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  • Call for Papers - Special Issue of ADS | Aroha atu, Aroha mai: Performing Love, Compassion, and Decolonisation.
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  •  Date Posted: Wed, 28 Feb 2024
    Special Issue ADS #85:
    Aroha atu, Aroha mai: Performing Love, Compassion, and Decolonisation.
    Guest Editors Nicola Hyland and Rand Hazou

    The whakatataukī (proverb) ‘Aroha atu, Aroha mai’ (Love received, Love returned) reinforces the importance of reciprocity, care, and compassion within te ao Māori (the Māori world). ‘Aroha’ is a term which is always active and inclusive; as well as love and compassion, it also denotes respect and reverence, concern and hospitality. To demonstrate te aroha ki te tāngata – a respect for the people – is to participate in what Fiona Cram (Ngāti Pahauwera) describes as the “economy of affection” which defined relationships in pre-colonial Māori society (2021: 358). Decolonisation can be understood as actions to reclaim love: of culture, identity, stories and homelands. Revered scholar Moana Jackson (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungungu) spoke of decolonisation as a process of restoring relationships: “part political judgement and partly an expression of aroha — only through mutual respect and affection could balance and whakapapa be maintained"(2020: 141). If colonisation reduces human beings to an abstraction, decolonisation pursues re-humanising: an acknowledgement of personhood. While recent scholarship has explored the importance of care as an aesthetics and practice, This special issue focuses on the myriad of ways love and compassion might be employed through performative means to address, challenge and redress structural inequalities and legacies of colonialism.

    In Western philosophy compassion is derived from the Latin ‘cum’ and ‘patior’ which can be literally translated as ‘to suffer with’. For philosopher Drew Leder, compassion refers to an ‘experiencing-with’ whereby ‘we enter into the experience of others through a process of empathetic identification’ (1990, 162). Yet compassion need not lead to appropriation of another’s pain. Martha Nussbaum (1996, 35) contends that compassion involves empathetic identification, where ‘one is always aware of one’s own separateness from the sufferer’. Rather than simply focusing on compassion as empathic identification, this special issue is interested in the radical and political potential of compassion. This issue invites submissions exploring the political ramifications of compassion and performance as highlighted by Elizabeth Porter’s suggestion that the compassionate person is ‘pained by another’s distinctive pain and acts to relieve it’ (2006, 101).

    The understanding of aroha as a demonstration of love also connects to bell hooks’ notion of love as a spiritual practice and as an act of liberation. For hooks, ‘the moment we choose to love we begin to move toward freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others’ (hooks 1994, 298). Given the arguable desensitisation to the violence and suffering of others filtered through both popular and mainstream media, what role does performance play in endearing love and compassion as a precursor to political and social change?

    For those communities impacted by marginalisation and precarity, love and compassion may be useful concepts for understanding an artful and affective approach to liberation and justice. This special issue invites critical and creative submissions that reflect on love, compassion and decolonisation within artistic practice/s and performance. The special issue invites submissions that do not only explore how love or compassion is performed, but which ask critical questions about how this is connected to ideas of justice, liberation and decolonisation. Key questions that submissions might respond to include but are not limited to:
    • How do artists create work, or engage with creative materials and audiences guided by notions of love or compassion? What impact does this focus have on participants, audiences, and communities?
    • How can demonstrations or performances of love, both within and for marginalised communities, operate as radical acts of resistance or liberation?
    • How can love and compassion be strategically deployed by scholars and artists to decolonise their practices to enhance the dignity of their subjects, collaborators, or colleagues?
    • In what ways does love feature within artworks that aim to resolve conflict and build bridges?
    • How can scholars and practitioners show compassion for the cultural and creative practices of artists within mutual spaces? What happens when cultural practices are ‘un-loved’?
    • How is ‘showing’ compassion or respect more than a performative gesture, for example, in land acknowledgements, in pōwhiri or other rites of welcome?
    • How might explorations of love and compassion support a decolonised teaching approach? In what ways can creative methods in teaching address the lack of love and compassion in our educational institutions?
    • In what ways do ‘economies of affection’ (Cram 2021) feature as part of performance practices? And in what ways do they restore relationships and personhood?
    • What are the affordances of theorising through compassion within performances of restorative justice? What role does compassion play in affective representations of both perpetrators and survivors of crime in artistic forms?
    Please submit a one-page proposal (500 words maximum) to editor.ads@adsa.edu.au by April 29, 2024. For Early Career Researchers, we also request a sample of previous work in addition to your proposal. We especially welcome submissions by Indigenous and First Nation creatives and those working in, and writing from, the margins.

    References
    Cram, Fiona (2021) Mahi aroha: Māori work in times of trouble and disaster as an expression of a love for the people, Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 16:2, pp. 356-370.
    hooks, bell (1994) Love as the practice of freedom. In Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations, 289-298. New York: 713 Routledge.
    Leder, Drew (1990) The Absent Body, Chicago and New York: University of Chicago Press.
    Jackson, M. 2020 ‘Where to next? Decolonisation and the stories in the land’ in Kiddle, R. et.al Imagining Decolonisation. New Zealand, Bridget Williams Books, pp 55 - 65.
    Nussbaum, M. (1996), 'Compassion: The Basic Social Emotion', in E. Paul, F. Miller and J. Paul (eds.), The Communitarian Challenge to Liberalism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 27-58.
    Porter, E. (2006), 'Can Politics Practice Compassion?', Hypatia, 21: 4, pp. 97-123.

     
  • Healing Stories Symposium: First Nations Performing Arts and Wellbeing
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  •  Date Posted: Fri, 9 Feb 2024

    Healing Stories Symposium:
    First Nations Performing Arts and Wellbeing

    Join us for the Healing Stories Symposium to explore how performing arts can strengthen health and wellbeing in First Nations Communities

    Presented by the University of Melbourne and ILBIJERRI Theatre Company
    , Healing Stories brings together performing artists, community workers, and scholars for 2-days of energetic, joyful performance, poetry, and yarning.


    The event features performances of THE SCORE and GOODBYE AUNTY FLO from ILBIJERRI's Social Impact program, as well as keynotes and panel discussions with experts in the fields of First Nations arts, health, and wellbeing.


    We will also share the outcomes from our research project The Score: Participatory theatre for sexual health education in First Nations communities (funded by AIATSIS Indigenous Research Exchange).


    Confirmed Speakers:
    Rachael Maza AM - Artistic Director and Co-CEO, ILBIJERRI Theatre Company
    Kamarra Bell-Wykes - independent artist and theatre maker, A Daylight Connection
    Dr Sarah Woodland - Senior Lecturer in Theatre, Victorian College of the Arts, The University of Melbourne
    Fran Kewene - Doctoral researcher, hauora/health and whakaari Māori/theatre (VUW)
    Dr Vicki Saunders - Research Fellow, CRE-STRIDE, Jarwun Research Centre (CQU)


    Live Theatre with Q&A:
    THE SCORE - Performance and workshop program for young people addressing positive sexual health and relationships.

    GOODBYE AUNTY FLO - A hilarious play created by mob for mob, exploring the ups and downs of the most natural stage of anyone who bleeds life - menopause.

     
    Where and when
    Thursday 21 March, 9am to 5pm and Friday 22 March 9am to 3pm

    Space 28, Performing Arts Building, Dodds Street, Victorian College of the Arts, Southbank, Melbourne 3006.

     

    Registration

    Waged/Professional $55
    Unwaged/Student/Artist/Community Member $25
    This price includes the cost of catering.
    Book now
     
     

     
  • Journal Publication - Special edition on Australian and Aotearoa/New Zealand dramaturgy in Critical Stages
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  •  Date Posted: Mon, 15 Jan 2024
    We are very pleased to announce that the special edition on Australian and Aotearoa / New Zealand dramaturgy in Critical Stages co-edited by myself, Julian Meyrick, Fiona Graham, Moana Nepia and Emily Coleman has been published!

    https://www.critical-stages.org/28/ (issue #28).

    As far as we know, this is the first dedicated special edition of a journal on Australian and Aotearoa / New Zealand dramaturgy.
    Critical Stages is open access and we hope it will be an invaluable resource for theatre scholars and practitioners alike.


    To quote from our editorial, By Land and Sea: Wayfinding and Weaving Contemporary Australian and Aotearoa/New Zealand Dramaturgies:

    “This special edition of Critical Stages/Scènes critiques aims to build on scattered accounts of Australasian dramaturgy across national and international publications over recent decades to provide a timely focus on the field now. Adopting a place-based curation approach, it attempts to embrace the full spectrum of Australian and Aotearoa/New Zealand theatre culture, incorporating First Nations and Māori live performance practices, as well as the modern settler, post-colonial drama of both nations. Within this complex narrative, Australasian dramaturgy has a history filled with contention, paradox, improvisation and passionate practice. It is narrative that as editors, inevitably, we selectively excerpt rather than comprehensively represent.
    We also seek to honour the primacy and distinctive nature of First Nations and Māori cultural practices and scholarship. In collating the articles presented, we were supported by the appointment of cultural consultants to ensure the agency of First Nations and Māori perspectives in the curatorial process.”
    As Turner and Behrndt note in their seminal work, Dramaturgy and Performance,“ dramaturgy is as diverse as performance-making itself” (17). We adopt an inclusive conception of dramaturgy as drawn from existing Australasian scholarship and global dramaturgical research, while recognising it is a specialised field of professional knowledge, with shared approaches and objectives that sit alongside distinctive patterns of work. This broad-church outlook allows for different currents of dramaturgical theory and practice to co-exist in their contradictions and challenges without invalidating potential commonalities that might arise from their distinctive Australasian context. What these are we leave for readers to discern.”

    Thank you all again, and very Happy New Year!

    Kath, Julian, Fiona, Moana and Emily
     
  • Call for Papers: Walking as applied critical practices: methodologies, pedagogies and performances
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  •  Date Posted: Thu, 16 Nov 2023
    DEADLINE EXTENDED

    Research in Drama Education: 
    The Journal of Applied Theatre and 
    Performance Themed Issue 31,1 (Publication Feb 2026) Call for Proposals

     

    "Walking as applied critical practices: methodologies, pedagogies and performances"

     

    Editorial Team: Dee Heddon, Stephanie Springgay, Harry Wilson 

     

    The dynamic relationships between walking, performance and performativity are long-standing, from psychogeographical drifts, which trace capitalism’s appropriations and productions of place, to protest marches which re-claim the streets as a demonstration of power, from ceremonial walks as memorialisations of place, to (mis)guided tours which rewrite partial histories, from attentive walking as ways to know and feel differently, to technologically-enabled walking performances that take the city as their stage. Walking as a mobile method of applied critical practice - with bodies located in and moving through space – offers a plurality of ways to explore, feel, attend, make, enact, connect, contest and demand. Walking is often simultaneously method (a process of rigorous investigation), pedagogy (a mode of engaged learning), and practice (a way of doing and sharing). 

     

    For many, COVID-19 and its attendant restrictions focused a spotlight on walking. For some, it became permitted and encouraged as daily exercise or a safe way to travel, while for others, it became out of reach because of policing or total lock downs. Walking was experienced as liberating, boring, necessary, scary, a lifesaver, and forbidden (Rose, Heddon, Law et al., 2022). Practitioners and teachers of drama and performance engaged with walking, some for the first time, as a means to continue their work, finding innovative ways to offer continued access to social, cultural and learning experiences. However, barriers to walking – time, access, confidence, safety – were amplified, including the affordances given to different bodies that walk in different places. Inequalities in the Global North and South were also magnified during this time, including people’s access to walking. This themed edition on walking as a critical applied practice takes its cue from the multiple ways in which walking was oriented during COVID-19, to consider how walking can be harnessed as creative, critical and pedagogical resource in an ongoing/’post’-pandemic world.

     

    We invite submissions which engage with the diversity of walking as methodology, pedagogy and performance, attentive not just to walking’s potential as a critical applied practice, but also its current exclusions and barriers:  

    • Walking work in and beyond COVID-19 

    • Walking as a creative and investigative practice (Stenna and Marland, 2020, p. 1) – embodied, located, somatic, and affective – and mobile research method (O’Neill and Roberts, 2020) 

    • ‘Walking-with’ as a form of solidarity, unlearning, and critical engagement and a mode of ‘politics-in-movement' (Springgay and Truman, 2019, p. 12)  

    • Walking as protest, resistance and intervention  

    • Walking and transformation 

    • Walking and relationality  

    • Walking, health and wellbeing 

    • Walking and pedestrian in/equity (Heddon, Qualmann, Rose et al., forthcoming) 

    • Walking and presumptions of democracy (Arora, 2019, p. 173) 

    • Walking and the ‘postcolonial body/site dialectic’ (Murali, 2017, p. 86) 

    • Walking and decolonization 

    • Solitary and/or group walking practices 

    • Walking as a socially engaged practice 

    • Virtual walking, remote walking, proxy walking and surrogate walking  

    • Walking facilitated by/with digital technologies 

     

    Submission Instructions 

    We welcome research articles (c.6,000) and other forms of contributions such as interviews, provocations, practitioner statements and case studies (c.1,500) as well as creative contributions, such as photo essays, walking scores, or online outputs (10-15 minutes). 

     

    Online outputs could include peripatetic conversations between researchers or practitioners recorded on the move, clips of performances and/or workshops, and more. All submissions will be reviewed by two anonymous referees and by the editors. 

     

    Please send 300-word proposals for contributions, plus 100-word biographies for each contributor, to Deirdre.Heddon@glasgow.ac.uk 

    • Deadline for proposals: 1 December 2023 

    • Deadline for first full draft: 1 Sept 2024 

    • Deadline for final submissionend Sept 2025 

     

    Editorial Biographies 

    Professor Dee Heddon holds the James Arnott Chair in Drama at the University of Glasgow and has practiced and published widely on walking as a creative practice. In 2012, she co-founded with Misha Myers, the ongoing creative-research project, The Walking LibraryShe is currently completing an AHRC-funded project, Walking Publics/Walking Arts: Walking, Wellbeing and Community during COVID-19a collaboration with Maggie O’Neill, Morag Rose, Clare Qualmann, and Harry Wilson. 

     

    Professor Stephanie Springgay is Director of the School of the Arts (SOTA), at McMaster University, Canada. She is a leading scholar of research-creation with a focus on walking, affect, queer theory, and contemporary art as pedagogy. She runs WalkingLab, an SSHRC-funded international research-creation project with a goal to create a collaborative network and partnership between artists, arts organizations, activists, scholars and educators interested in walking, movement, and sensory knowledge. Springgay’s other funded project is The Pedagogical Impulse. She is the author, with Sarah E. Truman, of Walking Methodologies in a More-than-Human World: WalkingLab (2019).  

     

    Dr Harry Wilson is an Early Career Researcher in Digital Theatre at the University of Bristol. His research focuses on interdisciplinary explorations of live art and performance, photography, documentation, digital art and new media and he has recently been exploring intersections between immersive technologies and intimate performance, including virtual and remote walks. 

     

    References 

    • Arora, Swati, “Walking at Midnight: Women and Danger on Delhi’s Streets”, Journal of Public Pedagogies, Number 4, 2019. 
    • Heddon, Dee, Clare Qualmann, Morag Rose et al., “Just Walking: creative methods towards pedestrian equity”, in Coping Creatively, eds. Victoria Tischler and Karen Gray, Manchester: Manchester University Press (forthcoming). 

    • Murali, Sharanya, “A Manifesto to Decolonise Walking”, Performance Research, 22:3, 2017.  

    • O’Neill, Maggie and Brian Roberts, Walking Methods: Research on the Move, London: Routledge, 2020. 

    • Rose, Morag, Dee Heddon, Matthew Law et al., #WalkCreate: Understanding Walking and Creativity During COVID-19. Walking Publics/Walking Arts Public Report (2022).  

    • Springgay, Stephanie and Sarah E. Truman, Walking Methodologies in a More-than-Human World: WalkingLab, London: Routledge, 2019. 

    • Stenning, Anna and Pippa Marland, “Introduction”, in Walking, Landscape and Environment, eds. David Borthwick, Pippa Marland and Anna Stenning, London: Routledge, 2019. 


    Professor Deirdre Heddon, PhD, FRSE

    James Arnott Chair in Drama & Head of Theatre Studies 

    University of Glasgow 

    https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/cca/staff/deirdreheddon/ 

     

    PI Walking Publics/Walking Art: Walking, Wellbeing & Community During COVID-19

    CoI, newLEAF

  • Job Opportunity: Assistant Professor in Pasifika Theatre and Performance Studies, UCLA
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  •  Date Posted: Fri, 3 Nov 2023


    Job Opportunity: Assistant Professor in Pasifika Theatre and Performance Studies, UCLA


    Details and application link: https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF08972
    Applications close: Friday 15 December 2023, 11.59pm PT (for full consideration). 

    The University of Califronia, Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Theater seeks an assistant professor in Theatre and Performance Studies; the position will also be affiliated with the Asian American Studies Center as part of the Native American and Pacific Islander Bruins Rising Initiative. The successful candidate will serve as one of the core faculty supervising UCLA’s PhD in Theater and Performance Studies program, as well as teaching undergraduates and participating fully in a department that serves undergraduate, MFA, and PhD students. The appointment is held in the Department of Theater while service commitments will cross the Department of Theater and the Asian American Studies Center. Duties to commence Academic Year, 2024-25. While a PhD is not required, a terminal degree is. For application help, contact Ryan Hamilton (rhamilton@tft.ucla.edu).  

    For the information of ADSA members, an Assistant Professor role is broadly equivalent to a Level B/C role in the Australasian context. 
     
  • Job Opportunity: Positions in Acting, WAAPA
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  •  Date Posted: Fri, 22 Sep 2023

     

    Job Opportunity: Positions in Acting, WAAPA


    Details and application link: https://www.ecu.edu.au/employment-opportunities/overview
    Applications close: 13 october 2023, 11.30pm (AWST). 

    The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) is seeking skilled and experienced acting teachers to join the creative and forward-looking BA Acting team as we prepare to move into Edith Cowan University's new state of the art City Campus in the heart of Perth.

    Following recent staff retirement the following roles are open: Applicants requiring further information may contact Dr Frances Barbe (Associate Dean - Performance) on +61 8 9370 6161 or f.barbe@ecu.edu.au.  
     
  • Feb 2024 Hybrid Conference: Performing Care and Carelessness
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  •  Date Posted: Thu, 31 Aug 2023

    Performing Care and Carelessness: An interdisciplinary conference delivered in hybrid format

    Hosted by The Performance of the Real Research Theme at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
    14
    th 16th February 2024

    Call for Papers

    Care is a topic of enormous complexity that is relevant to all of us. In a turbulent era, scholars from many different fields are returning again and again to consider care, or a lack of care, in political spheres, in relation to the environment, in a globalised world, in everyday life, amidst health crises, and in our mediatised and digital lives.

    Care is both an affective orientation (I.e. ‘caring about’) and a practice (I.e. ‘caring for’, or ‘taking care of’). As such, it is something that is both performed, and performative; attached to embodied subjectivities, in which it takes on polysemic potential as a communicative and symbolic as well as relational act. As intimate and everyday as it can be, it is also recognised as being both political and politicised; entangled with systems of power at both macro and micro/everyday levels. As James Thompson observes, while care was once considered the province of the household, it is now ‘a crucial issue within public policy’ (2020: 41–2). This is perhaps especially true given that 21st century care politics have been deeply concerned with aims such as unmaking racial capitalism, cisheteropatriarchy, the carceral state, and the colonial present (Woodly et al. 2021: 891).

    A lack of care - or a carelessness - can also become routinely embedded in many social institutions. As we acknowledge structures that represent barriers to care/ing, we can also acknowledge that caring despite these can stand as a form of resistance; an articulation of particular ethical commitments, an expression of collective identity, or an act of political imagination. As such, amidst shifting and challenging contemporary contexts, we consider how a call to care (for marginalised groups, for the natural world, for the people around us, and for distant others) can generate tensions and dilemmas. We focus on how both care and carelessness are performed, negotiated, and communicated, in both public and private settings, in response.

    We encourage contributions relating (but not limited) to the following aspects of the performance and performativity of care:

    • -  Landscapes, geographies, and architectures of care: how ways of using and/or designing spaces might express care or carelessness, through inclusion and inclusion, enabling or disabling; care of environment in the context of climate change; multispecies relations of care in a more-than- human world

    • -  Mediatisation and visualisation of care and carelessness: in local and global information circuits; aesthetic, affective, and iconic qualities of images associated with NGOs, news media, or political parties; empathy and response-ability through communication technologies, including screens; performance of group- and self-identity in an era of ‘culture wars’ and the rise of the alt right; ways of responding to hate speech or dangerous speech online; solidarity and collective memorialisation online in responses to major events

    • -  Health/care, and cyborg care infrastructures: The role of technologies and materialities in extending or reconfiguring relations of care , both within and between bodies; the link between health technologies, digital technologies, media technologies, and contemporary biopolitics; formal and informal networks of care, in families and communities, online and offline

    • -  Care practices and the Care Turnin the arts: how care is expressed and performed in and through theatre and other art forms; how representations and practices of embodied care within theatre and other art forms can affirm the value of care, reveal and critique carelessness and unmake inequity; the lack of care for the wellbeing of performing artists within the industry; the unequal power relations within and without the performing arts which dictate whom has the ability and right to create artwork that purports ‘care about’ and ‘take care of’ important issues in society; issues of care when representing real people and events in performance and art

    • -  Workers, institutions, and professional care (and self-care): Institutions performing care or carelessness through specific language, discourse, structures or politics (including educational institutions, academic institutions, healthcare institutions, and other public institutions); care amidst precarity and precariousness; caring identities and professions, how care is performed both ‘front stage’ and ‘backstage’ in institutions; care that occurs within the margins of prescribed roles or practices; commodification and individualisation of notions of care including 'self-care' as part of neoliberal frames for responsibilised citizenship; care as radical political act amidst capitalism; political and politicised dimensions of care in recent social movements (e.g. BLM, Climate protests)

    • -  Care and respect for indigenous peoples, knowledge and culture: the slow move to decolonisation and recognition for the carelessness with which indigenous peoples and their culture knowledge and artefacts have been treated; decolonisation as caring practice ; the transformative power of indigenous models of ethical care relations between people, and with the environment

    • -  Multiple, competing, and pluralistic ethics of care: A variety of frameworks exist to lay out ethical obligations; religious frameworks, feminist frameworks, bioethical frameworks, policy frameworks. Developed in different historical contexts, how are these negotiated, applied and performed as part of the ‘ordinary ethics’ of people's everyday lives? As part of social institutions and/or forms of governance? As part of academic practice?

    Abstracts of 200-250 words due by 31st October 2023.
    Questions and to submit abstracts email:
    performance.real@otago.ac.nz.

    Attachment:
  • Culture for Climate Symposium: Supporting the transition to sustainability in the performing arts
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  •  Date Posted: Mon, 14 Aug 2023
     
    The Performance and Ecology Research Lab (P+ERL) in association with the Creative Arts Research Institute (CARI), the Climate Action Beacon and Griffith Institute for Educational Research (GIER) at Griffith University invite you to attend the Culture for Climate Symposium: Supporting the transition to sustainability in the performing arts.

    When: Friday 8 September, 9.00am - 5.00pm
    In Person: The Ship Inn Function Room (S06), Level 2, Sidon
    Street, South Brisbane
    Online: Link to be advised on RSVP

     P+ERL are hosting this Culture for Climate Symposium in Brisbane and online on Friday 8 September (9am - 5pm). The day is organised around the three key areas of Programming, Practice and Policy with international key notes and provocations together with more local speakers on the panels.

    As part of your preparation, familiarise yourself with their recent Culture for Climate report
     
    Link to the registration and brief here
    Attachment:
  • Symposium: Precarity, Creative Arts and Wellbeing (Massey U)
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  •  Date Posted: Wed, 2 Aug 2023


    Symposium

    Precarity, Creative Arts and Wellbeing


    When: 1 to 2 September 2023
    Where: Massey University, Auckland
    Venue: The Round Room, Atrium Building, Massey University, Albany Campus, East Precinct. Oteha.

    The symposium brings together scholars and arts practitioners to explore the role of the arts in relation to experiences of precarity and in enhancing well-being among precariat communities. Throughout the two-day symposium, we will share and advance creative approaches to working with these communities as well as innovative methods for researching and evaluating the impact of participatory arts on wellbeing. Registrations are now open: please use this link to register your attendance.

    Critical questions to explore:
    • What roles do the arts play in relation to experiences of precarity?
    • How can the creative arts help to communicate the lived experience of precarity?
    • What needs to be considered (ethically) before using the arts to communicate such experiences?
    • What role might the arts play in addressing factors that contribute to precarity and advancing the rights of the precariat?
    • What innovative research methods can be used to understand the contribution of the creative arts to the well-being of precariat communities?

    Keynote Speakers:

    Adrian Jackson (Founder and former director of Carboard Citizens Theatre Company, UK).
    Adrian Jackson is the founder and former director of the theatre company Cardboard Citizens, who produce work made particularly by, with, and for those who have experienced homelessness, inequity, or poverty. He is an experienced theatre maker who has worked across a range of artforms. Adrian Jackson is a specialist in the Theatre of the Oppressed, having translated five books by the Brazilian theatre pioneer Augusto Boal. In 1998, they collaborated on The Art of Legislation, an Artangel-sponsored piece of Legislative Theatre at County Hall in London. Adrian has led master classes in Theatre of the Oppressed in the UK, across Europe, Asia, South America, Australia and Africa. Adrian specialises in participatory arts and the use of arts as an inclusive practice to engage marginalised communities. He is committed to creative work that brings about social change.

    Dr Shiloh Groot (Ngāti Uenukukōpako, Ngāti Pikiao)
    Shiloh is an Associate Professor in Community Psychology at the University of Auckland. They are an interdisciplinary social scientist who works in the domains of Māori/cultural worldviews and wellbeing; sexuality and sex work; relational health and health inequalities; homelessness and urban poverty. Central to their approach to academia is citizenship and service, as is evident in their former role as co-chair to the New Zealand Coalition to End Homelessness (NZCEH) Māori Caucus.

    Fran Kewene (Waikato, Ngati Maniapoto)
    Fran Kewene (Waikato-Maniapoto) identifies themselves as a creative Māori academic and locates their work in the intersections between hauora/health and whakaari Māori/theatre. Fran’s work is wholistic and interdisciplinary using kaupapa Māori informed theatre methodologies and performance to examine equity, colonisation and racism on the health and wellbeing of Māori and Indigenous peoples, and to privilege wairua (spirituality – connections), and non-spoken forms of communication.  Fran in interested in the power-relationships inherent when evaluating community informed creative works operating on government or state funding.

    Ying (Ingrid) Wang (Post-doctoral research fellow at CAST, the University of Auckland)
    Ying is deeply committed to bringing culturally diverse perspectives into clinical practice and academic research. Her dedication stems from her passion for making a meaningful difference in people's health and well-being, and in the pursuit of social justice and equity within communities through the transformative power of arts. Her ground-breaking PhD research delved into the profound impacts of multiple layers of trauma on immigrant identity formation, employing innovative arts-based research methods. Ying's experience as a Chinese immigrant and clinical arts therapist has endowed her with a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by Asian immigrants, international students and refugees. Additionally, she holds the distinction of being an ACC ISSC registered arts therapist, specialising in trauma-informed work with survivors of sexual abuse. Ying is currently leading a research project to explore the manner in which New Zealand schools might better support Asian survivors of sexual violence.
     
    Attachment:
  • Call for Papers: The S-Word, 2024
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  •  Date Posted: Mon, 26 Jun 2023

    Call for Papers: The S-Word, 2024

    Stand in Place / Stanislavsky and Place

    4 — 6 April 2024
    WAAPA, Edith Cowan University
    Perth/Boorloo, Western Australia


    Submissions due: 15 September 2023.
    Submissions via: email to s-word2024@ecu.edu.au

    Stanislavsky was clear that the actor must take their place in the theatre. His writings are full of injunctions to reflexively situate oneself with respect to the stage, set, actors, objectives, and so on. Echoing Stanislavski’s conceptual and physical praxis, modernist performance makers such as Meyerhold and Schlemmer went on to postulate that the actor brought their own sense of place onto the stage, shaping the performance space and enabling performers to align themselves, their attention, and their movements to a range of axial placements and combinations, as in Laban’s kinesphere. Later theatre makers as varied as Declan Donnellan and Suzuki Tadashi have suggested that the theatre is a place of life-and-death struggle, a site where a battle for survival is conducted by both characters and the actors themselves.

    The act of the performer taking their place in their body in the theatre developed in parallel to the importance of ‘place’ in the world of the playwright and in the places represented on stage. Stanislavski’s not always happy peer, Anton Chekhov, has been described as the “first environmental playwright,” with scripts such as Uncle Vanya (1898) and The Cherry Orchard (1904) being concerned with the places wherein they are set, with the environmental and socio-political conditions and histories etched across their landscapes. Interestingly, there is a rich tradition of Australian plays which are strongly connected to place, No Sugar (Jack Davis, 1985), Cloudstreet (Nick Enright and Justin Monjo, 1998, after the novel by Tim Winton), When the Rain Stops Falling (Andrew Bovell, 2008), and more recently, City of Gold (Meyne Wyatt, 2019). 

    For the forthcoming Stanislavsky and Place symposium, we call for submissions for academic papers, artist presentations, and panels, which consider the places of theatre arising from or existing alongside Stanislavskian performance and acting praxis. We invite you to Stand in Place with us, on Whadjuk Noongar Boodja/Country, here at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University, Perth/Boorloo, and interact with this place, as you tell us about your places.

    Papers will be 20 minutes in length, workshop/artistic presentations 40 minutes and panels a combined total of 60 minutes in length. Selected papers will be considered for publication in our journal, Stanislavski Studies, and material generated by this event will form the basis of a title in the book series, Stanislavsky And... (published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis).

    Topic areas could include (but are not limited to):
    1. Performance and theatre in relation to ideas of being in place and being out of place
    2. Stanislavskian performance in your place (what changes with/in it?) 
    3. Placemaking and theatre making 
    4. Futures of Eco dramaturgy and theatre form
    5. Decolonisation strategies and First Nation knowledge of place and performance 
    6. Beyond Stanislavski, extending his ideas in concepts of place/space 
    7. Training in relation to ideas of place including but not limited to intercultural/transcultural form and practice
    8. Site specific and place specific performance modes in relationship to realism, Stanislavsky and actor and audience relationship
    9. Movement, body weather and other performance modalities and training methodologies.
    We are very excited to announce that Professor Jonathan Pitches from the University of Leeds (UK) will be a keynote speaker presenting on mountainous opportunities: interrogating place in ritual, theatre, and performance training. More announcements on additional keynote presenters to follow.

    Please send an abstract of no more than 250 words, with presentation type, to s-word2024@ecu.edu.au by 15 September, 2023. Notification of acceptance will be in late October. Early bird registration will be in December 2023 and follow up registration in January 2024. All enquiries to Renee Newman (r.newman@ecu.edu.au) or Jonathan W Marshall (jonathan.marshall@ecu.edu.au).
     
  • Reminder: ADSA 2023 Conference, Call for Papers
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 5 Jun 2023

    2023 ADSA Conference 

    Archives, Artists & Absences

    Kaurna Country, Adelaide
    Monday 27 November – Friday 1 December


    Submissions due: 3 July 2023.
    Submission link: https://forms.office.com/r/8P55rGKbNF.

    Members are reminded that the Call for Papers for the 2023 ADSA Conference is open, and submissions close in two weeks on Monday 3 July. The full text and detail of the Call is available on the ADSA website (https://www.adsa.edu.au/next-conference), along with details of the six Working Groups who will be meeting as part of this year's trial. 

    We would particularly like to invite members who supervise postgrads or have HDR coordination responsibiltiies to forward it to students who might not have had previous contact with ADSA – to that end, it is also attached as a .pdf. We welcome proposals from artists and scholars at all career stages, and any questions about the Conference or submission process can be directed to Chris Hay (chris.hay@flinders.edu.au). 

    We look forward to receiving your proposals, and seeing you in Adelaide in November!

    Sarah, Anne, and Chris.
     
    Attachment:
  • Service Opportunity: Reviews Editor, "Performance Research"
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 2 Jun 2023

    Performance Research

    Call for Reviews Edtior


    Submissions due: 30 June 2023.

    About the role
    The Performance Research journal seeks an incoming Reviews Editor, to begin in August/September 2023 for an initial three-year term. This is an opportunity to join a team of committed global scholars and artists invested in innovative and equitable publishing. In particular, we seek a Reviews Editor who will be attentive to new trends in Performance Studies, uplift emergent voices in the field, value a diverse range of scholars, methods and topics and operate with a generously collegial attitude to support contributing scholars.

    While the position is unpaid, it offers the post holder the opportunity to develop editorial skills re the curation and management of published work, to expand international networks of collaboration and collegiality with both select presses and contributing scholars, and to enhance experience for CV purposes. A free subscription to the journal is provided. All are welcome to apply; no prior editorial experience is required as we will work with the new editor to ensure they are supported in the role.

    About Performance Research
    Since 1996, Performance Research has set a precedent that has become standard for thematic and cross-disciplinary ways of bringing together the varied materials of artistic and theoretical research in the expanded field of performance. Working closely with designers, artists, academics, theorists, performance practitioners and writers, Performance Research resists disconnected, disembodied and disinterested forms of scholarship. We prefer instead the possibilities of imagining the journal as a dynamic space of performance that produces inspiring conversations, unlikely connections and curious confluences. Our emphasis on contemporary performance arts within changing cultures and technologies is reflected in the interdisciplinary vision and international scope of the journal. Performance Research continues to combine writings and works for the page in an interplay of analysis, anecdote, polemic and criticism—interweaving the oblique with the conflicting, the pivotal with the resistant and the eclectic with the indispensable.

    Reviews Editor responsibilties
    Performance Research is published eight times annually; for each issue, the Reviews Editor has full responsibility for initiating and curating the Reviews Section. As such, the Reviews Editor:
    • Monitors press catalogues and selects the works to be reviewed
    • Commissions reviewers for each review/receives submissions for reviews
    • Liaises with relevant presses to secure a review copy text for contributing reviewers
    • Supports first-time reviewers in shaping their submissions in terms of content and style
    • Liaises with the designated managing editor to support final revisions
    Performance Research also wishes to take this opportunity to expand the scope of the reviews section to include, for example, performances, conferences and festivals in addition to publications. Mentorship will be provided for those who seek guidance or support when beginning this role and on an ongoing basis.

    Application details
    If you are interested, please email a cover letter expressing your interest and experience, along with a relevant CV, to Deputy Editor Helena Grehan (h.grehan@murdoch.edu.au)  by 30 June 2023.  If you have questions about the role prior to submission, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the current Reviews Editor, Anna Jayne Kimmel (ajkimmel@stanford.edu).
     
  • Save the Date: 2023 ADSA Conference
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 29 Mar 2023


    2023 Annual Conference

    SAVE THE DATE: 27 NOVEMBER — 1 DECEMBER


    The 2023 Conference theme, Archives, Artists & Absences, invites ADSA members to reflect on what is remembered and what is forgotten in our discipline, in the work that we study, and in the work that we make. We will also take this opportunity to celebrate AusStage's 21st birthday, as we chart together new courses for the database.

    The 2023 conference will be held in-person on Kaurna land in Adelaide, and the Call for Papers will be issued in April 2023. Stay tuned for more information! 
     
  • Opportunity: PhD Scholarship, Murdoch U
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 24 Mar 2023

    PhD Scholarship, Murdoch University
     

     “Life after digitisation: future-proofing WA’s vulnerable cultural heritage”


    Background
    The Linkage grant “Life after digitisation: future-proofing WA’s vulnerable cultural heritage”, funded by the Australian Research Council for 4 years (2022-2025), involves researchers from three Western Australian Universities, and one from the University of Queensland. The partners aim to digitise significant cultural collections held across Western Australia, including Aboriginal languages, the WA performing arts collection held by the Perth Theatre Trust, and selected cultural objects of significance from across the State. 

    The Scholarship
    The materials held by the Perth Theatre Trust (The Museum of Performing Arts collection, MOPA) include costumes, programmes, posters, pay bills, photographs, scripts, scores, recordings and other items from thousands of productions performed across WA since colonisation. The collection includes material from ballet, Shakespearean theatre, vaudeville, contemporary dance, opera, drama, stand-up comedy and more. This PhD Scholarship provides the right candidate with an opportunity to delve into the significant archives held by The Perth Theatre Trust (approx. 45,000 items) and to develop their own project, drawing on and utilising these important cultural artefacts. His Majesty’s Theatre, which houses the collection, has hosted performances by actors from across the globe, including: Dame Nellie Melba, Sir John Gielgud, Katharine Hepburn, Vivien Leigh, Sir Robert Helpmann and Geoffrey Rush and Anna Pavlova.

    The successful candidate will work alongside the research team and as well as developing their own important research project, will contribute to the digitisation of this important Western Australian collection. We invite applications from potential candidates interested in performance and theatre studies, archival research, cultural heritage studies and digital humanities. The position is supported by a Murdoch University fee offset PhD scholarship and stipend for 3.5 years.

    For more information on the MOPA collection 
    Please see their website (https://www.mopa.ptt.wa.gov.au/about). 

    For more information on the PhD Scholarship and the broader project
    Please contact Professor Helena Grehan (h.grehan@murdoch.edu.au).
     
  • Deadline extended til 5 April: RiDE (Performing Solidarities)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 21 Mar 2023

    We have extended the deadline for our special issue at RiDE: Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance on the topic of solidarity by 3 more weeks (April 5); please see call below.

    We invite all forms of contribution, including articles, short reflective essays, interviews or other artistic responses to the topic. We also welcome contributions from PGRs. RiDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance THEMED ISSUE 29:3 Call for Papers Performing Solidarities or Solidarities performed Edited by Réka Polonyi and Kirsten Sadeghi-Yekta October 17, 2019. Riots broke out in Lebanon in response to heightened economic pressure and corruption scandals surrounding the political elite. Within days, people flooded the streets, repurposed public spaces, organised public debates and mass actions. As a resident at the time, I, Réka, found myself caught up in trying to find my place as both a foreign national and an ally to the struggle of my Lebanese friends and colleagues. Do I stand alongside them, shout the chants in my rusty Arabic, share the face cloth when there’s tear gas? Or do I stand quietly on the side - present, but on the margins? This was not ‘my fight’, I was often reminded; it was clear that I was here to listen, not necessarily to be heard or noticed. I soon found my place: I joined the garbage collective, a group of volunteers who met up every morning to pick up the rubbish on the streets of the protests. Here, in the sleepy hours of the morning, no one questioned who I was, or why I was there: every revolution leaves some rubbish in its wake. The Lebanese riots bring to light various concerns around the idea of solidarity, or the idea of ‘unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on community of interests, objectives, and standards’ (Merriam-Webster). When does a ‘quiet’ act of solidarity speak louder than its more directly-recognised, public enactments? How is it performed without necessarily drawing attention to its enactment, and when is this the appropriate response? In the immediacy of an event, how can solidarity be embodied, rather than stated? In this themed issue, we ask, what purpose does solidarity serve in applied theatre and performance? We are particularly interested in capturing the possibly ‘quiet’, micro-practices of solidarity that occur not only within sites of struggle, but also in everyday life. Critical positionality is a feature of solidarity. Many aspects of solidarity are implicit in works of applied theatre and performance, which are deeply embedded in community involvement and rely on one’s critical positionality. Participatory theatre-making often values relationality and involves the creation of meaningful and respectful environments. And yet the word ‘solidarity’ is not commonly referred to within current scholarship in applied theatre arts. Solidarity is articulated as a moment of inter-relational care - of ‘affective solidarity’ (Thompson 2015) - which deliberately counters a ‘careless’ society. Is solidarity, then, an act of attentiveness, kindness and attunement? Or, on the contrary, is it a process of recognising differences and distinctiveness in personal opinions, behaviours and actions, rather than of ‘finding common grounds’ or identifying others ‘like us’ (Walhof 2006)? Diana Taylor (2020) argues for being ‘presente’ with and alongside participants. ‘To be’, she writes, ‘I have to walk and talk with others’ (Taylor 2020, 2). Negotiating the idea of presence enables us to re-examine what she calls a form of ‘cognitive imperialism’ within our artistic practices. In other words, walking and talking alongside others, and at times deliberately choosing to be silent and to listen, can both be forms of solidarity. In Taylor’s work, solidarity is implied in the idea of non-presence or in the act of deliberate silence - and in what silence can signify in applied theatre practices as a way to listen, to hear, and not to interrupt. When is the knowledge of when to stay quiet a form of solidarity (if at all)? Similarly to Diana Taylor’s questioning of ‘cognitive imperialism’ through presence, activist and scholar Harsha Walia calls for replacing a ‘politics of solidarity’ with a ‘practice of decolonisation’. She argues that this involves creating ‘a radical terrain for struggle where our common visions for justice do not erase our different social locations, and similarly, that our differing identities do not prevent us from walking together towards transformation and mutual respect’ (Walia 2012: 254). Is solidarity then - instead of avoiding conflicts of beliefs - a way to engage with a multitude of voices potentially all existing within dissonance? The lack of focused theorisation of solidarity in applied theatre and performance – and the sense that applied theatre assumes it is performing solidarity – asks for this urgent themed issue. The last few years have seen various expressions of solidarity in relation to tragedies around the world. The global COVID-19 pandemic, the killing of George Floyd and the (re)ignited Black Lives Matter movement, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the war in Ukraine, the women’s movement in Iran, are just a few examples of moments when individuals were engaged in finding their performance(s) of solidarity. Whether it was the act of ‘clapping for the health care workers’ (during lockdown in the UK and Canada), uploading a blank social media profile photo (as a sign of allyship with BLM), or flying kites (see Good Chance Theatre’s Kite Festival for Afghanistan), we have had to locate and navigate our positions as being spectators-in-solidarity, participants-in-solidarity, or marching in solidarity ‘alongside’ others. Some joined mass, performed actions of solidarity - such as protests or on social media - whereas others felt less inclined to join in what could arguably be seen as a spectacle or commodification of solidarity (Nash 2008; Vastergaard 2008). Large, visible enactments of solidarity, although often very effective in inciting mass participation, can also be seen as narcissistic sentimentalism (Nash 2008: 177). Media scholar Lilie Chouliaraki, for instance, extensively writes on the critical emergence of a ‘post-humanitarian’ solidarity, which is made of loud gestures that provide an instant sense of gratification and reveal more about the individual self rather than the cause, or the ‘vulnerable other’ (2011). Chouliaraki believes we are thus becoming ‘ironic spectators’ (Chouliaraki 2013) of things going wrong in the world. Tensions in these ‘louder’ forms can also be noted by expressions of solidarity arising from grassroots and media generated public debates in which ‘everyday people participate in unequal ways in constructing this debate and its parameters’ (Siapera 2019), where solidarity is becoming an expression that is widely accessible, but potentially more equalized in access rather than in nature. Spectacles of solidarity - loud, statement-led - are nuanced in complexity, as intention does not always correlate with best practices. There is a story told by the activist artist Banksy, during his work among many other street artists leaving their marks of solidarity on the West Bank’s Separation Wall in the occupied Palestinian Territories (recounted in Parry 2010: 10): Old Man: You paint the wall, you make it look beautiful. Banksy: Thanks. Old Man: We don’t want it to be beautiful. We hate this wall, go home. The questions this raises for applied theatre and performance are how best practices relate to critical positionality, and how good intentions of ‘performing solidarity’ can potentially harm the people and communities involved. Commonly-recognised forms of solidarity are also visible in the theatre arts industry, as Bree Hadley (2020) points out in her work on allies, ally skills and allyship in disability arts. Performances of solidarity by ‘allies of convenience’ are aimed to benefit the individual and can look like a number of things: ‘be it tokenistic mainstream work, community work facilitated by allies who fail to afford disabled artists control and/or financial benefit, or companies that present disabled artists work but only in tagged ‘disability arts’ programmes separate to their main activities’ (Hadley 2020: 179). The kind of solidarity that valued allies do falls in the skill set described by Hadley as: ‘professional, social, and singular – all allies must remember their privilege, listen, accept the realities oppressed people describe, and allow oppressed colleagues and/or audiences to speak for themselves’ (180). Bradley endorses this form of ‘social allyship’ in disability arts, as it can be a start of outlining the requirements for professional, social and aesthetic support for artworkers (185). Can solidarity be seen as reciprocal co-perception (Walhof 2006) in which teachings of otherness are vital? Our interest in quiet, micro practices of solidarity in applied theatre and performance follows the rationale that these performances often go unnoticed, or do not necessarily enter the scope and language of more commonly recognised acts of solidarity. They are not the loud, deliberate brush strokes on a giant separation wall. They are not always clear, and well-defined forms of expression. Although the editors of this themed issue recognise the significance and importance of acts that catch the public’s and authorities’ attention, what does it look like when, as philosopher Gadamer (2009) proposes, solidarity does not leave the other completely other, nor does it make the other same? Is there even reciprocity in acts (or intention) of solidarity? If not, is this vital for the work that we are undertaking? Format For this special themed issue, we are inviting research articles (6000 words), as well as reflective accounts of artistic works, interviews, and other conceptual explorations of solidarity (1500 words) in relation to the encounters being made in applied theatre and in relation to the positionality of our work. All submissions will be reviewed by the editors and blind peer reviewed at least once prior to final acceptance. Possible topics Small/quiet acts of solidarity in applied theatre and performance Challenges or ethical limitations within acts of solidarity Solidarity as reciprocal Absence (in solidarity) Solidarity as spectacle Embodiment and solidarity Solidarity and decolonialist practices ‘Making’ or ‘doing’ solidarity vs ‘being in’ solidarity Practices/limitations of allyship Nuanced practices of activist presence/co-presence
    Please send your proposed abstract of 300-500 words and 100 words biography to Réka Polonyi (email) and Kirsten Sadeghi-Yekta (email) by 5 April, 2023.

