Monday, August 10, 2009

Reading Writing Dancing: Symposium 2009

From May 7th through 9th, 2009, the Reading Writing Dancing symposium, led by Associate Professor and dance writer Carol Anderson, was held at York University in collaboration with the York dance department, The Dance Current magazine and the Society for Canadian Dance Studies. The three-day event included panel discussions and presentations on dance writing in the mainstream press, the relationship between writers and editors and ways of thinking and writing about aboriginal dance practices. A group of dance writers, included well-published dance writer/author Carol Anderson, gathered to read from recent reviews, essays and books. Guest speaker Veronica Tennant, from Toronto, presented her work in dance film and video and O Vertigo artistic director and choreographer Ginette Laurin, from Montréal, presented her recent film of Le Chambre Blanche and discussed her choreographic process.

About twenty people, including artists, writers, scholars and educators from a range of forms and practices, came together on Saturday, May 9th, 2009, for a two-hour facilitated discussion led by Megan Andrews, Publisher/Founding Editor of The Dance Current magazine. The structured conversation worked through a series of five questions considering the future of critical discourse about dance in Canada.
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1- What do we think are the core elements in a robust critical ecology?
  • having ways to articulate/negotiate boundaries and concepts; having the ability to wrestle with the question: what is dance?

  • an awareness of frames of presentation, and the practice of different forms

  • resources

  • modelling & cultivating & practicing respectful statements of critical opinions & debate

  • a diversity of voices, ages, practices, etc.

  • knowledge about the history of critical reflection; tools for analysis, argumentation, etc.

  • reflexive practices of writing that engage with context

  • confidence

  • collaborations, partnerships, networks, gatherings

  • consciousness & questioning; the need for advocacy as an agenda in dance writing

  • a social approach: dialogue; what do we include – exclude in identifying a "dance community"

  • embracing and recognizing different ways of writing: artists' writing, historical, critical, journalistic

  • connections with other forms of writing, other disciplines and other areas of interest

  • understanding of the importance of editing

  • consideration of issues of language translation

  • awareness of the relationship of textual style to the dance

  • education, knowledge of contexts

  • empowering artists to write

  • strategies to bridge within the community around learning to write

  • documenting, archiving and preservation
    - archiving the body of writing to make it accessible
    - documenting/chronicling the art as it happens

  • a heightened awareness of word choice and the power of word choice

  • awareness of readership: general readers, youth, scholars, artists, etc.

  • strategies to bridge to the general public

  • that there is the possibility of a career

  • access points to the discussion

2- Where do we see potential?
  • in modeling the culture / skills we seek

  • in creating a culture of supportive risk-taking

  • in multi media developments & “fit” of kind of writing to mode/medium of dissemination

  • in the possibility of the articulate dancer/artist/writer

  • in writer-reader-editor-groups at different scales and intimacies

  • in mentorships – intergenerational & within generations

  • in this type of gathering (the Reading Writing Dancing symposium as a whole), which moves us toward a community of dance writers – linked online and/or in person

  • in the education system to cultivate knowledge & tools – critical analysis with reference to writing
  • in online video as educational tool

3- What exists in the field already?
  • magazines, resources, organizations;
  • websites, journals, books, anthologies
  • a symposium -- conferences – nascent conversation
  • ad hoc zines
  • dialogic reviews
  • technology – internet
  • education: elementary, high school, pre-pro, colleges, universities, undergraduate, graduate
  • curricula: dance, dance writing
  • writers – editors – readers- publishers
  • types of writing
  • the living body of knowledge – “intangible cultural heritage” – UNESCO

A preliminary list of organizations engaged in writing, discourse, education, publishing:


Dance Collection Danse
Soceity for Canadian Dance Studies
The Dance Current
York University + other universities / colleges
• MERGE
Dancemakers
Eponymous
Dance Umbrella of Ontario + other dance management organizations
Dancepassport
Canada Dance Festival
The Dance Centre (Vancouver)
Arts Alive
CDA – Research & Writing Standing Council
• Bibliotheque de la danse – Chorème
UNESCO
• Dance International
• writers' personal blogs
Dance And the Child International: proceedings / papers
• Canadian dance authors
• dance presenter networks
Banff Centre - press and archives
Trent University - archives


4- What's missing?

  • awareness of specifics of languages, word choice, frames, with respect to different forms and practices

  • awareness of the problems with “Canadian” insularity

  • awareness of Canada’s dance reputation abroad

  • knowledge of/awareness of dance with the other arts & social histories

  • quality – of writer education, writing, editing, reader education, the dance-making itself

  • education

  • a culture of nourishing & valuing “our cultures”

  • candidness in conversation

  • peer-reviewed scholarly journal in Canada

  • awareness of potential publics & how to engage them

  • understanding of ethics, writer-editor relationships and editorial/journalistic practice

  • exposure to dance and dance writing from abroad

  • reader responses to writing

  • international reference points/contexts as writers

  • representation of diversity in the writing

  • advocacy to mainstream media

  • exposure and access; avenues of dissemination
  • understanding of varied approaches & ways of thinking

  • editorial support for dance and dance writing in the mainstream media


5- How do we cultivate - can we identify any - priorities?
  • start small gatherings (discussion/reading groups) & large gathering; use technologies
  • develop a network or list of contacts for a large community
  • cultivate a writing/writer network
  • establish a peer-reviewed scholarly journal


(*Thanks to Brittany Duggan, assistant to the editor, for typing up the notes from the roundtable meeting.)