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UCT’s School of Dance Calls for Papers

artsouthafrica issues
UCT’s School of Dance will be hosting CONFLUENCES 6 in Cape Town from 21-23 July 2011. They have recently put out a call for proposals to participate in the conference:

The idea of dancer as super-athlete / star performer and artist is topical in 2010 in South Africa.

With much that has already been written around the topic of the training regimen, specially ofthe Western dancer/ athlete, little theory exists of his/ her presence in the performance contextand even less from the viewpoint of the African dancer/-athlete.

In re-viewing/ re-searching the notion of being ‘in the zone’ or at the pinnacle of performancewhat are some of the issues that surface within the ever changing and intersecting contexts ofCulture, Gender and understandings of Health (mental, physical, social, spiritual and emotional).As South Africa’s interaction with the world continues to reflect simultaneous images of povertyand wealth – AIDS orphans and glistening five-star hotels — what are the multiple roles for danceeducators, administrators, pedagogues, teachers, arts critics, sports coaches, physiotherapists;biokineticists, master class coaches, Pilates instructors et al for the range of bodies with whomwe interact and the multiple needs of these dancers and athletes as end users?

Some of the questions one could consider include:· How do dancing bodies that are not normative stereotypes shift a body aesthetic? Whodetermines how these bodies should look like or move like?· Is cultural specificity a useful indicator in assessing Dance in the post-colonialperformance arena?· When does an aesthetic shift occur and by whom is it initiated or dissolved? What lurksbehind the positioning of the ‘African Venus’ in the concert hall or stadium?· How should we as a dance community respond to issues surrounding performancealtering drugs?· Is there a space for a range of human experience, or to share the diversity of humanstories (compare Buckroyd)?· How might the relationship of food and the [non]use of food supplements help usunderstand gendered identities in the student dancer?· What are the intersections of eating disorders, wealth and class?· How is physicality embodied through competitions and festivals (compare Merleau-Ponty)?· Which parallels or divergences exist for the [e]motional preparation of the peakperformance by the dancer and/ or athlete?

We invite the submission of proposals with an abstract (max 250 words) and rationale thatincludes your name, institutional affiliation, email address and contact details. Your proposalshould outline whether you intend to make a joint presentation (max. 30 mins) or individualpaper (max. 20 mins). As far as possible individual papers will not run concurrently in theconference programme. You may also wish to offer a performative experience and/or workshop(max.1hour). All proposals will be reviewed by the Programme Committee.

Please send your submission(s) as email attachments in MS Word to .Deadline for submissions 14 February 2011.

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