    Full papers will be expected by September 1, 2023 and publication is estimated for summer 2024. Submissions will all go through one or more rounds of blind peer review. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.
    ksadeghi@uvic.ca
    reka.polonyi@manchester.ac.uk
    Timeframe Proposal for contributions: April 5, 2023 Final Publication of accepted submissions: Summer 2024 References: Chouliaraki, Lilie. 2013. The ironic spectator: Solidarity in the age of post-humanitarianism. John Wiley & Sons. Chouliaraki, Lilie. 2011. “Improper distance: towards a critical account of solidarity as irony.” International journal of cultural studies 14(4): 363-381. Gadamer, Hans-Georg. 2009. “Friendship and Solidarity.” Research in Phenomenology 39(1): 3–12. Hadley, Bree. 2020. “Allyship in disability arts: roles, relationships, and practices.” Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance 25(2): 178-194. Nash, Kate. 2008. “Global citizenship as show business: the cultural politics of Make Poverty History.” Media, Culture & Society 30(2): 167–181. Parry, William .2010. Against the Wall: The Art of Resistance in Palestine. London: Pluto Press. Siapira, Eugenia. 2019. “Refugee solidarity in Europe: Shifting the discourse.” European Journal of Cultural Studies 22(2): 245-266. Taylor, Diane. 2020. Presente! The Politics of Presence. Durham: Duke University Press. Thompson, James. 2015. “Towards an aesthetics of care.” Research in Drama Education: Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance 20(4): 430-441. Vestergaard, Anne. 2008. “Humanitarian branding and the media: The case of Amnesty International.” Journal of language and politics 7(3): 471-493. Walhof, Darren R. 2006. “Friendship, Otherness, and Gadamer's Politics of Solidarity.” Political Theory (34)5: 569-593. Walia, Harsha. 2012. “Moving beyond a politics of solidarity toward a practice of decolonization.” In .), Organize!: Building from the local for global justice, edited by Eric Shragge, Jill Hanley, and Aziz Choudry, 240–253. Los Angeles: PM Press.

  • Job Opportunity: Lecturer in Theatre Studies, U of Melbourne
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 17 Mar 2023


    Job Opportunity: Lecturer in Theatre Studies, University of Melbourne


    Job listing: https://jobs.unimelb.edu.au/caw/en/job/912123/lecturer-in-theatre-studies.
    Closing date: 11 April 2023.

    The University of Melbourne is seeking an experienced lecturer, specialising in popular and/or contemporary theatre and performance. Applicants with research specialisations in areas that complement existing staff expertise through a focus on Indigenous, culturally diverse or socially engaged performance are particularly encouraged to apply. This is a full-time, ongoing level B (lecturer) position in theatre studies based the University of Melbourne, Parkville. 

    Applications can be submitted through the Univeristy of Melbourne Careers portal here. Applications close at 11.55pm (AEST) on 11 April 2023. Enquiries about the role can be directed to Associate Professor David McInnis (mcinnisd@unimelb.edu.au). 
     
  • Publication: Performance Paradigm 17 (2022)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 13 Mar 2023

     

     

    Performance Paradigm 17 (2022)

    Perform or Else? Revisiting Jon McKenzie's Work in the Post-Pandemic World

    Performance Paradigm 17 is online now!

    This latest issue revisits Jon McKenzie's Perform or Else, reflecting on the book's influence on performance studies and beyond over the last two decades, and thinking about what its insights mean in a post-pandemic era.

    The issue is edited by Emma Willis, Chris Hay and Nien Yuan Cheng and features an interdisciplinary range of long and short articles, as well as interviews with McKenzie and artist pages. 

    Contributors include: Tim Edkins, Ioana B. Jucan, Ali Na, Shuntaro Yoshida, Natsumi Fukasawa, Esther Neff, Nien Yuan Cheng, Chris Hay, Emma Willis, Jon McKenzie, Edward Scheer, Sara Baranzoni, Paolo Vignola,  Helen Dickinson, Fabian Muniesa, Anna Islind, Anthony Gritten, Miško Šuvaković and Goran Sergej Pristaš.
     
  • PhD scholarship opportunity - please share
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 8 Mar 2023
    ADSA call out - PhD scholarship opportunity - please share


    Area of research: Self-sensing and somatic awarenesses: A movement improvisation study of interoception and physical literacy (a Deakin-Coventry Cotutelle arrangement)


    Dear ADSA colleagues,
    Deakin Theatre and Dance is offering two PhD scholarships in a partnership with C-Dare in Coventry UK. We are seeking applicants who are interested in the intersection of movement and physical literacy with a particular focus on somatic practice and interoception.

    Candidates will commence their studies in Australia and complete their second year in Coventry UK, before concluding in Australia.

    There is more information on the URL
    Questions can be directed to Associate Professor Rea Dennis, rea.dennis@deakin.edu.au
  • Job Opportunity: First Nations Writers' Fellowship, U of Adelaide
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 8 Mar 2023

     

    Job Opportunity: First Nations Writer's Fellowship, University of Adelaide


    Job listing: https://careers.adelaide.edu.au/cw/en/job/511616/first-nations-writers-fellowship.
    Closing date: 16 April 2023.

    The JM Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice First Nations Fellowships support the production of new work by First Nations artists, to be awarded to creative writers/storytellers and musicians, beginning with a writer in 2023. The Fellowship comprises $10,000 for creative development of a project, and office space at the Centre.

    Collaborations and dialogue between the Fellow and JMCCCP members will be encouraged, and the successful applicant will be invited to give a masterclass to students in English and Creative Writing. The Fellow will also be free to engage with our neighbours in the North Terrace Cultural Precinct, by exploring or responding to the collections of the South Australian Museum, or by participating in the programs of the Art Gallery of South Australia, particularly those scheduled around Tarnanthi, Reconciliation week and NAIDOC week. 

    Applications close: 11.55pm (ACST), 16 April 2023.

    For more information, or a confidential discussion about the role, please contact Professor Anne Pender, Director JM Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice (anne.pender@adelaide.edu.au). 
     
  • Call for Proposals: Women's Innovations in Theatre, Dance and Performance, vol. 3
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 28 Feb 2023


    Call for Proposals: Women’s Innovations in Theatre, Dance, and Performance
    Volume 3: Designers & Crafters

    Co-edited by Greer Crawley and Carolina E. Santo


    Proposals due: 15 April 2023

    This volume will focus on the contributions of women to design and stagecraft in general, and in particular to their innovations in the areas of theatrical costume, scenic, sound, lighting, scenography, and media design. Contributors will be encouraged to define the role of designer and stagecrafter expansively and to include innovations by women from eras and contexts in which design specialization had not yet occurred (e.g., contributions and innovations by performers, managers, directors, dramaturgs, writers, or choreographers to stagecraft and design).

    Questions that contributors to this volume should explore include:
    • Who are the women who made significant innovations and contributions as designers and stagecrafters, and what were those innovations? What were the social/political/economic conditions under which they worked? How did their status as women affect their ability to define their status in the field and exercise autonomy as artists? What creative endeavors required the naming/claiming and consolidation of the status of designer?
    • How have design and innovation intersected in women’s stage or performance work, particularly in historical eras or in cultures/theatrical practices in which design, as a subspecialization, did or does not exist? What role have women played in defining design subspecialties or in challenging and changing established conventions? Are there other ways to consider female stagecraft practice beyond the limited constraints on the word and process of creation that upholds a singular, genius model of innovation?
    • How did their work help to shape or change the future of theatre or dance as an art form? Why is the recuperation of their legacies important?

    The Designers & Crafters volume aims to identify voices that are not usually included and to shed light on their unacknowledged contributions to the aesthetics and technologies of design and stagecraft. This recuperation will require the re-examination of the anecdotal and incomplete documentation of the women artists, makers and designers who often work(ed) outside the mainstream theatre industry. A central goal of this volume is to revisit archival materials of theatre history—including sets, costumes, props, workbooks, drawings, models, etc.—so that new and original evidence can be discovered to re-write the historiography of stagecraft from an alternative, feminist point of view. 

    Aspects to be considered might include:
    • The marginalization of women’s craftmanship and aesthetic processes
    • The importance of women as stagecraft educators and mentors
    • The spaces of innovation: the workshop, the studio, the rehearsal room, the home, the classroom
    • Representations of theatre designers and crafters in literature, visual art, film, and photography
    • Innovations in the exhibition of stagecraft
    • Stagecraft and cultural identity

    We seek contributors who can speak to these recurring themes across multiple languages, geographies, cultures, and time periods. We are particularly interested in centering the voices of IBPOC scholars and contributors across career stages.
    We invite critical and creative papers as well as those that present case-studies or deliver in more collaborative formats. Contributions may focus on, but are not limited to, women’s involvement and innovations in the development of design and stagecraft technologies, processes and practices, and design methodologies. 

    The following is an indicative (and by no means exhaustive) list of possible topics:
    • Innovations in artistic practices and design methodologies
    • Innovations in labor and production
    • Innovations in craft knowledge
    • Innovations in sustainability and stagecraft
    • Innovations in digital technologies
    • Innovations in interdisciplinary practices
    • Innovations in theatre technology
    • Innovations in scenic vocabularies and strategies
    • Innovations in making and materiality
    • Innovation in working environments
    • Innovations in experimental practices
    • Innovations in pedagogies
    • Innovations in exhibiting stagecraft

    Contact Greer Crawley (Greer.Crawley@rhul.ac.uk) and Carolina E. Santo (ca.espirito@gmail.com) if you have questions. 

    Abstracts submitted should be 250 words, and include a working title and a description of the methodological approach. Potential contributors should also include a brief (150 word) bio. These should be combined into one MS Word document (Times New Roman, 12-pt, single-spaced) for submission.
     
    New extended deadline for submission of abstracts is 15 April 2023. Abstracts should be submitted online HERE.
     
  • Call for Papers: Resilience? Response, Resourcefulness, Recovery, Resistance
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 23 Feb 2023

     

    Australasian Drama Studies, vol. 83 (Special Edition)

     

    Resilience? Response, Resourcefulness, Recovery, Resistance

    Call for proposals


    The effects of the Covid pandemic on the field of theatre and performance in Australasia have intensified and, in some cases, refocussed the attention of artists and scholars on issues of resilience, well-being and precarity that have been legitimate preoccupations across academic disciplines since the early 2000’s. As Ames and Greer (2021: 1) point out, however, the resilience so frequently attributed to those who work in creative spheres can also serve “to rationalise and naturalise the redistribution of responsibility for social and systemic problems from the state to communities and individuals” . 

    How is this sustainable? This century we are witnessing the emergence of critique, practices and actions that foreground the value of ‘the arts’ and challenge instrumentalist models, demanding greater emphasis on people-centred and strength-based approaches. In this issue, we aim to interrogate convenient notions of resilience and seek to reiterate Ames and Greer’s salient questions, asking ‘resilience to what?’ and ‘resilience for whom?” (4) in our region. How might the quest for resilience serve the larger agenda of governments and the corporate sector if the resourcefulness attributed to our sector represents what Evans and Reid describe as “deceitful emancipatory claims that force people to embrace their servitude as though it were their liberation” (2015: 154) ? Where do rebellion, resistance and revolution feature in the discourse, aesthetic, and practices of next generation artists? 

    We purposely do not use the term ‘post-pandemic,’ as the pandemic is still with us and our processes, modes and sites of production and learning continue to need to account for this. In a changed landscape, is it resilience that is needed? Can resilience be characterised simply as a ‘bouncing back’ to original shape in this context? Acknowledging the “located, contextual nature of resilience” (Ames and Greer: 3), where, and in what shape, do we find ourselves?

    This issue is, then, intended as a form of health check, examining the state of play in theatre, performance, scholarship and training in Australasia in precarious times. While the Covid pandemic sits within a range of imminent and immediate global crises that both inform and threaten our practices as artists and scholars (if not our existence), its effects have arguably piggy-backed on more persistent problems in relation to making and holding space for diversity, decolonisation, equity and wellbeing. All of these pressing issues point to both individual and collective vulnerabilities and appear in localised formations in our region that can be fragile, at risk of erosion, and in some cases of extinction.
    • Managing precarity and vulnerability: in response to climate crisis, global pandemic, cultural and social and change
    • Australasian innovations in approaches to partnership and collaboration to engender more sustainable approaches to performing arts.
    • Performance practices and training for resilience, cultural safety and well-being
    • Key questions regarding liveness and presence in performance and pedagogy which have arisen (or re-emerged) in relation to the pandemic.
    • Alternatives to current renditions and conceptions of resourcefulness and resilience
    • Government and policy responses to the Covid pandemic and the post-lockdown environment.
    • Alternate economies and the loss of economic certainty for artists and small to medium companies in the performing arts
    • Designing robust strategic change approaches to embed arts and artists in communities
    • Artistic responses to the Covid pandemic, climate emergency, global economic instability, and war
    • The place of care and personal wellbeing within the performing arts
    • Intimacy, institutional and corporate responsibility in the performing arts
    • University responses to the Covid pandemic
      • The changing nature of the Higher Education landscape 
      • Losses to the sector during Covid
      • Strategic rebuilding for a sustainable future
    • Changing aesthetics and production processes in the post-lockdown environment.
    • Economic and social labour in the small to medium and independent artist sectors
    • Holistic working practices and technologies for a sustainable performing arts sector
    • How the industry is contending with with and leading/innovating in policy and procedures embedding First Nations, disability, LGBTQI+ concerns to sustain diverse teams and cultural safety for artists and audiences
    • Imagining the future: practice, training, scholarship

    Send proposals of 300 words to the editors on the emails below by 17 April 2023. If commissioned, full submissions will be due on 25 July 2023.
    Rea Dennis (rea.dennis@deakin.edu.au)
    Yoni Prior (editor.ads@adsa.edu.au)
    Sarah Woodland (sarah.woodland@unimelb.edu.au)
    Erica Charalambous (echaral@deakin.edu.au)
       
    References
    Margaret Ames & Stephen Greer (2021) Renegotiating resilience, redefining resourcefulness, Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 26:1, 1-8.
    Brad Evans & Julian Reid (2015) Exhausted by resilience: response to the commentaries, Resilience, 3:2, 154-159.
  • Call for Papers: Green Training
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 21 Feb 2023

    Theatre Dance and Performance Training Journal (TDPT)

     

    Special issue: Green Trainings to be published in September 2024 (15.3)

    Call for contributions, ideas, proposals and dialogue with the editors


    Editors:
    Jonathan Pitches (j.pitches@leeds.ac.uk) 
    Libby Worth (libby.worth@rhul.ac.uk)

    Training Grounds Editor:
    Maria Kapsali (M.Kapsali@leeds.ac.uk) 
     
    If not now, when? 

    We are living in a time of an unprecedented global environmental crisis. Scientists have developed a sophisticated understanding of the Earth’s climate system and we know with high confidence that climate change is happening today as a result of greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity. Negative impacts from climate change, including extreme weather events, the acidification of the oceans, declining glaciers and sea ice, and rising sea temperatures are already being felt and will continue to increase into the future. Radical action to limit future global greenhouse gas emissions is essential if we are to restrict future changes in the climate system. A key target emerging from COP27 (November 2022) is the pressing need to effect the shift from pledging to implementation. In this time of climate emergency we must collectively accelerate, scale up, replicate success stories and bring about transformative action. Conscious of the ubiquitous, and iniquitous acts of greenwashing and virtue signaling, this call for transformative activism must at the same time be expressed honestly with open acknowledgment of the barriers to change, the impediments, and potential failures and the need for persistence - to try and then to try again.

    In the last 20 years, there has been an increase in arts-based training for environmental awareness, and a rich history of practitioners working outside, drawing for instance from paratheatre, somatics and bodyweather. There has been a concomitant process in Fine Art - Suzi Gablik's The Re-enchantment of Art (1991) is a key frame of reference and Natalie Loveless’s How to make Art at the End of the World (2019), has also been very influential more recently. Their focus on pedagogy, responsibility and ethics is instructive for thinking across disciplines. In parallel with this movement there has been a too-late acknowledgement of indigenous/first peoples’ training methods, and the capacity they have to spark new thinking about old training methods, and thus to decolonise the training studio – Te Rākau’s Theatre Marae for instance in Aotearoa/NewZealand (Pearse-Otene, TDPT 12.1) or Cricri Bellerose’s ecosomatic attentiveness through which she becomes an ‘apprentice to the land’ (TDPT 13.2).  

    In the UK and the US, there have been logistical and industrial responses to the crisis, with a focus on finding ways of operating more sustainably and with less waste. The emergence of the Theatre Green Book, now complete at 3 Volumes, provides free guidance for theatre-makers on what everyone can and should be doing to change their practice, and is evidence of the UK theatre sector’s commitment to creating a common standard for sustainable theatre. Similarly, in the US, the Broadway Green Alliance has paved the way for an initiative dedicated to educating and inspiring producing theatres to implement environmentally friendlier practices, with their Green Captain programme providing advocacy and support for professional theatres and college theatre departments. In the UK, some institutions have adopted Green Captains, highlighting their commitment to future sustainable practices. These programmes are, however, almost exclusively focused on theatre production, buildings and operations. If we look to the training methods of performers employed in these contexts, there is scant (published) evidence of sustainable, or ‘green training’ practices.

    Cognisant of the urgent need to address the often problematic issues around responsibility for engagement and action, our discipline is provoking ways to respond. For example, the 9th edition of the International Platform for Performer Training (Chiusi, Italy, January 2023), where this Call for Papers was first developed, included New Creative Ecologies: Non-anthropocentric Spaces, Geopoetics and Climate Change in Performer Training as one of its four key themes for exploration, while RiDE’s forthcoming Special Issue, Confronting the Global Climate Crisis: Responsibility, Agency, and Action, seeks to ‘confront the climate crisis with a revived interest in the diverse pedagogical, ethical, aesthetic, and sensory qualities’ of applied theatre research and practice. 

    In this Special Issue of TDPT we seek to discover green trainings’ roots, to document forms of green training which already exist, and to debate what new forms might emerge. As such, our questions for this special issue may be conceived in three interrelated parts – sources, contemporary practices and imagined futures:

    SOURCES
    • How have training regimes and their articulation contributed to the discourse of eco criticism?
    • What historic practices of performance training can we draw on as inspiration for green training today?
    • How have historical training approaches differed in their approach to green training, cross culturally?

    CONTEMPORARY PRACTICES
    • Which trainers, institutions, networks, models should we be looking to for help in shaping green trainings? 
    • What is the relationship between indigenous and first peoples’ practices and environmentally aware training practice in other cultural contexts today?
    • How have recent statements on the climate crisis (IPCC, COP 26/7) impacted upon approaches to performer training? 
    • Given the known disparity between richer nations that emit the most carbon and poorer nations that suffer the greatest climate change impacts, how does geography impact on training’s reaction to rising temperatures?
    • In work outside of theatres, in site-based practice for instance, how is the training congruent with the performance’s ethics and politics?
    • How are performance-based activists trained and what might be learned from such approaches? 

    IMAGINED FUTURES
    • What value and impact might interdisciplinary connections and research have for green trainings?
    • What would a carbon literate curriculum for training include?
    • What are the opportunities and threats associated with digital green trainings?
    • How will training be shaped by factors of climate change in the future? What will rising sea levels, extreme weather, bioodiversity reduction, new energy sources mean for performance training? 
    • What can performer training do to play its part in global adaptation? What small acts can be taken that might excite and motivate others?
    • What training initiatives might be taken to lower our carbon footprint?  

    We welcome submissions from authors both inside and outside academic institutions, from professional practitioners and those who are currently undergoing training or who have experiences to tell from their training histories. 

    To signal your intention to make a contribution to this special issue in any one of the ways identified above please email an abstract (max 250 words) to Jonathan Pitches, University of Leeds  (j.pitches@leeds.ac.uk) and Libby Worth, Royal Holloway, University of London (libby.worth@rhul.ac.uk). Training Grounds proposals are to be made to Maria Kapsali M.Kapsali@leeds.ac.uk, and copied to Jonathan and Libby. Please state clearly which type of Training Grounds submission you wish to offer.

    Our deadline for these abstracts is 13 June 2023.

    Theatre, Dance and Performance Training has three sections: 
    • 'Articles’ features contributions in a range of critical and scholarly formats (approx. 5,000-6,500 words) 
    • ‘Sources’ provides an outlet for the documentation and analysis of primary materials of performer training. We are particularly keen to receive material that documents the histories and contemporary practices associated with the issue’s theme.
    • ‘Training Grounds’ hosts shorter pieces, which are not peer reviewed, including essais (more speculative pieces 750-1250 words); postcards (up to 100 words); visual essays and scores; Speaking Images (short texts responding to a photo, drawing, visual score, etc.); and book or event reviews. We welcome a wide range of different proposals for contributions including edited interviews and previously unpublished archive or source material. We also welcome suggestions for recent books on the theme to be reviewed; or for foundational texts to be re-reviewed. 

    Innovative cross-over print/digital formats are possible, including the submission of audiovisual training materials, which can be housed on the online interactive Theatre, Dance and Performance Training journal blog: http://theatredanceperformancetraining.org/

    About Theatre, Dance and Performance Training (TDPT)
    Special Issues of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training (TDPT) are an essential part of its offer and complement the open issues in each volume. TDPT is an international academic journal devoted to all aspects of ‘training’ (broadly defined) within the performing arts. It was founded in 2010 and launched its own blog in 2015. In 2022 we reached the landmark of 50,000 downloads in one year. Our target readership comprises scholars and the many varieties of professional performers, makers, choreographers, directors, dramaturgs and composers working in theatre, dance, performance and live art who have an interest in the practices of training. TDPT’s co-editors are Jonathan Pitches (University of Leeds) and Libby Worth (Royal Holloway, University of London).

    Issue Schedule
    • 13 June 2023: proposals to be submitted.
    • Early July 2023: Response from editors and, if successful, invitation to submit contribution
    • Early July to end October 2023: writing/preparation period
    • End October to end December 2023: peer review period
    • January 2024: author revisions post peer review
    • September 2024: publication as Issue 15.3

    References
    Climate Change Committee. 2023. News and Insights. [Online]. [Accessed 16 January 2023]. Available from: https://www.theccc.org.uk/
    COP27. 2023. Vision and Mission. [Online]. [Accessed 16 January 2023]. Available from: https://cop27.eg/#/vision#goals
    University of Surrey. 2023. Guildford School of Acting (GSA) and its green captains pioneer sustainable theatre production. [Online]. 9 November 2021. [Accessed 16 January 2023]. Available from: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/guildford-school-acting-gsa-and-its-green-captains-pioneer-sustainable-theatre-production
  • Event: Research Based Theatre Symposium (Sydney)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 2 Feb 2023

    Hosted by the CREATE Centre at the University of Sydney, in collaboration with University of British Columbia Research-based Theatre Lab and in association with the School of Theatre and Performance Studies: a 2-day Symposium on Research-Based Theatre featuring national and international guests, presentations, workshops, and a performance of Empire of the Son by Canadian solo theatre artist Tetsuro Shigematsu.

    Research-Based Theatre (RbT) is a qualitative, arts-based methodology that invites researchers, artists, educators, and research participants to collectively translate and transform research phenomena into theatre. This approach makes use of applied drama and theatre strategies, and at its core rests on two commitments: to honour and ethically explore the research context, and to engage and commit to the art form of theatre.

    Explore a methodology that strives to enliven research, honouring subtilties and complexities while engaging researchers, participants, and audiences in critical and empathetic explorations within live and ephemeral spaces using a host of theatre-based approaches.
  • Event: Panel on Queer Performance, Midsumma Festival (Melbourne)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 31 Jan 2023

    Dear members, 

    On this coming Saturday 4 February, some of the co-editors and authors of the recent special issue of Australasian Drama Studies on Queer Performance in our region have curated a panel discussion at Melbourne's Midsumma Festival. Although the event is free, booking is required at the link below.

    When: 11.00am - 12.30pm, Saturday 4 February
    Where: The Edge, Federation Square
    Bookings: via the Midsumma website

    Best wishes,
    ADSA Board.
  • Call for Papers: Global Connections in Performance Pedagogy and Practice
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 23 Jan 2023

    CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS


    GLOBAL CONNECTIONS IN PERFORMANCE PEDAGOGY AND PRACTICE

    International conference jointly hosted by
    LASALLE College of the Arts (Singapore)
    The National University of Theatre and Film I.L Caragiale (Romania)
    Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts (Australia)

    31 May - 3 June 2023
    Online

    Proposal submission deadline: 5 February 2023

    The 21st century has brought about critical societal changes that could be argued to put pressure on some of the paramount tenets of performance pedagogy and practice during the 20th century. Transnational connections have enriched our practice with diverse cultural influences and techniques. But they have also shown that what was assumed to be culturally neutral training can have biases and exclusionary practices. Social media has taught us that knowledge is no longer transferred unidirectionally from the teacher/master to the student. Across peer-to-peer networks, students are agents themselves in defining the meaning of knowledge and knowing. And the digital disruption forced by the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that remoteness and embodiment are not in opposition. 

    These, among other contemporary issues and trends, invite us to re-evaluate the connections we make in and through performance: in professional practice, in our pedagogy, between concepts, objects, locations, and between ourselves. How do we create performance in the 21st century? How do we teach with in-depth training in hybrid and intersectional spaces? How do we continue to diversify and make performance accessible? 

    LASALLE College of the Arts, the National University of Theatre and Film I.L Caragiale, Bucharest, and the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts invite proposals for our international conference, Global Connections in Performance Pedagogy and Practice. The event will give the space necessary for these and similar questions to be explored collaboratively and interculturally. We wish to gather educators, scholars, and students from across the world to enact and present new connections upon which we can chart the future of our field ahead. 

    We want to open a space that refreshes the experience of an online conference. To that end, panels at the conference will be dedicated to discussing previously circulated papers, sharing live performances or work demonstrations, and delivering workshops. We also welcome proposals for masterclasses or curated panels suitable for an online format (Zoom). The conference will be broadcast online globally and free of charge. 

    This call is open to artists, educators, scholars, and students working in and for the performing arts (Dance, Music, Theatre and adjacent disciplines, such as Film). The list of possible topics that presentations may cover includes but is not limited to the following list. We hope that contributions will advance and challenge current conversations: 
     
    • New intercultural practices
    • Pedagogic models and values
    • New canons, traditions & lineages
    • Post-pandemic experimental performance
    • Student agency 
    • Technique
    • The normalisation of technologies and media 
    • Telematic music performance and composition 
    • Equity, diversity and inclusion
    • Emerging practices in industry and professional organisations
    • Identity
    • Translation
    • Creative practice research in Higher Education 
    • Consent and safety
    • Matrixes of authority 
    • Ethics in vocational training
    • Citizenry 
    • Listening, empathy & attunement

    Please note that while we welcome contributions in languages other than English, we cannot provide written text or live interpretation translations. Please secure your translation services if you wish to submit/present in another language, and ensure that your materials are circulated in advance. 

    To submit your proposal, please fill in this form. 

    Deadline for submission: 5 February 2023
    Notice of acceptance:  March 2023
    Expected submission and circulation of written contributions: May 2023

    For inquiries: performing.arts@lasalle.edu.sg
     
  • Opportunity: Tokyo - Visiting Professor of Australian Studies 2023-24 and 2024-25
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 23 Jan 2023

    Opportunity-Visiting Professor of Australian Studies (TOKYO)
    2023-24 and 2024-25

    The Centre for Pacific and American Studies at the University of Tokyo is seeking applications for Visiting Professor of Australian Studies for two terms (2023-24 and 2024-25).

    Position title: Visiting Professor of Australian Studies

    Open to: Australian citizens and permanent residents

    Location: Centre for Pacific and American Studies, University of Tokyo, Komaba Campus

    Salary: Starting salary ¥600,000 per month (before tax). See position description for further details.

    Duration: Approximately 10 months

    Commencement of position: Late September 2023 or late September 2024. Applicants may apply to be considered for a specific term only or for either term. This must be indicated clearly on your application.

    Closing date for applications: 1 February 2023

    For the recruitment call and more information about the opportunity see the attached PDF or go online to the link provided.

    Attachment:
  • Recruitment: Editor, Australasian Drama Studies
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 20 Dec 2022


    Dear members,

    We hope this email finds you well and enjoying a relaxing end to the year.

    As telegraphed at our recent Annual General Meeting, the current Editor of Australasian Drama Studies Dr Yoni Prior will conclude her term as Editor at the end of 2023. We will celebrate Yoni's achievements as Editor across the next year, and formally commend her work at the 2023 AGM; in the meantime, we thank Yoni on behalf of the membership for all that she has done to modernise and streamline the journal's activities.

    The ADSA Board has opened applications for the role of ADS Editor, with a closing date of 3 February 2023 at 11.,59pm AEDT. This will allow for a substantial handover period across 2023. Details of the application procedure can be found in the attached Position Description. As is noted there, the Board strongly encourages applications from both individual members, and from pairs of applicants who would like to be considered as co-Editors. 

    Informal questions about the role can be directed to Yoni (editor.ads@adsa.edu.au). For any other questions about the wider recruitment process, please contact the ADSA Board via Rea (president@adsa.edu.au) and Chris (vice.president@adsa.edu.au).

    Best wishes,
    Rea, for the ADSA Board.

     

    Attachment:
  • CfP: RiDE - Confronting the Global Climate Crisis: Responsibility, Agency, and Action
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 8 Dec 2022

    Call for papers: Confronting the Global Climate Crisis: Responsibility, Agency, and Action

    Research in Drama Education The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance

    Guest Editors: Rachel Turner-King (University of Warwick) and Bobby Smith (University of Warwick)

    In 2012, Deirdre Heddon and Sally Mackey’s themed issue of RiDE made an explicit plea for a deeper ‘critical engagement’ with environmentalism, education and applied drama, theatre, and performance. In the decade since, the discourse around climate change has shifted to reflect the immediacy of rising temperatures and ecological catastrophes: a climate crisis and emergency that requires urgent action (IPCC 2022). This necessitates a reengagement with the challenge of exploring, understanding, and representing the crisis in our field and, particularly, how the idea of responsibility underpins or complicates such work and related action. This issue invites researchers, educators, and practitioners to confront the climate crisis with a revived interest in the diverse pedagogical, ethical, aesthetic, and sensory qualities of our work.

    For more information, the full call is attached.

    300-word proposals for contributions, plus 100-word biographies for each contributor due by 31st January 2023
    To Rachel Turner-King [rachel.turner-king@warwick.ac.uk] and Bobby Smith [bobby.smith@warwick.ac.uk].

    Attachment:
  • Job Posting: Technical Officer (Performance), UTas
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 24 Nov 2022


    Dear colleagues,

    The University of Tasmania is currently recruiting for a full-time, ongoing Technical Officer (Performance) to support the activites of the Theatre and Performance program, based in Launceston. Full details and the application link can be found via the UTas Careers site (https://careers.utas.edu.au/en/job/498111/technical-officer-performance) — please note the deadline for applications is rapidly approaching: Monday 28 November, 11.55pm (AEDT)

    Best wishes.
    Chris.

  • Position: Kaihautū Toi - Artistic Director, closing Dec 2
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 22 Nov 2022
    Kaihautū Toi - Artistic Director (Theta)
    Applications close Friday 2 December 2022

    To apply: CV and covering letter outlining your background and interest in this role via www.ph.co.nz.
    Contact: Vanessa Barker +64 3 474 9717 or vanessa.barker@ph.co.nz.

    About THETA - visit www.theta.org.nz


    About the Position:
    Does
    using applied theatre to empower rangatahi (youth) and other groups to tackle issues of concern and take charge of their well-being inspire you?

    Are you looking for the challenge of growing a proven rangatahi well-being programme, and to develop new programmes?


    The
    Theatre in Health Education Trust (THETA) works nationally, specialising in delivering applied
    t
    heatre-based programmes on well-being issues to rangatahi in mainstream schools and alternative
    education
    in Aotearoa. THETA has been expanding its operations to include programmes for a variety
    of
    community groups and organisations.

    Our interactive programmes use applied theatre practices including forum theatre, educational drama,
    structured role-play and decision-making activities to engage participants in the safe exploration of
    issues relevant to their lives.


    We
    have an exciting and rewarding opportunity to support the Trust’s work by managing and growing
    a
    successful rangatahi well-being programme as well as developing new programmes that promote
    well
    -being and foster new perspectives and understandings.

    In
    this role, you will:
    • Devise and deliver the existing Sexwise programme in line with Manatū Hauora Ministry of Health guidelines and current best practice.
    • Identify and secure funding for new programmes through applications to funding bodies and liaison with community groups and other current and potential stakeholders.
    • Devise and deliver new programmes in accordance with the needs of the stakeholder/clients while upholding the principles and mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/treaty-of-waitangi/meaning-of-the-treaty/
    • You will devise, direct, and supervise interactive applied theatre programmes and work in ways that respect and accommodate gender and cultural diversity. You will be able to tailor programmes to fit the needs of specific communities and groups, Māori and Pacific, rural and more.
    • You will liaise with the THETA Board on the strategic direction of the organisation, and with the THETA Manager/Coordinator in the production of reports to the Board and stakeholder organisations.
    • You will be responsible for budget creation and administrative oversight of the programmes.
    The ideal candidate will have 5 years+ experience in devising and delivering applied theatre programmes that work to foster new perspectives, promote self-determination and inspire participants. This is a mostly autonomous role, so it is imperative that you are entrepreneurial and have a high energy level with drive and enthusiasm. Supporting touring programmes will involve some travel.

    This
    is a full time, permanent role based in Dunedin. If you think you possess the passion to add value
    to
    this key role, and the work THETA undertakes, we would love to hear from you.
     
    Attachment:
  • Conference CfP: 6th annual Dance and Somatic Practices
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 22 Nov 2022

    Reconnections: Looking back, moving forward, enacting change
    2023 Dance & Somatic Practices Conference

    Deadline for the submissions: 30th November 2022.
    Proposals should be submitted online via Google Forms please follow this
    link: https://forms.gle/sh7zP2bjvQUg1qqM7


    Confernce dates: Friday 14th to Sunday 16th July 2023
    Centre for Dance Research (C-DaRE), Coventry University, Coventry, UK.
    To be held at the ICC Building, Coventry University, Parkside, Coventry, CV1 2NE, UK.

    Call for Papers
    The Dance & Somatic Practices Conference invites practitioners, dance artists and scholars from a range of somatic practices and disciplines to debate and share investigations in the field of somatic informed movement practices.
    The conference will take place in-person with the opportunity to present online.

    The conference – Reconnections: Looking back, moving forward, enacting change – will offer a space to collectively engage with themes pertinent to the field of somatic practices internationally and to consider recent world events and concerns such as COVID-19, social justice and the climate emergency. Historically, the Dance & Somatic Practices Conference has been a moment for all areas of somatic practice, research and other modes of somatic enquiry to meet and share experience, knowledge and
    connection. This year we have recognized a need and desire in the wider somatic community to gather together in this way again. Welcoming different perspectives from the ever-enrichening field, we also want to acknowledge, celebrate and honour who and what has come before, to reflect on what has happened in recent years and to collectively explore current and future priorities for our community.
    We invite proposals for papers, panels, workshops, presentations and other formats that we may not have thought of that, through somatic movement and enquiry, engage with the following questions:
    • What do you consider are key topics of enquiry in the field today?
    • What do you consider are the pressing questions that will need to be
    addressed into the future?
    • What do you consider are the emerging topics of enquiry and how are
    these supported by the legacies in the field?
    • How do you imagine we might continue to develop sustainable formats
    for somatic practice and research, whether through conference, journals or
    other modalities?
    • What, in your opinion, has been missed in our explorations of somatics
    so far?

    The call is open to themes and perspectives such as but not limited to: screendance; dance science; spirituality; body and environment; social justice; climate emergency; pedagogy and performance; politics and trauma; embodiment; ethics; care; technology; and non-Western perspectives.

    Submissions
    We are accepting proposal submissions via Google Forms, you will be asked to include the following:
    • Your proposal (max 500) words including the key theme(s) you will be examining please leave out any personal details as the proposals will be reviewed anonymously by the conference committee.
    • Details of any collaborators
    • Biographies
    • Your preference for presenting in person or online
    • Technical requirements - noting that only low-level technical requirements can be accommodated. Unfortunately, we cannot provide performance level technical support.
    If you have any issues with the form or need any additional support with the form please contact lily.hayward-smith@coventry.ac.uk.
    Attachment:
  • OPPORTUNITY, CLOSES 31 Oct 2022 - EARLY-CAREER CREATIVE & PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIP FELLOWSHIPS (FORREST RESEARCH FOUNDATION)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 28 Oct 2022
    EARLY-CAREER RESEARCHER OPPORTUNITY - CREATIVE & PERFORMANCE LEADERSHIP FELLOWSHIPS

    CLOSES 31 Oct 2022

    FORREST RESEARCH FOUNDATION
     
    Two (2) prestigious 18 month fellowships designed to create a new pathway to nurture creative talents and research leadership skills of those working in the creative and performing arts sector.

    Open to candidates of any nationality in the creative and performing arts sector. You will require an out-standing academic track record (minimum GPA of 3.8/4.0), be a creative thinker, excellent communica-tor, passionate researcher and wish to join this elite group of exceptional Forrest Scholars.

    Applications must be submitted via the online portal by 31 October 2022.
    Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed in December 2022.
    Fellowships must commence between January and August 2023.
     
    Attachment:
  • Lecturer, English and Theatre. Murdoch University - Closes Friday
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 18 Oct 2022

    Lecturer, English and Theatre. Murdoch University

    Murdoch is seeking a Lecturer Level B colleague to start in the new year. The position includes expectations that the appointee willl develop scholarly research outputs and professional activities relevant to the discipline.  This position contributes to the teaching effort of the Discipline through the preparation and delivery of lectures, tutorials, other types of teaching activities, and supervision of honours and postgraduate students, and is expected to perform a range of administrative and service functions within the College and across the University.  For more information: https://www.seek.com.au/job/58752028?type=standout

  • CFP: Critical Stages, Special issue on Post-millennial Australasian Dramaturgy
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 26 Sep 2022


    Critical Stages CFP: Post-millennial Australasian Dramaturgy
    (Eds) Kathryn Kelly, Julian Meyrick, Fiona Graham, Moana Nepia & Emily Coleman


    This special edition aims to build on scattered accounts of Australasian dramaturgy in national and international publications over recent decades to provide a timely focus on the field now.

    Send 300-word abstract to kl.kelly@qut.edu.au
    Due 30 October 2022



    Call for Papers: Post-millennial Australasian Dramaturgy
    Adopting a place-based curation outlook, this edition embraces the full spectrum of Australian and Aotearora/New Zealand theatre culture, incorporating First Nations and Māori live performance practices, and the modern settler, post-colonial drama of both nations. Within this complex narrative, Australasian dramaturgy has a history filled with contention, paradox, improvisation and passionate practice.


    The centrality of place in this edition seeks to honour the distinctive nature and primacy of First Nations and Māori cultural practices and scholarship. This will be supported by the appointment of cultural consultants to ensure the agency of First Nations and Māori perspectives in the curatorial process.

    As Turner and Behrndt note in their seminal work, Dramaturgy and Performance (2016), “dramaturgy is as diverse as performance-making itself”. We offer an inclusive conception of dramaturgy drawn from existing Australasian scholarship and the global dramaturgical research that has most impacted the local field.

    We recognise dramaturgy as a specialised field of professional knowledge, with shared approaches and objectives that sit alongside distinctive patterns of work. Our broad church outlook allows for different currents of dramaturgical theory and practice to exist in their contradictions and challenges without invalidating potential commonalities arising from their distinctive Australasian context.

    To encourage a wide range of submissions, we welcome traditional research articles on the last ten years of dramaturgical practice and theory, case studies, interviews and panel discussions in video or text form, diagrammatic representations, models and theorisations, and innovative proposals that value oral traditions, or capture other dramaturgical practices in culturally appropriate ways.

    We welcome submissions that relate to or engage with the following:
    • The traditions and current practices of First Nations and Māori dramaturgy, decolonial and decentring dramaturgy, allyship in dramaturgy, intercultural, transcultural and relational dramaturgy, and the incorporation of First Nations, Māori or Indigenous perspectives into cultural resurgence in Australasian dramaturgy.
    • New play development, production dramaturgy, institutional dramaturgy, literary dramaturgy, translation, theatre criticism and adaptation.
    • New dramaturgies, New Materialist Dramaturgy, Expanded Dramaturgy, Slow dramaturgy, Porous dramaturgy, Spatial dramaturgy, Archipelago dramaturgies, Heterarchical Dramaturgies and Saltwater dramaturgy.
    • New media dramaturgy, digital dramaturgy and the confluence of scenography and dramaturgy, particularly ecoscenography, eco-dramaturgy and visual dramaturgy.
    • Dance dramaturgy, choreo-turgy, curation and dramaturgy, co-dramaturgy and devising dramaturgy.
    • Dramaturgy of Belonging, Divisive Dramaturgy, Dramaturgy of Mobility, Unresolvable Dramaturgy, Viral Dramaturgies and dramaturgy as cultural intervention.

    Critical Stages has made the generous offer of potentially including the publication of a new Australasian play/theatrical text.

    About your Abstract
    The abstract should outline the planned submission, indicate the format of submission and also include a 50-word biography identifying all collaborating authors.


