Symposium
On 24 April 2023, Cultural Studies (KU Leuven) and STUK House for Dance, Image & Sound host Dancing diaspora: Opening up European Contemporary Dance, a symposium that brings together speakers from different theoretical fields with dance scholars, practitioners and interested audiences to think about dance and diaspora cultures.
Despite its air of neutrality and inclusivity, European contemporary dance has for a long time systematically excluded choreographers of colour and dance styles that originate within culturally diverse communities, or has included them through mechanisms of cultural appropriation and exotification. In the last 10 years however, choreographers of colour have increasingly claimed their position in the European field of dance. Building on different cultural experiences and references, these choreographers have introduced new choreographic strategies and have drawn attention to underrepresented aesthetics and forms of (embodied) knowledge.
Speakers:
Funmi Adewole (performer, dramaturge and dance researcher), Fabián Barba (choreographer, performer and dance researcher), Cecilia Lisa Eliceche (mother, dancer, choreographer and campesina).
Research seminar
The Symposium is followed by the Research Seminar Dancing diaspora: Rethinking Contemporary Dance discourses on Tuesday April 25th. Organised by the KU Leuven, Ghent University and Antwerp University, the Seminar welcomes (PhD) students and academic researchers as well as artists, dramaturges and practitioners who are engaged with the theme.