Call for contributions to a new publication: Space, Place and Performer Training
| Type of post: | Association news item |
| Sub-type: | No sub-type |
| Posted By: | David Shirley |
| Status: | Current |
| Date Posted: | Wed, 21 Jan 2026 |
Call for contributions to a new publication
Space, Place and Performer Training
Planned for publication by Routledge in 2027, this new book is intended as a companion volume to Time and Performer Training (published by Routledge in 2019).
The book will be co-edited by Mark Evans, Libby Worth and Ranjana Dave.
The book will focus on how space and place shape all dimensions of performer training. We are interested in proposals for contributions to this edited collection that address one or more of a wide range of issues, such as: the ownership of and access to space; the impact of location (urban, rural, online/digital, nomadic, migratory, indigenous, colonial); space as part of the performer’s learnt vocabulary in training; space as a pedagogic tool or environment; cultural, political or social influences in relation to training spaces; training in public space, or in ‘temporary’ or found spaces; and the factors that define an ideal training space.
It is intended that the book will cover a wide geographic and aesthetic scope, acknowledging and investigating the diversity of performance training around the world.
Timeline:
We are open to a wide range of proposals. Possible questions the volume could address include but are not limited to:
Space: Training and Pedagogy
Culture, Identity and Power
The Evolution and Transformation of Training Spaces
Collaboration and Technology
Space: Politics, Ecologies and Methodologies
We are interested in a range of contributions in English, that will typically fall within the following structure:
Your proposal should be sent as an MS Word document. It should include your name, any affiliation, contact details, a proposed title for your contribution, a 300 word outline of your proposal, an indication as to which format you propose to submit for, an indication as to whether you would want if possible to include images in your submission.
Please send your proposal to the co-editors via email:
m.evans@coventry.ac.uk,
Libby.Worth@rhul.ac.uk, and
ranjana.dave@gmail.com.
The deadline for proposals is Friday 30th January 2026.
We welcome proposals from a range of subject backgrounds including but not limited to theatre, dance, voice and movement practices, performance art, circus and more. We welcome interest from colleagues around the world – researchers, practitioners and arts workers within a wide range of performance forms.
Please feel free to contact the co-editors if you have any questions regarding the call.
Space, Place and Performer Training
Planned for publication by Routledge in 2027, this new book is intended as a companion volume to Time and Performer Training (published by Routledge in 2019).
The book will be co-edited by Mark Evans, Libby Worth and Ranjana Dave.
The book will focus on how space and place shape all dimensions of performer training. We are interested in proposals for contributions to this edited collection that address one or more of a wide range of issues, such as: the ownership of and access to space; the impact of location (urban, rural, online/digital, nomadic, migratory, indigenous, colonial); space as part of the performer’s learnt vocabulary in training; space as a pedagogic tool or environment; cultural, political or social influences in relation to training spaces; training in public space, or in ‘temporary’ or found spaces; and the factors that define an ideal training space.
It is intended that the book will cover a wide geographic and aesthetic scope, acknowledging and investigating the diversity of performance training around the world.
Timeline:
- Deadline for chapter proposals: Friday 30th January 2026
- Book proposal submitted to Routledge for approval in early March 2026
- Decision expected from Routledge by the start of May 2026
- Chapters commissioned by editors start of June 2026
- Deadline for submission of chapters to editors December 2026
- Revisions and final decisions on inclusion by March 2027
- Publication in November 2027
We are open to a wide range of proposals. Possible questions the volume could address include but are not limited to:
Space: Training and Pedagogy
- How does training relate to, and change with, location, architecture, space, and the body within space? How do different training regimes respond to or employ space as part of the training lexicon?
- Who are training spaces designed for? What notions of skill, embodiment and performance do they incubate?
- How effectively are performers trained to use space? What are the gestural and/or verbal signs, codes and short cuts that denote spatial instruction in performer training?
- Jacques Lecoq used to comment on students’ work that they had created ‘une belle espace’ – what might creating a beautiful space mean in relation to training?
- Do the body and voice change within different spaces and places, and what challenges and opportunities does this offer for the trainee and the trainer?
Culture, Identity and Power
- How do space and place relate to notions of identity, situatedness, indigeneity, nationhood and migration within the context of training, its practices and its histories.
- Spaces for training can sometimes represent and embody systems of oppression, how can this be challenged? What makes a ‘safe space’? How might an unlikely or distinctly uncomfortable place deter or enhance performers’ skills and resilience?
- How does performer training participate in the perpetuation of notions of tradition, nationhood and citizenship? How do spaces and places train us?
- How do spaces establish, challenge or inform the relationship between teacher and student?
- Who owns the training space and what are the implications of such ownership? What does it mean for trainers or trainees to engage with spaces they do not own or control?
The Evolution and Transformation of Training Spaces
- How have training spaces/places changed and evolved over time?
- What is the significance of training regimes that are linked to specific geographic or cultural locations – cities, regions or buildings?
- How do training spaces with a lineage or association to particular practitioners evolve and transform over time?
- How do different training environments—urban, rural, digital, nomadic, or found—shape performer resilience and creativity? Can a space or place train someone to perform?
- How does the power dynamic between teacher and student change between in-person and online training spaces?
- What does a day in a place of training look like, especially as an independent artist or as a trainee not bound to a particular tradition of training?
Collaboration and Technology
- How do collectives, ensembles and institutions experience and negotiate space and place in performer training?
- Is it necessary to be in the same space in order to train together?
- What significance does the development of digital/online training spaces across VR/ AR, AI, social media or mobile devices hold for training?
- In what mediatized spaces does training occur and what are the conditions that shape such training, for instance, on social media or on reality television shows?
Space: Politics, Ecologies and Methodologies
- How do independent training spaces differ from institutional ones? How do state subsidies and institutional or private patronage shape training spaces?
- How are the standards for training spaces established, policed or enforced? What cultural, political or socio-economic forces work to homogenize training spaces, pulling away from or reinforcing specific imaginations of local knowledge, tradition or context?
- How are performance aesthetics embedded in the training space, in the choice of materials and objects in the space (religious iconography, mirrors, ballet barres and other props) or in performer orientation (frontal, in the round, face to face)?
- What rituals or habitual practices are used to ‘open’ or ‘close’ training spaces? How do these practices shape the training environment, group dynamics and the embodied preparation of performers, signaling a transition between everyday life and performer training?
- What models exist for creating accessible and inclusive training spaces? How do these spaces impact the experience and development of both trainees and trainers?
- How are training spaces impacted by and responding to the climate crisis?
- How can training spaces engage with the more-than-human world?
We are interested in a range of contributions in English, that will typically fall within the following structure:
- Full length chapters of 6,000 words.
- Shorter provocations of 900-1200 words. These could include edited interviews, discussions between trainees/students, process notes and reflective accounts from the studio, case studies of specific spaces, image-based essays with a shorter section of text (to be agreed with editors).
Your proposal should be sent as an MS Word document. It should include your name, any affiliation, contact details, a proposed title for your contribution, a 300 word outline of your proposal, an indication as to which format you propose to submit for, an indication as to whether you would want if possible to include images in your submission.
Please send your proposal to the co-editors via email:
m.evans@coventry.ac.uk,
Libby.Worth@rhul.ac.uk, and
ranjana.dave@gmail.com.
The deadline for proposals is Friday 30th January 2026.
We welcome proposals from a range of subject backgrounds including but not limited to theatre, dance, voice and movement practices, performance art, circus and more. We welcome interest from colleagues around the world – researchers, practitioners and arts workers within a wide range of performance forms.
Please feel free to contact the co-editors if you have any questions regarding the call.