    Timeline
    Proposals (Abstracts of 300 words, including a short biography): 30 October 2022

    Selection:     15 December 2022
    First drafts:  30 June 2023
    Final drafts: 15 September 2023
    Publication: 30 December 2023


     
    Attachment:
  • CFP: 2024 issue of Performance Paradigm
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 26 Sep 2022

    Abstracts are being accepted for the 2024 issue of Performance Paradigm on Moving South - The Reconceptualisation of Dance Research in the 2020s

    Co-editors: Erin Brannigan, Tia Reihana, Siobhan Murphy, Emma Willis 

    This issue of Performance Paradigm begins a special focus on dance and choreography, which is to continue, after this issue, as a special ongoing section in the journal. This inaugural and full issue aims to broadly track the state-of-the-field in our local region, encompassing Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Asia and the Pacific and is edited by members of the Dance Research Australia network. There has been a paucity of coverage of local dance artists in academic work to date, with the exception of contributions by various guest editors’ work on Brolga, Dance Research Aotearoa, the important work of Sally Gardner and Elizabeth Dempster's co-edited Writings on Dance (1985-) historically, and some monographs on specific artists and anthologies responsive to place-based storylines such as Rachael Swain’s Dance in Contested Lands (2021) and Bodies of Thought: 12 Australian Choreographers (Eds. Baxter and Brannigan, 2014).

    Dance platforms for sharing work local to the region have also been sparse. The Undisciplining Dance conference in Auckland in 2016 was an important recent milestone with the last Australian dance conference occurring in 2004 (Dance Rebooted: Initializing the Grid). The anthology issuing from the 2016 event, Undisciplining Dance in Nine Movements and Eight Stumbles (2018, Editors Carol Brown and Alys Longley), picked up on Elizabeth's Dempster's provocations in that 2004 event around “undisciplining” the art form, and this special edition continues the conversation.

    Importantly, the scope of work in the field of Dance Studies in our regions has historically had a narrow cultural profile with much work still to be done on non-Western practices, traditions, and contemporary work. Moreover, expansion to include the professional dance and choreography of First Peoples and diasporic communities is essential. It is also a field dominated by artist-theorists, not just locally but internationally, and the shift towards redefining and deploying disciplinary tools (for example the newly expanded notion of “choreography”) unsettles and re-envisions how we embody our interdisciplinary knowledge.

    So, this inaugural section asks: what model of Dance Studies might be relevant in our local context in the 2020 s and what are the points of convergence and distinction with allied fields such as theatre, performance, live arts and increasingly, visual arts? Themes may include:

    • Intercultural dance practices
    • Place/space
    • Dance history
    • Uneven modernities
    • New dance dramaturgies
    • Techniques, scores, practices
    • National identities
    • Dance diasporas
    • Methods of practice-led research in dance
    • Dance and activism
    • Modes of creative composition and production
    • Dance and archival practices
    • Dance and screens
    • Dance pedagogy
    • Popular dance forms
    • Politics of dance production

    We welcome contributions in a variety of forms including critical essays, artists pages, accounts of creative practice as research and historical studies.

    Please send proposals of approximately 300 words to submissions@danceresearchaustralia.com.au by 1 May 2023.

    If successful, full articles will be due on 1 December 2023 for publication in Performance Paradigm 18, August 2024.

    Dance Research Australia is a community initially established with 70 members which had its inaugural meeting in 2020. It is focused on Australian scholars, writers and artist-researchers working in the field of dance and allied fields both inside and outside the institution, and both locally and internationally. The working party currently consists of Associate Professor Erin Brannigan, Dr. Siobhan Murphy, Dalisa Pigram, Dr. Jo Pollitt (convenor 2022-2023), Shinjita Roy (PG rep), Dr. Tia Reihana, and Dr. Rachael Swain.

    More information and journal contact details are available here:
    https://www.performanceparadigm.net/index.php/journal/index


     
  • PhD Scholarship Opportunity - Murdoch University WA
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 26 Sep 2022


    PhD in theatre/performance with archival studies, cultural heritage, digital humanities with a 3.5 year PhD scholarship (offset and stipend) with Murdocuh University in partnership with the Digitisation Centre of WA.

    PhD Scholarship and Supervision

    A 3.5 year fee offset scholarship and stipend is available for a PhD commencing in 2023 at Murdoch University under the supervision of Professor Helena Grehan, Law, Arts and Social Sciences, Murdoch University.

    For more information on the PhD Scholarship and the broader project please contact:
    h.grehan@murdoch.edu.au

    Background

    The Linkage grant “Life after digitisation: future-proofing WA’s vulnerable cultural heritage”, funded by the Australian Research Council for 4 years (2022-2025), involves researchers from three Western Australian Universities, and one from the University of Queensland (see below). The partners aim to digitise significant cultural collections held across Western Australia, including Aboriginal languages, the WA performing arts collection held by the Perth Theatre Trust, and selected cultural objects of significance from across the State.

    The Scholarship


    The materials held by the Perth Theatre Trust (The Museum of Performing Arts collection MOPA) include costumes, programmes, posters, pay bills, photographs, scripts, scores, recordings and other items from thousands of productions performed across WA since colonisation. The collection includes material from ballet, Shakespearean theatre, vaudeville, contemporary dance, opera, drama, stand-up comedy and more. This PhD Scholarship provides the right candidate with an opportunity to delve into the significant archives held by The Perth Theatre Trust (approx. 45,000 items) and to develop their own project, drawing on and utilising these important cultural artefacts. His Majesty’s Theatre, which houses the collection, has hosted performances by actors from across the globe, including: Dame Nellie Melba, Sir John Gielgud, Katharine Hepburn, Vivien Leigh, Sir Robert Helpmann and Geoffrey Rush and Anna Pavlova.

    The successful candidate will work alongside the research team and as well as developing their own important research project, will contribute to the digitisation of this important Western Australian collection. We invite applications from potential candidates interested in performance and theatre studies, archival research, cultural heritage studies and digital humanities. The position is supported by a Murdoch University fee offset PhD scholarship and stipend for 3.5 years.


    Institutions and partners
    Murdoch University, Edith Cowan University, University of Queensland and University of Western Australia
    Western Australian Museum
    The Perth Theatre Trust
    Kimberley Language Resource Centre (Aboriginal Corporation)
    Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre (Aboriginal Corporation)
    Mirima Dawang Woorlab-Gerring Language And Culture Centre
    Bundiyarra Aboriginal Community Aboriginal Corporation
    Goldfields Aboriginal Language Centre

    More informaiton attached.

     
    Attachment:
  • A public lecture by Professor Jennifer Parker-Starbuck (Royal Holloway, University of London)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 13 Sep 2022

    The Sea is on Fire: Machinic Crustaceans and Ecological Promises
    A public lecture by Professor Jennifer Parker-Starbuck (Royal Holloway, University of London)


    Thursday
    29 September 2022 
    6:00pm 7:30pm
    Forum Theatre (153), Arts West - North Wing (148A)


    The Future Scenarios: Performance, Climate, Ecology series in the School of Culture & Communication is proud to present a public lecture by visiting scholar Professor Jennifer Parker-Starbuck. Focusing largely on Les Machines des L’ȋle in Nantes, France, a “theme park” of mechanical animals and sea creatures, this public lecture reflects on the power of machinic or substitute creatures to both point to and at the same time override environmental concerns. Will riding on a giant manta ray increase awareness later in life toward the environmental challenges the seas will face? Can embodiment shift the human-animal-technological balance?

    Professor Jennifer Parker-Starbuck is an internationally renowned expert in theatre history and theory. She has recently served as Executive Dean of the School of Performing and Digital Arts at Royal Holloway, University of London, and is the author of a number of books on multimedia performance including Cyborg Theatre: Corporeal/Technological Intersections in Multimedia Performance (2011); Performance and Media: Taxonomies for a Changing Field (co-authored with S. Bay-Cheng and D. Saltz, 2015), and co-editor of Performing Animality: Animals in Performance Practices (2015). Professor Parker-Starbuck has served as editor of Theatre Journal, a contributing editor for PAJ: A Journal of Art and Performance, and an editorial board member of the International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media. Currently, she is a co-Theme Leader of the Arts and Humanities Research Council Creative Industries Cluster Grant and International Centre of Excellence Grant, a £9.5 million project based at Royal Holloway, University of London, for which she is a theme leader for StoryLab, a center for immersive storytelling. Jennifer is also involved as a Partner Investigator with the Australian Research Council-funded project Towards an Australian Ecological Theatre, based at The University of Melbourne. https://bit.ly/parkerstarbuck

    This event is sponsored by the School of Culture and Communication at The University of Melbourne and the Macgeorge Bequest.
    This is a free event, and registration is essential.

    Please note: This is a mask-friendly event. As it is held indoors, the University of Melbourne’s current advice strongly recommends mask use in indoor settings. See the University’s current COVID Safe guidelines here: https://www.unimelb.edu.au/coronavirus
     
  • Public Symposium (Melbourne): Climate Collaborations: Art, Science and Future Scenarios
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 13 Sep 2022

    Climate Collaborations: Art, Science and Future Scenarios
    A public symposium to be held at the University of Melbourne and Keynote address by special guest Professor Peter Eckersall, City University of New York.

    Tuesday 27 September 2022 
    9:00 – 5:00
    Discursive Space (553), Arts West - North Wing (148A)


    Climate Collaborations interrogates urgent questions for our time: what causes eco-anxiety and fear? What offers hope and enchantment? And what can art do in a climate emergency? Bringing together artists, activists, scientists, academics and curators, the symposium explores the relations between knowledge, aesthetics and culture in a climate emergency and beyond.

    The symposium is sponsored by the Australian Research Council, the School of Culture and Communication at The University of Melbourne, and the Macgeorge Visiting Speaker Award.
    Part of the The FUTURE SCENARIOS – PERFORMANCE, CLIMATE, ECOLOGY series at the University of Melbourne


    Please note: This is a mask-friendly event. As it is held indoors, the University of Melbourne’s current advice strongly recommends mask use in indoor settings. See the University’s current COVID Safe guidelines here: https://www.unimelb.edu.au/coronavirus



     
    Attachment:
  • Book Launch, Sept 1, Melbourne
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 25 Aug 2022
    We are pleased to annouce the launch of two new books from long term ADSA colleagues Professor Peta Tait and Professor Rachel Fensham.

    From the Bloomsbury Methuen Theatre Studies series on Movement and Emotion the launch will be hosted by Chris Mead, Head of Theatre, Victorian College of the Arts on Thursday 1 September 5.00 (for 5.30) to 6.30 p.m in the Melbourne Theatre Company Foyer, 140 Southbank Boulevard, Southbank

     
    Attachment:
  • Conference: Call for Papers - The Colour of Fire: Sinophone Performance across Australia and Cultural Exchange
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Sat, 16 Jul 2022
    Conference: Call for Papers   The Colour of Fire: Sinophone Performance across Australia and Cultural Exchange   Host: JM Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice, University of Adelaide   Date: 3-4 November 2022   Organising Committee: Jonathan Bollen, Tsan-Huang Tsai, Anne Pender   Sinophone performance across Australia has a rich history and cultural significance that has not been fully documented or widely appreciated. We seek to explore the reach of Sinophone performance across our region, its many forms, long history and contemporary expression. We welcome papers from a multidisciplinary frame of reference.   We invite proposals for papers that explore any aspects of what might be called Sinophone performance across Australia from contact times to the present, with interest in diasporic experiences, migration networks, identity formation, sensory adaptation, community engagement, creativity and traditionalization, regional touring circuits, regional politics, international and cultural relations, diplomacy, exchange, collaboration, trade, globalisation, training, audiences, theatre ecologies, ritual and daily life, as well as all forms of performing arts, music, opera, music theatre, cabaret, ballet, dance, circus, revue, spoken word theatre, works in translation, puppet theatre, devised work and hybrid contemporary forms.  Consideration of the performance archive and analysis of the curatorial afterlife of performance cultures are also of interest.   Abstracts are invited for papers of 20 minutes duration or panels of 90 minutes on any of the topics listed above that examine performance and performance cultures from Sinophone contexts or inspired by Sinophone cultures. Works in English deriving from or inspired by Sinophone sources are included in this enquiry.   Please indicate your preference for attending in person or online. Please send proposals for abstracts of approximately 250 words to the emails below by 1 October 2022.   The conference is scheduled to coincide with the OzAsia Festival in Adelaide, 20 October – 6 November 2022.   Please feel free to contact the organising committee members with any questions.  
    Anne Pender anne.pender@adelaide.edu.au  Jonathan Bollen j.bollen@unsw.edu.au   Tsan-Huang Tsai  tsan-huang.tsai@adelaide.edu.au   
     
    Jonathan Bollen Associate Professor
    Theatre and Performance Studies School of the Arts and Media, UNSW Sydney https://www.unsw.edu.au/staff/jonathan-bollen
  • Call for Papers - Performing Global Crises
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Sat, 16 Jul 2022

    Call for Papers - Performing Global Crises

    An interdisciplinary conference hosted by The Performance of the Real Research Theme at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
    30th November-2nd December 2022

    Crisis has characterised contemporary lives in many ways –as we witness, experience, perform, and respond to entangled health, political, social, and environmental disasters. For example, in the past few years, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected virtually every area of our lives. Individual, local, national, and global responses have been played out and performed in the media, on social media, and in embodied social landscapes. Scientists have become the new celebrities, and politicians have risen and fallen according to their Covid management performances. The virus itself has also performed, taking on different guises as it mutates to extend its life and efficacy. Zoom and other similar platforms have become the new mode of communication for many, generating new forms of visibility, intimate digital surveillance, and networked sociality. Many people have been marginalised or further marginalised by the pandemic, by inequalities in access to digital technologies as well as health technologies. At the same time there has never been a time when communication, miscommunication, disinformation –about vaccines, mandates, and more –have been so fraught and politicised. As all-encompassing as the pandemic has seemed at times, it has been eclipsed in some respects, more recently, by public attention to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is emerging as the most visible war in history. With visibility comes multiple modes of performance and performativity, including competing deep fakes, and another arena for the performance of global leaders, politicians, and the public. Meanwhile, the slow violence of Climate Change continues to devastate communities, nations, and species. The Climate itself, specific ecosystems and landscapes, and non-human creatures, have be enacting as key performers in diverse scientific, popular, and media-scapes, garnering global attention as harbingers for a harrowing future, even amidst those who doubt its existence.This conference will explore the way that these multi-layered global crises have been and continue to be performed, contested, and mediated across all strata of communication and society.

    We encourage contributions relating (but not limited) to the following topics and issues connected to the performance and performativity of crises:
    -The Climate Emergency and public performances of responsibility
    -Protest action and the performance of dissent-Digital technologies of visibility and surveillance
    -News, information, and the politics of truth
    -Precarity, marginalization, and inequality in times of crises
    -Art, literature, and creativity for wellbeing and resilience amidst crises
    -Leadership, celebrity, and the public performance of power and trust amidst crises
    -Public communication of science (virology, climatology, etc.)
    -Spectacularisation of war, violence, and the military
    -Participatory/symbolic performances of political relations: allyship, solidarity, fear, or threat
    -Decolonisation and indigeneity in responses to crises
    -Empathy, care, and witnessing: mediated responses to the suffering of others
    -Gendered experiences of/in crises: labour, feminism, care ethics
    -Politicised bodies/selves: intersectional views of gender, disability, race, and the good life
    -Racialised and spatialised performances -mapping and tracing crises through bodies
    -Multispecies, posthuman, and more-than-human worlds: living with ‘others’ through crises-Wellbeing and affect amidst crises: hypervigilance, anxiety, apathy, compassion fatigue
    -Social imaginations of the future: hope, optimism, connection and connectivity, the utopian/dystopian, apocalyptic visions, and ‘doom’Conference and Paper

    Format: This will be a hybrid conference that allows people placed in Aotearoa New Zealand and nearby to attend in person, and for internationals -if they cannot travel -to attend online via Zoom.

    Submitting an Abstract:
    Please submit a 200-250 word abstract of your contribution and a 100-word biography for each presenter by 16 September 2022. Please send us your abstract as a Word document. Use your surname in the document title. Please clearly indicate the title of your presentation, the nature and timing of your presentation e.g. 20 minute spoken paper with Powerpoint, as well as your full name (first name, surname) and institutional affiliation (if relevant).

    Please send your abstracts or any enquiries to the Theme administrator at performance.real@otago.ac.nz. In addition to conventional 20-minute papers, we also invite presentations with a performance or creative or workshop component. Accepted delegates must confirm their attendance by completing registration and payment by October 31, 2022.

    Travel bursaries for Postgraduate Students:There are also a limited number of small travel bursaries available for attending the conference.
     
    Please contact the Theme administrator at performance.real@otago.ac.nzfor more details.
    ___
    About the Performance of the Real Research ThemeThe Performance of the Real is aUniversity of Otago funded interdisciplinary Research Theme. The project investigates what it is about representations and performances of the real that make them particularly compelling and pervasive in our current age. At its core is the study of how performance/performativity, in its many cultural, aesthetic, political and social forms and discourses, represents, critiques, stages, and constructs/reconstructs the real, as well as the ethical, social, and form-related issues involved in such acts.
    Website: http://www.otago.ac.nz/performance-of-the-real
    Journal:http://www.performancereal.org
     
  • Call for Papers: On Invasion, Performance Research 28(2)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 16 May 2022

    Call for Papers

    Performance Research, vol. 28, no. 2, 2023

    "On Invasion"


    Proposal Deadline: 27 June 2022
    Issue Editors: Helena Grehan (Murdoch U) and Miriam Haughton (NUI Galway)

    We live in a world of unpredictability, fracture and powerlessness. Acts of violence, invasion and oppression, both seen and unseen, pervade all aspects of life and threaten the viability of the planet. Yet, perhaps because of this powerlessness and fracture, this is also a time of solidarity, of acts of resistance both large and small, and of friendship, love and bravery. It is a confusing and confounding time and one in which we must yet again consider the role, value and power of art to intervene, to destabilize, to disrupt and to question. As Hannah Arendt points out:
     
    Never has our future been more unpredictable, never have we depended so much on political forces that cannot be trusted to follow the rules of common sense and self-interest—forces that look like sheer insanity, if judged by the standards of other centuries. It is as though mankind [sic] had divided itself between those who believe in human omnipotence… and those for whom powerlessness has become the major experience of their lives. (Arendt 1951: vii)
     
    Arendt wrote the lines above in the Preface to the first edition of The Origins of Totalitarianismin 1951, which resonates strongly with the crises of today. However, let us also reflect on Seamus Heaney’s verse adaption of Sophocles’ play Philoctetes, first published in the early 1990s as sectarian violence in the north of Ireland seemed beyond hope. 

    History says, Don’t hope 

    On this side of the grave… 
    But then, once in a lifetime
    The longed-for tidal wave 
    Of justice can rise up, 
    And hope and history rhyme. (Heaney 1990)
     
    We draw from them now to acknowledge the powerlessness of so many, while hoping for a ‘longed-for tidal wave/Of justice…’ The topic of ‘invasion’, in the context of the current world order, is an apt topic for an issue of Performance Research. We call for submissions to ‘On Invasion’ to consider the idea and reality of invasions – of communities and nations, of the body, the imagination and the environment, and of artistic response. 

    What does and might invasion mean in the current tumultuous world? How indeed might performance and artistic practice more broadly respond to or enact this concept? We may, for example, understand the theatre as an invasive force, following Antonin Artaud, one that seeps into the body of the performer and/or spectator—one that infiltrates slyly, demands an audience or bombards sonically; think of the work of Romeo Castellucci, Sarah Vanhee, Tania Bruguera, 
    Milo Rau, Bashar Murkus, ANU Productions, or Back to Back Theatre, for example. 


    In what ways might performance equip us to withstand these and other kinds of invasions – outside and beyond the performance space? How might it operate to alter this status quo of fear, fracture and disruption? When we think of invasion as a concept and a reality, we conjure up images of war, isolation, refugees, climate destruction, the Anthropocene, racial division and oppression, ecological devastation and infiltration, political rupture, technological interference and surveillance, medical procedures and immersive dramaturgies, among myriad others. But what is the value in an issue on this fraught and huge topic? What might artists and scholars make of it? What examples can they draw on to flesh out this pervasive reality? Whose voices do we most need to hear from on this theme?


    We invite essays, manifestos, artists pages and other meditations on the topic that consider ‘On Invasion’ in the broadest possible terms. 
    Submissions might consider, but are not limited to, the following areas:
    • Theatres and performances of invasion, of resistance.
    • Disciplinary invasions: borrowing or stealing perhaps, from theatre to elucidate other arguments or fields, and what of performance’s disciplinary invasions or incursions?
    • How do we negotiate in performative terms invasions of bodies, minds, through persecution and war and/or the drive for geo-political expansion?
    • What are the contemporary artistic strategies that invade social space?
    • How does theatre and performance alter the status quo?
    • What of ecological invasion? Rising sea levels, species decline, fire, drought, pestilence, flood?
    • Bombing, loss of life, dislocation and fear in the face of military oppression.
    • Resistance, refusal, solidarity and stealth.
    • Hope and renewal; can signs of resolution or peace be found among the wreckage of tragedy?
    • Increasing surveillance and control via digital platforms and media and our willingness to participate, despite the risks. How much is one’s identity worth these days?
    • Controlling viruses and the associated impacts on the arts sector. How much is too much? 
    • Saving lives and economic viability at what social cost?
    • Do sanctions and boycotts seem useful strategies to halt invasion?
    • What role might hacking and resistance, fighting back against ‘oppressors’ play?
     
    References
    Arendt, Hannah (1951) The Origins of Totalitarianism, Berlin: Shocken Books.
    Heaney, Seamus (1990) The Cure at Troy: A version of Sophocles' Philoctetes, London: Faber in association with Field Day.
     
    Schedule
    Proposals: 27 June 2022
    First Drafts: October 2022
    Final Drafts: January 2023
    Publication: March 2023
     
    Format
    Alongside long-form articles, we encourage short articles and provocations. As with other editions of Performance Research, we welcome artist(s)’s pages and other contributions that use distinctive layouts and typographies, combining words and images, as well as more conventional essays.
     
    Issue contacts
    All proposals, submissions and general enquiries should be sent direct to Performance Research at: info@performance-research.org
     
    Issue-related enquiries should be directed to the issue editors:
    Helena Grehan: h.grehan@murdoch.edu.au
    Miriam Haughton: miriam.haughton@nuigalway.ie
     
    General guidelines for submissions:
    • Before submitting a proposal, we encourage you to visit our website (www.performance-research.org ) and familiarize yourself with the journal.
    • Proposals will be accepted by email (Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format (RTF)).
    • Proposals should not exceed one A4 side.
    • Please include your surname in the file name of the document you send.
    • Please include the issue title and issue number in the subject line of your email.
    • Submission of images and other visual material is welcome provided that all attachments do not exceed 5 MB, and there is a maximum of five images.
    • Submission of a proposal will be taken to imply that it presents original, unpublished work not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
     
    If your proposal is accepted, you will be invited to submit an article in first draft by the deadline indicated above. On the final acceptance of a completed article, you will be asked to sign an author agreement for your work to be published in Performance Research.
  • Job Posting: Research Associate, University of Manchester
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Sat, 7 May 2022


    Dear colleagues,

    The University of Manchester (UK) is currently recruiting for a fixed-term Research Associate to join the interdisciplinary AHRC-funded Care Aesthetics: Research Exploration (CARE) project. The opportunity is particularly suitable for those with recently-completed PhDs, which are defined here as "awarded, submitted, or soon to submit". Further details, and the link to apply, are available on the University of Manchester Jobs page. Applications close on 17 May 2022 at midnight (BST). 

    Best wishes,
    Chris.

     

  • 2022 ADSA Conference — Call for Papers extended
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 22 Apr 2022


    Dear members,

    This is a quick note to let you know that the deadline for submissions to present at ADSA 2022: Travelling Together, Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland is almost upon us – submissions are due by the end of tomorrow, Monday 9 May. Abstracts and queries can be directed to Emma Willis (emma.willis@auckland.ac.nz). (Please note this email address was mis-typed in the previous circulation). 

    If you're looking for any last-minute guidance while putting your abstract together, you might like to consult the recording of our recent session on The Art of the Abstract, convened by the Postgraduate Committee. You can find the recording in the ADSA Members-Only area by clicking on the "Postgrad and ECR" link.

    Best wishes,
    Chris.
     

  • The International Ibsen Award: Back to Back Theatre
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 14 Apr 2022

     

    International Ibsen Prize 2022

    Back to Back Theatre


    ADSA warmly congratulates Back to Back Theatre, and recognises their extraordinary achievement in winning the 2022 International Ibsen Prize, awarded biennially by Norway's Nationaltheatret to an individual, institution or organisation that has brought new artistic dimensions to the world of drama or theatre. This award places Back to Back in exalted company: previous winners of the award include Taylor Mac, Christoph Marthaler, Forced Entertainment, Heiner Goebbels, Jon Fosse, Ariane Mnouchkine, and Peter Brook. This is not only a ringing endorsement of Back to Back's international reach, but also a victory for the visibility of Australian and neurodiverse artists on the global stage.

    Many ADSA members have deep intellectual and professional links with Back to Back, and members of the company joined us in conversation at our 2018 Conference at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. In the Committee Statement that accompanied the award, the judges even cite long-time ADSA members Helena Grehan and Peter Eckersall and their edited collection We're People Who Do Shows: Back to Back Theatre — Performance, Politics, Visbility. The Statement reads:

    Back to Back have consistently and defiantly challenged social and cultural perceptions and constructs. They have unsettled the politics of normalisation by making uncompromising work that stimulates, contests, entertains and engages, challening the interdependence of myth and history and the grand narratives that ground Western culture, as well as those stories that have been repressed, forgotten, or erased. 

    On behalf of the membership of ADSA, the Board toasts the success of this most remarkable company. If you haven't had the chance to experience their work yet, The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes is currently on tour, with upcoming dates in Melbourne, Canberra, Vienna, Brussels, and (fittingly) Oslo. 
  • 2022 ADSA Conference — Abstract Submission Reminder
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 14 Apr 2022


    Kia ora colleagues,

    A warm reminder that abstracts for ADSA 2022: Travelling Together, Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland, 6 to 9 December, are due on Monday 25 April. Conference registration will also open on that date. For conference information, please see the conference website at https://www.adsaconference2022.com/. Abstracts and queries can be submitted to emma.willis@auckland.ac.nz. The ADSA 2022 team at Waipapa Taumata Rau can't wait to see you in December!

    To that end, ADSA is also offering an abstract writing workshop in advance of the submission deadline:

    The Art of the Abstract
    Wednesday 20 April, 10am AEST, via Zoom

    Please join us for a professional development session organised by the Postgraduate Committee on the Art of the Abstract. Our expert panel, which includes Dr Emma Willis (one of the convenors of the 2022 ADSA Conference), will share their tips and tricks on crafting an effective abstract, speaking to a call for papers, and how to balance specific detail and overall shape in 300 words or fewer. There will be some time to workshop your ideas with other attendees, and get advice on your abstracts from the panellists. All ADSA members are welcome to join us, regardless of career stage; if you have any questions, please reach out to our PG/ECR reps, Anita (a.hallewas@student.unsw.edu.au) and Gareth (g.belling@uq.net.au). 

    If you are unable to attend the event, the advice section will be recorded, and made available in the Postgrad and ECR section of the ADSA Members-Only Area, where you can also find a record of our recent session on Peer Review 101.

    Best wishes,
    Chris, for the ADSA Board.

  • Job Posting: Lecturer in Drama (0.5 FTE), UQ
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 30 Mar 2022

    Dear colleagues,

    The University of Queensland is currently recruiting for a teaching-focussed Lecturer in Drama (0.5 FTE), a fixed-term position until 4 August 2023. Details of the job can be found on the UQ Careers website (https://uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/uqcareers/job/St-Lucia-Campus/Lecturer-in-Drama_R-05952-1), where applications can also be submitted. The posting closes at 11.00pm (AEST) on Sunday 10 April

    Best wishes,
    Chris. 
  • PhD Scholarship: 'Actor Training and Physical Literary', Deakin University
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 25 Mar 2022


    Call for PhD Candidate: 'Actor Training and Physical Literacy'

    School of Communication & Creative Arts, Deakin University


    This research project is part of the Makers, Performers, Practices Research Network, and will examine acting practices as an alternate site for physical literacy in adolescents. Physical literacy refers to a framework of learning at the intersection of the fields of health, sport and education spanning core concepts: physical, psychological, social and cognitive. The project is part of the interdisciplinary research project 'When Art Meets Sport' (led by Rea Dennis, Kate Hunter and Lisa Barnett). Focusing on the way in which technical and practical actor training activities enable affective and embodied knowledges, the research will explore what these practices have to offer and how they augment and extend our understanding of physical literacies in adolescents.

    We expect the research will add to actor training knowledges and practices, and also innovate our understanding of how the kinaesthetic, imaginative and perceptive practices are developed and generated through consistent actor training practices and as such offer sustainable approach to obtaining and sustaining physical literacy for young people and across the lifespan.

    The project is attached to a competitive scholarship round through Deakin’s School of Communication and Creative Arts. If you’d like more information or if you have any questions, please contact (until 15 April):
    A/Prof Rea Dennis (rea.dennis@deakin.edu.au
    Dr Kate Hunter (k.hunter@deakin.edu.au)

     
    You can also read more about the direction of the research here: 

    Complete an Expression of Interest here:

    Expressions of Interest are due 29 April 2022.
  • Publication: "Performing Theatrical Jurisprudence"
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 16 Mar 2022
     

    Law Text Culture

    Volume 25 (2021), "Performing Theatrical Jurisprudence"


    A special issue of the journal Law Text Culture on "Performing Theatrical Jurisprudence", guest edited by Sean Mulcahy and Marett Leiboff, has been released and published. The special issue brings together distinctive and innovative research in the interdisciplinary field of law and performance, and highlights the diverse and valuable work on the intersections of law and theatre.

    The special issue can be found online and open access — with a special note from legal scholar and playwright Desmond Manderson — at this link: https://ro.uow.edu.au/ltc/.
  • Call for Papers: 2022 ADSA Conference
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 11 Mar 2022

     

    Travelling Together: ADSA 2022, December 6—9

    Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland

    https://www.adsaconference2022.com/

     

    In July 2021, The University of Auckland was gifted a new Māori name, Waipapa Taumata Rau, by the people of Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei, the hapu on whose lands many of the University’s campuses are located. Waipapa refers to the shoreline, the landing place of Māori waka, a destination, place of arrival, connections between people, an exchange of knowledge and teaching. Taumata, refers to the peaks where land meets the sky, places of challenge, achievement and revelation. Ihonuku Pro Vice-Chancellor Māori, Associate Professor Te Kawehau Hoskins (Ngāti Hau, Ngāpuhi), said that the new name better connects the University to where it is located and highlights the significant partnership with Ngāti Whātua iwi. She proposed, “This new name underpins a new strategic direction. It is one that champions building respect for Māori knowledge and challenges us to understand that we are part of a whakapapa of historic and current relationships.”

    This new name, Waipapa Taumata Rau, its gifting and the reflections of reciprocity of place and people provide the direction for the ADSA conference 2022. The theme for our conference: Travelling Together considers how the broad field of performing arts can facilitate meeting places that are culturally centred, inclusive and responsive to landscape which its practitioners and audience members co-inhabit.

    We invite contributors to consider how they might respond to this theme, to attend to where we/you have come from, your personal and professional genealogies, past relationships, to look up to the peaks, places of challenge, achievement and revelation we/you have reached on our journeys as performance scholars and makers, to imagine and find places of arrival, connection, exchange, and to think about what we will carry forward together in future journeys and actions.

    ADSA 2022: Travelling Together embraces interdisciplinary intersections and invites artists and scholars from fields of theatre, dance, visual arts, writing and performance as expanded fields. We invite contributors to think both critically and creatively about how to respond to the call for papers and welcome proposals for 20-minute paper presentations, artistic research presentations, workshops and roundtable discussions. We encourage collaborative proposals and are also open to discussing alternative formats that participants may want to propose.

    For those interested in performative/creative presentations or workshops: the University has a small black box theatre and small dance studios that may be used for workshops and presentations. Presenters should be aware that we will have limited technical support and rehearsal capacity for this space. Please indicate on your abstract any specific technical requirements so that we can let you know whether what you want to do is possible. It may also be possible to pre-record a digital performative presentation, which we will host in an online context. Please let us know if you are interested in this option.

    We offer the following prompts and possibilities as starting points for responding to the conference theme:
    • Journeys, wayfinding, lines of flights
    • Arrivals and new beginnings
    • Connection and exchange
    • What are our mooring posts?
    • Presence – what happens when we are present together? How does performance allow us to ‘travel together’?
    • What might our experiences of the last period contribute to our disciplinary understanding of presence?
    • What does our discipline have to contribute to wider discourse about the role of presence in a (we hope) post-pandemic era? Where have we come from as a discipline and where are we moving to? What are the peaks that we aspire to?
    • How do we move, dance, sing, act, together through change?
    • In an article for Performance Paradigm in 2021, Lisa Samuels wrote of the critical practice of ‘withness,’ a stance that turns ‘towards a standing with the engaged object/event, an attention that does not turn away, that does not seek to be somewhere other than in relation.’ How might we foster such a stance in our own practices?
    • The Tongan whakataukī (proverb) ‘pikipiki hama kae vaevae manava’, an expression of lashing together canoes to preserve life, provides us with an image coming together to share knowledge. How might we better share and connect our knowledges?
    • In Imagining Decolonization, Ocean Ripeka Mercier writes, ‘To see a truly decolonized Aotearoa […] decolonizing actions will […] have to transform the European systems and frameworks that are the deep institutions of colonization.’ How do we practice such decolonization within our own institutions, research and creative practices?
    • What does it mean to travel with our students? What kind of journey is this? How have our students travelled together during this period of distance and isolation? What contribution does performance pedagogy have to make to these wider sector challenges?
    • Theatre and performance studies has long engaged in discourses related to site and place, to travel and tourism, what more might we now have to say about these intersections?
    We ask that attendees submit their abstracts to Emma Willis (emma.willis@auckland.ac.nz) by Monday 25 April.

    We appreciate the degree of uncertainty for most of us around travel at present. While we are currently working towards an in-person conference with some elements available online, we recognize the need to be fluid in our planning. We remain optimistic, however, and strongly encourage members to submit abstracts while we work to deliver the conference in a format that allows as many members as possible to participate. To that end, please indicate on your abstract whether:
    • You plan to attend in person
    • You are unsure yet whether you will be able to attend in person
    • You will only be able to engage with the online components of the conference.
    Conference organisers: Emma Willis, Molly Mullen, Tia Reihana, Alys Longley, Michelle Johansson, Peter O’Connor, Tahnee Vo. For more information, please contact Emma (emma.willis@auckland.ac.nz).

    The conference is kindly hosted by Te Kura Tangata, Faculty of Arts; Te Puna Aronui, School of Humanities; the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation, Faculty of Education and Social Work; and Dance Studies, Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries at Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland.
  • Call for Papers: Touch and Training (TDPT 14.2)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 23 Feb 2022

    Theatre, Dance and Performance Training 
    Special Issue: Touch and Training, to be published in June 2023 as TDPT 14.2

     
    Global happenings throughout this past decade, such as #MeToo, #blacklivesmatter, Asian Spring, Arab Spring, the Marriage Act (2013 UK) and Russia’s “Gay Propaganda” law (2013), and COVID-19, have radically repositioned touch in performance and performer training. Touch is a socio-cultural event, a political act between two people as well as a network of power positions and layers of institutional infrastructure: who touches, how does/should one touch, why and when can/should touch occur? These questions when raised within performance traditions, theatre, film and television rehearsal and performance spaces and performer training studios ask creative artists to (re)consider the ways we think about, talk about and stage touch: for instance, the rise of the “intimacy coordinator” in response to concerns about the inequitability of touch during re-enactments of intimacy is only one of a number of recent developments in performance-related fields (re)considering the role of touch during the creative process.

    The aim of this issue is to look at the different ways performers and performer trainers across the globe have responded to issues of touch as a socio-cultural and political event within creative processes. The special issue will:
    • (re)consider the role of touch in training in which race, gender, dis/ability, and health have a significant place in shifting understandings of why/when/where and who can/should touch.
    • examine the power relationships during touch between teacher/student; performer/audience; between performers in rehearsal rooms.
    • critically examine the ways in which touch is (re)framed and negotiated through policy-making and revolutionary protest in drama schools, rehearsal rooms and training studios.
    • Address questions such as ‘How do these movements influence and cross-fertilize each other?’
    Contributors are invited to (re)consider:
    • Touch and gender
    • Touch and race
    • Touch as and/or despite contagion/infection
    • the value of touch to wellbeing and the impacts of being deprived of that contact
    • Touch as violence
    • Touch as revolution
    • Touch in training the actor’s body and voice in various training traditions.
    • What are the benefits and drawbacks of touch in training and in rehearsal, between teacher/student, between performers, between performers and audience?  
    • When performers in rehearsal and actors-in-training cannot touch or do not want to touch during the creative process, how does this change creative processes in different ways? How does it change student actors, actor trainers and performers?
    • In what ways have performers and performer trainers (re)negotiated touch in their work?

    Proposals are encouraged to look across disciplines, for instance between performance and Post Colonial studies, Queer studies, dis/Ability studies, to critically consider the ways touch has been framed by mainstream rehearsal and training traditions to the exclusion of other ways of working. This issue welcomes critical approaches to new forms of training and rehearsal processes.

    Expressions of Interest
    We welcome submissions from authors both inside and outside academic institutions and from those who are currently undergoing training or who have experiences to tell from their training histories. To signal your interest and intention to make a contribution to this special issue in any one of the ways identified please email an abstract (max 250 words) to Ha Young Hwang (hyhwang@karts.ac.kr), Tara McAllister-Viel (tamcal@essex.ac.uk), and Liz Mills (lizm@afda.co.za). Our deadline for these abstracts is 8 April 2022.

    Theatre, Dance and Performance Training has three sections for which we accept proposals:
    • Articles features contributions in a range of critical and scholarly formats (approx. 5000-7000 words).
    • Sources provides an outlet for the documentation and analysis of primary materials of performer training. We are particularly keen to receive material that documents the histories and contemporary practices associated with the issue’s theme.
    • Training Grounds hosts shorter pieces, which are not peer reviewed, including essais, postcards (up to 100 words), speaking images (one page of image and text response), visual essays and book or event reviews. We welcome a wide range of different proposals for contributions including edited interviews and previously unpublished archive or source material. We also welcome suggestions for recent books on the theme to be reviewed; or for foundational texts to be re-reviewed. For further advice on these please contact: Sara Reed (sbenhardreed@gmail.com).


    Issue Schedule

    • 8 April 2022: 250-word proposals submitted to Ha Young Hwang (hyhwang@karts.ac.kr), Tara McAllister-Viel (tamcal@essex.ac.uk), and Liz Mills (lizm@afda.co.za).
    • 9 May 2022: Response from editors and, if successful, invitation to submit contribution.
    • May to 12 August 2022: Writing/preparation period.
    • August to October 2022: Peer review period.
    • October 2022 to January 2023: Author revisions post peer review.
    • June 2023: Publication as TDPT 14.2.
  • Call for Papers EXTENDED: Performance Paradigm 18 (2023)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 21 Feb 2022

    The Art of Subsidy / The Subsidy of Art
    Performance Paradigm 18 (2023) — Call for Papers

    CALL EXTENDED TO 3 JUNE 2022
     

    Throughout the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, artists around the world have imagined new, better futures for subsidy: in America, Jeremy O. Harris invoked the Federal Theatre Project; the third edition of the UNESCO report Reshaping Policies for Creativity in 2022 recommended minimum wages and labour protections; and in Aotearoa New Zealand, artist Nisha Madhan wondered “what the long-term game plan is. Is it just to survive a few weeks? Or to take a moment to think about what might be possible that hasn’t already happened? Is this the moment, when physical access to live performance is cut off to the privileged, that we finally figure out how to open the arts up to everyone?”. As parts of the world begin to adjust to Covid-normal, how might we keep hold of this spirit of reimagination and possibility? This issue seeks to examine both the impact of Covid 19 on funding for the arts and what this ‘break’ in status quo reveals about the nature of the relationship between artists and not just governments but also other funding mechanisms.

    Our starting point here follows Julian Meyrick, who declares “it is the fact of funding that demands attention” (139). Certainly, economic subsidy is one of the core points of imbrication between artists and the state. As Jen Harvie points out, in the United Kingdom and current and former Commonwealth nations, this link historically “marks an economic relationship, but it also articulates state and social attitudes to the importance of the arts, to social responsibility for the arts, to social relations and to society itself” (150). In this issue, we hope to curate a documentation of subsidy’s effects and operations, the specific challenges that come from funding live performance, and subsidy’s hermeneutic relationship with arts policy and cultural capital, recognising

    what is missing is a study not of institutional change . . . or of culture’s social and economic entanglements (which are endless, culture being simultaneously everywhere and infused into particular forms), but an analysis of the bureaucratic regulation of artistic practice: of the logic of culture as it applies in a time of democratic provision. (Meyrick, 142)

    We ask how value and benefit are defined in this context, and what government responses to crisis in the performing arts sector tells us about this. While artists have always been attuned to the shifting sands of government arts funding – even small changes can have a seismic impact on career progression and work development –the wholesale suspension of live performance due to public health orders magnified these industrial concerns to existential threats. In the Anglosphere, the motley collection of ad hoc initiatives to support arts companies and arts workers throughout the Covid-crisis has to some extent exposed the priorities of the neoliberal state, within which the creative industries remain radically under-funded. Indeed, as Miriam Haughton wrote of the Irish context, “Covid-19 is not only a sectoral emergency, it’s the latest sectoral emergency” (2021, 51). This is a particularly apposite moment to consider both government subsidy and broader funding mechanisms; as Haughton remarks, “Covid-19 has brought the economic livelihood of the state and the arts sector to the cliff edge at the same time, forcing a conversation regarding survival and sustainability” (50).

    In this issue of Performance Paradigm, then, we seek to capitalise on this moment to reflect on the art of subsidy, and on the subsidy of art. We invite contributions that expand the frame of reference beyond the Anglosphere to other national models of live performance subsidy. Across academic pieces, artist responses, interviews, and other performance documentation, we envisage potential contributions might address:

    • Historiographies of subsidy across performance forms and national traditions, particularly attending to subsidy in its historical context and between government-led and patronage-led models;
    • The resistant potential of private subsidy in forms old (sponsorship, patronage) and new (crowd funding);
    • Historical accounts of particular funding agencies or subsidy schemes that trace and reveal the impact of the subsidy in the art that they funded;
    • Subsidy of First Nations and Indigenous performance around the world as a policy priority, and the (inter)national priorities these programs reveal;
    • The role of subsidised performance in legitimising the neoliberal state, including queer strategies for subversion and re-visioning of subsidy;
    • Subsidy as a marker of national distinction and cultural capital;
    • The role of subsidy in the lived experience of arts practitioners, including artists’ wellbeing and proposals such as the living wage for artists;
    • Polemical re-imaginings of subsidy’s form and function;
    • Subsidy’s hermeneutic relationship with arts policy across time and different models of arms-length and in-house government funding;
    • Subsidy across and beyond the Anglosphere, including comparative studies across different national and continental traditions; and
    • The dramaturgy of subsidy.
    Please send proposals of approximately 300 words to Chris Hay (chris.hay@uq.edu.au) by 3 June 2022. If successful, full articles will be due on 1 December 2022 for publication in Performance Paradigm 18, August 2023.

