals choreographed the performanceMove: A Seismic Journeyfor the Christchurch Body Festival that explored concepts of earthquake processes and human experiences. Choreographic design was assisted by a professional earthquake scientist and used human movement to represent seismologic and geologic processes, building response, collapse and demolition, and earthquake-induced psychological experiences. Performance reviews indicate the production was beneficial for audience earthquake recovery. Post-performance surveys of dancers and choreographers provide information on the educational and therapeutic benefits relating to their respective involvements in this project, qualitatively assessed in terms of recovery elements (hope, healing, empowerment, and connection) and quantitatively measured using a ‘Recovery Index’. Involvement in this production was beneficial in assisting with earthquake recovery for both dancers and choreographers. Dancers rated their recovery higher than choreographers, which we attribute to the greater level of total immersion in the performance including participation in earthquake lectures. Christchurch-resident participants rated their personal assessment of recovery higher than non-residents. This study highlights how integrating dance with science can assist in recovery from natural disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article investigates how the Dance Central game series (Harmonix Music Systems) invites and persuades players to experiment with gender performance. Dance Central uses the Xbox 360 Kinect, a motion-sensing interface, to teach players full-body dance routines set to popular club music. This study offers evidence that performative, constructivist gender theories informed the development process for these games, and explores what happens when designers enlist players in putting theory into practice. Dance Central stages visceral encounters with gendered choreography, generating both embodied gender work in the course of gameplay and reflective gender discourse in public-sphere social media. Grounded in qualitative ethnographic research that gives equal attention to interface affordances, game design, player experiences, and game-related discourse, this article offers a case study for understanding how digital media become enculturated as technologies of gender. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Two scholar practitioners of conflict intervention and social movements present case histories of mediated conflicts involving complex choreographies of contention and negotiation. Both processes, while differently structured and facilitated, have led to improvements in the dynamics of identity-based conflicts in urban communities. The authors raise theoretical questions and propose improvements to practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks into the significance emotions and feelings can have in a collaborative dance-making process. This is done by introducing a narrative based on a dance pedagogy student's writings. They contain observations of her experiences on being the facilitating choreographer in a dance-making process involving a cross-artistic group of students in the performing arts. The narrative we constructed highlights especially the emotional challenges and insights that the student wrote about. In discussing the narrative, we underline that creating collaboratively can be an emotionally and personally deeply meaningful process -- involving the construction of subjectivities, relationships, ideas and outcomes. Emotions play an important part in social communication but they likewise have a part to play in making aesthetic and artistic judgments. As a conclusion, we argue that emotional literacy plays an important part in artistic collaboration as does understanding the diverse roles one assumes and relates to the other artistic collaborators with. Owing to the open-ended nature of artistic work, in collaboration, understanding the significance of enacted emotions entails a process of learning, as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the flash mob dance Glow by the Afro-Norwegian duo Madcon, which was performed at the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo, Norway, in 2010. The dance was modelled on the format of popular Wii dance games, and coordinated black and white dancers, families, mass publics and prerecorded and live footage in order to choreograph European ‘unity in diversity’. The use of black dancers as avatars urging dancing crowds towards greater kinaesthetic sensitivity raises the questions of how race is figured in neo-liberal visions of cosmopolitan Europe, and what role gaming technology plays in facilitating cross-racial empathy and ethical responsiveness at a time when solidarity is fraying as a consequence of fiscal crises and austerity measures. Finally, the article considers Afro-European academic, activist and artistic practices as alternatives to neo-liberal regimes of race. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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Dance is both a spatial and temporal art form, and artistic choices made in spatial utilization contribute not only to the stylistic profile of a dance, but also to the creation and experience of a temporarily-realized place. How do dance choreographers and performers create a sense of both embodiment and place that reflects, speaks to, or critiques the places that they encounter within contemporary culture? How do different choices made in the compositional and aesthetic use of space help create an artistic performance space that can be both inhabited and witnessed by performers and audience alike? Drawing on her extensive experience in modern and postmodern dance performance, choreography, and pedagogy, the author will explore these questions, and discuss the phenomenology of spatial utilization in contemporary American modern and postmodern dance. She will also explore different practices dance artists use to discuss and frame their inquiries on spatiality and aesthetic place, and note how these practices dialogue differently with contemporary culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the pedagogical processes through which dance choreography and performance embody issues of social injustices. The author draws on ethnographic data of prominent black choreographers/dancers/educators, Katherine Dunham and Ronald K. Brown, to consider the behind the scene complex, interdependent practices of embodiment and to explore the ways in which concealed, yet present, social phenomena are transformed into provocative in-motion stories for the concert stage. Drawing on social justice education principles and Gordon's (1997) conception of ghostly phenomena, the data show that disavowing race and structural racism leave lingering and weighted traces of racialized experiences, making embodiment a complex and necessary condition for performing artists who aim to convey the meaning of these traces through dancing social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a dance program titled "Choreographing Identity" which is curated by Susan Leigh Foster and performed by four experimental dance artists. The dancers are Taisha Paggett, Rebecca Pappas, Christine Suarez, and Hana van der Kolk. The concept of mobilizing inbetweeness and the political aspects of choreography and identity are discussed. The program represents situations of race, gender, and national affiliation, as well as diasporic allegiance and a sense of belonging in private and public spaces.