    Issue Editors
    Chris Hay, University of Queensland
    Lawrence Ashford, University of Sydney
    Izabella Nantsou, University of Sydney

    References
    Harris, Jeremy O. “American theatre may not survive the coronavirus. We need help now.” The Guardian, 25 Jan. 2021.
    Harvie, Jen. “Public/Private Capital: Arts Funding Cuts and Mixed Economies.” Fair Play: Art, Performance and Neoliberalism. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, pp. 150-91.
    Haughton, Miriam. “As much graft as there is craft: Refusal, Value and the Affective Economy of the Irish Arts Sector.” Performance Paradigm 16, 2021, pp. 40-58.
    Madhan, Nisha. “Live (Why I’m Not in a Hurry).” Words By Nisha Madhan, 1 Apr. 2020.
    Meyrick, Julian. “The Logic of Culture: The Fate of Alternative Theatre in the Post-Whitlam Period.” Australasian Drama Studies, vol. 64, 2014, pp. 133-54.
    UNESCO. Re-shaping Policies for Creativity: Addressing Culture as a Public Good. Third Edition, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), 2022.
  • Call for Proposals: MLA panels on Humour & Humourlessness
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 14 Feb 2022

    The Drama and Performance Forum of the Modern Language Association is sponsoring two guaranteed panels on "humor and humorlessness" (one pre-1900, one post-1900): 

    Humor and Humorlessness before 1900

    The Drama and Performance Forum of the Modern Language Association (MLA) announces a sponsored session entitled “Humor and Humorlessness before 1900” to be held at the MLA Convention in San Francisco, CA from January 5-8, 2023.

    From the medieval period to the nineteenth century the concept of humor shifted from an aspect of human physiology, to the eccentric qualities of individuals or comic characters, to a mode of seeing that was also a cultural sensibility (Daniel Wickberg, The Senses of Humor). That the modern “sense of humor” emerged during the nineteenth century, a period better known for its moral seriousness, suggests the dialectical relation of humor and its opposites. We welcome proposals on humor and humorlessness in drama and performance prior to 1900. We are especially interested in papers that foreground sites outside of the U.S. and Britain or that explore understudied subjects in our field. Some possible questions: How did theatre genres and performance traditions present humor and its opposites? How do performed humor and humorlessness intersect cultural histories of race, class, gender, and sexuality? When and why did humorlessness become a performance?

    Please submit brief bios and 250-word abstracts by March 15, 2021 to Sarah Balkin sarah.balkin@unimelb.edu.au and Darren Gobert rdg37@duke.edu.


    Humor and Humorlessness after 1900

    The Drama and Performance Forum of the Modern Language Association (MLA) announces a sponsored session entitled “Humor and Humorlessness after 1900” to be held at the MLA Convention in San Francisco, CA from January 5-8, 2023.

    Humor denotes the capacity to appreciate or express what is funny; it is an index of shared feeling. Humorlessness lacks or refuses this sharing; it often pejoratively describes people or groups who object to jokes at their expense. We welcome proposals on humor and humorlessness in drama and performance after 1900. We are especially interested in papers that foreground sites outside of the U.S. and Britain or that explore understudied subjects in our field. Some possible questions: How have twentieth and twenty-first-century plays and performances deployed humor and humorlessness as modes of belonging, exclusion, resistance, and refusal? How have comedians and other performance makers navigated shifts in what audiences understand to be funny? What can drama and performance contribute to contemporary debates about political correctness and taking a joke?

    Please submit brief bios and 250-word abstracts by March 15, 2021 to Sarah Balkin sarah.balkin@unimelb.edu.au and Darren Gobert rdg37@duke.edu.
  • Online Event: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer in conversation
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 7 Feb 2022

    Rafael Lozano-Hemmer in conversation with Barbara London
    Friday February 11, 6.00am (AEDT)
    Online, via Zoom

    The CUNY Graduate Center’s Art Science Connect is delighted to host curator and writer Barbara London in conversation with Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, the celebrated media artist working at the intersection of architecture and performance art. Lozano-Hemmer creates platforms for public participation using technologies such as robotic lights, digital fountains, computerized surveillance, media walls, and telematic networks. Inspired by phantasmagoria, carnival, and animatronics, his light and shadow works are “anti-monuments for alien agency”. London and Lozano-Hemmer will discuss the artist’s latest work, “Atmospheric Memory,” a hybrid exhibition-performance encompassing soundscapes, kinetic sculptures, immersive environments and interactive light installations, all exhibited together with original 19th-century artifacts.

    The conversation will be on Zoom: please register at CUNY's website

  • Call for Papers: Contemporary Directions in Director Training (TDPT 14.3)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 13 Jan 2022

    Theatre, Dance and Performance Training 
    Special Issue: Contemporary Directions in Director Training, to be published in September 2023 as TDPT 14.3

    How does a director train? 
    This issue invites a broad range of contributions from scholars and artists globally, in order to offer a contemporary consideration of training for directing. We invite longer articles or ‘Sources’, each interrogating director training as it appears in a contemporary context; shorter ‘Essais’, inviting more personal reflections; and quick-fire ‘Postcards’ responding to a question or illuminating a moment of practice. We are especially keen to receive material that can host audiovisual contributions on the popular ‘TDPT blog’, integrated with the journal. See below for the full range of potential formats.

    Direction?
    The figure of the director and the practice of directing seems to enjoy a kind of elusiveness of definition. In contrast to the long history of shared knowledge of acting technique and performer training, how the work of the director might be defined seems challenging. And where the director spends most of their time, rehearsal, has also been considered a ‘hidden world’ (Letzler Cole, 1992). Direction goes on behind closed doors and is made up of a combination of, perhaps, dramaturgical, literary, acting, collaborative, scenographic, stage-management, and financial concerns. 

    Given the ambiguity around what directing might be, the training of directors seems even more obscure. How do they know what to do? Does ‘training’ shift according to the contexts and needs of performance making? Whilst there is burgeoning publication on theatre directing, comprising scholarly work, practical guides and books by directors themselves (recently, for example, the Great European Theatre Directors series (Bloomsbury Methuen); Boenisch, 2015; Dunderdale, 2021; Simonsen, 2017; and by us: Ledger, 2019; Sidiropoulou, 2018), director training as a topic appears neglected and often dealt with as uncritically accepted directorial technique(s), methodology, and a discussion of productions.

    Training(s)?
    Director training is certainly institutionalised: the most well-known European examples of schools being, for instance, the Ernst Busch Hochschule, Berlin, and the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts; in the USA, university-level, professional directing programmes have long existed, and there has been a noticeable growth in recent years in academic and conservatoire director training courses elsewhere. These models have, to an extent, been adopted by other institutions globally, though some major schools have opened branches in other countries; on the one hand, localised theatre traditions may benefit, but, on the other, a kind of colonisation of practice via imported Euro-American theatre methods predominates. This special issue might offer space to consider, instead, how a director can train in geographically and culturally specific practices.
     
    Some directors have not explicitly trained in directing, but emerged from educational backgrounds other than theatre, or shifted from other roles. Normalised or institutionalised training for direction might also be set against more inclusive, experiential opportunities; for instance, the well-established Regional Theatre Young Directors Scheme (UK) now explicitly seeks applications from emerging directors of historically excluded backgrounds, and the many artist development schemes in specific theatre organisations (the Directors Lab in New York, for example; see too the report ‘The Director’s Voice’ [2018]). In the context of the ongoing pandemic and the emergence of hybridised theatre forms, training has now moved online (for instance, the NIPAI organisation, but also within academic or conservatoire curricula), to be delivered at a distance. 

    Finally, training might exist in-between performance preparation, or exist in rehearsal itself. We invite reflections on where and how ‘training’ might be considered ongoing professional development.

    Contributions
    This special edition on contemporary director training aims to collect together productive examples that:

    • ask what directing training ‘is’, and, crucially, how its development can best serve contemporary concerns in theatre practice
    • invite an investigation and theorisation of the field, including how historical practices can be interrogated, reimagined and applied from a contemporary perspective
    • internationalise and diversify perspectives, including through a variety of submission formats

    In remaining contemporary in our focus, we want to open new conversations about a clearly complex and under-theorised field and to examine the current moment from a broad, inclusive and international perspective. Contributions might consider, but are not limited to: contexts of training; the ‘validity’ of director training; canonicities; communities of practice; inclusivity; interdisciplinarity and hybridity.

    Possible questions and topics might include:

    • how and on what terms do institutions offer director training? 
    • are there ‘methodologies’ or lineages of directing? How are these taught, learned and challenged now, and who by?
    • what models of director training exist beyond the Global North and Anglo-American traditions and are underrepresented in current scholarship?
    • are there modes of directing/theatre-making that require certain types of training? Does the director need choreographic, musical or scenographic skills? How can directors ‘learn’ to direct collaboratively?
    • where and what is the place for continuing professional development, intensives and workshops, and the rehearsal room as a laboratory for ongoing directing training?
    • how can director training attend to issues including, but not restricted to, ethnicity, disability, gender, and socio-cultural background? How do economic considerations impact upon the training of directors and what models or provocations might help ensure the role is not elite or privileged? 
    • what is director training in the (post)-‘COVID age’ and does the current situation change the director’s training, identity and role?

    To signal your interest and intention to make a contribution to this special issue in any one of the ways identified above please email an abstract (max 250 words) to Adam J. Ledger (A.J.Ledger@bham.ac.uk) and Avra Sidiropoulou (avra.sidiropoulou@ouc.ac.cy). Training Grounds proposals are to be made to Thomas Wilson (thomas.wilson@bruford.ac.uk) with copies to Adam and Avra. Firm proposals across all areas must be received by 16 June 2022 at the latest.

    Special Issues of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training (TDPT) are an essential part of its offer and complement the open issues in each volume. TDPT is an international academic journal devoted to all aspects of ‘training’ (broadly defined) within the performing arts. It was founded in 2010 and launched its blog in 2015. Our target readership comprises scholars and the many varieties of professional performers, makers, choreographers, directors, dramaturgs and composers working in theatre, dance, performance and live art who have an interest in the practices of training. TDPT’s co-editors are Jonathan Pitches (University of Leeds) and Libby Worth (Royal Holloway, University of London).

    Please consider the range of possibilities available within TDPT: Essays and Sources between 4000 and 6500 words; photo essays; shorter, more speculative, essais up to 1500 words; Postcards (up to 100 words); Speaking Images (short text responding to a photo, drawing, visual score, etc.); book and event reviews. All contributors could extend their work through links to blog materials (including, for example, film footage or interviews). Questions about purely digital propositions can be sent directly to James McLaughlin at jimmyacademy@gmail.com along with ideas for the blog.

    Issue Schedule

    • 16 June 2022: 250 word proposals to be submitted Adam J. Ledger (A.J.Ledger@bham.ac.uk) and Avra Sidiropoulou (avra.sidiropoulou@ouc.ac.cy).
    • Early July 2022: Response from editors and, if successful, invitation to submit contribution.
    • Early July 2022 to end October 2022: Writing/preparation period and submission of first drafts.
    • End October-End of December 2022: Peer review period.
    • January 2023: Author revisions, post peer review.
    • September 2023: publication as Vol. 14, Issue 3.
  • Publication: Australasian Drama Studies 79
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 21 Dec 2021


    Dear members,

    Just in time to be added to your summer reading pile, Australasian Drama Studies 79 (December 2021) has been published. Our warmest congratulations to Guest Editors Pia Johnson and Miles O'Neil, ADS Editor Yoni Prior, and all of their contributors. Members can access the issue here, by logging in with their ADSA details. To whet your appetite, a Table of Contents appears below.

    Best wishes,
    Chris, for the ADSA Board.
     

     

    • Editorial Pia Johnson and Miles O’Neil
    • A Conversation Between Performance Photographers Brett Boardman and Jeff Busby, with Notes by Heidrun Lohr Pia Johnson
    • The Intimate and the Epic in Plunge: A Writer-Director’s Approach to Heterarchical Composition  Kate Shearer
    • A Performative Investigation of the Agency of Sound: Mapping the Sound/ Soundscape Portrait  Angela Viora
    • Where’s the AV Guy?’: A Conversation with Rhian Hinkley, Margie Medlin and Nick Roux  Yoni Prior
    • Seed Value: Collaboration and Creative Development in Composed Theatre  David Megarrity 
    • Siren Song: Strengthening Community through Sonic Insurgency  Miles O’Neil
    • Towards a Post-Pandemics of Sound in Performance  Chris Wenn
    • Liveness in the Digital Age: Performance Case Studies  Russell Fewster, Geordie Brookman and Richard Chew
    • Authenticity within Digital Performance: A New Framework to Understand the Relationship between Audience, Vision Technology and Scenography  Tessa Rixon, Gene Moyle, Steph Hutchison and Joslin McKinney
    • A Feminist Lens in the Rehearsal Room: On the Bodily Education of Young Girls  Pia Johnson in conversation with Adena Jacobs
    • Genealogies of Darkness  Paul Jackson 
    • A Sound Conversation: Performance-Makers and Sound Practices with Roslyn Oades, Madeleine Flynn and Tamara Saulwick  Kate Hunter
  • Job Posting: Indigenous positions, University of Melbourne
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 20 Dec 2021


    Dear Colleagues, 


    The Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne has an open call for identified Indigenous positions as follows:

    Please consider sharing this with your networks, and with individuals you think may be interested. While the Research Fellow positions have a closing date of 31 January 2022, the Faculty-wide positions appear to be an open call with reviews of EOIs at the end of February, June, and October 2022. 

    Best wishes,
    Chris.

  • PhD Scholarship: Audience diversification, Deakin University
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 20 Dec 2021


    Dear colleagues, 

    A team at Deakin University, led by Professor Hilary Glow and Professor Katja Johanson, is currently recruiting for a full-time, funded PhD candidate on their project on organisational change in the arts and cultural sector to diversify arts audiences. Full details on the scholarship, and the link to apply via Expression of Interest, can be found here: https://www.deakin.edu.au/study/fees-and-scholarships/scholarships/find-a-scholarship/hdr-scholarship-organisational-change-in-the-arts.

    Please circulate this email to any students or colleagues you think might be interested — the candidate must meet Deakin's PhD entrance requirements, which include an Honours degree (first class) or an equivalent Masters degree with a substantial research component. The position is open to domestic (Australian citizenship, permanent residence, or New Zealand citizenship) and international candidates, and applications close at 5pm (AEDT) Monday 7 February

    Best wishes,
    Chris.

  • Job Posting: Professor (Drama), Flinders University
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 20 Dec 2021


    Dear colleagues, 

    Flinders University are currently advertising for a Professor, Teaching & Research, in Drama. Details of the job can be found on the Seek listing: https://www.seek.com.au/job/55330783. Applications are to be submitted through the Jobs at Flinders website, by 11.59pm (ACDT) on 12 January 2022. Application enquiries can be directed to Alex Vickery-Howe

    Best wishes,
    Chris.

  • Call for Papers: 2022 CCCW Symposium, UQ
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 3 Dec 2021


    The Centre for Critical and Creative Writing (CCCW) presents a symposium on

    Wicked Problems and Speculative Futures: Writing the Anthropocene

    22-23 June, 2022
    Hosted at St Lucia campus Brisbane/Meanjin and online by the University of Queensland (UQ)


    Timothy Morton has termed global warming a wicked problem, ‘one you can rationally diagnose but to which there is no feasible rational solution’ (36). For Morton, living in the Anthropocene comes with an uncanny knowing – a ‘weird weirdness’ – underpinning our awareness that this wicked problem is one of our own making. Theatre scholars Carl Lavery and Clare Finburgh have gone so far as to suggest that this wicked problem is an Absurd one – ‘Absurd’ with a capital ‘A’ – calling for a rethinking and a ‘greening’ of the Theatre of the Absurd. According to their analysis, we are once again, like our post-war forebears, living in existential times, and need to re-read that movement through the eco-critical lens of the present. Morton’s sense that we are living in uncanny times  of weather, indeed of a planet and its behaviour that is at once deeply familiar but behaving deeply strangely lends itself also to a Gothic reading of literature, theatre, film, and visual art depicting the Anthropocene. After all, we are living in a period where we are reaping what we have sown since we first started pumping carbon into our atmosphere. The return of the repressed is erupting into the present with violent force in the form of climate catastrophe. So how are our artists and critical theorists engaging with the climate change and its material effects? What are the most appropriate literary forms and genres to be tackling the issue, and how are artists bending them to their own needs in the twenty-first century? In short, how do we write the Anthropocene?

    The CCCW is very proud to announce that keynote speeches will be provided by international climate fiction theorist Professor Adeline Johns-Putra (Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China) and internationally-acclaimed Australian novelist James Bradley. We will also host a special in-conversation-with session between Noongar speculative writer Claire G. Coleman and UQ’s Professor Kim Wilkins, and another with journalist-activists Garry and Anne Charnock and UQ’s Dr Helen Marshall.


    Questions that arise here include: How do we portray or speculate about the future in literature, theatre, film and visual art in uncanny times, where the present is more alarming than some of the direst of future predictions have been? Are we living in a futuristic Gothic dystopia, or is there hope that this is a wicked problem that we can fix? How do we solve it through art? How do we map the ways in which the Anthropocene has been portrayed in cli fi across the twenty first century? As we move from Kyoto to the Paris Agreement to the Glasgow Climate Pact, how is the artistic response to the Anthropocene tracking? Towards ever-more dystopic depictions of doom, or to cautious narratives of hope? Is there a pragmatic in-between?

    We invite individual proposals from critical and creative writers for 20 minute papers that address the following themes, topics and questions as they pertain to the wicked problem of writing the Anthropocene:

    • Droughts and floods: the absence and/or the omnipresence of cli-fi narratives on page, stage, screen and gallery
    • Narratives of hope vs narratives of doom
    • Dystopia/Armageddon fatigue
    • Environmental rhetoric in the Anthropocene
    • Technical communication and wicked problems
    • The ethics of speculation in an age of fake news
    • The limits, opportunities and obligations of naturalism
    • Writing speculative futures in a time where ‘the future’ is intruding into/become the present 
    • World building and techniques for describing the future
    • Science writing on the Anthropocene
    • The Anthropocene and colonialism
    • The Anthropocene and race
    • Art and the real world: collaborations between artists, scientists and activists
    • The cottagecore movement and the aesthetics/ethics of everyday living 
    • Gothic pasts and futures

    ​​​​​​​Abstracts due by: 31 January 2022.
    Acceptances issued by: 28 February 2022.
    Cost: Free. 


    The Centre for Critical and Creative Writing aims not only to champion and celebrate Australian writing in all of its many forms, but also to lead important national debate around questions of representation, opportunity, and identity. We particularly welcome applications from scholars and practitioners traditionally under-represented in higher education, or whose voices are under-represented amongst the range of those we have identified in the above symposium description.

    Send proposals and queries in the first instance to Associate Professor Stephen Carleton, Director of the Centre for Critical and Creative Writing, on cccw@uq.edu.au.


    Indicative Reading List:

    Bradley, James. Ghost Species. Hamish Hamilton, 2020.

    Coleman, Claire G. Terra Nullius. Hachette, 2017.
    Freestone, Elizabeth and Jeanie O’Hare. 100 Plays to Save the World. Nick Hern Books, 2021.
    Johns-Putra, Adeline, ed. Climate and Literature. Cambridge UP, 2019.
    Lavery, Carl and Finburgh, Clare, eds. Rethinking the Theatre of the Absurd: Ecology, the Environment and the Greening of the Modern Stage. Bloomsbury, 2015.
    Morton, Timothy. Dark Ecology: For a Logic of Future Coexistence. Columbia UP, 2016.
    Scranton, Roy. Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of a Civilisation. City Lights Publishers, 2015.
    Taylor, Melanie Benson. “Indigenous Interruptions in the Anthropocene.” PMLA, vol. 136, no. 1, 2021, pp. 9-16.
    Todd, Zoe. “Indigenizing the Anthropocene.” Art in the Anthropocene: Encounters Among Aesthetics, Politics, Environments and Epistemologies. Edited by Heather Davis and Etienne Turpin, Open Humanities Press, 2015, pp. 241-254.

  • Job Listing: New Positions at Flinders University
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 1 Dec 2021


    Dear members, 

    I hope you are well, and enjoying your time at the annual conference. 

    Flinders University have recently listed two new positions in which members might be interested:

    Details on each position can be found by following the above links; applications are to be submitted through the Jobs at Flinders site. I would draw your attention in particular to the closing date for the Drama position, which is 11.59pm (ACDT) this Sunday December 5

    Best wishes,
    Chris.

  • Veronica Kelly Prize: Nominations open
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 17 Nov 2021


    Dear members,

    I am writing to you to encourage you to nominate yourself, or a postgraduate student you supervise, for the Veronica Kelly Prize. The only thing that nominees need to do right now is to e-mail their nomination along with their abstract to Hilary Halba on contact details below; they don’t have to send their completed paper yet.


    This award is designed to recognise research excellence in postgraduate studies, and is awarded to the best postgraduate paper delivered at the ADSA conference. 
    To be eligible for the award candidates must:

    • nominate themselves for consideration to the prize convenor prior to the conference;
    • submit a draft of the paper in conference presentation format (it is understood it will not yet be in publication ready format) to the prize convenor by Wednesday 1st December 2021;
    • be a currently enrolled postgraduate student;
    • present an original paper at the conference;
    • be a current student member of ADSA at the time of application;
    • not hold a tenured (that is ongoing or continuing contract) position at a university or other tertiary institution; and
    • not have previously been awarded the prize.

    The criteria for shortlisting and selecting the most excellent paper is:

    • the paper is nominated for the prize before the conference commences;
    • the paper engagingly and effectively addresses the conference theme;
    • the paper presents a clear, complete, well-researched argument about an element of drama, theatre or performance studies which is of interest to the field at large, and original or innovative in its content or its conceptualisation;
    • the paper is suitable for publication in ADS within 3 months of presentation.

    Each year’s winner is announced in a special session at the conclusion of the ADSA conference. The Prize consists of $500 from ADSA, and mentoring towards publication of the winning paper in Australasian Drama StudiesFor further information, or to nominate yourself, please contact Hilary Halba on hilary.halba@otago.ac.nzThe deadline for nominations for the Veronica Kelly Prize is 1 December 2021, at the conclusion of the pre-conference PG/ECR Day. 

    Warm regards,
    Hilary Halba.
    Panel chair – Veronica Kelly Prize

  • 2021 ADSA Conference: Program available
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 9 Nov 2021

    Dear members,

    We are pleased to invite you to the 2021 ADSA Conference:
     
    Performers, Makers, Methodologies —
    Crafting Conditions for Decentring Scholarship and Pedagogy in Drama, Theatre, Performance Studies, and Dance
     
    The program is a rich collection of keynote events, plenaries, paper presentations, panels, book launches, and performances. To browse the full Conference program, and to register to attend, go to adsaconference2021.com. You can also follow us on Twitter @ADSAConf2021.

    This year, the Conference once again gives us an opportunity to gather remotely as a community of scholars, teachers, practitioners, and artists. Times are demanding, and our field is under substantial pressure to reinvent itself and to work together as our sector. 

    We welcome you with hope and gratitude. 

    Rea, Kate, Miles, Katya, and Ashlee
    2021 ADSA Conference organising committee
     

    We recognise and thank the traditional owners of the lands on which we work and live.
    Deakin campuses are on Gunditjmara, Wurundjeri, and Wadawurrung lands.
    We acknowledge the absence of a treaty that recognises these lands were never ceded.
     
  • 2021 ADSA Conference: Registrations open
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 12 Oct 2021

    Dear members,

    PERFORMERS, MAKERS, METHODOLOGIES: Crafting Conditions for Decentring Scholarship and Pedagogy in Drama, Theatre, Performance Studies, and Dance
     
    The 2021 ADSA Conference website is live, and registrations are now open.

    We are very excited to be able to share the 2021 ADSA Conference website and program with you. Thank you for your patience as we revised the program and moved the event online. We invite you to share the news with post-grads and colleagues, and to encourage your industry peers and friends to join us if they can. 

    Attendees can register on the Conference website, where you can also find session access and conference updates. We have recommended Full, Student, and Artist fees, and have included a pay what you can afford option to acknowledge the various financial hardships that have emerged from the pandemic (including the lack of insitutional funding from universities). Please remember to renew your ADSA membership as well. 

    We are looking forward to gathering online in December.

    Best wishes,
    Rea, Kate, Miles, and Ashlee.
    2021 ADSA Conference Committee
     
  • Performance Paradigm 16, Performance and Radical Kindness - now out
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 12 Oct 2021

    The new issue of Performance Paradigm is out now.
     

    No 16 (2021): Performance and Radical Kindness

    Edited by Emma Willis, Alys Longley and Victoria Wynne-Jones 

    Inspired by the Universtiy of Auckland research initiative 'Agencies of Kindness', this issue of Performance Paradigm investigates what it means to “do” radical kindness. The editors have curated 17 distinctive research articles cohered around 'how kindness performed goes beyond 'simply ameliorating suffering' to 'challend the very structures that presage unkindness' (Willis 2021: 1).

    Authors include: Sarah Burton, Miriam Haughton, Lisa Samuels, Erik Ehn, Astrid N. Korporaal, Daniel Johnston, Elena García-Martín, Katharine E. Low, Sue Mayo, Alys Longley, Paula Guzzanti, Renée Newman, Sarah Harper, Rea Dennis, Kate Hunter

    A full table of contents can be viewed here:
    https://www.performanceparadigm.net/index.php/journal/issue/view/27/showToc

    Performance Paradigm promotes discussion among scholars, curators and practitioners of performance in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Founded in 2005, it is one of the field’s first open access, peer-reviewed journals.

     

  • CFP Special issue of Australasian Drama Studies on Queer Performance
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 5 Oct 2021
    CFP Special issue of Australasian Drama Studies on Queer Performance, Issue 81, October 2022. 
    Edited by Jacob Boehme, Jonathan Bollen, Alyson Campbell and Liza-Mare Syron.

    It is time to pay attention to queer performance across Aotearoa, Australia, Pasifika and the Asia Pacific.

    We have rich histories and thriving cultures of LGBTQI+ performance, including an explosion of queer performance from First Nations artists across our regions. Queer performance is eclectic and tenacious, persisting as a field of innovation and continuing to sustain LGBTQI+ artists and their audiences despite contexts of ongoing homophobia, transphobia and criminalisation.

    Much queer performance, however, goes undocumented, overlooked in mainstream reviews, unrecorded in formal archives, or given scant scholarly attention. As such, we are calling for contributions to a long-overdue collection of critical thinking about this body of work. We envisage an intersectional collection of essays, interviews, recollection-reflections and performances-as-publications, and other forms that emerge.

    Wherever we find them, however we’re making them – at the party, on your screen, in the studio, on our stages, in the clubs, on our streets ­– how do queer practices in performance proliferate diversity in our ecologies, sustain us as communities, invigorate creativity for our survival and generate lifeworlds of transformation?

    We hope through the collection to trace the LGBTQI+ desire-lines linking artists and audiences – crossing social, cultural, political and regional boundaries and reaching out queerly across time and place. We want to remember, record and grapple with what emerges in intersectional-queer dance, theatre and performance that transforms us and envisions new worlds.

    Send proposals (300 words) to the editors by 10 December 2021. Please include a brief biography and set of key words. Full submissions due 30 April 2022. Essay length is a maximum of 6,000 words including bibliography. As the journal is now published online, we welcome the integration of rich digital format such as images, video footage, sound files and the like.

    Jacob Boehme, jacobboehme1@gmail.com
    Jonathan Bollen, j.bollen@unsw.edu.au
    Alyson Campbell, alyson.campbell@unimelb.edu.au
    Liza-Mare Syron, l.syron@unsw.edu.au
    Attachment:
  • Call for Papers: Harnessing a 21st Century approach to Performing Arts, HKAPA
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 1 Oct 2021


    HKAPA Virtual Conference
    Harnessing a 21st Century approach to Performing Arts: Technology, Practice, Education and Research

    Date: 20 - 22 January, 2022
    Host: Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts

    The past two years have been filled with an unprecedented scope of complexities. Universities and Conservatories in Performing Arts had to take a more proactive and agile role in shifting into newer learning modes and teaching under the pandemic. These paradigm shifts required new ways of encounters and approaches as universities and conservatories (re)think how the new normal in living, performance, learning and teaching under the pandemic required a (re)invention of existence, values, and ways of doing. As we approach a new era of (re)thinking, universities and conservatories must now reflect on their practices and generate innovative strategies and insights to overcome the new challenges, and ask how technologies and 21st Century competencies are reshaping performing arts in performance, curriculum design, teaching and learning and research.

    We invite students, educators, researchers, and practitioners to submit a 250 to 300 word abstract for a paper presentation, roundtable discussion, lecture-demonstration /workshop, or performance lecture. The abstract should clearly state the aim/objective, the issues/questions addressed, the research design and methodology, the findings and the implications addressing these topics broadly within these themes:

    • Digital pedagogies and educational technology
    • Online, mobile, flexible, and blended learning
    • 21st Century competencies and curriculum in performing arts pedagogy
    • Digital performance and live streaming
    • Telematic performance
    • Experimental theatre
    • Transmedia storytelling
    • Innovation in Practice as Research (PaR)/Applied practice/Community of practice.
    Possible topics — for presentation as standard papers, roundtables, lecture-demonstrations and workshops — include:
    • What are the various creative innovations and technologies emerging in performing arts, practice, performance, and art pedagogy in this new normal?
    • What are the ways in which both academics, practitioners and arts educators articulate and evolve these (re)new approaches within the field of performing arts?
    • What are the philosophical underpinnings?
    • What are the issues and challenges (re)emerging that need confronting as artists, performers, academics, educators, researchers, performers, and spectators?
    Proposals are due on 18 October 2021. Please submit abstracts of 250-300 words via the HKAPA Digital Conference website. Written papers from the conference would be considered for being published in the APA second issues of PA: PER.

     

  • Job Listing: Professional Teaching Fellow, VUW
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 29 Sep 2021
    Kōrero mō te tūranga - About the role 
    Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington is currently recruiting a 0.5 Professional Teaching Fellow to join the Theatre Programme on a permanent contract in 2022.  This role is for a Permanent 0.5 Professional Teaching Fellow. The position will teach specifically into our MFA (CP) programme, as lecturer, workshop leader, course-co-ordinator and Festival Producer. The workload for this position will comprise 80% teaching and teaching-related responsibilities and 20% administration. It is expected that the appointee will contribute to teaching across three trimesters.  
     
    Mōu - About you 
    You will be an experienced tertiary educator with a sound understanding of the live performance sector in Aotearoa New Zealand and in the global context, as well as value for scholarship in the making and analysis of practical work. You will have experience in arts management and producing theatre productions. You will have the confidence to communicate ideas to a varied, cross-disciplinary community of recent graduates and professionals. You will have exemplary organisation and problem-solving skills, flexibility and a positive outlook. You will have an understanding of the relevance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi to the making of theatrical productions, in forging relationships, and within the teaching and learning environment.  
     
    Key Requirements:   
    • a postgraduate qualification in Theatre or a related field 
    • an understanding of and experience working in the professional theatre industry 
    • experience in teaching at a Tertiary level  
    • outstanding organisation skills, creativity, and adeptness to think on the floor 
    • ability to build strong working relationships with a variety of colleagues, students and stakeholders.  

     
    Why you should join our team 
    The appointee will have the opportunity to contribute to a vibrant, positive, and unique programme in Theatre at Victoria, and to other academic and creative communities in Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand. 

    Any questions?
    Please contact contacthr@vuw.ac.nz

    Closing date
    Applications close on 22 October 2021, via the VUW job site.

  • Job Listing: Lecturer in Theatre, I
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 29 Sep 2021

    The Univeristy of Tasmania is seeking to appoint a Lecturer in Theatre based in Hobart in the School of Creative Arts and Media (CAM) which is part of the College of Arts, Law and Education. This position is a teaching intensive role with an expected 60% teaching allocation in a full time equivalent workload.

    The Lecturer in Theatre will join the Theatre and Performance team to deliver the Theatre and Performance major as well as contribute to cross disciplinary Creative Curriculum units in the School of Creative Arts and Media. The Creative Curriculum units provide frameworks for students to build their interdisciplinary expertise through collaboration and work-integrated learning, as well as providing a place-based, collaborative, and responsive environment for new practice.

    To be successful, you will be a dynamic academic with knowledge and experience in the delivery of contemporary theatre and performance pedagogies. The Lecturer in Theatre will contribute to academic programs and operations in Hobart and other campuses as required and will have expertise in teaching and curriculum design; delivery of interdisciplinary creative arts units; and experience in blended learning and online teaching.

    The Lecturer will also contribute to the strategic research, impact and engagement agendas of the School, College and broader University. A strategic priority for the School of Creative Arts and Media is to increase participation in, and contribution to, cultural activities across the state as well as engage with the artistic and cultural fabric of Tasmania, and the potential for creative arts pedagogy to address social, environmental, and cultural challenges. To support this priority, the Lecturer in Theatre will initiate and develop a network of partnerships with organisations, professional bodies – including the festival industry and theatre sector – and the creative arts and local community, through their research, teaching and community engagement activity.

    Through the Southern Transformation Project (Hobart) and the new Hedberg building, the University of Tasmania is making a significant investment in the creative arts, as part of a vision for the University as a site for collaboration between community, industry and the University via creative projects. In 2020 the School of Creative Arts and Media refined and enriched our creative arts program through the 2020 Curriculum Renewal project. The University’s commitment to contemporary arts practice and scholarship continues through the appointment of exceptional creative practitioners and scholars.

    For more details, and to apply: please visit the UTas Careers site
    Applications close: 17 October 2021. 
  • Job Listing: Lecturer (Performing Arts), WAAPA
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 28 Sep 2021
    WAAPA is hiring! We are currently looking for a Course Coordinator for our BPA Performance Making course.

    It’s a rare opportunity: being in the BPA Performance Making course represents a chance to shape a course that allows new, innovative artists to develop their unique voice in the performing arts. The opportunity has come up due to current staff moving on to new roles in the organisation. With WAAPA moving into a new CBD building with new venues and studios in 2025, it’s a particularly exciting time to join our faculty at WAAPA.

    Please feel free to share with your networks.

    The link to the advert and the submission portal is now live at ECU employment opportunities: 220/2021 — Lecturer (Performing Arts). It is also visible on the following job sites: SeekLinkedIn; and UniJobs
     
    The advert is set to close on Wednesday 27 October 2021 at 5.00pm (AWST)
  • ADSA 2021 Conference Update
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 23 Sep 2021
    Dear members, 
      
    ADSA Conference 2021
    Performers, Makers, Methdologies – Crafting conditions for decentring scholarship and pedagogy
    30 November to 3 December, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria

    As you know, we are based in regional Victoria so have been monitoring the current national and local health orders regarding pandemic management. Currently across Australia there are lockdowns in the Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra metropolitan areas, as well as lockdowns in various regional centres across these states. There is also an ongoing lockdown in Auckland. Mostly, Australian states in which there is no Covid detected have their borders closed to anyone from other states, and also have quite stringent policies in regard to residents returning from other states.

    While there is an Australian national program of opening when 80% of the population have their first vaccine dose, this is not tested and is likely to allow freedom of movement in local areas, or intrastate, but does not give us any optimism that interstate travel will be simple. When taking the precarious nature of these projections into account, we have made the call to move the 2021 ADSA conference fully online.

    We have now met with our venue partner and can move ahead with the changed delivery mode. We are currently updating the website and finalising the program to accommodate this adjustment. We are disappointed as we had retained our determination to host you here at Deakin's Waterfront campus in Geelong. However, we know you will understand and will join us online in December.

    Thank you for your continued support and understanding.
    Rea, Kate, Miles, and Ashlee.
    2021 ADSA Conference Committee
  • CfP: Changing Perspectives on Live Performance: Interrogating digital dimensions and new modes of engagement
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 23 Aug 2021

    CfP: Changing Perspectives on Live Performance: Interrogating digital dimensions and new modes of engagement

     
    8-9 October 2021
    Anglia Ruskin University
    An online international symposium for academics and practitioners

    The past year has brought changing circumstances to the performance scene. The impossibility of rehearsing and performing to live audiences has forced artists to investigate new alternatives. This has affected both the aesthetics of performance-making and the professional practices of performance-makers. Changes in formats have created new ways of reaching audiences which have more fully exploited an ever-increasing engagement with a wide variety of screen-based technology and digital platforms.

    This has significantly transformed live performances which have adapted to new ways of working and resulted in resourceful and imaginative alternatives and variations. Identifying the features of these changes will highlight pioneering directions for the future of live performance. This involves developments in the relationship between dance, theatre and film, offering digital innovations within liveness that this symposium wishes to identify and analyse.
    We welcome presentations, provocations, workshops, and performances as part of the proposals for participating in the symposium. The aim is to identify and analyse the transformations and generate new conversations among artists and theoreticians.

    Keynote speakers include:
    Anne Bogart (theatre director, SITI Company, USA)
    Prof Maria Shevtsova (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)
    Dr Mark Nicholls (University of Melbourne, Australia)

    Roundtable discussion includes:
    Charlotte Vincent (choreographer/director, Vincent Dance Theatre, UK)

    Workshop by:

    Parliament of Practices

    The symposium will cover but is not limited to the following themes:

    • integrating screen-based technology and practices into live performance

    • blurring the boundaries between the stage and the screen

    • preserving, enhancing, or degrading the actor’s performance via screen-based technology

    • delivering virtual performances - platforms and best practice

    • the role of recording live performances

    • theatrical adaptations of cinematography

    • choreographing the camera when recording live performances

    • streaming performance or recording performance

    • site-specific as the new theatre

    • evolving and enduring innovations

    • theatre developing its own cinematic language

    • expanding and diminishing theatrical markets

    • changing patterns in audience engagement and spectatorship

    • cognitive dimensions of engaging with emerging forms

    • impact on emerging artists and pathways into production

    • re-thinking notions of live performance

    • the digital hiatus altering the experience of live performance

    • the experience of the liveness in a digital context

    • digital dramaturgies within live performance

    • the gendered nature of the impact of digital and technological innovations

    • definitions of digital theatre

    • blended and hybrid modes in transmission of meaning

    Please email all abstracts (no more than 300 words in length), an additional brief biographical information (no more than 50 words) as well as the precise details of the audio-visual technology you will need to make your presentation.
     

    Proposals must be submitted to naz.yeni@anglia.ac.uk by 31 August 2021

    NAZ YENI
    Theatre-maker, Movement Practitioner, Researcher, Lecturer (UK)
     
    Dr EVA AYAMAMI RENE
    Senior Lecturer of Dance, Cambridge School of Creative Industries,
    Anglia Ruskin University (UK)
     
    Dr PATRICIA DI RISIO
    Lecturer in Media, Screen Studies and Journalism,
    Monash College (Monash University, Australia)
     
    Dr MELINA SCIALOM
    Research Fellow in Theatre and Performing Arts,
    The Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), (Brazil, CAPES-Print funding programme)

    Attachment:
  • New Publication from Gillian Arrighi and Jim Davis: Cambridge Companion to the Circus
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 23 Jul 2021

    New Publication, Out now

    The Cambridge Companion to the Circus, edited by Gillian Arrighi and Jim Davis

    A terrific volume with 16 chapters over 2 parts. Gillian has shared the Cambridge 20% discount flyer, see attached.

    From the back cover:

    The Cambridge Companion to the Circus provides a complete guide for students, scholars, teachers, researchers, and practitioners who are seeking perspectives on the foundations and evolution of the modern circus, the contemporary extent of circus studies, and the specialised literature available to support further enquiries. The volume brings together an international group of established and emerging scholars working across the multi-disciplinary domain of circus studies to present a clear overview of the specialised histories, aesthetics and distinctive performances of the modern circus. In sixteen commissioned essays, it covers the origins in commercial equestrian performance during the late-eighteenth century to contemporary inflections of circus arts in major international festivals, educational environments, and social justice settings.


    Table of Contents


                                             
    Timeline            timeline of the circus, 1537-2018 (16 pages)                                                                                                            

    Introduction       Gillian Arrighi and Jim Davis
    The Circus: reflecting and mediating the world                                                        

    Part One: Trans-national Geographies of the Modern Circus


    1          Matthew Wittmann                                 
    The Origins and Growth of the Modern Circus                                                         

    2          Sakina Hughes   
    Reconstruction, Railroads, and Race: The American Circus in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era                                                                                                

    3          Gillian Arrighi               
    Circus, Colonialism and Empire: the circus in Australasia and Asia                             

    4          Julieta Infantino             
    The Criollo Circus (Circus Theatre) in Argentina: the emergence of a unique circus
    form in connection with the consolidation of the Argentine nation state            
               
    5          Hanuš Jordan and Veronika Štefanová                   
    The Past and Present of Czech Circus                                                                     

    6  
    Rosemary Farrell

    Catching On: Chinese Acrobatics from China to the West in the Twenty-First Century                                                                                                            

    Part Two: Circus Acts and Aesthetics


    7          Kim Baston                   
    The Equestrian Circus                                                                                         

    8          Peta Tait                       
    Animals, Circus and War Re-enactment: Military Action to Colonial Wars                   

    9          Louise Peacock              
    Circus Clowns                                                                                                   

    10         Kate Holmes      
    Aerial Performance: Aerial Aesthetics                                                                    

    Part Three: Circus: A Constantly Evolving Form

    11         Catherine M. Young        
    Circus and Somatic Spectacularity on Stage in the Variety Era                        

    12         Agathe Dumont              
    Becoming an Art Form: from ‘Nouveau Cirque’ to contemporary circus in Europe         

    13         Alisan Funk                   
    Risky Play and the Global Rise in Youth Circus                                                       

    14         Jennifer Beth Spiegel                  
    Social Circus: The rise of an ‘inclusive’ movement for collective creativity                   

    Part Four, Circus Studies Scholarship

    15         Charles R. Batson and Karen Fricker                     
    Methodologies in circus scholarship                                                                       

    16         Anna-Sophie Jürgens                  
    Through the Looking Glass: multi-disciplinary perspectives in Circus              

    Works Cited                                                                                                                              

    Index                                                                                                                                       



     
    Attachment:
  • Australasian Drama Studies Journal (ADS) Call For Reviewers
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 23 Jul 2021

    Australasian Drama Studies Journal (ADS) Call For Reviewers

    ADS is looking to expand its database of peer and book reviewers. If you would be interested in reviewing and providing expert feedback on articles submitted for publication in Australasian Drama Studies, or reviewing recently published books on Theatre and Performance, send your contact details and nominate your area/s of interest and expertise to:

    The Editor, Dr Yoni Prior by email
    editor.ads@adsa.edu.au
    Copy in Assistant Editor, Dr Sarah Woodland, sarah.woodland@unimelb.edu.au



  • CfP: ADS General Issue (80), April 2022
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 23 Jul 2021

    CfP: ADSA General Issue (80), April 2022

    Edited by Yoni Prior

    We invite submissions for the general issue of Australasian Drama Studies, Issue 80, April 2022. Submissions may be in the form of an abstract or a full draft. A full draft or substantial example of academic writing is preferred from emerging or unpublished researchers. Essay abstracts should be no more than 400 words, stating the title and author/s, and should give a clear sense of the proposed argument or investigation.  Essay length is a maximum of 6,000 words including bibliography. Please also submit a brief biography and set of key words.

    Abstracts should be submitted by 3rd September, 2021.

    Contributors will receive notification about acceptance by early October and drafts should be submitted by November 30th. Peer review will take place through December 2021 and January 2022.


    The deadline for final essays is 31st March, 2022 and the journal issue will be published in April 2022.

    Please note that the journal is now published online, so we welcome the integration of rich digital format such as images, video footage, sound files, performance texts etc.

    Please send enquiries, or essay abstracts and drafts, to Dr Yoni Prior at editor.ads@adsa.edu.au

     
  • Call for Papers: Simon Stone & Company
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 22 Jul 2021
    Contemporary Theatre Review Special Issue
    Simon Stone & Company

    Guest Editors
    Emma Cole (University of Bristol)
    Chris Hay (University of Queensland)

    Ticket holders to a new production of The Good Hope at Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (ITA), to be directed by the iconoclastic Australian-Swiss director Simon Stone, received an unusual email in September 2020:

    We would like to inform you that the title The Good Hope has been changed to Flight 49. When writing his new play, Simon Stone drew inspiration from the motives presented in the Dutch theatre classic The Good Hope. Stone, however, writes lines for his plays during rehearsals, and created an entirely new and contemporary version of the classic. […] The play still deals with the central themes from Heijermans’ original piece, but Stone’s characters and the character developments in the plot are new. Considering this, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam has decided to change the title of the play.

    Perhaps the title change was prompted by memories of the heated commentary around Stone’s 2012 production of Death of a Salesman in Sydney and its abbreviated ending, or the war of words prompted by his 2013 Melbourne production of The Cherry Orchard, which was accused variously of arrogance, disrespect, and offence against the art of playwriting. The production of Flight 49 — which eventually opened under its new title on 26 September — was part of a banner year for Stone, which included a new production of his version of Medea showing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), a new production of his version of Yerma at the Schaubühne Berlin, and a planned début at National Theatre, London, with a new version of Phaedra (although this last was a victim of COVID-cancellation).

    Stone’s career began in Australia with the success of independent company The Hayloft Project, of which he was Artistic Director from 2007-2010, before he graduated to the mainstage and then pivoted towards Europe with the 2013 appearance of his version of The Wild Duck at the Holland Festival. This same text was later directed by Stone in a film version titled The Daughter (2015), and his second film, The Dig, débuted on Netflix to positive notices in 2021. The template provided by other Australian auteur-directors such as Barrie Kosky and Benedict Andrews is clear – indeed, Stone has worked with many of Kosky’s key collaborators including Tom Wright on Baal (2011), and acted in Andrews’s seminal production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (2007) – but it is a career profile Stone has made all his own. Stone’s work has crossed national and linguistic boundaries; as well as ITA, he has made work for Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe with Three Sisters (2017) and Trilogy of Vengeance (2019), the Berliner Ensemble with A Greek Trilogy (2018), the Young Vic and the Schaubühne with Yerma (2016/2020), and more across the theatres and opera houses of Europe. This mapping of Stone’s trajectory highlights the role of networks in his professional profile: he is linked backwards to Kosky and Andrews, and forwards to the other artists who have worked with him repeatedly across companies, countries, and mediums.

    In curating this Special Issue of Contemporary Theatre Review, we are seeking a way to apprehend the work of the iconoclastic director that includes and highlights the network of collaborators, in terms of both individuals and institutions, who develop, facilitate, and assist their work. We are thereby attempting to build a body of scholarly work that addresses the work of a director on the rise by demonstrating and interrogating the multiple networks in which that director is suspended. We contest the idea that the auteur-director is a lone artist with a singular ‘brand’; while their name may well be alone on the marquee, or they alone may lead the company, the rise of an iconoclastic director is facilitated by those around them, many of whom go on to build significant careers or whose venues symbolise a particular politics of practice in themselves.

    This Special Issue of Contemporary Theatre Review has two key aims. Firstly, it looks to situate Stone within a wider creative ecology, particularly of mid-career artists such as Alice Babidge and Anne-Louise Sarks who are rising in prominence as leading figures within the international theatre industry. We aim to showcase how repeat collaboration and a shared approach to practice, which is in part defined by blurring the boundaries between adaptation and new writing and between the categorisation of artistic role (the multi-hyphenate or ‘slashy’ artist), has been integral to the career trajectories of this new generation of theatrical heavyweights. In so doing, the Special Issue seeks to provide the first large-scale documentation of Stone and Company’s theatrical practice. Despite Stone’s career span, the significance of his collaborators, and the global prominence of his productions, he is yet to receive substantial scholarly attention.

    Contributions might approach questions including but by no  means limited to:
    • Stone & Company, the international festival circuit, and theatrical institutions (especially pre- and post-COVID);
    • Stone & Company and the Australian ‘cultural cringe’;
    • The representational practices of Stone & Company, especially regarding issues of gender and race;
    • Theatrical networks of practice and mapping tools;
    • Stone & Company and the multi-hyphenate artist;
    • Stone & Company and authorship/auteurship; and
    • Stone & Company and the classical tradition;
    For Backpages, we seek accounts of practice, both from within Stone & Company’s orbit and from outside. Stone is an unabashedly polemical artist — and we invite other practitioner/scholars to take up similarly polemical positions in creative responses. We particularly welcome any ‘insider’ accounts of Stone & Company’s rehearsal room practice, including rehearsal ethnographies, as well as interviews and other collaborations with the network.

    Please submit 300-word proposals by Monday 4 October 2021 to the Speical Issue editors on: emma.cole@bristol.ac.uk and chris.hay@uq.edu.au. If successful, full articles will be due in April 2022.
  • Abstract Writing Workshop for 2021 ADSA Conference
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 13 Jul 2021
    PG/ECR PD Event

    Abstract Writing Workshop for 2021 ADSA Conference
    Monday 19th July
    10:00am – 12:00pm

    About the workshop
    This workshop aims to support you to develop your abstract for the upcoming conference. Given the way the opportunities to present and network have been impacted by covid-19 over the past 18 months we hope this workshop will give the confidence and impetus to get out there present your research. This workshop is for any ECRs/PG students who wants to present and this year’s conference and would like some additional support to get there. Writing mentors include Emma Willis, Chris Hay, and Yoni Prior.

    Organised by Kathryn Roberts-Parker and Anita Hallewas (ADSA PG/ECR reps)

    ----
    To confirm attendance or if you have any questions please email kathryn.roberts-parker@newcastle.ac.uk and a.hallewas@student.unsw.edu.au
    ----

    Join Zoom Meeting using this link:
    https://zoom.us/j/98609642285?pwd=OU1KVFRVKy9OazBrbnF4QjZGSTZzUT09

    Meeting ID: 986 0964 2285
    Passcode: ADSA21
    ----

    We have two writing mentors confirmed. We hope to also include a writing mentor from AotearoaNZ.

    About the Writing Mentors

    Dr Chris Hay - Chris is an ARC DECRA Senior Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Theatre History at the University of Queensland. In his research, Chris is particularly interested in what funded cultural output can tell us about national pre-occupations and anxieties. He is Deputy Editor of Performance Paradigm, and an Associate Editor of the journal Theatre, Dance and Performance Training for which he is currently co-editing a Special Issue on Performer Training in Australia.

    Dr Yoni Prior - Yoni Prior has worked as a performer, animateur, director, dramaturg, translator and writer with theatre and dance companies in Australia, the Middle East and Europe. She served on the Australia Council Theatre Board, was Chair of the Big West Festival, and is currently on the Board of Back to Back Theatre. She is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, The University of Melbourne. Between 1991 and 2019 she was a Senior Lecturer and Course Director of Drama (1997 - 2017) at Deakin University. 

    Her doctoral research focused on contemporary Australian rehearsal processes, and she has created digital theatre collaborations between Deakin University, the University of Amsterdam, the British Museum and Cambridge University. She has published on contemporary performance practice, practice as research, dramaturgy in dance and theatre, rehearsal practice, performance and disability, intercultural performance, intermediate theatre, performer training and repertoire development. Yoni is the journal editor of Australasian Drama Studies
    editor.ads@adsa.edu.au

     
  • Call for Proposals – Brill’s book series on Australian Playwrights and Australian Drama, Theatre and Performance
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 13 Jul 2021
     
    Jonathan Bollen is inviting proposals for Brill’s book series on Australian Playwrights and Australian Drama, Theatre and Performance. 
     
    The series aims to publish scholarship on Australian drama, theatre and performance, both authored books and edited anthologies, including:
    • critical studies of a particular playwright, director or company and their plays, productions and/or performances; 
    • thematic studies exploring the work of a group of Australian playwrights, theatre companies and/or performance makers; and 
    • scholarly books investigating a period, topic or approach in Australian drama, theatre or performance. 
    Contact Jonathan Bollen, j.bollen@unsw.edu.au, if you have a proposal in mind. Further details on the series is available at https://brill.com/view/serial/AP.
  • Drama Lecturer - 2 positions - Flinders University
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 12 Jul 2021

    2 Level B Positions in Drama - Flinders University
    We would like to bring your attention to two new Drama positions at Flinders University. Situated in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, these roles will contribute to quality research and/or evaluation activities and the planning and delivery of topics within the suite of undergraduate and/or postgraduate topics/courses in Drama in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Applications close 29 July.

    Key Position Capabilities

    • Completion of a PhD or equivalent qualification in a relevant area.
    • Significant professional experience as a performer/director, in order to teach physical and vocal skills to students, for them to be work-ready for employment in live, screen and digital productions.
    • Ability to contribute to teaching conceptual and interpretive skill topics.
    • Evidence of excellence in teaching and learning at a tertiary level, in a relevant field.
    • Evidence of successful and independent innovation in learning and teaching delivery or design, including use of e-learning technologies. 
    • Demonstrated evidence of a research track record (for career stage) in an area of focus for the College, including evidence of quality publications and/or non-traditional research outputs; the attraction of competitive grants is desirable.
    • Demonstrated knowledge and experience in applying policies and procedures related to student welfare.
    • Demonstrated understanding of the nexus between teaching and learning, research, and scholarship.
    • Experience in coordinating and/or leading the activities of other staff.
    • Demonstrated excellent interpersonal, collaborative and communication skills, including the ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with staff, students, and industry.

    For application enquiries please contact: Dr Alex Vickery-Howe - alex.vickeryhowe@flinders.edu.au

    Jobs at Flinders: https://flinders.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/flinders_employment/job/Bedford-Park/Lecturer--Drama_JR0000002133
    Seek: https://www.seek.com.au/job/52871587?type=standout#searchRequestToken=769d07dc-7214-4de8-a46d-24f9d343e805
     
     
  • SIGN THE OPEN LETTER TO SAVE THE ARTS AT USYD
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 16 Jun 2021

    Dear members,
    we urge the ADSA membership to sign the open letter and support our colleagues at Universtiy of Sydney who are in a fight to save their program

    TO SIGN THE OPEN LETTER TO SAVE THE ARTS AT USYD

    ADSA and the Australian arts community are outraged about the potential closure of University of Sydney Theatre & Performance Studies. Add your name as a supporter of the arts to the growing list of artists, academics and creatives who are uniting to fight back!

    tinyurl.com/savetheartsusyd

    Sign it, share it, shout it!

  • Expressions of interest: Editor and Editorial Board_ Journal of Arts and Communities
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 9 Jun 2021

    Expressions of interest: Editor and Editorial Board

    Journal of Arts & Communities
    2 issues per volume | First published in 2009 ISSN 1757-1936 | Online ISSN 1757-1944

    The Editorial Board and Intellect are seeking expressions of interest for a new Editor and Board Members for the Journal. As you may know Stephanie Knight stepped down after many pioneering years of leading the Journal and we are now looking for new and experienced researchers, practitioners and academics to get involved in the journal.

    About the journal
    The Journal of Arts & Communities is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal that seeks to provide a critical examination of the practices known as community or participatory arts, encompassing a field of work defined for this purpose as incorporating active, creative collaboration between artists and people in a range of communities. The journal takes a cross-artform and interdisciplinary approach, including work happening in performance, visual arts and media, writing, multimedia and collaboration involving digital technology and associated forms.
    The Journal of Arts & Communities seeks to provide a critical examination of creative collaboration between artists and people from a range of communities of place and interest. Interdisciplinary in approach, the peer- reviewed journal focuses on practice, policy and research related to issues arising from artist/community engagement.

    Current status
    The journal is currently published once a year, with an option to increase to two or three issues a year once the new Editorial team are in place.

    Editor
    We are open to expressions of interest from dedicated individuals, co-editors, or co-operative teams.

    The role
    Editors are key to driving the vision and scope of the Journal. We are looking for individuals or co-editors who can renew and take forward the ideals and commitments of the Journal. As Editor(s) you will be expected to:
    • Provide overall vision and leadership of the journal.

    • Evaluate all manuscripts that are submitted to the journal.
    • Select articles that are suitable for the journal for peer review.
    • Encourage usage and subscriptions to the journal.
    • Consider peer reviewers’ advice to make a final decision about what

    gets published.
    • Work with the Editorial Board to identify new writers or develop ideas for

    Special Issues.

    Editorial Board
    • We are looking to expand and welcome new members to
    the Editorial Board. As a board member you will be expected to:
    • Review submitted manuscripts.
    • Advise on journal policy and scope.
    • Identify topics for special issues
    • Attract new authors and submissions.
    • Promote the journal to their colleagues and peers.
    • Encourage usage of the journal.
    • Assist the editor(s) in decision making over issues such as plagiarism claims and submissions where reviewers can’t agree on a decision.
    Expressions of interest process
    For questions or enquiries please write to the Intellect Journals Manager: amy.r@intellectbooks.com

    If you are interested in joining the Editorial Board, or being considered for the position of Editor, please provide a cover email outlining your specific interests and reasons for wanting to join the Journal of Arts & Communities team. Please also attach a CV.

    Deadline
    Monday 2 August 2021

     
    Attachment:
  • Call for Papers EXTENDED: Performance Paradigm 17 (2022)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 11 May 2021
    Call for Papers EXTENDED: Performance Paradigm 17 (2022)

    Perform or Else? Surveying the state of the discipline for the post-pandemic world

    Edited by Emma Willis (University of Auckland), Chris Hay (University of Queensland), and Nien Yuan Cheng (University of Sydney)

     

     

    In Perform or Else (2001)Jon McKenzie outlined three performance paradigms – the cultural, the organisational and the technological – to argue that the imperative to perform had replaced Foucault’s description of discipline, hence the book’s subtitle: “from discipline to performance.” McKenzie’s insights partially inspired the name of this journal and our first issue “Performance in the Information Age” (2005) featured his work. This issue returns to McKenzie’s seminal text to ask what the imperative to perform looks like when performance is thwarted – for many, 2020 was marked by a “hyper-stasis” (Reynolds 2011, 516), with change happening all around us as we were (and continue to be) stuck in place. To do this, we take each of McKenzie’s three paradigms in turn, asking how they might be interpreted in the time of COVID-19.

     

    Firstly, how is the playbook of performance management being mobilised at this time? University staff, for example, are currently being asked to consider ‘enhanced leaving,’ or ‘voluntary separation.’ What happens when the paradigm of performance measurement is mobilised against scholars and practitioners of performance, as we’re told “you’re obsolete, liable to be defunded, junkpiled, or dumped” (McKenzie 2001, 15)? How might we reclaim performance as a discipline, a mode of measurement, an act of political resistance? While performance has been defined as “restored behaviour,” Colbert, Jones and Vogel argue that formula can also be reversed. In other words, it can also be a mode of “behaved restoration”, repair, meaning, and becoming (Colbert, Jones, and Vogel 2020, 13)?

     

    Secondly, how have “the worldwide circuits of performative power and knowledge” (McKenzie 2001, 25) aligned to techno-performance been amplified by COVID-19 and what does this amplification tell us about the distribution of such power? For artistic works, how has techno-performance itself performed? What happens when software programs made for business conferences and webinars become the performance spaces of the many artists forced to adapt to these new circumstances? In addition, techno-performance has also brought about new practices in documentation and archiving. What will be the “performance remains” (Schneider  2011, 100) of the pandemic — and, given the imbrication of performance space and commercial product, to whom will these remains belong?

     

    Thirdly, performance studies, like many other disciplines, was facing demands for paradigm shifts in both teaching and research — even before the pandemic. In Perform or Else, McKenzie rehearses the “intellectual history” (2001, 33) of performance studies as located in its relationship with anthropology without fully critically acknowledging anthropology’s violent legacies of cultural and political imperialism. Twenty years on, “decolonisation” has become a buzzword within and beyond the university––but have things really changed? As Bhakti Shringarpure asks, “what counts as ‘authentic’ decolonisation in 2020?” (2020). As a journal with a focus on the Australasian and Oceanic region, we are particularly interested in how this question bears out in this part of the world.

     

    Lastly, and more recently, McKenzie sketches another three “additional paradigms of performance research”: government performance, financial or economic performance, and environmental performance (2006, 37-38). Each of these paradigms has been implicated by the COVID-19 crisis, which has brought with it comparison graphs on national infection rates, vaccination performance reports, and so on. Could we even suggest that pandemic performance might soon form a paradigm of its own?

     

    The above lines of inquiry proposed by this issue are far-ranging; nonetheless, they resonate with one another, bound together by an interest in revisiting and advancing the ideas explored by McKenzie 20 years ago. We ask not only what it means to “perform” in the shadow of a global pandemic, but also what is its “or else?” (McKenzie 2001, 5). This issue therefore seeks essays or interviews in response to the four areas sketched above:

    1. the mobilisation of our field for neoliberal measurement purposes;
    2. the impacts of techno-performance on our work and our experience as scholars, artists and citizens;
    3. the question of how to decolonise performance studies and what that might look like; and
    4. the rising paradigms of governmental, financial and environmental performance.

     

    Please send proposals of approximately 300 words to Dr Emma Willis (emma.willis@auckland.ac.nz) by 10 May 2021. Full articles will be due on 1 November 2021 for publication in Performance Paradigm 17, July 2022.

    Please feel free to contact the issue editors with any questions. For more information about them, see here:

    Dr Emma Willis, emma.willis@auckland.ac.nzhttp://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/people/ewil077.

    Dr Chris Hay, chris.hay@uq.edu.au, https://researchers.uq.edu.au/researcher/19715.

    Dr Nien Yuan Cheng, nien.cheng@sydney.edu.au.

     

     

    Works Cited:

    Colbert, S., Jones, D., & Vogel, S. (Eds.). (2020). Race and Performance after Repetition. Durham, London: Duke University Press.

    McKenzie, J. (2001). Perform or Else: From Discipline to Performance, London: Routledge, 2001.

    ---- (2006). “Performance and globalization.” In The SAGE handbook of performance studies, edited by D. S. Madison and J. Hamera, 33-45. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Reynolds, S. (2011). Retromania: Pop Culture’s Addition to its Own Past. London: Faber & Faber.

    Schneider, R. (2011). Performing Remains: Art and War in Times of Theatrical Reenactment. London: Routledge.

    Shringarpure, B. (2020). “Notes on fake decolonization. “Africa is a Country, 18 December. https://africasacountry.com/2020/12/notes-on-fake-decolonization.

  • VCA - ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR / PROFESSOR IN THEATRE
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 4 May 2021
    The VCA Theatre program is seeking an outstanding and well-respected theatre professional and experienced academic with the vision and capacity to shape and build the teaching, learning and research within VCA Theatre.

    Based on Southbank Campus of The University of Melbourne.

    Doctoral qualification (or equivalent experience) required.

    Candidate must demonstrate an established reputation in the field of actor training for theatre and screen and significant teaching experience in higher education. You will demonstrate excellence in academic leadership and management and be able to lead people. Interpersonal skills and the ability to contribute to the strategic development of the Theatre program is essential.

    More information here:
     http://jobs.unimelb.edu.au/caw/en/job/904763/associate-professor-professor-in-theatre
  • Update 18 June - 2021 ADSA conference CfP
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 13 Apr 2021
    Next ADSA Conference. Deakin University, Geelong
    30 Nov - 3  Dec 2021


    Revised Call for Papers

    Performers, Makers, Methodologies – Crafting conditions for Decentring Scholarship and Pedagogy in Drama, Theatre, Performance Studies and Dance

    Extended deadline: 21 July

    Thanks to all who have already sent in proposals for ADSA2021.

    We are re-circulating the CfP with some revisions, thanks to guidance and feedback from ADSA colleagues. In the revised call, we seek to better differentiate between decolonising practices and decentring practices. We re-share the call in this amended form and acknowledge the way in which members of ADSA have engaged with us to help us to better understand this distinction. The revised call also seeks to better scaffold how you might go about what you can propose and to integrate insightful feedback we have received.

    The field itself is under pressure, and that pressure itself brings to the fore these concerns. 

    As convenors of  the 2021 conference we invite you to engage with the precarity of the times in which we are researching and teaching. Across Australasia there are university programs under pressure of review, while others are being cancelled altogether. It is a good time to examine our assumptions and past practices in scholarship and pedagogy.

    Our intention in convening the conference on this theme is to engage us all in examining assumptions, behaviours, and processes that claim authority. In amending the CfP, the subject of decolonisation is not being pushed off the agenda, rather we invite you to investigate a range of practices within the broader remit of decentring and to engage in self-examination within a spirit of solidarity.

    We urge you to locate your proposals in the region, to cast an eye over your own local context/s, within the Australasian region. How do these concerns relate more specifically to Aotearoa NZ and Australia?

    Rea, Kate and Miles, ADSA 2021 conference organising committee



    ***
    Call for Papers (with revisions)

    We invite submissions for the 2021 ADSA conference.

    ADSA 2021 invites you to go beyond the instrumental objectives within your research reporting toward an intersectional discussion of the processes, forms, and materials of making and performing.

    As an analytical tool, intersectionality views categories of race, class, gender, sexuality, nation, ability, ethnicity, and age – among others – as interrelated and mutually shaping one another (Patricia Hill Collins 2).

    Aligning with Collins’ theory of intersectionality as a way of explaining complexity in the world, the conference seeks to tell stories that embody the many specificities of the Australasian experience.

    ADSA2021 asks us to frame our methods, habits, and practices through this intersectional lens and to analyse key aspects of the Australasian performing arts ecology. The conference leverages science philosopher Isabelle Stenger’s take on ecology as a question of habitat, that is, the context in which we undertake our labour, and the habits that inform our methodologies. Stenger (2005) argues that through practice, by its very nature, we must feel out its edges, acknowledge its limits, and also push against these limits to (re) establish them over and over again.

    Conference discussions will sit within the intersection of these propositions by Collins and Stengers.
    • We are interested in experience and testimony. For example, tell us what you are doing – in pedagogy, in research teams and methodology, in community engagement and professional development.
    • We are interested in case study and critique. For example, focus on what does happen and can happen rather than the enormity of what isn’t happening.
    • Share details of practice – for example, foreground how and where decentring or decolonisation is happening in the practice context, the practice community, and in the art itself. Find a way of speaking in partnership with the artists.
    • Draw attention to practice approaches that are based on intentions to build better relationship with artists and communities - going forward, 
    • Share your experiences of applying a practice of decentring or decolonisation in pedagogy. How are your institutions are doing it?
    In this way, the function of a conference in 2021 is to undertake some critical interrogation and strengthen the bonds of solidarity in a viability and sustainable way going forward.

    While we retain these broad questions:
    How is our research critiquing singular ideas and understandings and tipping perspectives on their head?

    How is our research testing conserved ways of thinking and knowing?

    How might we reveal stories and disrupt conventions through practice?

    What are the methodological nuances that are forged, and that are contingent on our unique research cultures/ecologies?

     
    We invite you to craft the questions so that we add specificity and detail to this list. What questions serve your self-examination/reflection?

    When proposing your paper or panel we ask that you resist binaries and consider how the inquiry is of this place and time. Conference keywords – Intersectionality, Queering, and Ecology – denote our deliberate purpose to begin to decentre our scholarship and pedagogy, ways of knowing, and modes of inquiry.

    Decentring is about intersectionality. We add additional indicative references recommended by colleagues:

    Indicative references
    Ahmed, Sara (2006) Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others. Duke University Press, Durham.
    Arora, Swati (2021) A Manifesto to Decentre Theatre and Performance Studies,  Studies in Theatre and Performance, 41:1, 12-20, DOI: 10.1080/14682761.2021.1881730
    Collins, Patricia Hill and Sirma Bilge (2016) Intersectionality. Polity Press, Cambridge.
    Bianca Elkington et. al. (2020) Imagining Decolonisation. BWB Texts: Wellington, NZ.
    Stengers, Isabelle (2005) Introductory Notes on an Ecology of Practices, Cultural Studies Review, 1 (11) 183-196.

    We invite presentations (20 minutes), panels (90 minutes), performative proposals (30-90 minutes, live) and/or performative audio (5-20 minutes, recorded) for the 2021 ADSA conference, convened by Drama and Dance in the School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University, Geelong Australia, 30 Nov – 3 December 2021.


    Please send proposal abstracts of approximately 250 words to Dr Rea Dennis (rea.dennis@deakin.edu.au) by extended due date 21 July 2021.

    Please feel free to contact the conference organisers with any questions.

    Rea Dennis rea.dennis@deakin.edu.au
    Kate Hunter k.hunter@deakin.edu.au
    Miles O’Neil mileso@deakin.edu.au



     
  • Adaptation and the Australian Novel Symposium - 6 & 7 April (online)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 23 Mar 2021

    Online Symposium: Adaptation and the Australian Novel
    Centre for Critical and Creative Writing, University of Queensland

    Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 April 2021

    Landmark Australian novels are being adapted for the stage and screen at a rate we’ve not seen for many decades. In the 2015 to 2020 period alone, what was previously a steady trickle has become a flood as the nation’s various mediums of cultural transmission have offered reimagined versions of much-loved novels, including: Ruth Park’s The Harp in the South, Kenneth Cooke’s Wake in Fright, Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet, Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, Craig Silvey’s Jasper Jones,  Colin Thiele’s Storm Boy, Christos Tsiolkas’s Loaded, The Slap, and Barracuda, Madeleine St John’s The Women in Black, and Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies. This trend has continued into 2021, with screen adaptations including The Dry from Jane Harper’s novel, and stage premières including Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe (QT/MTC) and Ruth Park’s Playing Beattie Bow (STC). Meanwhile Andrew Bovell’s adaptation of Kate Grenville’s contentious classic The Secret River has toured to the heart of the former empire whose violent colonisation of Australia it depicts, playing to broad acclaim in both Edinburgh and at London’s National Theatre.

    Questions that arise here include: Why the rush on Australian adaptation now? What’s fuelling the appetite for this locally themed work, and why is it being distributed internationally via digital platforms such as Amazon and Netflix? Is there a ‘house style’ emerging either at particular theatre companies or television production houses who are leading this push? Whose stories are being canonised in this tranche of largely Anglo-Celtic authored works, and whose voices are doing the adapting? What version of Australian national identity becomes enshrined in this process, and whose perspectives are elided or omitted? We are pleased to invite ADSA members to join UQ’s Centre for Critical and Creative Writing for a two-day online symposium that interrogates  adaptation, the Australian novel, and what it means to perform the canon in the 2010s and 2020s. Attendance at the Symposium is free, and all sessions will be presented via Zoom. We also seek to elevate practitioner perspectives alongside academic ones; the Symposium programme features paper panels and keynotes, as well as ‘in conversation’ sessions with leading adaptors.

    Please register for the Symposium at this link. This will give you access to the Zoom links for all of the panel sessions, the keynotes by Andrew Bovell (on The Secret River) and Professor Frances Babbage, and the in conversation sessions with Anita Heiss (on Tiddas), and Andrew Bovell and Dan Giovannoni (on Loaded). The full program for the Symposium is available here. Any questions can be directed to Stephen Carleton on cccw@uq.edu.au.

  • Scene (Australian Scenography) - Extended deadline for full paper submissions – 30th April 2021
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 9 Mar 2021

    Please see below an alert from Tessa Rixon who is the guest editor of the upcoming Special issue of Scene Journal on Australian Scenography.

     

    **New extended deadline for full paper submissions – 30th April 2021**

    Please direct any queries about submission ideas to Tessa Rixon tessa.rixon@qut.edu.au . Please submit final papers to Christine White christine.white@dmu.ac.uk  and Tessa Rixon tessa.rixon@qut.edu.au .

     

    This special issue aims to provide space to consider the state of scenography and performance design within Australia, ranging across creative practice, pedagogical approaches and evolutions, and research inquiry. On the cusp of a new decade, Australian performance finds itself within the context of a turbulent political landscape, which has seen the devaluation of the arts at a federal level and instability in the funding landscape, as well as ecological disasters from fires, floods and drought; persistent humanitarian crises and an inability to reach humane solutions for those seeking asylum in our country; and finally, the pernicious impact of European settlement and the marginalisation of First Nations and indigenous voices.

    Against this backdrop, this special issue welcomes contributions on the state of Australian performance and their scenographies. It presents perspectives on the evolution and diversification of design practices and philosophies tied to the unique Australian experience, across a range of performance genres including dance, theatre, opera and inter- and transdisciplinary practices. Submissions could address the following points:

    • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ scenographic practice and approaches
    • Scenography and pedagogy within the Australian academy
    • Scenography as politics/politics as scenography within Australia
    • Critical considerations of diversity and representation within Australian performance design
    • Researching on and through scenography
    • Critical reflections on the history and development of Australian scenography
    • The influence of Australia’s climate disasters on the creation of the scene, as well as responses to Tanya Beer’s notion of ecoscenography (Beer, 2016)
    • Aural scenography and designing the sound of Australian theatre
    • The function of ‘new media’ technologies within Australian scenographies and the impact of emergent tech on design, space, audiences and performers within digital performance
    • Australian approaches to space including site-specific and immersive performance design
    • Costume and Australian scenography
    • Lighting Australian performance

     

    Submissions could be in the form of essays, case studies of practice, interviews and roundtables capturing diverse perceptions on Australian design.

    Guest editor: Tessa Rixon. Journal Co-editors: Christine White and Alison Oddey.

    Guest edited by Tessa Rixon tessa.rixon@qut.edu.au. Please submit final papers to Christine White christine.white@dmu.ac.uk  and Tessa Rixon tessa.rixon@qut.edu.au. Download the Call for Papers here: https://www.intellectbooks.com/asset/46752/1/Scene_CFP_feb2020.pdf

  • CfP ADS: New Dramaturgies of Sound and Vision
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 25 Feb 2021

    CfP Australasian Drama Studies  Focus Issue: New Dramaturgies of Sound and Vision

    We invite submissions for this special issue of Australasian Drama Studies, Issue 79, October 2021.

    ADS Sound and Vision, guest edited by Pia Johnson and Miles O’Neil, is a special issue focusing on the nexus of theatre and technology. At the sharp end of 2020, it was only natural for a confrontation between theatre and technology to arise. The pandemic has forced the technological hand, as theatre artists have navigated the performative possibilities of the internet, both professionally and pedagogically. While acknowledging the pandemic, this issue is not exclusively focused on pandemic or Zoom performance, but takes this histori-cultural moment as a pivot point that prompts a wider interrogation of the relationship between performance and technology.

    New Dramaturgies of Sound and Vision examines contemporary dramaturgies of the aural and visual in performance. As narratives of sound and vision become increasingly technologically embedded within theatre and live performance, the issue aims to render these developments and mechanisms visible and audible. We argue that the pandemic has accelerated an existing movement towards the digitised, connected and recorded in performance, but that these concerns sit within a broader landscape of persistent but shifting artistic practices of sound and vision through time.

    The issue will actively pursue practitioners and people interested in expanding the journal article form, aiming to prioritise innovation in form and content that may incorporate new ways to present, analyse and critique sound and vision in performance. 

     

    Contributions to the issue may address the following topics:

    Technological innovation in contemporary Australian performance

    Merging of technologies – sound, vision, performance

    Sound as presence or character

    Internet as performance space

    Technodrama and mixed reality

    Virtual actors and digital scenery

    Creative form and its ghosts, its evidence / residue

    Dramaturgies in vision and sound 

    Social media and/as performance

    Performance in the digital age

    Revealing the mechanisms behind the form (technician, camera, creative)

    Visual documentation and its value

    Pandemic constructs of performance and presentation

     

    Submissions may be in the form of an abstract or a full draft. Full drafts are preferred from emerging scholars. Essay abstracts should be no more than 400 words, stating the title and author/s, and should give a clear sense of the proposed argument or investigation. Essay length is a maximum of 6,000 words including bibliography. Please also submit a brief biography and set of key words.

    We also welcome shorter pieces, reflections and notes from the field (2000 word maximum). Please note that the journal is now published online, so we welcome the integration of rich digital format such as images, video footage, or sound files.

     

    Submission of abstracts/drafts: Friday March 19th to guesteditor.ads@adsa.edu.au

    Authors will be advised whether their submission has been successful by the end of April, and full drafts are due by Friday August 6th, 2021. The issue will be published in October, 2021.

     

    Dr Yoni Prior, Editor: Australasian Drama Studies 

  • CfP Performance Paradigm 17: Perform or Else? Surveying the state of the discipline for the post-pandemic world
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 23 Feb 2021
    Call for Papers: Performance Paradigm 17 (2022)
    Perform or Else? Surveying the state of the discipline for the post-pandemic world

    Edited by Emma Willis (University of Auckland), Chris Hay (University of Queensland), and Nien Yuan Cheng (University of Sydney)

    Proposals of approximately 300 words due 11 April 2021.
     

     
    In Perform or Else (2001)Jon McKenzie outlined three performance paradigms – the cultural, the organisational and the technological – to argue that the imperative to perform had replaced Foucault’s description of discipline, hence the book’s subtitle: “from discipline to performance.” McKenzie’s insights partially inspired the name of this journal and our first issue “Performance in the Information Age” (2005) featured his work. This issue returns to McKenzie’s seminal text to ask what the imperative to perform looks like when performance is thwarted – for many, 2020 was marked by a “hyper-stasis” (Reynolds 2011, 516), with change happening all around us as we were (and continue to be) stuck in place. To do this, we take each of McKenzie’s three paradigms in turn, asking how they might be interpreted in the time of COVID-19.
     
    Firstly, how is the playbook of performance management being mobilised at this time? University staff, for example, are currently being asked to consider ‘enhanced leaving,’ or ‘voluntary separation.’ What happens when the paradigm of performance measurement is mobilised against scholars and practitioners of performance, as we’re told “you’re obsolete, liable to be defunded, junkpiled, or dumped” (McKenzie 2001, 15)? How might we reclaim performance as a discipline, a mode of measurement, an act of political resistance? While performance has been defined as “restored behaviour,” Colbert, Jones and Vogel argue that formula can also be reversed. In other words, it can also be a mode of “behaved restoration”, repair, meaning, and becoming (Colbert, Jones, and Vogel 2020, 13)?
     
    Secondly, how have “the worldwide circuits of performative power and knowledge” (McKenzie 2001, 25) aligned to techno-performance been amplified by COVID-19 and what does this amplification tell us about the distribution of such power? For artistic works, how has techno-performance itself performed? What happens when software programs made for business conferences and webinars become the performance spaces of the many artists forced to adapt to these new circumstances? In addition, techno-performance has also brought about new practices in documentation and archiving. What will be the “performance remains” (Schneider  2011, 100) of the pandemic — and, given the imbrication of performance space and commercial product, to whom will these remains belong?
     
    Thirdly, performance studies, like many other disciplines, was facing demands for paradigm shifts in both teaching and research — even before the pandemic. In Perform or Else, McKenzie rehearses the “intellectual history” (2001, 33) of performance studies as located in its relationship with anthropology without fully critically acknowledging anthropology’s violent legacies of cultural and political imperialism. Twenty years on, “decolonisation” has become a buzzword within and beyond the university––but have things really changed? As Bhakti Shringarpure asks, “what counts as ‘authentic’ decolonisation in 2020?” (2020). As a journal with a focus on the Australasian and Oceanic region, we are particularly interested in how this question bears out in this part of the world.
     
    Lastly, and more recently, McKenzie sketches another three “additional paradigms of performance research”: government performance, financial or economic performance, and environmental performance (2006, 37-38). Each of these paradigms has been implicated by the COVID-19 crisis, which has brought with it comparison graphs on national infection rates, vaccination performance reports, and so on. Could we even suggest that pandemic performance might soon form a paradigm of its own?
     
    The above lines of inquiry proposed by this issue are far-ranging; nonetheless, they resonate with one another, bound together by an interest in revisiting and advancing the ideas explored by McKenzie 20 years ago. We ask not only what it means to “perform” in the shadow of a global pandemic, but also what is its “or else?” (McKenzie 2001, 5). This issue therefore seeks essays or interviews in response to the four areas sketched above:
    1) the mobilisation of our field for neoliberal measurement purposes;
    2) the impacts of techno-performance on our work and our experience as scholars, artists and citizens;
    3) the question of how to decolonise performance studies and what that might look like; and
    4) the rising paradigms of governmental, financial and environmental performance.
     
    Please send proposals of approximately 300 words to Dr Emma Willis (emma.willis@auckland.ac.nz) by 11 April 2021. Full articles will be due on 1 November 2021 for publication in Performance Paradigm 17, July 2022.

    Please feel free to contact the issue editors with any questions. For more information about them, see here:
    Dr Emma Willis, emma.willis@auckland.ac.nzhttp://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/people/ewil077.
    Dr Chris Hay, chris.hay@uq.edu.au, https://researchers.uq.edu.au/researcher/19715.
    Dr Nien Yuan Cheng, nien.cheng@sydney.edu.au.
     

     
    Works Cited:
    Colbert, S., Jones, D., & Vogel, S. (Eds.). (2020). Race and Performance after Repetition. Durham, London: Duke University Press.
    McKenzie, J. (2001). Perform or Else: From Discipline to Performance, London: Routledge, 2001.
    ---- (2006). “Performance and globalization.” In The SAGE handbook of performance studies, edited by D. S. Madison and J. Hamera, 33-45. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
    Reynolds, S. (2011). Retromania: Pop Culture’s Addition to its Own Past. London: Faber & Faber.
    Schneider, R. (2011). Performing Remains: Art and War in Times of Theatrical Reenactment. London: Routledge.
    Shringarpure, B. (2020). “Notes on fake decolonization. “Africa is a Country, 18 December. https://africasacountry.com/2020/12/notes-on-fake-decolonization.
  • Australasian Drama Studies Issue 77 now available
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 23 Feb 2021
    The latest Issue (77) of Australasian Drama Studies is published and now available on the ADS website. Edited by Jennifer Beckett, Rachel Fensham and Paul Rae, this focus issue examines cultural activity in regional, rural and remote Australasia.

    Diverse contributors include:

    Article authors

    Asher Warren and JaneWoollard
    Ailsa Brackley du Bois
    Miles O’Neil,
    Anna Loewendahl
    Ariel Songs
    Angela Campbell, Tanja Beer, Richard Chew and Kim Durban
    Abbie Victoria Trott
    Sarah Woodland Brydie-Leigh Bartleet

    Interviews with
    Chloe Flockhart and Paul McPhail
    Elena Carapetis and Anthony Peluso
    Jude Anderson and Joe Toohey
    Ros Abercrombie, Paul McPhail, Anthony Peluso and Joe Toohey

    Edwin Lee Mulligan and Dalisa Pigram Ross

    Review essay Angela Conquet
  • Editorial team roles: Theatre, Dance and Performance Training journal
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 23 Feb 2021

    Dear colleagues,

    The international journal Theatre, Dance and Performance Training is seeking two new colleagues to join its editorial team, a Co-Editor and a Peer Reviews Associate Editor. This is an opportunity to join a rapidly growing journal, which now produces four issues a year, and to work with an international network of editors. The journal is particularly seeking applications from candidates who have been historically under-represented both the journal and in the field more broadly. Applications for both close on 31 March 2021.

    If you would like more information on the positions, please feel free to reach out using the contact details on the attached advertisements. You might also like to contact some of the ADSA members on the journal’s Editorial Board, including Rachel Fensham (rachel.fensham@unimelb.edu.au), Hilary Halba (hilary.halba@otago.ac.nz), Chris Hay (chris.hay@uq.edu.au), and David Shirley (d.shirley@ecu.edu.au). More information about the journal is available here: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rtdp20.

    Attachment:
  • 2020 Vision? What Worked in the Performing Arts, What Didn’t, Where Next.
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 11 Dec 2020

    Tuesday 15 December 1.30-4.00pm

    Hindsight is a wonderful thing! 

    In this Zoom round-robin, a diverse range of performing arts movers and shakers put their heads together to tell a braided story of 2020 and beckon a 2021 that cannot come soon enough. They’ll be explaining all the things they did right and how they did them, what bombed and why, and how to get from here to the future without tears. 

    If you work in, study or simply love the performing arts, come along, get some perspective, and share your own.

    With:

    • Jacob Boehme, Independent artist; First Nations Lecturer, MFA Cultural Leadership, NIDA
    • Chris Mead, Literary Director, Melbourne Theatre Company
    • Adele Schonhardt, Co-Director, Melbourne Digital Concert Hall
    • Sonya Suares, Performer, director, artistic director, activist
    • Latai Taumoepeau, Independent performance artist and choreographer
    • Dianne Toulson, General Manager, Theatre Works

    Hosted by Alyson Campbell and Paul Rae, University of Melbourne

    For the Zoom link, register at:

    https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/2020-vision-what-worked-in-the-performing-arts-what-didnt-where-next-tickets-131287944777


    ‘2020 Vision?’ emerges out of the research project ‘Together Again? Performing Arts Pathways from Lockdown to Recovery’, conducted by Alyson Campbell, Paul Rae and Caitlin Vincent (all University of Melbourne) and Caroline Wake (UNSW) with the assistance of Rachael Stevens and Sonya Suares. The project is supported by the Faculty of Arts and the VCA at the University of Melbourne, and the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences at UNSW.

  • CFP: Australian Playwrights series, Brill
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 24 Nov 2020

    Australian Playwrights
    And Australian Drama, Theatre and Performance

    Editor: Denise Varney

    Brill gladly invites authors to contribute to their book series Australian Playwrights . This series aims:
     i) to contribute to the interpretation, critical analysis, promotion, and wider understanding of Australian drama, theatre and performance in Australia and overseas;
    ii) to pursue a scholarly investigation through monographs which could include either an overview of a particular playwright, director or company and a critical analysis of his/her/its plays or performances or a study of a grouping in drama and theatre including writers for performance and theatre makers within a unifying framework;
    iii) to enliven, enrich and illustrate the study of drama, theatre and performance within Australia and overseas, especially for scholars, artists and students. 

    Each monograph provides an in-depth study aimed at furthering knowledge of Australian drama, theatre and performance and therefore Australian culture with reference to primary and secondary sources. 

    Interested or want to learn more? Contact Masja Horn, Acquisitions Editor (Horn@brill.com)
  • CFP: Theatre, Dance and Performance Training (TDPT)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 16 Nov 2020
    Special issue Performance Training and Well-Being to be published June 2022

    Call for contributions, ideas, proposals and dialogue with the editors

    Guest editors: Dr. Virginie Magnat, University of British Columbia, Canada (virginie.magnat@ubc.ca) and Dr. Nathalie Gauthard, Université d’Artois, France (ngauthard@orange.fr).

    Performance Training and Well-Being (Issue 13.2)

    Conceived as a way of foregrounding the relevance of performance-based artistic practices in response to the current health crisis caused by the global pandemic, as well as a way of challenging neoliberal conceptions of creativity and performance as hallmarks of capitalist productivity, adaptability, and efficacy, this special issue will explore the relationship between performance training and the notion of well-being, broadly conceived, to reignite, reconfigure, revitalize, renew and/or reimagine their inter- and/or intra-action.

    We seek contributions by performance and theatre studies scholar-practitioners, artists, educators, and activists committed to critically and reflexively investigating the cultural, social, political, ecological, and spiritual dimensions of performance training modalities that have the potential to promote, enhance, restore, and sustain the well-being of practitioners, audiences, and other/more-than-human participants and collaborators.