This essay is a reflection on the questions that have arisen during and consequently complicated the creative process as I have worked to infuse my choreographic work with social justice. Some questions have come from the troubling association of dance with entertainment only, ultimately broadening out to further questions about the function and possibilities of dance. Others have come from charges by activists that dance does not ultimately 'deliver' legislation that saves lives. Why dance then? In reflecting on these such questions I have sought to theorize my practice and parse out the ambiguities and contestations that necessarily complicate a practice that is intensely physical but also immediately metaphoric, and lasts only in the moment, in the labor of dancing bodies. Particularly important for me have been questions around dance and South Asian women's identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of the ritual of dance in Cuba in light of the country's African Latin national identity, which was declared by Cuban political leader Fidel Castro in 1976. The author examines the national and political aspects of the Conjunto Folklórico Nacional de Cuba (CFN) dance group and the relationship between dance choreography and Cuban cultural policy in the 20th century. Topics include state-sponsored dance performance, the cultural experience of Cubans of African descent, and the role of the religion of Santería in the race identity of blacks in Cuba. The author also examines folklore in religion and the relationship between philosophy, the arts, and politics.

The article presents a study that emphasizes the importance of movement in the transformation of known places into experience-rich live areas through the concept of choreography. It purports to determine whether understanding and engaging with each other could emerge through movement. It was based on interviews with asylum seekers who have either received a temporary residence permit or have been detained in Finland. The interviews illustrate how failed asylum seekers negotiate their agency and articulate their identify through their movements in these spaces. It suggests that asylum seekers and administrative systems have two different perspective and logics that do not engage with each other.

Folk dancing provides choreographers with many challenges. They must carefully address different and significant details whether they are rendering an accurate portrayal or reinterpreting tradition. These details range from costuming and musical composition to degree of body movement, and must be evaluated according to the importance a culture places on them.

Postcolonial attitudes particularly toward sexuality and gender became powerful engines of change in Egypt, Uzbekistan and Iran. New hypermasculanized choreographic forms with an artificial masculine style of dancing acceptable to Western and westernized elites were created to counter the negative historical stereotypes of male dancers.

The presentation by Pearl Lang and Bill T. Jones at the Jewish Museum, New York, NY, on May 21, 1992, addressed questions about the way ethnicity affects perceptions of and about a dancer. Lang, who is Jewish, and Jones, who is African-American, Jones believe that there is nothing unaffected by race or gender but Jones argues for a challenging of norms by reversing roles and for self-conscious attempts to transcend repressive structures. However, a critic should not let a performer's race or gender affect interpretation unless the ethnic identity is relevant to the performance. Dance reflects the society of its time.