    We are committed to integrating the perspectives of non-Western and Indigenous scholars and artists, and welcome contributions examining the ethical implications of conducting research on performance and well-being in the neoliberal academy, as well as decolonizing approaches to performance training that take into account the well-being of culturally diverse communities.

    This special issue will therefore respond to the urgent need to acknowledge and to include multiple ways of knowing and being within Eurocentric paradigms that still inform dominant knowledge systems.

    The contested termwell-beingis intended as a generative provocation. In this light, potential contributors are invited to engage with topics and questions such as:
    • Performance Training and Well-Being:
      • What approaches to performance training and well-being are currently in the making?
      • How do they depart from or extend dominant conceptualizations? Which performance contexts are they designed for?
      • How is the relationship between performance training and well-being investigated beyond the studio, via Skype/Zoom, MOOCs and other interactive platforms in the global pandemic era?
      • What is the impact of neoliberal economics on this relationship in the context of the current health crisis?
    • Intersectionality and Interdisciplinarity:
      • How do performance training modalities that have the potential to promote, enhance, restore, and sustain well-being take into consideration gender, sexuality, ability, class, race and ethnicity?
      • How do they respond to neurodiverse trainees?
      • How are interdisciplinary performers, such as dance-theatre practitioners or intermedia artists, exploring the relationship between performance and well-being?
      • How has training that was originally developed to foster well-being within the context of artistic performance been adapted by qualitative researchers and educators for the purpose of arts-based inquiry, pedagogy, activism, community or health work?
    • Bridging Practice and Theory:
      • Which emergent critical methodologies can we deploy to investigate the relationship between performance training and well-being?
      • How do relatively new paradigms such as ecocriticism, new materialism, posthumanism, affect theory, and neuroscience influence scholarly and artistic explorations of the relationship between performance training and well-being?
    • Documentation and Dissemination:
      • Which practices of performance training that value and promote well-being have not been systematically documented and disseminated?
      • Which non-Anglophone practices have received less critical attention and how can new translations or archives engage us in dialogue with them?
      • What is the place of documentation in practice-as-research approaches to performance pedagogy and well-being?
    • Histories and Lineages:
      • What does archival research reveal about the lineages and historic practices exploring the relationship between well-being and performance training?
      • How are non-Western and Indigenous appoaches to the relationship between cultural practice and well-being decolonized, reclaimed, and revitalised in contemporary performer training?
    • Re-newing Performance Training:
      • How can existing systems, exercises and practices be reconfigured in ways that value and foster well-being?
      • How can we re-evaluate the foundational premises of performance training through current interdisciplinary research on the relationship between artistic practice and well-being? What are the implications for transmission processes and how might a focus on well-being inform pedagogical innovations?

    To signal your interest and intention to make a contribution to this special issue please contact Virginie Magnat (virginie.magnat@ubc.ca) and Nathalie Gauthard (ngauthard@orange.fr) for an initial exchange of ideas/thoughts or email us an abstract or proposal (max 300 words). Please consider the range of possibilities available within TDPT: Essays and Sources up to 6500 words; photo essays; shorter, more speculative, essais up to 3000 words and postcards (up to 200 words). All contributors could extend their work through links to blog materials (including, for example, film footage or interviews). Questions about purely digital propositions can be sent directly to James McLaughlin at jimmyacademy@gmail.com along with ideas for the blog. Firm proposals across all areas must be received by 1st March 2021 at the latest. We look forward to hearing from you.


    Theatre, Dance and Performance Training has a number of formats:
    • “Articles” features contributions in a range of critical and scholarly formats (approx. 5,000-6,500 words)
    • “Sources” provides an outlet for the documentation and analysis of primary materials of performer training. We are particularly keen to receive material that documents the histories and contemporary practices associated with the issue’s theme.
    • “Training Grounds” hosts shorter pieces, which are not peer reviewed, including essais, postcards, visual essays, book or event reviews and the new format, Speaking Image. We welcome a wide range of different proposals for contributions including edited interviews and previously unpublished archive or source material. We also welcome suggestions for recent books on the theme to be reviewed; or for foundational texts to be re-reviewed.

    Innovative cross-over print/digital formats are possible, including the submission of audiovisual training materials, which can be housed on the online interactive Theatre, Dance and Performance Training journal blog: http://theatredanceperformancetraining.org/


    Issue Schedule:

    1 March 2021: proposals to be submitted to Virginie Magnat (virginie.magnat@ubc.ca) and Nathalie Gauthard (ngauthard@orange.fr)
    31 March 2021: Response from editors and, if successful, invitation to submit contribution
    April to End August 2021: writing/preparation period
    Start Sept to end October 2021: peer review period
    November 2021 – end January 2021: author revisions post peer review
    June 2022: publication as Issue 13.2

     
  • CFP: ADS General Issue (78), April 2021
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Sat, 17 Oct 2020

    Edited by Yoni Prior
     
    We invite submissions for the general issue of Australasian Drama Studies, Issue 78, April 2021.
    Submissions may be in the form of an abstract or a full draft. 

    A full draft or substantial example of academic writing is preferred from emerging researchers.
    Essay abstracts should be no more than 400 words, stating the title and author/s, and should give a clear sense of the proposed argument or investigation. 

    Essay length is a maximum of 6,000 words including bibliography. Please also submit a brief biography and set of key words.

     
    Please note that the timeline is fairly tight this year.
    Abstracts should be submitted by 30th October, 2020. 
    Contributors will receive notification about acceptance by mid- December and drafts should be submitted by end January. Peer review will take place through February. The deadline for final essays is 31st March, 2020 and the journal will be published in April 2021. 
    Please note that the journal is now published online, so we welcome the integration of rich digital format such as images, video footage, sound files etc.
    Please send enquiries or essay abstracts and drafts to Dr Yoni Prior at editor.ads@adsa.edu.au
     
    Call For Reviewers
    ADS is looking to expand its database of peer and book reviewers. If you would be interested in reviewing and providing expert feedback on articles submitted for publication in Australasian Drama Studies, or reviewing recently published books on Theatre and Performance, please contact the Assistant Editor, Dr Natalie Lazaroo by email natalie.lazaroo@alumni.griffithuni.edu.au providing contact details and nominating area/s of interest and expertise.
     
  • CFP: Special issue of Research in Drama Education: Performance and Policy
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 14 Oct 2020
    Proposal deadline 13th November 2020 (for publication in August 2022, 27.3)

    Co-editors: Molly Mullen (University of Auckland) and Kelly Freebody (University of Sydney)

    This themed issue brings a focus to the relationship between applied theatre, applied performance, drama education and policy, seeking new perspectives on this topic. In these fields there has been a longstanding concern with understanding the relationships between policy, funding and practice within institutions and communities, and with the implications of these relationships (Kershaw 1999, Jackson 1993, Neelands 2007 Hughes and Ruding 2009; Mullen 2019). It is evident that this relationship has implications for political, pedagogic, aesthetic and ethical values, approaches and outcomes. This themed issue is interested in profiling diverse and emerging approaches to conceptualising and researching policy and its relationship with practice.

    In the broadest sense, policy establishes ‘goals, values and practices’ as the basis for a particular process or programme of action (Laswell and Kaplan 1950, cited in Rosenstein 2018, 13).  Policy is typically ‘orientated toward a problem or set of problems’ (Rosenstein 2018, 13). There is debate, however, about whether policy is a pragmatic response to the need to solve objectively identifiable problems or whether problems are produced or ‘constituted’ via policy (Bacchi 2014). From the latter perspective, policy is treated as a form of governmentality. Understandings of society as governed in ways that go beyond the government open up the scope of what might count as policy. Performance studies scholar Paul Bonin Rodriguez (2014), for example, defines cultural policy as ‘[a]s a set of ‘decisions (by both private and public entities) that either directly or indirectly shape the environment in which the arts are created, disseminated, and consumed, … an admixture of ongoing political, social, and economic projects’ (p. 2). Policies try to ‘get something done’ (Rosenstein 2018, 14). But, their capacity to do so depends, in part, on their legitimisation by a recognised authority. Education scholar, Stephen Ball (1993), makes the important argument that policies are still always open to being de-legitimised or undermined. 

    Considering the various perspectives on policy outlined above, one can make clear connections to work in applied theatre, drama education and community theatre. These fields are often oriented to a series of social or policy ‘problems’, whether it be a problematisation of the participants themselves (as marginalised, as silenced, as in need of education) or with less tangible social problems (such as violence, drug addiction, unsafe partying practices and so on). There are examples or traditions of applied theatre and performance with explicit intentions to develop and inform policy, including Boal’s Legislative Theatre. Other practices are directly engaged with challenging or resisting particular policies and their effects. Further, as transdisciplinary practices, drama education and applied theatre often happen in places governed by policy (public and institutional) and operate to bring policy-infused messages to participants, communities, and audiences. Recent scholarship has sought to understand these connections, both implicitly through an exploration of how applied theatre works in societies and institutions (Balfour 2009), and explicitly, through critical analyses of the intersection between theatre, policy, and funding (Mullen 2019). There is a growing recognition that the context work takes place in can have effects on intentions, approach and outcomes. Tensions arise when policy-infused agendas conflict with the needs or desires of participants or key partners. Complicated negotiations are required between competing notions of what is valuable, ‘effective’ or ‘successful’. Policy and funding relationships affect participants, their experience of the work and the terms of their engagement with it. Policy can also impact the nature of facilitators’ labour and positionality. In practice, therefore, policy has profound effects on applied theatre, applied performance, and drama education practitioners. This volume seeks to expand our current thinking about these effects and how they might be negotiated.

    We invite papers that consider:
    • Historical and/or critical perspectives on the ways applied theatre is situated in relation to particular policy projects.
    • New theoretical perspectives on the relationships between policy and practice and the impacts or implications of that relationship for participants, partners and practitioners.
    • Scholarship in applied theatre, performance or drama education that is working with new, emerging conceptions of policy or methods for researching policy.
    • Examples of the different ways in which applied theatre, performance and drama education practice is involved in making, enacting, sustaining, subverting, resisting, remaking, re-reading or challenging policy initiatives.
    • Participatory theatre or performance-based policy-making processes, particularly those that serve as an alternative to dominant paradigms of consultation and communication.

    We are seeking contributions that consider these topics from a range of levels: micro through to macro, local through to global. We are looking for diverse theoretical and geographical perspectives. We are seeking research-based articles (6-8,000 words), including: case studies, historical studies, theoretical or philosophical approaches, practice-based/led methodologies. We will also consider shorter submissions in the form of interviews or accounts of relevant practice examples (approximately 1,500 words).  

    Please send initial proposals of approximately 300 words for articles, interviews and accounts of practice by 13thNovember to the issue guest editors: Molly Mullen (m.mullen@auckland.ac.nz) and Kelly Freebody (kelly.freebody@sydney.edu.au) for consideration and feedback. Full articles will be due mid-2021 (please note, full articles will undergo anonymous peer review prior to final acceptance). Final publication for volume 27, issue 3 is expected to be August 2022.
     
  • CFP: Humanities Special Issue title: Acts of Liberation
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 11 Sep 2020

    Further Update

    PLEASE NOTE: ABSTRACTS DUE 31 OCTOBER 2020

    This Open Access journal is free for readers, with an article processing charges (APC) paid by authors or their institutions.

    Given the impact of COVID and the lack of financial support for many scholars, the journal has confirmed it will be offering 90% discount on this fee for authors who submit to this special issue.



    Abstract [300 words] Submission Deadline: 31 October 2020. Final Manuscript Submission Deadline: 31 March 2021
    Guest Editor: Dr. Rand T. Hazou
    Senior Lecturer in Theatre, Massey University

    Massey Profile| LinkedIn | Academia.edu|
    E-Mail: R.T.Hazou@massey.ac.nz
    Interests: Theatre and social justice, Prison Theatre, Applied Theatre, Arab and Palestinian Theatre, Decolonial Theatre.

    Summary:

    On the 15th of June in Albuquerque, New Mexico, protestors attempted to pull down a statue of the Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate. Oñate is controversial figure who is celebrated as the founding father of the Spanish colony in New Mexico despite being convicted by the Spanish crown for crimes against the Native American inhabitants of the Acoma Pueblo. During the demonstration to tear down the statue, an activist shouted ‘This is an act of decolonisation! This is an act of liberation!’ (Mars and Alcorn, 2020). Similar ‘acts of liberation’ have been staged around the globe in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter protests, with demonstrators tearing down monuments, contesting narratives of shared history, and challenging perceived white and Eurocentric commemorative practices. Taking inspiration from the urgent cry of a black lives matter activist, this is a call for papers that engages with recent ideas, theory, and practices of liberation.

    The Black Lives Matter movement has been accompanied by a renewed interest in Black feminist thinkers such as Angela Davis (2003) and bell hooks (1981), black scholars such as W.E.B. Du Bois, writers such as James Baldwin (1963), and the philosophy of self-determination as expressed in Stokely and Hamilton’s Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America (1967).

    This Special Issue seeks to advance the practice and theory of liberation that builds on a diverse and interdisciplinary body of literature, ranging from the psychology of liberation as expressed in the writings of Erich Fromm (1942) to the pedagogy of liberation as articulated by Paulo Freire (1972). Contributions in the field also include the liberation psychology of Frantz Fanon (1967), who articulated the liberation of the colonial mind as a key site for the struggle for freedom, as well as the liberation philosophy of Enrique Dussel (1985), which provides a critique of modernity and oppressive rationalisation.

    The current political upheavals draw attention to the need to explore with renewed critical vigour decolonial approaches to practice, theory, and teaching. Decoloniality proposes that the "coloniality of power" (Quijano, 2000) did not end with colonialism, and that the modern capitalist world-system imposes a racial/ethnic classification of people as a basis for global exploitative and extractive power-structures. According to Walter Mignolo, decoloniality involves “delinking” from Eurocentric categories of thought to “change the terms and not just the content of the conversation” (2007, 459). For Nelson Maldonado-Torres, decoloniality involves the production of “counter-discourses, counter-knowledges, counter-creative acts” aimed at breaking down “hierarchies of difference that dehumanise subjects and communities and that destroy nature” (2016,10).

    This Special Issue of the Humanities journal will consider the emancipatory role of culture and the role of the arts in humanising subjects and communities impacted by colonial hierarchies of difference.

    This call for papers invites submissions from decolonial and indigenous scholars, practitioners, and activists involved in the production of counter-knowledges and counter-creative acts that challenge the privileging of Western- and European-centric ways of being and knowing.

    We hope that authors will engage with conceptions of liberation as explored through the arts and cultural production in general and in the fields of theatre and performance specifically. Contributions are invited that consider the embodied and performative aspects of liberation and how liberation acts, is acted on, or is acted out.

    Submission:

    Please send an abstract of 300 words and short bio by 31 October 2020 to: r.t.hazou@massey.ac.nz Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 30 November 2020. Full manuscripts are due 31 March 2021.

    Keywords:

    § theatre and liberation;
    § decolonial theatre and performing arts; § arts and humanization.

    About the Journal

    Humanities is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI. Humanities is an international, peer-reviewed, and open access scholarly journal (free for readers). The central concern of this journal pertains to the core values of the Humanities, i.e., focusing on the ideals of human existence, seen through many different lenses. Humanities is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and, accordingly, submissions are peer reviewed rigorously to ensure that they conform to the highest standards in their field. Key benefits from publishing with the journal include:

    • §  Open Access: This journal is free for readers, with article processing charges (APC) paid by authors or their institutions. This ensures the dissemination of new knowledge to various communities of concern. An article processing charge (APC) of 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs), approximately $169 NZD or $110 USD applies to papers accepted after peer review.

    • §  Rapid Publication: Manuscripts are peer-reviewed and a first decision provided to authors approximately 21 days after submission; acceptance to publication is undertaken in around 6 days. This quick turnaround means that current research can be published that speaks directly and urgently to pressing issues.

    §  High Visibility: Indexed in ERIH Plus.


    ​​​​Manuscript Submission Information

    Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

    Attachment:
  • AusAct 2020 Dec 8 - Dec 9 - Call for Proposals
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 9 Sep 2020
    The performing arts sector has been significantly hit by the impact of COVID-19. In 2020, we have seen theatres close, productions cancelled and many arts practitioners losing jobs. In addition to this, acting teachers in institutions and the private sector moved swiftly to online learning; some even transitioning to rehearsing and performing productions online. Online coaching is not a new phenomenon, as teachers have been coaching actors using video conferencing tools for most part of the decade, however, this pandemic has highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of learning in this way. Actors, while in isolation, need to maintain their skills and keep active. They are also looking at different ways in which they can keep connected with other performers. This crisis has reawakened actor training, inspiring communities and theatre companies to work on the sustained wellbeing of all actors who wish to perform and train. These teachers and artists have rapidly adapted their arts practice with new ways of working.

    Overall, questions may stem from, but not limited to, the following points concerning new developments in Australian performance pedagogies:

    • How are we teaching acting to the current digital generation?
    • What methods have actors been working on during this time of isolation to maintain their skills?
    • What new methods and practices have been developed by teaching acting online?
    • What are the advantages and disadvantages of teaching acting online?
    • What adjustments have acting teachers made adjusting in this new environment?
    • How have rehearsals and performances adjusted in this new environment?
    • Are there are gaps recognised in training and process, and what would be helpful to fill those gaps?
    • What are some new developments in Australian actor training that have surfaced this year in response to the ever-changing world?
    • How are we adapting actor training due to financial pressures facing the tertiary sector?
    • What does the post COVID-19 landscape look like for actor training?

    ABSTRACT AND INFORMATION SUBMISSION
    Participants who are interested in presenting a paper and/or conducting a workshop must submit an abstract up to 250 words to Dr Robert Lewis: robelewis@csu.edu.au. Applicants who are interested in submitting an abstract for a workshop must clearly state the level of participation, e.g., beginners, intermediate or advanced, the aims and objectives of the workshop, influences/inspiration behind the work, and any other requirements needed. Applicants who are interested in staging a performance must indicate cast size, length of performance and any other helpful information. Technical requirements must be kept to a minimum. Abstract for papers, panel presentations and workshops due Friday October 2.

    PUBLICATION
    Presenters have the option to submit their papers to be considered for the peer reviewed International Journal of Practice Based Humanities (IJPBH). Presenters will be invited to submit an article version of their conference paper for inclusion early 2021. This edition of the IJPBH aims to make a contribution to the field offering new insights into Australian acting pedagogies in the past and in the present. It will consist of a selected number of essays from submissions drawing on papers presented at AusAct 2020 Conference. This volume will aim to engage with national and international debates on the nature and practices of Australian actor training as research as a scholarly methodology and/or as pedagogical practice. An expression of interest form will be available through the conference website: www.ausact.com.au. Every contributor must also fill out a ‘Publication Expression of Interest’ form in order to indicate whether or not they would like to: have their paper published in the special edition of IJPBH without being double blind peer reviewed; have their paper double blind peer reviewed to be considered for publication in the special edition of IJPBH; submit creative works and or other projects of equivalent scope; only attend the conference and present without any publication outcome. Timelines, important dates and other information relating to the publication are listed in the ‘Publication Expression of Interest’ form at: www.ausact.com.au

    SCHEDULE 
    • Call for proposals: Monday September 7
    • Friday October 2: Abstracts for papers due
    • Friday October 16: Notification of acceptance
    • Early Bird registrations close: Friday November 6
    • Full Registration: Saturday November 7
    • Registration close: Thursday December 1
    • Conference: Tuesday Dec 8 (half day) and Wednesday Dec 9 (half day)

    REGISTRATION
    Early Bird: $55
    Full: $90
    Student/Concession: $20
    Click here to register

    The conference will be held via Zoom, and all details regarding schedules, zoom link and structure will be forthcoming. 

     
  • Call for board members and reviewers for RiDE
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 30 Jul 2020
    RiDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance

    RiDE is an international refereed journal aimed at those who are interested in applying performance practices to cultural engagement, educational innovation and social change. It provides a forum for research into drama and theatre conducted in community, educational, developmental and therapeutic contexts.
    RiDE is looking to expand its pool of reviews, guest editors, and editorial board members. 

    ·         If you are interested in reviewing for RiDE, we would like to hear from you. We are particularly keen to have reviewers from different stages of their careers and from a diversity of backgrounds and international contexts. While we are looking for those experienced in Drama Education in particular, we would like to hear from anyone in the field of applied theatre and performance. If interested, please contact james.thompson@manchester.ac.uk

    ·         RiDE publishes two Open Issues and Two themed issues per year. We would like to hear from colleagues who are interested in editing a themed issue or proposing a topic for a themed issue. This can be done in collaboration with another colleague – themed issues are often jointly edited. If you are interested in editing, proposing a theme, or would like to discuss this further please contact colette.conroy@cumbria.ac.uk

    ·         For those colleagues who are familiar with RiDE and have reviewed for us already, we are seeking new members for our Editorial Board. Our board will be improved by diversifying in terms of members’ geographical location, career stage, gender, race, disability and sexual orientation. If you have questions about this role, please contact or send a short CV to james.thompson@manchester.ac.uk
     
  • CFP: Performance Research 26.4; On Repair (June 2021)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 26 Jun 2020
    Volume 26, No. 4, ‘On Repair’ (June 2021)  

    Issue Editors
    Helena Grehan (Murdoch University) and Peter Eckersall (The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY))

    Proposal deadline: 31 July 2020
     
    The year 2020 should be seen as the year when human history dissolved—not because human beings disappear from planet Earth, but because planet Earth, tired of their arrogance, launched a micro-campaign to destroy their Will zur Macht (Will to power).

    The Earth is rebelling against the world, and the agents of planet Earth are floods, fires, and most of all critters. (Berardi 2020)

    Drawing on Donna Haraway’s Staying with the Trouble the critters Berardi refers to here are ‘small playful creatures who do strange things, like provoking mutation. Well: the virus’ (Berardi 2020).

     
    In this issue we contemplate what comes after the year 2020 and its critters. We find that we inhabit a landscape that is scorched, parched, drowned and infected. One that is perhaps, if we concur with Berardi, fed up of us and beginning to fight back. What might the value be, if indeed there is any value, in repairing things in this context? What could we humans do to ‘repair’ the world? 
     
    Stay-at-home directives in so many places around the world have shown us a reality of what less human intervention looks like. This led to some improvements—cleaner air, more space for animals, daily walks, less vacuous consumption—but this reality and its consequences has not been shared equally among us. COVID-19 made starkly visible the underlying conditions of structural precarity. How do we think about ideas of repair in light of this? Specifically, can creative practices and the imagination do something? Berardi (2020) calls for ‘[t]hought, art, and politics… no longer… as projects of totalization [but] of proliferation without totality’. How might we, as performance scholars and practitioners, make sense of this idea? What kinds of work should we make, respond to, or perhaps avoid if we are to activate Berardi’s call for ‘thought, art and politics’?
     
    According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), ‘repair’ means ‘the action of repairing a damaged, worn, or faulty object or structure by replacing or fixing parts. Also: the fact or process of keeping something in good condition in this way; maintenance, upkeep’. If we take the second part of the meaning here, then we have already failed it seems. We have failed to keep anything ‘in good condition’ to carry out the regular ‘maintenance’ that is needed to ensure that things work properly, to keep things in ‘good’ repair, to the extent that now perhaps the act of repairing would be futile. Have we gone beyond repair? Repairing was, or so it seems, something we should have been doing all along—if we are now inhabiting a broken planet that was rendered so by our inaction and by—some would argue—a form of capitalism gone feral. If the end stage of capitalism is, as Jodi Dean (2020) states, a condition of ‘neofeudalism’, then what is there left to do? Even if we could repair, would we want to? What is there to fix? 
     
    We could argue that it is crucial to fix the planet, the geological and ecological structure on which life rests. In doing so we might stake a claim for humanity and refuse the dissolving that Berardi argues is underway. We could try to calm the fires, to eradicate the virus and to stop the floods, but if we were to do this would it require a radical rethinking of the very fabric that is worn? Can we repair the planet and at the same time return to the capitalist status quo? Or, is it only by jettisoning that system that we might be able to engage in any meaningful acts of repair? Is there something in-between or are these options our only ones? And, again, can we expect any meaningful interventions from performance and performance studies? Timothy Morton argues, ‘art is thought from the future’ (2016: 1) but what kinds of artistic thinking should this be and what kinds of artistic thinking should be resisted?
     
    We invite essays, manifestos, theoretical and critical reflections, images, documents and creative works that respond to this uncomfortable status quo of our own making. Topics might include but are not limited to: 
     
    • The futility of return, imagining new futures
    • Kintsugi—the art of repairing broken objects with filaments of precious metals
    • Digital salve for the scorched soul: acts of performative care as a way of repair
    • Mending things
    • Creative acts that do nothing or displace human activity 
    • Aesthetics of/and emptiness 
    • Repairing the arts 
    • Bodies, senses and sensualities as repair 
    • Repair for whom? Class, identity and repair 
    • Repairing collective action and solidarity 
    • Thinking about obsolescence
    • Tragedy as repair
    • Countercultures and performance 
    • Environmental restoration: being different with the planet
    • Beyond repair: necropolitics and herd immunity

    Performance Research also invites short reviews (approximately 750 words) of recent books, performances, conferences or other forms related to the theme. For title proposals and suggestions related to ‘On Repair’, contact our Reviews Editor, Anna Jayne Kimmel, at reviews@performance-research.org.uk
    Schedule
    Proposals: 31 July 2020
    First Drafts: 1 November 2020
    Final Drafts: January 2021
    Publication: June 2021

     
    Format
    Alongside long-form articles, we encourage short articles and provocations. As with other editions of Performance Research, we welcome artist(s)’s pages and other contributions that use distinctive layouts and typographies, combining words and images, as well as more conventional essays.
     
    Issue Contacts
    All proposals, submissions and general enquiries should be sent direct to Performance Research at: info@performance-research.org
     
    Issue-related enquiries should be directed to the issue editors:
    Helena Grehan: h.grehan@murdoch.edu.au
    Peter Eckersall: peckersall@gc.cuny.edu

    General guidelines for submissions:
     Before submitting a proposal, we encourage you to visit our website (performance-research.org ) and familiarize yourself with the journal.
    • Proposals will be accepted by email (Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format (RTF)).
    • Proposals should not exceed one A4 side.
    • Please include your surname in the file name of the document you send.
    • Please include the issue title and issue number in the subject line of your email.
    • Submission of images and other visual material is welcome provided that all attachments do not exceed 5 MB, and there is a maximum of five images.
    • Submission of a proposal will be taken to imply that it presents original, unpublished work not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
    • If your proposal is accepted, you will be invited to submit an article in first draft by the deadline indicated above. On the final acceptance of a completed article you will be asked to sign an author agreement in order for your work to be published in Performance Research.
     

     
  • Issue 76 of Australasian Drama Studies is now published on the ADS website
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 4 Jun 2020
    Contents:
    Dancing, Marching and Baton Twirling with the Virgin: Performing Community at the Peñafrancia Festival in the Philippines, by William Peterson
    Festivals, Funerals and Circuses: The Impact of Space and Design in the Construction of Meaning and Audience Experience, by Natalie Lazaroo and Jennifer Penton
    Polyfest Postponed: Performing ‘Us’ in Christchurch in 2019? by Tony McCaffrey
    Disciplined Subjects and Social Performance: Entertainments at the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum, 1873–1906, by Jonathan W. Marshall
    Wassailing and Festive Music in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, by Kathryn Roberts Parker
    Local Archive, Distant Reading: Performance Space at Cleveland Street and Carriageworks, by Caroline Wake and Boni Cairncross
    Enacting Restorative Justice: Shakespeare and Tikanga Māori in Cellfish (2017), by Rand Hazou
    Hold On: Australian Innovations in Access Aesthetics, by Madeleine Little, Sarah Austin and Eddie Paterson
    Contemporary Performance and Climate Change: Re-defining the Australian Landscape Narrative, by Linda Hassall
    Celebrating Fifty Years in Prague: Reflections on Australian Scenographic Identity through the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, by Tessa Rixon and Sarah Winter
    Entanglements with Time: Staging Duration and Repetition in the Theatre, by Deborah Pollard
    An Actress Weeps: Corporeal Dissonance in the Actor’s Experience of Performing Testimony in Eduardo Coutinho’s Jogo de Cena, by Rea Dennis
    Shifting Hybridity: An Intercultural Arab–Australian Shadow Theatre Performance, by Lynne Kent

    In addition, the entire archive of Australasian Drama Studies has been digitized and archived, and will be uploaded to the ADS home site over the next month.
     
  • CFP: TDPT Special Issue on Performer Training in Australia
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 27 May 2020

    Theatre Dance and Performance Training Journal (TDPT)

    Special issue on Performer Training in Australia to be 
    published as TDPT Vol 12.3 (September 2021)

    Call for contributions, ideas, proposals and dialogue with the editors 

    Guest editors: 
    Dr Chris Hay, University of Queensland (chris.hay@uq.edu.au)
    Professor David Shirley, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University (d.shirley@ecu.edu.au
    Dr Sarah Peters, Flinders University (sarah.peters@flinders.edu.au)

    Training Grounds editor:
    Dr Soseh Yekanians, Charles Sturt University (syekanians@csu.edu.au

    Conjoined with blood and tears, the axiomatic price of supreme rigour and achievement. Sweat (water, ammonia, salt, sugar) is deemed a noble and miraculous secretion, yet we habitually strive to disguise it. […] In the unapologetic seclusion of the training space, it becomes the proof of our proud status as grafters, as corporeal, visceral, present, working.

    As described in Theatre, Dance and Performance Training’s “A Lexicon of Training Terms” (3.1), sweat is a constituent part of training — a synecdoche for the tension and effort that underpin it. Sweat is also a precondition of living and training in Australia, from our corporeal engagement with a heating continent to the metaphorical ‘she’ll be right, mate’. This no sweat, laissez-faireacceptance of the status quo finds its way into training through “a willingness to ‘have a go’; a refusal to be cowed by received authority […] a characteristically Australian suspicion of influence” (Maxwell 2017, p. 326).

    The image of sweat also brings with it metaphors of fear, tension and anxiety, often drawn out or extended. This sense of determination over time pushes back against a conception of Australia as the rushed continent, whose artists seek to take short cuts to success. Hugh Hunt, the inaugural director of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, cautioned as much in a 1959 public lecture:

    We sometimes expect theatre to be made too quickly. Australians are impatient people, who would like their theatre to be made as quickly as wool grows on a sheep’s back. It takes many years to make it; it takes time to train and develop actors and producers. (Hunt 1960, p. 4)

    What has changed since Hunt’s proclamations? What is the labour of training in Australia, and how do we train an “impatient people”? In a country where sweat comes easily, do we mistake the by-product of hard work for the work itself? Hunt, like many others in Australian performance history, speaks only for white Australians: how do (or might?) the distinctive temporalities, collaborative modalities, and lineages of practice of First Nations training and performance inflect performer training in Australia? 

    Despite the diversity and range of its performance ecology and the prestige in which its major training institutions are held, Australia’s influence in and contribution to key debates has, until fairly recently, remained surprisingly marginal. While much doctoral-level work has considered training in Australia, there is no authoritative, published history of Australian performer training. The history of training is thus another iteration of what Ian Maxwell terms “Australian theatrical bricolage” (2017, p. 338), its history an assemblage of sometimes contradictory facts, uncertain pathways, and unsubstantiated anecdote. In this special issue of TDPT, we endeavour to provide an update to Meredith Rogers and Elizabeth Schafer’s special issue of Australasian Drama Studies“Lineages, Techniques, Training and Tradition” (vol. 53, 2008). We also seek to curate a companion to the roundtable discussion “Training in a Cold Climate”, published in Theatre, Dance and Performance Training 5.2, by considering training in a hot climate. 

    As we are reminded all too frequently, Australia is at the forefront of the climate emergency. Australia’s wide skies and open spaces have always proven a challenge and a stimulus to artists: playwright Louis Esson insisted in 1914 that “in an authentic Australian play, there should be a real atmosphere — some space and sunshine” (quoted in Fitzpatrick 1995, p. 117), while decades later legendary critic H. G. Kippax wondered “realistic drama makes much of scene; but what stage could hold the Australian bush and plains?” (1963, p. 13). In our new ecological epoch “marked by unprecedented human disturbances of the earth’s ecosystems” (Gilbert 2019, p. 220), how do we train performers to hold the burning Australian bush and plains on stage? What kinds of training philosophies and regimes might be required in the Anthropocene? How might training intersect with or even encourage sustainability in performance practice? 

    In this special issue of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, we want to use the sweat of training in the heat of a crucible to think through performer training in Australia. To do so, we welcome proposals that consider topics including:

    • Training, fear, and the negative imagination; 
    • Anxiety as an affect of training; 
    • Impatience and speed in training; 
    • Tensions between First Nations and settler ways of knowing in training; 
    • Lineages of practice in Australian training;
    • Training beyond the centre and in the regions;
    • Tension and/in collaborative training practices; 
    • Heat, humidity, and training in the tropics; 
    • Training in the Anthropocene; 
    • Sustainable training practices; 
    • The ‘cultural cringe’ in training; and
    • Training and the ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’.

    Other topics that are broadly sparked by the consideration of sweat in Australian training are also welcomed. We particularly encourage proposals from scholars and practitioners whose voices are traditionally under-represented in higher education, as well as collaborations between scholars and artists that seek to amplify practice from the margins. 

     

                We are seeking proposals in three distinct categories, and authors are invited to indicate which category they feel best suits their work: 

    • Articles in a range of critical and scholarly formats, of between 5 500 and 7 000 words;
    • Sources that document and analyse the primary materials of performer trainingWe are particularly keen to receive material that documents the histories and contemporary practices associated with the issue’s theme; and
    • Training Grounds, shorter pieces that are not peer reviewed, including biographical and autobiographical sketches, postcards, visual essays and book or event reviews.  

    We welcome a wide range of proposals for contributions including edited interviews. 

    Innovative cross-over print/digital formats are possible, including the submission of audiovisual training materials, which can be housed on the online interactive Theatre, Dance and Performance Training journal blog. The editors will correspond with authors about the most appropriate category for their work, and can happily provide guidance before a proposal is submitted. Prospective authors are encouraged to familiarise themselves with TDPT’s Scope & Aims, as well as with the Instructions for Authors for guidance on formatting.  


    Issue Schedule

    • 29 June 2020: 300-word proposals submitted via email to Chris Hay (chris.hay@uq.edu.au) and David Shirley (d.shirley@ecu.edu.au).
    • 31 July 2020: Response from editors and, if successful, invitation to submit contribution.
    • 30 November 2020: Submission of first drafts. 
    • February 2021: Author revisions post peer-review. 
    • September 2021: Publication as TDPTVolume 12, Issue 3. 

     

  • ADSA Submission to Senate Select Committee Inquiry into the Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 27 May 2020
    ADSA has made a submission to the above inquiry.  In our submission we argue that:

    • The Australian government’s response to the impact of COVID-19 on the arts sector has done very little to mitigate it; and in a related matter,
    • The government must develop an adequate arts and culture policy for post-COVID-19 and beyond.

    Since making our submisson, we are pleased that the NSW State Government has pledged $50 million to support the state's arts and cultural organisations.

    Our submission has been published and can be read on the link below (submission No. 39).

    Glen McGillivray
    President, ADSA
  • Call for chapters: Creative Activism
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 4 May 2020

    Book Title: Creative Activism: Research, Pedagogy and Practice.

    Description:
    This multidisciplinary collection speaks to growing global recognition of creativity and the arts as vital to social movements and change. Bringing together diverse perspectives from leading academics and practitioners who investigate how creative activism is deployed, taught, evaluated, theorised, and critically analysed, the collection provides a home for relevant approaches right across the arts, humanities and social sciences spectrum. Evidence, critique and case study examples are juxtaposed to illuminate the what, how, where and why of creative activism from multiple perspectives.

    Who can contribute:
    Whether you’re from theatre, media studies, creative writing, performance, fine arts, psychology, communication, ethics, social movement studies, creativity studies, comedy studies, creativity studies, arts-based research, education, or more, if you have a scholarly perspective on creative activism, please consider submitting a chapter to this call. We are hoping for a wonderfully eclectic mix in order to help us all spot and spark transdisciplinary links.

    Topic parameters:
    Our working definition of creative activism is inclusive (or perhaps that should be elusive - part of the point of the book is to help hone some of the murky definitional issues) and so whether you call it socially engaged art, political art, protest art, artivism, performative activism, participatory community art, social justice art, artistic activism, or something else, we are keen to hear about your work and encourage you to submit your chapter/s.

    Suggested topics might include (but are certainly not limited to these areas – this collection is intended to provide a wide-ranging survey):

    • Arts-based social issue engagement in the classroom – primary, secondary and tertiary

      examples of curricular innovation

    • Pandemic shock, climate grief and compassion fatigue – the role of creative practice

      and artistic responses in making sense of overwhelming topics

    • Creative activism as problem solving: the role of imagination in accelerating social

      change and generating solutions

    • Creative activism evaluation – approaches and tools for determining outcomes and

      effectiveness

    • Creative activism safe practice: embedding self-care and other care

    • Critically analysing the forms, claims and creative processes of artistic activism:

      avoiding art-washing, and challenging assumptions about what works, what has value, and why

    • Decolonisation, anti-capitalism and the role of creative activism in systemic resistance or transformation

    • Defining the creative activism disciplinary field

    • Global citizenship and planetary issues - exploring creative activism as cross-cultural

      communication

    • Humour, satire, parody and their role in contemporary cultural subversion

    • Identity, culture, gender - creative activism as agent of personal and social evolution

    • Participatory ethics, sustainability, disruption and the civic responsibilities of creative

      activism

    • Performance, ritual, spectacle and carnival in the Anthropocene

    • Social movements and creativity case studies – methods, opportunities and challenges

    • Working together: building communities of interest and practice through collaborative

      creative activism

      Chapter guidelines:
      A chapter should normally be no longer than 6000 words, and should be original and previously unpublished. If the work has already been published (as a journal article, or in conference proceedings, for example), the publisher will require evidence that permission to be re-published has been granted.

      The referencing should use Chicago Notes & Bibliography style: see more here

      https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html

      Deadline:
      At this time, we do not have any deadlines for the submission of contributions – though this may change as circumstances develop. Please fill out and submit the contribution form if you intend to submit a chapter, even if you do not have it ready at present, and that way the publisher can keep you informed of developments.

      About the editor:
      Dr Elspeth Tilley teaches theatre and creative activism at Massey University in New Zealand, and is a multi-award-winning playwright, researcher and educator. She has led numerous performative social change projects including on youth incarceration, sexual consent and homelessness. Elspeth produces Climate Change Theatre Action Aotearoa and founded Create1World, a creative activism youth conference, in 2016. You can see more about Elspeth at her Massey University staff page, here: https://www.massey.ac.nz/staff?815830

      Why join this collection?
      While there are some monographs and within-discipline collections that usefully look at specific aspects of creative activism, there is nothing that expansively pulls together viewpoints across disciplines so that we might start to spot commonalities and transdisciplinary linkages that will help us join up the multiple ways of seeing this nascent field.

      Cambridge Scholars Press is a small but well-regarded press started by (as the name references) a group of former and current Cambridge University scholars. Elspeth investigated a number of publishing options before choosing CSP for this collection because of their:

    • Speed to press. The world, and this field in particular, are rapidly changing and getting work published while fresh is vital

    • Accessibility and wide distribution. From Elspeth’s experience publishing with CSP previously, she found the work was made more accessible than with some other publishers, with access either as a whole collection or individual chapters by both hard copy and e-book to a diverse range of libraries worldwide, at very reasonable prices for those libraries which encouraged uptake. For a collection that aims to be a useful resource not only to scholars but also to educators and practitioners, accessibility was important.

    • Quality standards. CSP has a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism and excellent editing standards. This will be a collection we can all be proud of.

    • Existing list of relevant work. CSP publishes original, innovative works and in her own research and teaching on creative activism Elspeth found herself often consulting and citing CSP texts. While the creative activism field itself is still being defined, this book will join a solid base of CSP publications related to this field.

      Submission:
      For a publisher’s submission form, please see the attached Word document, or if you did not receive the attachment, please click here to download the submission form directly from the Publisher’s website https://www.cambridgescholars.com/edited_collections/creative-activism-chapter- submission.docx.

      Chapters should be submitted, along with the completed submission form, to

      admin@cambridgescholars.com

      We look forward to hearing about your work. Please feel free to contact Elspeth if you have any questions about this call.

    Attachment:
  • CFP: TDR Consortium Special Issue: PERIPETEIA
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 4 May 2020

    PERIPETEIA
    Stanford University
    Branislav Jakovljević, Consortium Editor; Diana Looser, Coeditor

    As it turned out, last fall, when we sent out the call for papers for the TDR special issue on “Peripeteia,” we were on the cusp of a global pandemic. Little did we know that, by the time of our initial deadline (June 1), the topic of our special issue would have taken on a whole new dimension of urgency we could hardly imagine. And here we are: in the middle of an event that is most definitively a turn of fortunes of extraordinary proportions, and that could be a turning point in the way in which we think about our global community, solidarity, climate, and most definitively, how we make and receive performance. Our topic now seems more relevant than ever. Recognizing that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a major disruption for artists and scholars, we have decided to extend our deadline to September 1. We hope that will give our potential contributors time to reflect on the major sea-change we are going through, and to return to their libraries and studios to develop and complete their submissions. 

    In classical dramatic theory, peripeteia designates a turning point from prosperity to downfall. This reversal of fortunes often marks a transformation of the entire outlook of the protagonist: from ignorance to knowledge, and from resignation to action. Peripeteia is the moment when opposing forces powerfully drag the world in opposite directions. This rending of the world as we know it may open new paths or close them forever. We are now at such a decisive point. The intensity of this current moment is clearly expressed in the rising temperature of the protagonist, the planet. The choice the world is facing is not only between dirty and clean technologies, but also between accumulation and sharing, exploitation and social justice, unabashed capitalism and radical democracy, Western exceptionalism and global awareness. And concerning this last point, this may be the last moment in which the categories of classical dramatic theory are still operative: we are experiencing a turning point in the very idea of crisis and its representation in live performance.

    The current moment presents humanity with a unique and multiscalar set of challenges that will require an essential reorganization of society, economics, and politics to address.

    As the 12-year timeline for action in the US Green New Deal makes clear, there’s a specific urgency, a deadline, that – in the West, at least – arguably differentiates this moment from other historical periods that have been identified as crisis-ridden. This moment is characterized by a particular mode of uncertainty regarding the future, exacerbated by the fact that many contributing factors to this “crisis” are pervasive yet intangible, omnipresent yet strangely distant, and ostensibly divorced from individual action and solutions, even if discussions of the crisis tend to revert to individual, moral stances. At the same time, we are mindful that different communities approach this situation from varying historical and epistemological standpoints. A strain of Indigenous climate-change studies, for instance, understands the Anthropocene not as a hitherto unanticipated occurrence but as an extension of a violent and unresolved historical past that renders the present moment already post-apocalyptic.

    This ephemerality, spectrality, and magnitude pose special challenges to representation in its many senses: aesthetic, social, and political. The planet is under siege, and performance is not there to witness, issue warnings, calls for action, or drop dead like that proverbial canary. Like all other spheres of human activity, art forms, and academic fields it has to transform itself in order to stage a redress in this social drama of planetary proportions. We invite scholars, artists, and activists to submit papers that address issues that include, but are not limited to:

    • Performance and the new planetary paradigm
    • Social drama and “slow violence”
    • Scale of crisis and representation
    • Accumulation vs. expenditure
    • First and second New Deal and performance
    • Different global versions of the Green New Deal in performance
    • Responses from Indigenous perspectives and/or from the vantage of the Global South
    • Futurity and its representation
    • The role of the collective
    • Performance principle and the new economy
    • Catastrophe without recognition
       

    6,000-word submissions are due September 1, 2020. Please submit essays and direct any relevant queries to Rishika Mehrishi at tdrstanford@gmail.com

  • CFP: Imagined Theatres Emergency Issue
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 30 Mar 2020
    Theatres and arts institutions around the world have closed their doors and shuttered lights, interrupting premieres, runs, and rehearsal processes. Festivals are postponed, seasons suspended. Courses and workshops reliant on intimate, immediate contact must navigate remote access and exchange.
    The theatre is closed, yet the theatre keeps performing. Performances work their way out in our private thoughts or distanced conversations, in makeshift configurations across media.
    As communities fragment into socially distant parts, we propose a festival of imagined theatres alive to this state of emergency. Imagined Theatres began as a platform for artists and thinkers of the stage to explore acts that resources, conventions, or the contours of reality deemed impossible or impractical; that landscape has shifted drastically over the last months. Imagined Theatres also originated out of a need to experience performance while living far from the people who make it; we are all living in that place now. Share your performances with us and we will together stage an impossible gathering.
    This special issue of Imagined Theatres will be released on a rolling basis over the coming months of our common crisis. Submissions will be reviewed by our editorial team as they come in, and published on an accelerated schedule every few weeks as long as necessary. This ongoing issue will not interfere with the publication schedule of future editions of the journal, including a forthcoming issue devoted to performance curation (co-edited by Ron Berry and Anna Gallagher-Ross) and Chile (co-edited by Alexandra Ripp, Adam Versenyi, Anne García-Romero, Pía Gutiérrez Díaz, and Mauricio Barría Jara). Published work may engage with the current emergency directly or it may not—our purpose is to present a space for performance.
    Who We Are
    Imagined Theatres is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal and archive dedicated to imagining what might be possible and impossible in the theatre. We publish scripts, scores, stories, manifestoes, and essays, in prose, in verse, and in other media. These texts are paired with a critical response, or “gloss,” extending the argument or view of each imagined theatre in new directions. Imagined Theatres supports creative criticism, meaning creative work that acts critically and criticism that acts creatively. 
    Submissions
    Who Can Submit?
    We encourage submissions from artists, scholars, writers, performers, directors, choreographers, musicians, designers, students, teachers, programmers, and spectators. You need not have a publication record. Authors who have published with us in the past are also welcome to share their work again.
    What Should A Submission Look Like?
    We encourage the publication of short works (a page or less), though there is no prescribed word limit. Prospective authors are encouraged to explore the website, as well as the book Imagined Theatres: writing for a theoretical stage, for a sense of possible approaches, bearing in mind that these are merely suggestions. We emphasize the written word, but are open to submissions that take advantage of the digital form in interesting ways.
    Glosses 
    As mentioned above, each text is paired with a critical response, or “gloss,” extending the argument or view of each imagined theatre in new directions. You are welcome to submit both a theatre and its gloss if you would like. You are also welcome to submit independent glosses that respond to previously published texts; in this instance, please let us know which text you are referencing. Otherwise, once a theatre is accepted the IT editorial team will help you find a gloss writer to respond to your work.
    How to Submit 
    We accept submissions via email at submissions@imaginedtheatres.com. All submissions should include contact information, a brief contributor’s bio, and the word “submission” in the title of the email.
    Please send your work as an attachment in one of the following formats:
    ·       Word document (.doc) files
    ·       Rich Text Format (.rtf) files
    ·       Text (.txt) files
    ·       Portable Document Format (.pdf) files
    ·       JPEG, TIFF, PNG for image files
    There are no submission fees, publication fees, or page charges for this journal. All work must be original; copyrighted images or media will not be published.
    For more information, please write info@imaginedtheatres.com.
     
  • CFP: Performance Paradigm 16: Performance and Radical Kindness
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 19 Mar 2020
    Edited by Emma Willis (University of Auckland) and Alys Longley (University of Auckland)

    Kindness as a radical act is not just ‘being nice’ to one another; it is the core of articulating, recognising, and valuing the complexity and beauty of the human condition, and putting this into practice in order to dismantle harmful systems of oppression and subjugation. Radical kindness is the creation of space for vulnerability. (Burton and Turbine 2019)


    In an era where political and civil discourses are marred by populist politics of division and exclusion, kindness may seem to be in short supply. When it does appear, it is perceived as soft, uncritical and feminized. Alternatively, it is critiqued as inherently biased and/or dependent on differences in subject position and power (Clegg and Rowland 2020). Yet kindness has its champions. In performance, the fields of applied theatre as well as socially engaged and relationally oriented modes of performance often express an ethos of kindness through their aim towards, justice, social coherence, and transformation. In the scholarly and popular psychology, researchers have heralded the benefit of kindness to personal happiness and wellbeing. At a political level, current New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has attracted global attention for her politics and practices of kindness. However, ‘Kindness in the contemporary moment continues to be an under-researched emotion even in the midst of a surge of work in emotion and affect theory’ (Magnet at al 2014). This issue of Performance Paradigm (https://www.performanceparadigm.net/index.php/journal) seeks to respond to this gap in the literature, focusing on performance-based instantiations of kindness, and performance-led analyses of political and civil discourses that extend our understanding of its radical potential. Through discussion of a broad range of performance examples, we are seeking to redefine the performative potential of kindness, reinvesting it with the political power needed to counter prevailing political dispositions.

    In considering the relationship between performance and kindness, we encourage a broad range of approaches. Kindness may be framed as a politically aspirational ethic that underlies or motivates performance – Petra Kuppers’ and Neil Marcus’s practice of ‘Helping Dances,’ for example, of which Kuppers writes: ‘All of us acknowledge living inter dependent lives, intersected and enabled by many, carried on the backs of infrastructural laborers of all kinds and touched by the kindnesses of strangers’ (Kuppers 2014). Kindness may also constitute an act of political and aesthetic refusal. Reflecting on a series of feminist performance works in Australia, Jana Perkovic remarks that the artists ‘found their strength not in attacking the enemy, but in standing their own ground. They were friendly works, non-combative – but through them, the artists claimed the right to exist for a universe full of dress-ups, kindness, self-reflection, freedom, and femininity’ (2014). Writing of Back to Back Theatre’s work, Super Discount, Helena Grehan and Peter Eckersall remark that ‘The juxtaposition between dark and light, vulnerability and superpower, and acting and performance remind us that it is not the epic encounter that is of significance. Instead, as the artifice of acting is banished from this work, we are left with moments of human kindness and a series of questions about where we go from here’ (2013).

    Kindness may also feature as a subject of thematic consideration. Lydia Adetunji’s 2019 play Calculating Kindness, for example, explores the life of George Price, best known for formulating an equation explaining altruism. Kindness may also inform the creative process. Sandra Reeve, for example, writes of what she calls ‘regenerative choreography’ which incorporates ‘loving kindness’ into its methodology (2018, 78). Performance strategies discussed may involve creating enabling disruptions or, as anthropologists Alison Phipps and Lesley Saunders describe, ‘poetry for the sake of gentling the space where violence is writ large and ugly’ (2009). Finally, a performance-based analysis might be applied to the discourse of kindness in political rhetoric. For example, in the same way that Denise Varney applies a performance studies framework to scrutinise the ‘affective power of misogyny’ (2017) in attacks on Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, such an approach might be used to assess the rhetoric of kindness in the discourse of leaders such as Ardern.

    Through considering performances that variously enact, contemplate or promote kindness, we invite authors to challenge some of the prevailing beliefs and assumptions about what constitutes kindness. We therefore invite authors to consider not only performances that enhance our understanding of both the radical potential of kindness but also those that draw attention to its misuses.

    Topics may include but are not limited to:
    • What is the role of kindness in creative pedagogies and creative practices? What is the relationship between discipline, disciplinarity and kindness in classrooms and rehearsal rooms?
    • How might the poetics of kindness inflect creative research methodologies, such as studio practices of performance writing?
    • How is kindness both performed and understood differently in distinct cultural contexts? How do these culturally specific articulations of kindness expand our understanding of kindness as praxis?
    • How does kindness figure in performances concerned with the politics of race and gender?
    • How, as Burton and Turbine explain, do various social and political biases undermine the legitimacy afforded to kindness? How has kindness, as they suggest, been ‘weaponized,’ and how can performance effectively challenge such bias?
    • How might performance-based analysis be applied to the discourse of kindness in political rhetoric?
    • How might kindness be applied beyond the human? For example, how might the radical potential of kindness be conceived of in relation to ecological crisis?
    • How do performances of kindness emphasize notions of interdependence and reciprocity?
    • How might kindness be conceived of as radical action? In what sense might it, as Magnet et al. write, function in performance as a ‘technology of social transformation’ and a ‘microtechnique for both resisting and shaping power relations’ (2014)?
    • How might kindness be framed as a principle for convening community in both performance contexts and civil society, building what Hall and Smith call networks of ‘flexible resilience’ (2015)?
    • How might we critique the capture by capital markets of kindness as an affective currency? What does this ‘mainstreaming’ of kindness tell us about its instrumentality?

    Please send proposals of approximately 300 words to Dr Emma Willis (emma.willis@auckland.ac.nz) and Dr Alys Longley (a.longley@auckland.ac.nz) by 8 May 2020. Full articles will be due on 1 November 2020 for publication in Performance Paradigm, July 2021.

    Please feel free to contact the issue editors with any questions. For more information about them, see here:
    • Dr Emma Willis, Senior Lecturer in Drama:
    http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/people/ewil077
    • Dr Alys Longley, Associate Professor in Dance:
    https://unidirectory.auckland.ac.nz/profile/a-longley



    Works Cited

    Burton, Sarah and Vikki Turbine (2019) “‘We’re Not Asking for the Moon on a Stick’: Kindness and Generosity in the Academy.” Discoversociety July 03,
    https://discoversociety.org/2019/07/03/were-not-asking-for-the-moon-on-a-stick-kindness-and-generosity-in-the-academy/.
    Clegg, Sue and Stephen Rowland (2010) “Kindness in pedagogical practice and academic life”, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 31:6, 719-735.
    Grehan, Helena and Peter Eckersall (2013) “Review: Super Discount by Back to Back Theatre”, The Theatre Times, 20 November,
    https://thetheatretimes.com/review-super-discount-back-back-theatre/
    Habibis, Daphne, Nicholas Hookway and Anthea Vreugdenhil (2016) “Kindness in Australia: An Empirical Critique of Moral Decline Sociology.” The British Journal of Sociology, 67(3), 395-413.
    Hall, Tom and Robin James Smith (2015) “Care and Repair and the Politics of Urban Kindness.” Sociology 49(1) 3–18.
    Hazou, Rand (2018) “Performing Manaaki and New Zealand Refugee Theatre.” Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 23(2), 228-241.
    Kuppers, Petra (2014) “Crip Time.” Tikkun, 29 (4), 29-30.
    Magnet, Shoshana, Corinne Lysandra Mason and Kathryn Trevenen (2014) “Feminism, Pedagogy, and the Politics of Kindness.” Feminist Teacher 25 (4), 1-22.
    Perkovic, Jana (2014) “Performance: Dying on stage: Feminism 4.0.” The Lifted Brow, 23, 34.
    Phipps, Alison and Lesley Saunders (2009) “The Sound of Violets: the Ethnographic Potency of Poetry?” Ethnography and Education 4 (3), 357-387.
    Reeve, Sandra (2018) “On the Way to Regenerative Choreography.” Choreographic Practices 9 (1), 75-80.
    Shklar, Judith N. (1989) “The Liberalism of Fear.” Pp. 21–37 in Liberalism and the Moral Life, edited by Nancy L. Rosenblum. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    Varney, Denise (2017) “‘Not Now, Not Ever’: Julia Gillard and the Performative Power of Affect” in E. Diamond et al. (eds.), Performance, Feminism and Affect in Neoliberal Times, Palgrave Macmillan, 25-38.

     
  • CFP: Theatre Dance and Performance Training Journal (TDPT)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 12 Mar 2020
    Special issue on Performer Training in Australia to be
    published as TDPT Vol 12.3 (September 2021)


    Call for contributions, ideas, proposals and dialogue with the editors

    Guest editors:
    Dr Chris Hay, University of Queensland (chris.hay@uq.edu.au)
    Professor David Shirley, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University (
    d.shirley@ecu.edu.au)
    Dr Sarah Peters, Flinders University (
    sarah.peters@flinders.edu.au)

    Training Grounds editor:
    Dr Soseh Yekanians, Charles Sturt University (
    syekanians@csu.edu.au)


    Conjoined with blood and tears, the axiomatic price of supreme rigour and achievement. Sweat (water, ammonia, salt, sugar) is deemed a noble and miraculous secretion, yet we habitually strive to disguise it. […] In the unapologetic seclusion of the training space, it becomes the proof of our proud status as grafters, as corporeal, visceral, present, working.

    As described in Theatre, Dance and Performance Training’s “A Lexicon of Training Terms” (3.1), sweat is a constituent part of training — a synecdoche for the tension and effort that underpin it. Sweat is also a precondition of living and training in Australia, from our corporeal engagement with a heating continent to the metaphorical ‘she’ll be right, mate’. This no sweat, laissez-faire acceptance of the status quo finds its way into training through “a willingness to ‘have a go’; a refusal to be cowed by received authority […] a characteristically Australian suspicion of influence” (Maxwell 2017, p. 326).

                The image of sweat also brings with it metaphors of fear, tension and anxiety, often drawn out or extended. This sense of determination over time pushes back against a conception of Australia as the rushed continent, whose artists seek to take short cuts to success. Hugh Hunt, the inaugural director of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, cautioned as much in a 1959 public lecture:
    We sometimes expect theatre to be made too quickly. Australians are impatient people, who would like their theatre to be made as quickly as wool grows on a sheep’s back. It takes many years to make it; it takes time to train and develop actors and producers. (Hunt 1960, p. 4)

    What has changed since Hunt’s proclamations? What is the labour of training in Australia, and how do we train an “impatient people”? In a country where sweat comes easily, do we mistake the by-product of hard work for the work itself? Hunt, like many others in Australian performance history, speaks only for white Australians: how do (or might?) the distinctive temporalities, collaborative modalities, and lineages of practice of First Nations training and performance inflect performer training in Australia?

    Despite the diversity and range of its performance ecology and the prestige in which its major training institutions are held, Australia’s influence in and contribution to key debates has, until fairly recently, remained surprisingly marginal. While much doctoral-level work has considered training in Australia, there is no authoritative, published history of Australian performer training. The history of training is thus another iteration of what Ian Maxwell terms “Australian theatrical bricolage” (2017, p. 338), its history an assemblage of sometimes contradictory facts, uncertain pathways, and unsubstantiated anecdote. In this special issue of TDPT, we endeavour to provide an update to Meredith Rogers and Elizabeth Schafer’s special issue of Australasian Drama Studies “Lineages, Techniques, Training and Tradition” (vol. 53, 2008). We also seek to curate a companion to the roundtable discussion “Training in a Cold Climate”, published in Theatre, Dance and Performance Training 5.2, by considering training in a hot climate.

    As we are reminded all too frequently, Australia is at the forefront of the climate emergency. Australia’s wide skies and open spaces have always proven a challenge and a stimulus to artists: playwright Louis Esson insisted in 1914 that “in an authentic Australian play, there should be a real atmosphere — some space and sunshine” (quoted in Fitzpatrick 1995, p. 117), while decades later legendary critic H. G. Kippax wondered “realistic drama makes much of scene; but what stage could hold the Australian bush and plains?” (1963, p. 13). In our new ecological epoch “marked by unprecedented human disturbances of the earth’s ecosystems” (Gilbert 2019, p. 220), how do we train performers to hold the burning Australian bush and plains on stage? What kinds of training philosophies and regimes might be required in the Anthropocene? How might training intersect with or even encourage sustainability in performance practice?

    In this special issue of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, we want to use the sweat of training in the heat of a crucible to think through performer training in Australia. To do so, we welcome proposals that consider topics including:
    • Training, fear, and the negative imagination;
    • Anxiety as an affect of training;
    • Impatience and speed in training;
    • Tensions between First Nations and settler ways of knowing in training;
    • Lineages of practice in Australian training;
    • Training beyond the centre and in the regions;
    • Tension and/in collaborative training practices;
    • Heat, humidity, and training in the tropics;
    • Training in the Anthropocene;
    • Sustainable training practices;
    • The ‘cultural cringe’ in training; and
    • Training and the ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’.
    Other topics that are broadly sparked by the consideration of sweat in Australian training are also welcomed. We particularly encourage proposals from scholars and practitioners whose voices are traditionally under-represented in higher education, as well as collaborations between scholars and artists that seek to amplify practice from the margins.
                We are seeking proposals in three distinct categories, and authors are invited to indicate which category they feel best suits their work:
    • Articles in a range of critical and scholarly formats, of between 5 500 and 7 000 words;
    • Sources that document and analyse the primary materials of performer training. We are particularly keen to receive material that documents the histories and contemporary practices associated with the issue’s theme; and
    • Training Grounds, shorter pieces that are not peer reviewed, including biographical and autobiographical sketches, postcards, visual essays and book or event reviews. We welcome a wide range of proposals for contributions including edited interviews.
    Innovative cross-over print/digital formats are possible, including the submission of audiovisual training materials, which can be housed on the online interactive Theatre, Dance and Performance Training journal blog. The editors will correspond with authors about the most appropriate category for their work, and can happily provide guidance before a proposal is submitted. Prospective authors are encouraged to familiarise themselves with TDPT’s Scope & Aims, as well as with the Instructions for Authors for guidance on formatting.  

    Issue Schedule
    • 29 May 2020: 300-word proposals submitted via email to Chris Hay (chris.hay@uq.edu.au) and David Shirley (d.shirley@ecu.edu.au).
    • 26 June 2020: Response from editors and, if successful, invitation to submit contribution.
    • 30 October 2020: Submission of first drafts.
    • January 2021: Author revisions post peer-review.
    • September 2021: Publication as TDPT Volume 12, Issue 3.

    References

    Duffy, C., et al., 2012. A Lexicon of Training Terms. Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 3 (1), 129-130.
    Fitzpatrick, P., 1995. Pioneer Players: The Lives of Louis and Hilda Esson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    Gilbert, H., 2019. Performing the Anthropocene: Marrugeku’s Cut the Sky. In: B. Neumeier and H. Tiffin, eds., Ecocritical Concerns and the Australian Continent. London: Rowman & Littlefield, 219-233.
    Hunt, H., 1960. The Making of Australian Theatre. Melbourne: F. W. Cheshire.
    Kippax, H. G., ed., 1963. Three Australian Plays. Ringwood, Vic: Penguin.
    Maxwell, I., 2017. Theatrical Bowerbirds: Received Stanislavsky and the Tyranny of Distance. In: J. Pitches and S. Aquilina, eds., Stanislavsky in the World: The System and its Transformations across Continents. London: Bloomsbury, 325-346.
     
  • CFP: Australian Scenography
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 2 Mar 2020
    Special issue of Scene.
    Co-edited by Christine White and Alison Oddey. Guest edited by Tessa Rixon.


    This special issue aims to provide space to consider the state of scenography and performance design within Australia, ranging across creative practice, pedagogical approaches and evolutions, and research inquiry. On the cusp of a new decade, Australian performance finds itself within the context of a turbulent political landscape, which has seen the devaluation of the arts at a federal level and instability in the funding landscape, as well as ecological disasters from fires, floods and drought; persistent humanitarian crises and an inability to reach humane solutions for those seeking asylum in our country; and finally, the pernicious impact of European settlement and the marginalisation of First Nations and indigenous voices. 

    Against this backdrop, this special issue welcomes contributions on the state of Australian performance and their scenographies. It presents perspectives on the evolution and diversification of design practices and philosophies tied to the unique Australian experience, across a range of performance genres including dance, theatre, opera and inter- and transdisciplinary practices. Submissions could address the following points: 

    ·                  Indigenous and First Nations scenographic practice and approaches
    ·                  Scenography and pedagogy within the Australian academy
    ·                  Scenography as politics/politics as scenography within Australia
    ·                  Critical considerations of diversity and representation within Australian performance design
    ·                  Researching on and through scenography
    ·                  Critical reflections on the history and development of Australian scenography
    ·                  The influence of Australia’s climate disasters on the creation of the scene, as well as responses to Tanya Beer’s notion of ecoscenography (Beer, 2016) 
    ·                  Aural scenography and designing the sound of Australian theatre
    ·                  The function of ‘new media’ technologies within Australian scenographies and the impact of emergent tech on design, space, audiences and performers within digital performance 
    ·                  Australian approaches to space including site-specific and immersive performance design
    ·                  Costume and Australian scenography
    ·                  Lighting Australian performance

    Submissions could be in the form of essays, case studies of practice, interviews and roundtables capturing diverse perceptions on Australian design.

    Deadline for full paper submissions 31 January 2021
    Guest edited by Tessa Rixon tessa.rixon@qut.edu.auPlease submit final papers to Christine White: christine.white@dmu.ac.uk.
    Download the Call for Papers here: https://www.intellectbooks.com/asset/46752/1/Scene_CFP_feb2020.pdf



    About Scene:
    Scene is dedicated to a critical examination of space and scenic production. This double-blind peer-reviewed journal provides an opportunity for dynamic debate, reflection, and criticism. With a strong interdisciplinary focus, Scene welcomes articles, interviews, visual essays, and reports from conferences and festivals. The journal incorporates investigations into the development of new technologies and modes of operating, distribution of content and profiles of design for film, television, theatre and events, as well as new platforms such as gaming and virtual environment design. Scene aims to examine new critical frameworks for the scholarship of creating a scene.
     
  • ARC Strategic Research Initiative (SRI) for Australian Society, History and Culture
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 28 Feb 2020
    There will be two information sessions for the ARC Strategic Research Initiative (SRI) for Australian Society, History and Culture. Details about further information sessions outside Sydney in the attached document
     
    ****IMPORTANT**** THIS WILL BE A ONCE OFF AND NOT AN ANNUAL SCHEME, SO PLEASE CONSIDER SUBMITTING TO THIS ROUND


    The ARC Strategic Research Initiative (SRI) for Australian Society, History and Culture is set to open at the end of February with applications closing on 22 April 2020. Dr Robert Mun, Executive Director with the Australian Research Council is planning to present an information session at two locations in Sydney in March. These sessions will identical in content and offered in the morning and afternoon of 10 March. The morning session will be hosted at UTS, and the afternoon, repeat session, will be hosted by the University of Sydney. There will be opportunities to ask questions.
     
    Morning Session
    Event: ARC Presentation and Q&A on the ARC Strategic Research Initiative (SRI) for Australian Society, History and Culture
    Location: University of Technology Sydney, Building 2, Level 6, Room 290
    Date: 10 March 2020             
    Time: 10:00am – 11:30am
    Zoom connection: Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.uts.edu.au/j/826596902
    Directions: See https://maps.uts.edu.au/map.cfm. Enter Building 2 from Broadway and take escalator to the 6th floor, Room 290
     
    Afternoon Session
    Event: ARC Presentation and Q&A on the ARC Strategic Research Initiative (SRI) for Australian Society, History and Culture
    Location: The University of Sydney, Institute Lecture Room 2, Institute Building (H03), City Road
    Date: 10 March 2020             
    Time: 1:30pm – 3:00pm
    Directions: See https://sydney.edu.au/campus-life/maps-and-locations.html. Enter via main entrance to Institute Building (US Studies Centre entrance) on City Road. Walk straight ahead through the hall to the other side of the building and turn left. Once outside in front of the Storey Dixon Building, follow signs to Lecture Room 2.
     
    No registrations are required.
     
    Attachment:
  • CFP: Performing Plants
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 11 Feb 2020
    Special issue of Performance Philosophy
    Edited by Prudence Gibson and Catriona Sandilands             

    In the midst of accelerating interest in the importance, agency, and intelligence of the vegetal world, the editors of this issue ofPerformance Philosophy aim both to raise awareness of plant life in Performance Studies and to develop conversations between this field and Critical Plant Studies. Advances in botanical science, combined with increasingly urgent political concerns about the present and future conditions of plants and plant-human relationships, have resulted in a desire in and across scientific and arts/humanities communities to better understand, communicate, and value plant life and lives. For example, if we can witness the performative role of plants as multiple subjects within a given ecosystem, alongside all other forms of life (to the point that there is no ‘other’), is it possible to progress this new interpretation of vegetal behaviour into new realms of imaginative possibility? If we understand plants as performing subjects, how will this insight change our understanding of, and performativities in, ecosystems? This special issue will include essays from the fields of narrative and creative writing, visual art and performance, media and technology studies, and social/political ecology. It will incorporate such issues as anthro-decentrism and decolonisation, re-presentation and flat ontology, wilding and activism, identity and political violence, and everyday plant-human interactions. Intentionally broad in scope, it will highlight the multiple ways in which performance and performativity are enmeshed in vegetal relationships, and vice versa.

    Critical Plant Studies (CPS), the field in which plants meet the humanities and social sciences, is an emergent and efflorescent project (Irigaray). CPS has the capacity to entwine narrative and plants, the arts and plants, and technology and plants in performative ways. Plants are critical to all ecosystems and all life; they are respected kin in many cultural traditions (Geniusz, Kimmerer). Now that western scientific communities are increasingly sympathetic to questions of plant intelligence and communication (Chamovitz, Gagliano, Simard), what is the a/effect on disciplines in the arts and humanities? What does the widespread re-valuation of plants as agents mean for how humans respond to diminishing habitats, decreased biodiversity, ecological conservation, and plant extinction?

    Recent works in environmental philosophy, aesthetics, art, writing, performance, and other fields have been informed by these developments. In addition to a veritable explosion of creative works concerned with vegetal communities and relationships (e.g., Powers, Van Neerven, VanderMeer), these include significant plant-related texts in extinction studies (Van Dooren), philosophy (Irigaray, Marder, Ryan), history (Kelley, Scott), science studies (Endersby), aesthetics (Colebrook), political theory (Nealon), human geography (Head, Atchison, Neale), anthropology (Rose, Kohn, Myers), literary criticism (Gerhardt, Laist, Nardizzi), poetics (Jacobs, L’Abbé), feminist and queer theory (Sandilands), and visual art (Aloi, Gibson). In addition, there is a cohort of performance, video, bio, sonic, environmental, installation and social-engagement artists who are interpreting and experimenting with plant information in their artworks (Gibson).

    Plant-oriented arts and humanities productions express the unknowable time scales and inaccessible points of view of plant life, even as they also respond to the very embodied everyday interactions between plants and people in our shared times and spaces. These productions constitute efforts to create mediation, communication, and expression of vegetal thought and practice. They explore connections between plants and humans that might be called a plant contract (Gibson), a new deal for the vegetal world: a means of altering our perception of nature by attempting to see all the parts, as well as the overall sum, of plant art and plant life. In addition, they explore what it means to think about plants as embroiled, along with people and animals, in multispecies entanglements in these biopolitical times (Sandilands): how are our interactions with plants, historically and in the present, shaping and shaped, in racialized and gendered ways, capitalism and colonialism?

    This issue of Performance Philosophy is dedicated to redefining the way plant qualities are understood and valued. It celebrates and interrogates the agency, in/inter-dependence and performing subjectivities of plants. We ask: what if plants have a unique set of existential processes, from which we are excluded? These relations between plants and environment, and plants and humans, are entangled and material. Vegetal performativity refers to the way the arts and humanities can respond to the growth patterns, time frames and responsive abilities and qualities of plants. The issue delves into discourse around how real plant entanglements and materialities may create new narratives. It provokes thought about what kinds of expressions of vegetal life can afford plants their multiple capacities without merely representing them as flat, static or inert. What kind of thinking can shift our anthropocentrism toward the experience of the plant, and toward experiencing with plants? What kind of writing, theorising, art-making and storytelling is best suited to the distributed lives of plants? To understanding the involvement of plants in the Anthropocene?

    We invite proposals for papers on these, but not only these, topics:
    • performance in/with botanical science
    • Indigenous plant knowledges/respectful cross-cultural plant relationships
    • aesthetic categories of the vegetal/vegetal aesthetics
    • plant communication as performative ecology: pollination, predation, morphology, mimicry, impersonation, evolution, symbiosis, parasitism
    • plant-based performance art, dance, land art, film, music, theatre
    • botanical porn, drag, burlesque; plant-based ecosexual performance
    • botanical decolonisation; herbaria; Wunderkammer and the paradox of collecting
    • performative plant writing: narrative, poetry, nonfiction, garden writing; agri/cultural performance 
    • plants in political theatre, protest; performative botanical, forest, garden politics
    • performing with/as/for plants: creating plant-based performative communities
    • plants and/in performative identities: gender, class, race, sexuality, disability  
    • gardening, horticulture, forestry, botanical display, flower shows, floristry, flower arranging as botanical performance
    • charismatic megaflora in botanical history: performing botanical imperialism, colonialism, conservation, resistance
    • monstrous plants, performing plant horror
    • marine plant ecologies, "blue-green" performance
    • plant restoration as performative utopia
    • plants and cultural policy
    Queries about suitability of topic or approach are welcome: email Prudence Gibson at p.gibson@unsw.edu.au  or Catriona Sandilands at essandi@yorku.ca  

    About Performance Philosophy

    Performance Philosophy is an emerging interdisciplinary field of thought, creative practice and scholarship, supported by an international network of over 2000 scholars and artists. As an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal, Performance Philosophy publishes articles that interrogate what this field might be, and that test the relationship between performance and philosophy in all its possible configurations, including the philosophy of performance as well as performance-as-philosophy and philosophy-as-performance. 
    We are interested in scholarship that draws on a broad range of philosophical traditions, concerned with any aspect of philosophy, whether from Continental or Analytic traditions or beyond, and with any discipline or definition of performance, including but not limited to drama, theatre, dance, performance art, live art, and music.

    Schedule

    Abstracts and one-page CVs due (300 words): 30 June 2020
    Papers due (6000–8000 words): 20 December 2020
    Publication: October 2021

    General Guidelines for Submissions:

    Before submitting an article we encourage you to visit our website and familiarize yourself with the journal:https://www.performancephilosophy.org/journal  
    Performance Philosophy only considers submissions that have not been previously published, and are not under consideration for publication with another journal. A typical article will be 6000-8000 words including notes.
    We are able to embed video and other media (where appropriate permissions have been obtained) in our online edition, and we welcome creative, non-standard approaches to writing in our [Margins] section; seewww.performancephilosophy.org/journal/about/submissions#margins  
    Abstracts and one-page CVs to be emailed to Prudence Gibson p.gibson@unsw.edu.au  or Catriona Sandilands at essandi@yorku.ca   
    See guidelines on formatting and references at the link below: https://www.performancephilosophy.org/journal/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

    Peer-Review Process

    Performance Philosophy operates a system of double-blind peer review. Every article that is accepted for consideration will be evaluated by two external referees, selected by the Editors based on their areas of expertise. The Editors will make the final decision about publication or assess the need for further revision.

    Open Access Policy

    This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. We do not charge fees for accessing articles, nor for publishing or processing submissions.

    Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal, provided it is for non-commercial uses; and that lets others excerpt, translate, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.
    Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
    Performance Philosophy has earned the Seal of Approval for Open Access Journals from the Directory of Open Access Journals, awarded to journals that achieve a high level of openness, adhere to best practice, and maintain high publishing standards. See https://doaj.org/toc/2057-7176

     
  • Register of Doctoral Projects in Progress in Theatre Arts, 2020
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 29 Jan 2020
    Greetings from Humboldt State University. 
     
    This is the annual request for your assistance in compiling a list of dissertations in progress, in drama and theatre, for the upcoming “Doctoral Projects in Progress in Theatre Arts, 2020” publication that will now appear on the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) website. 
     
    I hope that we can again count on your cooperation with this important work which aims to share research pursuits with the greater theatre community. 
     
    Please respond by February 14, 2020.   
     
    To submit a doctoral candidate and their respective research, please email the listing directly to <troy.lescher@humboldt.edu>.  All submissions will receive a confirmation. 
     
    You may simply wish to include all of the following information directly in the body of the email or you may complete the enclosed submission form and attach it to your reply. 
     
    Most importantly, please be sure to provide all of the necessary information including:
    ·         Researcher/Doctoral Candidate's Name
    ·         Title of Dissertation
    ·         Institution
    ·         Department
    ·         Faculty Supervisor
    ·         Projected Year of Completion
    ·         Geographical Area(s) of Study
    ·         Chronology
    ·         Category
     
    The following are some friendly reminders regarding submissions:
    ·         Please have a faculty or staff member submit this information. Doctoral Candidates should not be submitting themselves.
    ·         Please submit only approved topics and work in progress as of May 2020.  Projects already completed will not be published.
    ·         Please do not submit entries previously published unless there has been a major change in the subject. As we will only publish each project once, it is incumbent upon the researcher and the faculty supervisor to decide when is the best time to list. If a project will likely not be finished in 2020, it might be best not to list it this year.
     
    Please ensure that all entries are complete and accurate. It may be difficult to make changes later due to publication deadlines. 
     
    Remember, the deadline for submissions is February 14, 2020.
     
    Thank you very much for your time and cooperation.
     
    Best,
     
    Troy Lescher
     
    Troy Matthew Lescher, Ph.D.
       Assistant Professor - Department of Theatre, Film & Dance
    http://www.aleks.com/aleks/gif/student/logo_humboldt.gif 
        Ancestral Homeland of the Wiyot Tribe
    Attachment:
  • Call for Performance Paradigm Journal Editor Positions: Deputy Editor, Book Review Editor, Performance Review Editor
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 6 Dec 2019
    Call for Performance Paradigm Journal Editor Positions: Deputy Editor, Book Review Editor, Performance Review Editor

    Performance Paradigm is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal—now in its 15th year—that focuses on the theatre, performance and visual art, with a particular interest in work from the Asia-Pacific region. The journal spotlights new paradigms in performance and performance research through articles, interviews and reviews. It is published annually in themed issues.

    Founded in 2005, the journal has published issues on everything from trauma (2009) to happiness (2011), Singapore (2012) to Japan (2006). More recently, it has published issues on “Performance, Politics, and Non-Participation” (2018), “Performance, Choreography and the Gallery” (2017, with guest editors Erin Brannigan and Hannah Mathews), “Performance, Technology, and Intimacy” (2016, with guest editor Anna Scheer), and “Staging Real People” (2015, guest-edited by Ulrike Garde and Meg Mumford). Currently edited by Caroline Wake (University of New South Wales) and Emma Willis (University of Auckland), we are looking for people who want to make an important contribution to theatre and performance studies, help to upgrade the website, and increase the impact of the journal.

    Deputy Editor
    Nominations and applications are invited for the position of Deputy Editor of Performance Paradigm. Ideally, this will be a four-year appointment: the Deputy Editor will serve a two-year term beginning March 2020, followed by a two-year term as Editor from March 2022 to March 2024.

    Duties of the Performance Paradigm Deputy Editor include: preparing at least one issue for publication each year (in collaboration with the Editors); the close reading and reviewing of manuscripts (again, with the Editors); corresponding with authors; facilitating peer reviews; editing submissions; and promoting the journal via conferences, social media, and other networks.

    If you are interested, please contact the current Editors, Caroline Wake c.wake@unsw.edu.au and Emma Willis emma.willis@auckland.ac.nz

    To apply, please send a cover letter (outlining your qualifications and vision for Performance Paradigm), a current CV, and the name and contact information for one referee to c.wake@unsw.edu.au and Emma Willis emma.willis@auckland.ac.nz. The deadline is 31 January 2020
  • CFP: Adaptation and the Australian Novel.
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 4 Dec 2019
    **NEW REVISED DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS**


    The Centre for Critical and Creative Writing presents a symposium on 
    Adaptation and the Australian Novel.


    Wednesday June 24 to Friday June 26 2020 
    The University of Queensland, St Lucia campus, Brisbane.


    Landmark Australian novels are being adapted for the stage and screen at a rate we’ve not seen for many decades. In the 2015 to 2020 period alone, what was previously a steady trickle has become a flood as the nation’s various mediums of cultural transmission have offered reimagined versions of much-loved novels, including: Ruth Park’sThe Harp in the South, Kenneth Cooke’s Wake in Fright, Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet, Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, Peter Carey’s Bliss, Craig Silvey’s Jasper Jones,  Colin Thiele’s Storm Boy, Christos Tsiolkas’s LoadedThe Slap, and Barracuda, Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe, Miles Franklin’s My Brilliant Career, Tim Conigrave’s Holding the Man, Madeleine St John’s The Women in Black, Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies, and Helen Fitzgerald’s The Cry.

    Meanwhile Andrew Bovell’s adaptation of Kate Grenville’s contentious classic The Secret River has toured to the heart of the former empire whose violent colonisation of Australia it depicts, playing to broad acclaim in both Edinburgh and at London’s National Theatre. This builds on Bovell’s body of work adapted from novels, including Head On and A Most Wanted Man

    The CCCW is very proud to announce that keynote speeches will be provided by international critical adaptation theorist Frances Babbage (University of Sheffield, and UQ’s 2020 S.W. Brooks Fellow) and internationally-acclaimed stage and screen writer, and adaptor of the landmark The Secret River text, Andrew Bovell. We will also host a special in-conversation-with session between novelist Christos Tsiolkas and Andrew Bovell, discussing Bovell’s adaptation of Tsiolkas’s iconic novel Loaded to the screen.

    Questions that arise here include: Why the rush on Australian adaptation now? What’s fuelling the appetite for this locally themed work, and why is it being distributed internationally via digital platforms such as Amazon and Netflix? Is there a ‘house style’ emerging either at particular theatre companies or television production houses who are leading this push? Whose stories are being canonised in this tranche of largely Anglo-Celtic authored works, and whose voices are doing the adapting? What version of Australian national identity becomes enshrined in this process, and whose perspectives are elided or omitted?

    We invite individual proposals from critical and creative writers for 20 minute papers that address the following themes, topics and questions as they pertain to the current state of Australian writing, publishing, production and performance:
    -          Adaptation as an act of creative writing
    -          Adaptation and the Australian literary canon
    -          Adaptation and the popular novel
    -          Adaptation and Indigeneity, race and ethnicity
    -          Adaptation and gender
    -          Adaptation and landscape
    -          Adaptation across mediums and social platforms
    -          Adaptation in the digital era
    -          Adaptation and the international
    -          Adaptation and young audiences
    -          Theatre companies and adaptations

    Abstracts due by              14 February 2020.
    Acceptances issued by   28 February 2020.
    Cost of symposium         Free.

    We particularly welcome applications from scholars and practitioners traditionally under-represented in higher education, or whose voices are under-represented amongst the range of those we have identified in the above symposium description. The Centre for Critical and Creative Writing aims not only to champion and celebrate Australian writing in all of its many forms, but also to lead important national debate around questions of representation, opportunity, and identity.

    Send proposals and queries in the first instance to: Associate Professor Stephen Carleton, Director of the Centre for Critical and Creative Writing, on cccw@uq.edu.au.
     
  • CFP: TDR Consortium Special Issue
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 28 Nov 2019
    Stanford University
    Branislav Jakovljević, Consortium Editor; Diana Looser, Coeditor

    PERIPETEIA

    In classical dramatic theory, peripeteia designates a turning point from prosperity to downfall. This reversal of fortunes often marks a transformation of the entire outlook of the protagonist: from ignorance to knowledge, and from resignation to action. Peripeteia is the moment when opposing forces powerfully drag the world in opposite directions. This rending of the world as we know it may open new paths or close them forever. We are now at such a decisive point. The intensity of this current moment is clearly expressed in the rising temperature of the protagonist, the planet. The choice the world is facing is not only between dirty and clean technologies, but also between accumulation and sharing, exploitation and social justice, unabashed capitalism and radical democracy, Western exceptionalism and global awareness. And concerning this last point, this may be the last moment in which the categories of classical dramatic theory are still operative: we are experiencing a turning point in the very idea of crisis and its representation in live performance.

    The current moment presents humanity with a unique and multiscalar set of challenges that will require an essential reorganization of society, economics, and politics to address.

    As the 12-year timeline for action in the US Green New Deal makes clear, there’s a specific urgency, a deadline, that – in the West, at least – arguably differentiates this moment from other historical periods that have been identified as crisis-ridden. This moment is characterized by a particular mode of uncertainty regarding the future, exacerbated by the fact that many contributing factors to this “crisis” are pervasive yet intangible, omnipresent yet strangely distant, and ostensibly divorced from individual action and solutions, even if discussions of the crisis tend to revert to individual, moral stances. At the same time, we are mindful that different communities approach this situation from varying historical and epistemological standpoints. A strain of Indigenous climate-change studies, for instance, understands the Anthropocene not as a hitherto unanticipated occurrence but as an extension of a violent and unresolved historical past that renders the present moment already post-apocalyptic.

    This ephemerality, spectrality, and magnitude pose special challenges to representation in its many senses: aesthetic, social, and political. The planet is under siege, and performance is not there to witness, issue warnings, calls for action, or drop dead like that proverbial canary. Like all other spheres of human activity, art forms, and academic fields it has to transform itself in order to stage a redress in this social drama of planetary proportions. We invite scholars, artists, and activists to submit papers that address issues that include, but are not limited to:
    • Performance and the new planetary paradigm
    • Social drama and “slow violence”
    • Scale of crisis and representation
    • Accumulation vs. expenditure
    • First and second New Deal and performance
    • Different global versions of the Green New Deal in performance
    • Responses from Indigenous perspectives and/or from the vantage of the Global South
    • Futurity and its representation
    • The role of the collective
    • Performance principle and the new economy
    • Catastrophe without recognition
    6,000-word submissions are due June 1, 2020. Please submit essays and direct any relevant queries to Rishika Mehrishi at tdrstanford@gmail.com
     
  • CFP: 2020 Translation, Adaptation, and Dramaturgy Working Group, IFTR
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 21 Nov 2019
    The IFTR Translation, Adaptation and Dramaturgy (TAD) Working Group will be meeting at the IFTR conference in Galway, Ireland, 13-17 July 2020.

    THE WORKING GROUP:



    Translation, Adaptation and Dramaturgy (TAD) is an interdisciplinary Working Group whose members research within the respective fields of theatre translation, adaptation and dramaturgy and, more interestingly, at the intersections of those, combining interests in the local and the global, historical and contemporary, text and performance, theory and practice, critical theory, cultural studies, ethics, politics and aesthetics. The group works towards both individual and shared outputs and involves short and long-term collaborations, as well as an ongoing commitment to rigour, curiosity and new ideas.

    For more information about the Translation, Adaptation and Dramaturgy WG, please visit 
    https://www.iftr.org/working-groups/translation-adaptation-and-dramaturgy.

    IFTR 2020: CALL FOR PAPERS:

    In response to the theme of the Galway 2020 conference – ‘Theatre Ecologies: Environment, Sustainability and Politics’ – we propose the following topics:



    ·       Ecologies of Translation, Adaptation and Dramaturgy
    ·       Translation, Adaptation, Dramaturgy and the Anthropocene
    ·       Globalisation, ethics and theatre-making via Translation
    ·       Politics: Changing Landscapes of Adaptation
    ·       Sustainable Dramaturgies

     *   Open call: We encourage other submissions that address translation, adaptation and dramaturgy, including those that do not directly refer to the conference theme.

    FORMAT OF CONFERENCE SESSIONS:

    The co-conveners will arrange abstracts into panels grouped by connected topics. 
    Papers (up to 3000 words) are pre-circulated four weeks before the conference, followed by brief (up to 10 minutes) verbal presentations at the conference to ensure time for discussion and exchange. We are open to proposals featuring other presentation formats that fit the allocated timeframe. 


    WG members are currently working on a book project on politics of translation adaptation and dramaturgy, but we are open to starting new initiatives, collaborations and projects too. 


    SUBMITTING YOUR ABSTRACT:


    Abstracts should be no more than 300 words and are due 31 January 2020.

    We welcome existing and new working group members, at all career stages and form anywhere in the world, to submit papers on any aspect of translation, adaptation and dramaturgy. The WG exists to encourage debate and exchange of ideas, and we are open to interested observers to attend and participate in our discussions.

    All abstract submissions are made through the Cambridge Core website. However, in order to make a submission you will need to become a member of IFTR first.

    If you have already have a Cambridge Core account, you can download instructions
    on how to join IFTR: https://www.iftr.org/media/2765/become-a-member-already-have-a-core-account.pdf

    If you do not have a Cambridge Core account, you can download instructions on how
    to join IFTR:https://www.iftr.org/media/2766/become-a-member-new-to-core.pdf

    Please direct all questions about #IFTR2020 to: iftrgalway2020@gmail.com

    ACCEPTANCE:
    Applicants will be informed of acceptance by late February/early March 2020.

    BURSARIES:
    IFTR offers financial assistance to scholars wishing to participate in its Annual Conference. Bursaries are awarded on the basis of merit, relevance to the conference or Working Group theme and financial need. Please note that the deadline for bursary applications significantly predates the deadline for abstract submission (Deadline: 15 December 2019). For information and instructions about bursaries, and to download the application form, please visit https://www.iftr.org/conference/bursaries. For bursary-related queries, please email iftrbursaries2020@gmail.com>.

    More information about the conference can be found at the IFTR website: http://www.iftr.org/conference

    Please feel free to contact us with any questions regarding the WG and/or your abstract submission.

    Best wishes,
    Co-conveners:
    Dr Duska Radosavljevic (duska.radosavljevic@cssd.ac.uk)
    Dr Katja Krebs (k.krebs@bristol.ac.uk)



     
  • Performance Studies international 2020 Conference. ‘Crises of Care: Act, Respond, Engage’ to be held in Rijeka, European City of Culture 2020, July 7-11.
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 24 Oct 2019
    Performance Studies international, PSi# 26 on the theme of ‘Crises of Care: act respond engage’ will be held in Rijeka, Croatia, 7-11 July, 2020.

    Crises of Care will take the form of six interweaving streams of research (sort of conferences-within-conference) and responses to contemporary issues.

    1. Listening
    2. Ends
    3. Materiality and Corporeality
    4. Neighborhoods
    5. Editing, Curating, Publishing
    6. Times of Power, Historical Paradigms

    These will be curated by teams and feature presentations, break-out sessions, performances, discussions and other activities as organized by the curators of each stream.

    Each day will feature the work of two streams along with sessions that bring the whole conference together.  Morning sessions will take place on the campus of the University of Rijeka and afternoon and evening sessions will take place downtown in theatre spaces, galleries and outdoor.  A focus in distributed knowledge and collective sharing of our work in and between streams will be a feature of the gathering.

    PSi# 26: Crisis of Care Conference Committee members: Eylül Fidan Akinci, Sebastian Calderón Bentín, Marin Blaževi?, Felipe Cervera, Lada ?ale Feldman, Tracy Davis, Peter Eckersal, Richard Gough, Helena Grehan, Eero Laine, Jazmin Llana, Sean Metzger, Heike Roms, Kristof van Baarle, and The Future Advisory Board.

    MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING CALLS FOR PARTICIPATION WILL BE AVAILABLE IN OCTOBER 15 VIA THE PSi WEBSITE.

    A PSi# 26 website is also in development. Information about FAB and working groups will also be forthcoming.

    PSi# 26: Crises of Care is hosted by Performance Studies international in partnership with the Croatian National Theatre, Rijeka, the University of Rijeka and Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture 2020.

  • Call for Proposals: edited book on actor training, voice, movement, education and learning differences /disabilities.
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 14 Oct 2019
    Editor: Dr Petronilla Whitfield, Associate Professor, Arts University Bournemouth UK)


    Call outline

    This is a call for expressions of interest and proposals for chapter contributors in an edited book on actor training, voice, movement, education and learning differences /disabilities.

    Following the recent publication of my book ‘Teaching Strategies for Neurodiversity and Dyslexia in Actor Training’ (Routledge 2019), I am now seeking ideas for potential chapters from teachers/ practitioners/authors regarding the development of their teaching in the support of Acting and Performance students/individuals with Specific Learning Differences/Disabilities.  In particular, dissemination of practice is sought where the teaching directions are underpinned by research, theory, and scholarly investigation. It is important that Specific Learning Differences/Disabilities are not generalised, but detailed with specificity of their characteristics.  Early researchers in this field are also invited to submit a proposal, as they are potentially important contributors to emerging pedagogical discussions and approaches.

    Themes could include, (but are not limited to):  
    • Descriptions of teaching interventions, rationale, process and outcomes, where teachers have recognised a problem or challenge and have carried out research, trials and transformation of their practice to  support the neurodiverse, SpLD student’s/individual’s needs. (Descriptions of perceived failures are as valuable as successes).
    • Critical analysis of  pedagogy in actor training environments, historical and cultural contexts of actor training, and how Specific Learning  Differences and neurodiversity is situated within that context
    • An in-depth analysis of the arts-based discipline involved,  and how the learning difference/style/disability  can impact on embedded or adapted  practice in that discipline  
    • The ethical and political concerns regarding  the labelling of an individual with a SpLD, and how this might influence your practice/approach
    • The foregrounding of the student voice and experience  of those with SpLD, platforming  student-led methods, autonomy,  research and student- led  teaching practices
    • If you  are  a teacher with SpLD, (such as being dyslexic for example) , how  that might inform/affect your teaching and your understanding for the individual student with learning challenges
    • Development of inclusive assessment strategies, that do not unfairly disadvantage  those with SpLD/neurodiversity and differing modes of learning
    • The  experience of Learning Support teachers/staff who have been involved in the teaching of acting performance students with SpLD and are researching and developing new practices in their field
    • The experiences of coaches/teachers working with  professional actors with SpLD and a dissemination of developing methods and reflection on endeavours to support those actors

    Submitting a proposal

     
    Preliminary conversations with potential contributors will help to develop the contents of the book, to submit to the publisher for review. To signal your interest in making a contribution please contact Petronilla Whitfield for an initial exchange of ideas/thoughts, or email a proposal of 500-  1, 000 words in length.


    Firm proposals must be received no later than the 30th November 2019 and sent, with a brief author biography, to the book’s editor, Dr Petronilla Whitfield (pwhitfield@aub.ac.uk)
     
  • Call for Abstracts: ADS Focus Issue: Theatre in Regional Australasia
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 9 Oct 2019
    A Focus Issue of Australasian Drama Studies for October 2020.
    Edited by Jen Beckett, Rachel Fensham and Paul Rae (University of Melbourne), in collaboration with Regional Arts Victoria.

    What forms of theatre are being presented in regional Australasia today? How are theatre-makers responding with innovation to regional issues or locations? Where do these developments come from – and who is watching?

    Cultural life in regional Australasia is dynamic and fast-changing. The Australia Council reports that “residents of regional Australia are as likely to creatively participate in the arts as residents of metropolitan Australia” (2017), and it is clear that regional, rural and remote cultural activity punches above its weight in finding new modes of expression, fostering community, and contributing to the local economy. Meanwhile, significant policy and funding commitments have been made by the Australian government at all levels to enhance regional arts infrastructure and develop cultural capacity.

    Challenges nevertheless remain, including the lure of the city for ambitious young artists, the practical challenges of distance and relative remoteness, and funding models that continue to skew metropolitan.

    This focus issue of ADS will examine how theatre and its creative artists reflect these conditions in their work, and what these productions mean both for local audiences, as well as for the nations as a whole. ‘Regional Australasia’ is of course vast and diverse in itself, and this should be reflected in the contributions to the issue, both in terms of geographical and cultural coverage, as well as in the kinds of practices analysed.

    As such, contributions to the issue may cover the following topics:

    • Histories of regional theatre practices and venues in Australasia
    • The role of indigenous practices in regional conceptions of theatre and performance
    • Performance practices that relate in distinctive ways to regional locations and/or ways of life
    • Representations of regional Australian life in theatre
    • Critical assessments of regional artistic figures, organisations and performance genres
    • Theatre as a vehicle for community formation and as a means of addressing social challenges
    • The place of theatre in regional cultural ecologies
    • The relationship between funding, local economies, and artistic creation
    • The use of new technologies to address the conditions of regional life, including the challenges of distance
    • The role, function and design of regional performance venues
    • Regional networks and touring circuits
    • Theatre’s contribution, historically and today, in shaping and interpreting the discursive formation of the regional, along with related terms, such as rural, remote, country, bush, outback and, conversely, city, metropolis and suburb.

    Reference
    Australia Council (2017) ‘The Arts in Regional Australia: A Research Summary,’ 29 November. Available at https://australiacouncil.gov.au/research/regional-arts-summary/

    How to Submit
    Essay abstracts should be no more than 400 words and clearly state the title, author/s and give a clear sense of what the argument or investigation will be. Essay length is a maximum of 6,000 words including bibliography. The deadline for essay abstracts is 20th January, 2020, and should be submitted to Dr Lynne Kent at creative-convergence@unimelb.edu.au . Contributors will receive notification about acceptance by the end of March. The deadline for final essays is 30 May 2020 and the journal will be published in October 2020.

    For enquiries, please contact Paul Rae on prae@unimelb.edu.au
    This focus issue of ADS has been developed in association with the ARC Linkage Project Creative Convergence: Enhancing Impact in Regional Theatre for Young People (LP160100047).
     
  • PhD Opportunity: Devising and Communities: Theatre making and socially engaged practice
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 9 Oct 2019
    Closing Date

    31st October 2019

    Applicants should contact the primary supervisor, and submit their Expression of Interest (EOI) and Application as soon as possible.

    The Research Project

    This practice as research doctoral project explores the processes of devising theatre in the context of socially engaged theatre and performance. The project aims to investigate methodologies and lineages in Australian theatre practice, and to describe and propose new processes for making contemporary performance events that respond to place and communities.

    We are seeking a PhD candidate who has the capacity to engage with various appropriate methodologies including processes of devised, generative theatre-making to produce outstanding academic and artistic work. The candidate will be a part of a small team of leading researchers at UTas and will have the opportunity to establish an invaluable academic network with world-class researchers and practitioners during the candidature.

    Eligibility

    Applicants from the following disciplines are eligible to apply:

    • Theatre and Performance

    See the following web page for entry requirements: www.utas.edu.au/research/degrees/what-is-a-research-degree

    Application Process

    Applicants who require more information or are interested in this specific project should first contact the listed Supervisor. Information and guidance on the application process can be found on the Apply Now website.

    Information about scholarships is available on the Scholarships webpage.

    More Information

    Please contact, Jane Woollard for further information.

  • Ten Days on the Island PhD Projects
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 18 Sep 2019

    Social Impact of Ten Days on the Island Festival in Regional Tasmanian Communities or Practice-based Place-Based Events or Practice
    The School of Creative Arts and Media, University of Tasmania and Ten Days on the Island are offering fixed-term scholarships for up to 3.5 years for placed based higher degree research (HDR) projects. The PhD or Masters by research projects will be co-designed with Ten Days on The Island’s CEO and Artistic Director to align with the 2021 Festival.

    Ten Days on the Island is Tasmania’s state-wide arts festival with headquarters in Burnie, in Tasmania’s north west. focus on First Nations’ arts and culture, families and young people, and socially engaged arts practice. The successful candidates will work closely with the Festival’s executive team and be available to work and connect with communities in regional Tasmania.

    We are seeking expressions of interest from applicants with a background in community and cultural development, cultural policy and tourism, to undertake a study of the impact of the Festival in regional Tasmanian communities or from applicants with a professional creative practice in site-specific and place-based events to undertake a practice-based research project.

    Expression of Interest Process
    Applications are open – closing 31 October, 2019

    Step 1: Visit to http://www.utas.edu.au/research/degrees/apply-now to submit an expression of interest form.

    Visit https://www.utas.edu.au/research/degrees/available-phd- projects#College_of_Arts_Law_and_Education to view current HDR projects and project criteria

    Step 2: Develop a research proposal

    You are required to write a concise 1200-1500-word proposal that clearly outlines the research project that you will be undertaking. This should be done in response to the terms outlined for the project, and in consultation with either the Graduate Research Coordinator or potential supervisors. See contact details below.

    Step 3: Discuss your intention to apply with the Graduate Research Coordinator or potential supervisors.

    Step 4: Contact 2 referees. You are asked to submit 2 names that will act as confidential referees with your application. Ideally these referees will be able to comment on your research ability. It is advised that you forward on a copy of your research proposal to the referee so that they are aware of your proposed project.

    Referees will be notified through the automated online application process to submit their reports. Please make sure that your referee is aware that an automatically generated email will be used to notify them of the process.

    Step 5: Complete the application process online. Register and return to the application form at http://www.utas.edu.au/research/degrees/apply-now

    Further Information and guidelines about developing the Research Proposal Contact:

    Dr Steven Carson, Graduate Research Coordinator –School of Creative Arts and Media. Steven.Carson@utas.edu.au or
    Dr Jane Woollard, Head of Theatre - School of Creative Arts and Media. Jane.Woollard@utas.edu.au

    To be eligible for this scholarship, the successful candidate must commence study in 2019.

  • Vale: Professor Rob Jordan
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 10 Sep 2019
    The ADSA executive, on behalf of the membership at large, recognises the recent passing of Emeritus Professor Robert Jordan, and offers these few words in acknowledgement of the profound impact Professor Jordan had on the study of drama in Australia.

    After taking his BA and MA at the University of Queensland, Professor Jordan was awarded his PhD at King's College London in 1964-65, with a thesis entitled “The Libertine Gentlemen in Restoration Comedy”. Much of Professor Jordan's early scholarly and practical work is dedicated to the Restoration period, especially the work of George Farquhar and Thomas Southerne, and has been recognised as recently as 2018 as “meticulous” (David Roberts, George Farquhar: A Migrant Life Reversed).
    Returning to Australia, Professor Jordan was appointed to the English staff of the University of Queensland in the mid-1960s at a time when dramatic literature was becoming the backbone of the program, joining Eunice Hangar and Alrene Sykes in advancing the cause of practical drama. Some forty years after being taught by Professor Jordan, Geoffrey Rush described him as having “a great passion for the history of drama... He looked and sounded like George Martin. We felt we were being mentored by somebody who ran The Beatles”. He was held in such high regard by his students that shortly after his arrival, Professor Jordan was recognised as a Patron of the student drama society.

    Across the early 1970s, Professor Jordan was instrumental in promoting a redesigned Drama program at UQ, and in 1974 his efforts resulted in the formal recognition and founding of a distinct Drama major with the BA. As it happened, it was a department of which Professor Jordan would not be a part, having that year been appointed to the role of foundation Professor of Creative Arts, specialising in Drama, at the University of Newcastle.

    After laying the foundations for the distinctive department at Newcastle, Professor Jordan took up a position in the Theatre Studies program at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 1981. It was there he completed his outstanding scholarly achievement, The Convict Theatres of Early Australia, 1788–1840, published by Currency House in 2002. The book was praised by reviewers as “truly path-breaking”: Jordan's “minute and authoritative exploration of the unique social relations and geographical spaces of convict Australia, as figured in the contested 'spaces' of its early theatres, makes this landmark account of the Australian experience of major significance to international studies of the translocation of cultural forms” (Veronica Kelly, Australian Literary Studies, 2005).

    Professor Jordan's extraordinary contribution to the study of drama in Australia, in both his scholarly and service achievements, is recognised by ADSA's biennial award of the Rob Jordan Prize for Best Book. In this small way, Professor Jordan's legacy continues in the work of the outstanding scholars who his named prize recognises. Along with the academic community of drama, theatre and performance studies in Australia, ADSA extends our condolences to Professor Jordan's family and gratefully acknowledges the extraordinary contributions he made to shaping our field.
     
  • CFP: Reimagining Theatre Pedagogy in the Era of Climate Crisis, or, Greta Thunberg Goes to Theatre School
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 7 Aug 2019
    What might we teach Swedish student activist Greta Thunberg if she were to choose post-secondary education in theatre? As she says, she has no reason to fear speaking the truth: what approach to acting and theatre-making might we take with someone who declares to an international assembly, “You are not mature enough to tell it like it is; even that burden is left to us children”? We doubt that Thunberg would decide to embark on a program of actor training as part of her university education—she seems headed for a career in politics—but by the law of averages many millions of teenagers who are participating in the world-wide movement of school strikes for climate action will decide to do so. What will we contrive to teach them that will be worthy of the predicament we are in, and the needs they will have in the face of it?

    What is the theatre pedagogy of a global emergency? Is there such a thing? How does the point of intersection between theatre pedagogy and practice engage the ‘hyperobject’ (Morton) that is climate change? One must also ask: does the transformation of planet earth by anthropogenic global warming foreclose all meaningful representation of it, artistic or otherwise? Putting this reasonable objection aside for the moment, co-editors Conrad Alexandrowicz (University of Victoria) and Dr. David Fancy (Brock University) invite proposals from a variety of disciplines that have bearing on this all-encompassing subject for a co-edited collection of essays, provocations, workbooks, formulae and other interventions. This might include inputs from curriculum studies, performance studies, environmental studies, philosophy and aesthetics, psychology and applied theatre, in addition to studies in acting pedagogy, stage design, theory and criticism. (Please note that we have initial interest from a major academic publisher.)

    What would it mean in theoretical and practical terms to reimagine and reconfigure the entire ecology of theatre education through the lens forced upon us by the rapid heating of the planet?
    Topic areas might include, but are not limited to, the following:
    • Playing the other-than-human as a way to model a transformed relationship to ‘Nature’: what might this mean? What pedagogical and creative lineages support this approach?
    • As Canadian climate activist Naomi Klein argues in This Changes Everything indigenous peoples are on the front lines of the fight against climate change: "some of the most marginalized people in my country … are taking on some of the wealthiest and most powerful forces on the planet" (379). Are there specific insights, practices, philosophies available in global indigenous communities that may be brought into further conversation with ‘Western’ theatre pedagogies?
    • Climate theatre and/as activism: does the sole remaining respectable function for theatre lie in training to create and perform events such as those staged by the Extinction Rebellion? protesters? Would these approaches—and only these—satisfy Greta Thunberg and others with her understandably urgent convictions? What are the potentials of theatre as “agitprop” in the third decade of the 21st Century? Alan Filewod writes in the Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism: “Now widely used as a catchall term to describe politically combative or oppositional art, ‘agitprop’ originated from the early Soviet conjunction of propaganda (raising awareness of an issue) and agitation (exciting an emotional response to the issue), as theorized by Lenin in What Is To Be Done (1902) and institutionalized in the many departments and commissions of Agitation and Propaganda in the USSR and the Comintern after the Russian Revolution.”
    • Climate theatre and/as therapeutic intervention: Students of all ages are experiencing increasing anxiety and depression as a result of the knowledge that their generation will face particularly worsening effects of climate change. Many of the arts are used in therapeutic contexts, such as art therapy and dance therapy. Does this mean acting instructors themselves need new forms of training?
    • Curriculum design: most post-secondary actor training includes at least some devising, even in conservatory settings, including monologues in text-based acting classes, and collaborative pieces arising from movement work. Does the climate crisis necessitate a new ratio of skills acquisition to creative endeavour in order to satisfy the need that theatre serve interventionist aims?
    • The implications for community engagement: how does adapting theatre education for climate action prompt a new notion of outreach on the part of post-secondary institutions into various communities?
    • Aesthetic considerations: politicizing the aesthetic frequently results in art practices marked by didactic qualities or even pedantic dead ends. In what ways can traditional and non-traditional embraces of aesthetic experience at the point of theatre training contribute to more vibrant theatrical practices better able to withstand, as well as guide us through, the emergent crisis of anthropogenic climate change?
    • Indigeneity and creative theatrical practice: are there specific insights, practices, philosophies available in global indigenous communities—from shamanic work to the more traditionally representational work of storytelling and theatre creation—that may be brought into conversation with ‘Western’ theatre pedagogies?
    Prospective contributors are asked to submit a 500-word abstract as well as a brief bio—no more than 200 words—to  both co-editors no later than September 15, 2019:
    Conrad Alexandrowicz (University of Victoria): conrada@uvic.ca 
    David Fancy (Brock University): 
    dfancy@brocku.ca

     
  • New position: Professor of Creative Arts, Flinders University of South Australia
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 2 Jul 2019

    The Professor of Creative Arts will be a senior member of the academic staff of the Creative Arts teaching program and research section in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. In conjunction with the above, the Professor will make significant contributions to the growth and transformation of Creative Arts at Flinders and will provide academic leadership in creative practice and research, community and industry engagement, and curriculum development. The position will provide leadership and vision in one of the key areas of research and teaching excellence in the College and will be responsible for strengthening research and teaching collaborations externally and internally. The position will be responsible for engaging with industry, government and other external organisations, strengthening research collaborations internally and externally and supporting recruitment of international and domestic higher degree research students and externally funded research fellows.

    Please see link below and attached position description for more information.
     

    Please Direct Application Enquiries to:

    Mrs Anita Abraham (anita.abraham@flinders.edu.au)

    Closing date:

    Monday, 29 July 2019 11am

    Attachment:
  • CFP: Australasian Drama Studies
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 1 Jul 2019
    Edited by Yoni Prior

    We invite submissions for the general issue of Australasian Drama Studies, Issue 76, April 2020.
    Submissions may be in the form of an abstract or a full draft. Essay abstracts should be no more than 400 words, stating the title and author/s, and should give a clear sense of the proposed argument or investigation.

    Essay length is a maximum of 6,000 words including bibliography. Please also submit a brief biography and set of key words.

    The deadline for essay abstracts is 30th September, 2019. Contributors will receive notification about acceptance by late October. Peer review will take place through November. The deadline for final essays is 31st January, 2020 and the journal will be published in April 2020.

    Please note that the journal is now published online, so we welcome the integration of rich digital format such as images, video footage, sound files etc.

    Please send enquiries or essay abstracts to Dr Yoni Prior at editor.ads@adsa.edu.au
     
  • CFP: special issue on Barrie Kosky for the Journal of Australian Studies
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 25 Jun 2019
    We invite abstracts for a proposed special issue on Barrie Kosky for the Journal of Australian Studies, for likely publication in 2022. Articles for the issue may be on any aspect or period of Kosky’s career – as director, performer, librettist, theorist, adaptor, administrator, manager, etc., in Australia, in Europe and elsewhere – and may focus on any or all of the art forms he has worked in – spoken theatre, opera, operetta, musicals, etc. As Kosky’s career is multifaceted, we hope that the issue will contain articles approaching Kosky from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds.

    As an expression of interest, please send an abstract of about 250-300 words for a proposed article and a biographical note of similar length or less to both James Phillips, University of New South Wales (j.phillips@unsw.edu.au) and John Severn, Macquarie University (john.severn@mq.edu.au) by 15 August. If accepted, articles should be between 6,000-8,000 words including footnotes, etc., and first drafts are likely to be due by mid-2020.
     
  • Re: Tapu Te Ranga Marae fire appeal
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 12 Jun 2019
    Dear colleagues,

    It is with sadness that the Aotearoa New Zealand members of ADSA are writing to let you know that Tapu Re Ranga Marae was lost in a fire this past weekend.  For those of you who attended the 2014 ADSA conference in Wellington, you will remember visiting the Marae where we were very warmly welcomed and stayed for a day.  David O’Donnell briefly describes the significance of the marae below”

    “Tapu Te Ranga has been a centre for social development of urban Maori for decades but it has also been a centre for the arts & theatre in particular. The vision of Tapu Te Ranga founder Bruce Stewart was ahead of its time & needed even more relevant now as the issues of homelessness, poverty & decline of community have got worse since the 1970s. Bruce was a respected actor & his play Broken Arse, based on his own experiences in prison, is an early landmark in Maori theatre. Tapu Te Ranga was often used for rehearsals & sometimes performances in the early years of The Depot/ Taki Rua, and practitioners who were particularly close to Tapu Te Ranga include Jim Moriarty, Apirana Taylor, Roma Potiki & Paul Maunder. I remember seeing a full production of one of Paul Maunder’s bi-cultural productions for Theatre of the 8th Day at Tapu Te Ranga sometime in the 1980s. Paul rehearsed his play Death in Gaza there much more recently & Bruce Stewart remained a staunch friend and supporter of theatre until he passed away.”

    The marae whanau are in the process of beginning to think about how to rebuild.  If you would like to follow progress or make a donation, please link to  (https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/rebuild-tapu-te-ranga-marae?fbclid=IwAR19qP5IcrcYVGOmAtfDWadpRNhABXmmuoI4HoA59o6ph5lVKWaDfvgttWk) You can find more information about the fire itself on the Radio New Zealand website: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/391612/tapu-te-ranga-marae-fire-we-can-rebuild-the-marae

    Ng? mihi,

    Emma
    Dr Emma Willis
    Senior Lecturer in Drama
    English, Drama and Writing Studies
    School of Humanities,
    University of Auckland
    Auckland
    Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142
    New Zealand
    Tel: +64 9 373 7599 (ext 82254)
  • CFP: AMAGA Performing Arts Heritage Network 2019 Conference
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 31 May 2019
    The Performing Arts Heritage Network (PAHN) is distinguished by the involvement of a broad range of collecting institutions. Museums, libraries, archives, galleries and tertiary educational institutions at state and national levels come together in the interests of collecting, preserving and making accessible Australia's performing arts heritage.

    PAHN is driven by an enthusiasm for Australia's performing arts that is inclusive of our unique indigenous heritage and our multicultural influences, as well as the traditions of English, European and American theatre.
     
    The 2019 PAHN Conference is being held this November in Geelong in the Western Beach Room at Deakin University’s Waterfront Campus. The conference will be held over 3 days - Wednesday 6th to Friday 8th November.

    This year the conference will include an additional day (Friday 8th) to allow a walking tour of Geelong’s Performing Arts sites.

    Our program is beginning to take shape and looks as interesting as ever! Do you have research currently underway you'd like to share? Do you have an area of interest in performing arts heritage that we would all like to hear about?  Researchers, collectors and practitioners are invited to submit proposals for inclusion in the next PAHN Conference in Geelong. Please send your proposal for inclusion to PAHN Secretary Jenny Fewster at jenny.fewster@flinders.edu.au 

    Come and join the discussion and help celebrate Australia's performing arts past and prepare for its vibrant future.

     
  • CFP: AusAct 2019: BEING RELEVANT
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 17 Apr 2019
    Charles Sturt University and Queensland University of Technology Present

    AusAct 2019: BEING RELEVANT

    THE AUSTRALIAN ACTOR TRAINING CONFERENCE

    CONFERENCE INFORMATION
    Queensland University of Technology are hosting the 2019 AusAct: Australian Actor Training Conference on Friday August 9 to Sunday August 11. This three-day conference, training and performance event is a presentation of actor training scholarship by researchers, practitioners and pedagogues working with original performer training methods developed within the Australian context. It is an event focusing on Australian actor training pedagogies and research and its relationship to place, space, land, environment, culture and technologies. The conference will provide an avenue for the sharing of original materials and knowledge in dialogue within the Australian performer training context. The conference aims to celebrate, interrogate and showcase actor training methods that have been created and developed in Australia. We invite individual papers (20 minutes duration), workshop sessions (up to 90 minutes duration) and panel presentations (60 minute duration).

    The conference will have three main parts: ConferenceTraining and Performance.

    CALL FOR PROPOSALS
    In response to this theme, the 2019 AusAct conference calls for papers that consider how actor training can maintain its relevance in Australia, as well as drawing upon relevant methods, approaches and aesthetics that reflect contemporary and future Australian actors. Not only do we need relevant content material to reflect the ever-changing social climate, we need relevant artists who create works through which they can better connect to the world around them.

    What do we gain for moving beyond the conventional methods and focusing on more relevant forms of training, and what is to gain or lose in ‘being relevant’?

    Questions may stem from, but not limited to, the following points concerning being relevant in light of Australian performance pedagogies:
    • Relevance of Australian actor training
    • The relevance of training for performance
    • Relevance of international actor training methods in Australian performance practice
    • The development of relevant performance training in Australia
    • The relevance of place, space and environment in Australian actor training
    • The relevance of technology in performance training
    • The relevance of health and wellbeing in actor training
    TRAINING
    Professionals will be invited to propose workshops based on their research and practice. The material must be original and align with the conference themes.
     
    PERFORMANCE
    Public performances by performance practitioners who identify as having a unique place in Australian performing arts industry through their development of new, original work, or original processes.

    Performance practitioners, directors, teachers, academics, postgraduate students and performers are invited to attend to discuss and demonstrate their original pedagogies and methodologies that have been developed in Australia that have been inspired by the environment, land, the Australian performing arts industry, the Australian values and culture. This is also an opportunity to propose futures for Australian performer training methods.

    ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
    Participants who are interested in presenting a paper, conducting a workshop or staging a performance must submit an abstract up to 250 words to both Robert Lewis: robelewis@csu.edu.au and Andrea Moor: al.moor@qut.edu.au Applicants who are interested in submitting an abstract for a workshop must clearly state the level of participation, e.g., beginners, intermediate or advanced, the aims and objectives of the workshop, influences/inspiration behind the work, and any other requirements needed. Applicants who are interested in staging a performance must indicate cast size, length of performance and any other helpful information. Technical requirements must be kept to a minimum. Abstract for papers, panel presentations and workshops due Friday April 5.

    PUBLICATION
    Presenters have the option to submit their papers to be considered for the peer reviewed Fusion Journal. Presenters will be invited to submit an article version of their conference paper for inclusion late 2019. This edition of the Fusion Journal aims to make a contribution to the field offering new insights into Australian acting pedagogies in the past and in the present. It will consist of a selected number of essays from submissions drawing on papers presented at AusAct 2019: BEING RELEVANT. This volume will aim to engage with national and international debates on the nature and practices of Australian actor training as research as a scholarly methodology and/or as pedagogical practice. An expression of interest form will be available through the conference website: www.ausact.com.au. Every contributor must also fill out a ‘Publication Expression of Interest’ form in order to indicate whether or not they would like to: have their paper published in the special edition of Fusion Journal without being double blind peer reviewed; have their paper double blind peer reviewed to be considered for publication in the special edition of Fusion Journal; submit creative works and or other projects of equivalent scope; only attend the conference and present without any publication outcome. Timelines, important dates and other information relating to the publication are listed in the ‘Publication Expression of Interest’ form at: www.ausact.com.au

    SCHEDULE 
    Call for proposals: Friday April 5
    Monday May 13: Abstracts for papers, performances and workshops due
    Monday May 27: Notification of acceptance
    Early Bird Registrations Close: Sunday July 14
    Full Registration: Monday July 15
    Registrations close: Thursday August 1
    Conference: August 9 – 11

    September 6: Final papers submitted for publication

    REGISTRATION
    Early Bird: $340
    Full: $420
    Student/Concession: $280
    Registrations:
    ausact.shop.csu.edu.au



    For further information, please contact:

    Dr Robert Lewis (Charles Sturt University)
    robelewis@csu.edu.au

    Dr Andrea Moor (Queensland University of Technology)
    al.moor@qut.edu.au
     
  • CFP: Theatre, Dance and Performance Training
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 10 Apr 2019
    Call for contributions to Special Issue: Training for Performance Art and Live Art

    Guest edited by Professor Heike Roms (University of Exeter)


    Call Outline

    This special issue of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training (TDPT) is interested in the training of performance and live artists – its forms, histories, pedagogies, geographies, institutions and anti-institutions, and its legacies. To speak of ‘training’ in this context may seem surprising as the term evokes notions of tradition, technique and canon that performance and live art have frequently challenged or abandoned altogether. And biographies of performance and live artists often imply that their artistic formation occurred despite rather than because of the formal training they received at art colleges and universities. Yet, the making of performance and live art requires many skills and knowledges, whether embodied or conceptual, compositional or professional, and such skills and knowledges have been the subject of a multiplicity of approaches to their nurture and development.

    “Training for Performance Art and Live Art” is interested in tracking the approaches to training in performance and live art as they have emerged both within and outside the contexts of formal education. The histories of performance art and live art are deeply imbricated with those of education and its institutions. Many artists who have shaped performance and live art have also been committed teachers and activists educators; pedagogical approaches to their teaching emerged alongside the performance practices themselves; educational institutions offered material support for the making of performance works and provided a living for its artists; and the integration of performance into their provision has led to changes to the organisational structures and procedures of art schools and universities. At the same time, performance and live artists have devised radical artist-led models of anti-training, created non-institutional spaces of learning and adopted events and publications as alternative forms of curricula.

    This call for contributions invites textual, visual or performative submissions (see below) that examine the role that training and education have played for performance and live art. We are particularly keen to receive proposals that explore the theme from an historical perspective; and those that discuss local, translocal, national or transnational contexts for the pedagogical and training histories of performance and live art. We also encourage contributions that evaluate the legacies of these histories, and that assess their continuing relevance and potential for re-activation in the context of today’s predominantly normative, market-driven educational provision. Contributions that explore the methodological implications of documenting and researching what has gone on in the training spaces of performance and live art are also welcome.


    The Theatre, Dance and Performance Training journal has three sections:

    - “Articles” features contributions in a range of critical and scholarly formats (approx. 5,000-7,000 words)

    - “Sources” provides an outlet for the documentation and analysis of primary materials of performer training. We are particularly keen to receive material that documents the histories of performance and live art training in classrooms and studios; or that engages with alternative platforms for training, such as artist’s books, games or kits, festivals or residencies.

    - “Training Grounds” hosts shorter pieces, which are not peer reviewed, including essais, postcards, visual essays and book or event reviews. We especially encourage contributions from performance and live art makers, scholars and students that document and reflect on the histories and practices of their training.
    We also welcome suggestions for recent books on the theme to be reviewed; or for foundational texts on the topic of performance and live art training to be re-reviewed.

    Innovative cross-over print/digital formats are possible, including the submission of audiovisual training materials, which can be housed on the online interactive Theatre, Dance and Performance Training journal blog: http://theatredanceperformancetraining.org/

    Areas of interest for the Special Issue include (but are not limited to):

    • distinct pedagogical approaches to the teaching of performance and live artists
    • experimental and alternative modes of training in performance and live art
    • models of anti-training in performance
    the role of educational institutions in the emergence of performance art and live art
    the role of anti-institutional, counter-educational or deschooling initiatives in the emergence of performance art and live art (eg. anti-universities; artist-run schools; cooperatives; workshops; laboratories)
    • approaches to learning and ’unlearning’ in performance training
    • models of the ‘self-taught’ performance artist
    • training as continuing artistic practice
    translocal or transnational exchanges and collaborations (eg. festivals; residencies; magazines; mail art) and their impact on the pedagogies of performance and live art
    • the impact of key teachers on the development of performance and live art (eg. John Cage; Joseph Beuys; Allan Kaprow; Suzanne Lacy; Alastair MacLennan; Marina Abramovi?; Anthony Howell; Alanna O’Kelly; Doris Stauffer; Roy Ascott; Rose Finn-Kelcey; etc)
    • publications on the pedagogy and training of performance and live art (eg. Anthony Howell; Charles Garioan; Marilyn Arsem) and their impact
    • artists books; charts; games or kits as alternative curriculum models for performance and live art
    • alternative spaces and models for intergenerational exchanges in the framework of teaching and learning performance and live art
    • the documentation of teaching practices in the field of performance and live art
    • research approaches to the histories of training in performance and live art
    • the impact of the ‘pedagogization’ of performance and live art on artistic development
    • institutional legacies of performance art training
    • strategies for the re-activation of past pedagogies for the future of performance and live art

    About Theatre, Dance and Performance Training (TDPT)

    Special Issues of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training (TDPT) are an essential part of its offer and complement the open issues in each volume. TDPT is an international academic journal devoted to all aspects of ‘training’ (broadly defined) within the performing arts. It was founded in 2010 and launched its own blog in 2015. Our target readership comprises scholars and the many varieties of professional performers, makers, choreographers, directors, dramaturgs and composers working in theatre, dance, performance and live art who have an interest in the practices of training. TDPT’s co-editors are Jonathan Pitches (University of Leeds) and Libby Worth (Royal Holloway, University of London).

    Submitting a proposal:

    To signal your interest and intention to make a contribution to this special issue please contact Heike Roms for an initial exchange of ideas/thoughts or email a proposal (max 300 words) to Heike Roms at h.roms@exeter.ac.uk
    Firm proposals for all three sections must be received by 1 May 2019 at the latest.
    Please identify the intended format for your proposed contribution; and whether you would like it to be considered for the “Articles”, “Sources” or “Training Ground” section and/or the blog.

    Issue Schedule:

    1 May 2019: proposals to be submitted to Heike Roms h.roms@exeter.ac.uk
    31 May 2019: Response from editor and, if successful, invitation to submit contribution
    June to End August 2019: writing/preparation period
    Start Sept to end October 2019: peer review period
    November 2019 – end January 2020: author revisions post peer review
    June 2020: publication as Issue 11.2
  • John Truscott Fellowship
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 5 Apr 2019
    John Truscott Design Foundation and University of Melbourne
    Fellowship to prepare a manuscript biography of John Truscott


    This proposal results from the partnership of the Trustees of the John Truscott Design Foundation (JTDF)
    and the University of Melbourne to commission a manuscript celebrating John Truscott (1936–1993).
    Fellowship sum: $25,000.

    The Project
    The John Truscott Design Foundation and the University of Melbourne wish to celebrate the life and
    contribution of John Truscott in a biography that brings to life his energy and skill. The manuscript should
    inspire others with creative talent to pursue careers that can make a difference. It needs to capture the
    skilful way that Truscott managed his many projects, and the political interests that surrounded them, most
    of which would have proved too daunting for other designers and directors.

    While JTDF wishes the project to celebrate the life and contribution of John Truscott, by looking back, it is
    essential that the project is not simply a retrospective ‘remember when’ manuscript. It is important to
    place Truscott’s contributions in an historical context, a contemporary context and demonstrate how they
    continue to resonate and influence the cultural life of Melbourne.

    Key themes include:
    • the historical context in which Truscott was living and working and how this has evolved to the
    present day, e.g. community, government/institutional attitudes, appetite, support for arts and
    design;
    • a multi-faceted career covering numerous creative disciplines;
    • a multi-disciplinary approach;
    • creative entrepreneurship and the ability to realise ambitious and complex goals;
    • acting as a creative catalyst, identifying and developing creative talent;
    • making arts accessible to broader public;
    • creating social environments celebrating arts/creativity; and
    • an enduring legacy of creative and cultural influence and inspiration, e.g. descendant activities
    including M Pavilion, White Night, etc.

    The Fellowship
    To prepare a manuscript the Fellow will be based at the University of Melbourne. A selection panel
    including two members of the Board of Trustees of the John Truscott Design Foundation would choose the
    Fellow from the field of applicants. The period of the Fellowship would be approximately six months from
    the date of appointment.

    The University of Melbourne will provide the Fellow with full borrowing rights, access to online resources
    and facilitate access to records and archives held by other institutions, in particular the Victorian Arts
    Centre Performing Arts Collection, and the State Library of Victoria.

    Further information:
    See attached pdf or contact:
    Susie Shears
    Cultural Collections Co-ordinator
    University of Melbourne
    Telephone +61 3 8344 0269
    Email sshears@unimelb.edu.au
    Attachment:
  • Fellowship opportunity, University of Melbourne
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 22 Mar 2019
    The S. Ernest Sprott Fellowship, worth approximately $46,400, is available for Australian scholars under 45 years of age. It supports a programme of study outside of Australia that will lead to a book relating to dramatic or non-dramatic English literature of the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries. 

    Applications close 29 April. For more information on how to apply, see below
  • CFP: Performing Artefacts An interdisciplinary conference hosted by The Performance of the Real Research Theme The University of Otago, ?tepoti/Dunedin, New Zealand 18-19 November 2019
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 11 Mar 2019

    As our world becomes increasingly digitised, we ask ‘what role do physical objects continue to play in our lived realities?’ This conference considers how peoples’ experiences and knowledges of ‘the real’ are communicated via performances involving artefacts – performances of the everyday, as well as activities explicitly labelled ‘performances.’ It looks at how ‘performance’ and ‘the real’ are understood with respect to artefacts, as well as at how and why peoples’ realities are communicated performatively using artefacts. 

     

    Some specific provocations to consider include: 

    ·      How are artefacts used performatively to represent or reframe various kinds of realities?

    ·      Can or should virtual artefacts replace physical ones during performances? What are the affects/effects of doing so?

    ·      How are artefacts used to blur how people perceive/conceive ‘the real’?

    ·      What is the importance of artefacts’ objectivity or subjectivity when they are used performatively?

    ·      How are peoples’ pasts, presents and futures represented, communicated and understood via performances utilising artefacts? 

    ·      What are the socio-political and cultural realities of performing with particular kinds of artefacts? Are certain ontologies and epistemologies privileged or marginalised in such performances?

     

    We welcome abstracts for papers, performances, panels or other presentation formats, such as installations. Please submit a 250-300-word abstract of your presentation and a 150-word biography for each presenter by July 31, 2019. Please send us your abstract as a Word document, and use your surname as the document title. Please clearly indicate the title of your presentation, as well as your full name (first name, surname) and institutional affiliation (if relevant). Please send your abstracts or any enquiries to the Theme administrator, Alex, at performance.real@otago.ac.nz. There are a limited number of travel bursaries available for postgrad students. Please contact the theme administrator for details.

     

    The Performance of the Real is a University of Otago funded interdisciplinary Research Theme. The project is to investigate what it is about representations and performances of the real that make them particularly compelling and pervasive in our current age. At its core is the study of how performance/performativity, in its many cultural, aesthetic, political and social forms and discourses, represents, critiques, stages, and constructs/reconstructs the real, as well as the ethical, social and form-related issues involved in such acts.

     

    Website: http://www.otago.ac.nz/performance-of-the-real

     

    Follow us on Facebook and Twitter on:

    https://www.facebook.com/performanceofthereal/

    https://twitter.com/performingreal

  • Symposium: Power and Performance: Revaluing Theatre in the 21st Century Murdoch University, April 23-24, 2019
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 4 Mar 2019
    We are delighted to invite you to attend the Power and Performance in the 21st Century Symposium to be held at Murdoch University on 23 and 24 April 2019.  Please find attached a detailed program to explain the framing, the key provocations and the key ideas to be addressed.  This is the final public event for the ARC Discovery on this topic.  The event is supported by the ARC and Murdoch University and the hosts are Helena Grehan and Peter Eckersall.  Please do circulate this invitation widely to colleagues, students and friends in the arts and beyond, and do come along if you can.
     
    We are really pleased to have gathered together a stellar line up of participants including a Keynote by Professor Janelle Reinelt entitled:
     
    The Power of Performance: Retrieval, Recuperation, Transformation.
     
    And presentations by: Asher Warren, Alexa Taylor, Eddie Paterson, Lara Stevens, Carissa Lee Godwin, Josephine Wilson, Paul Rae, Glenn D’Cruz, Janelle Reinelt, Peter Eckersall, Reneé Newman, Helena Grehan (Caroline Wake and Ed Scheer via Skype).
     
    Please do join us to help celebrate the end of this major research project by contributing to and continuing the discussion.

    All those interested are welcome to attend. To register please email:
    arts@murdoch.edu.au with the Symposium title in the subject line.


     
    Attachment:
  • University of QLD Creative Fellow Announced
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 26 Feb 2019
    The University of Queensland are pleased to announce that the 2019 UQ Drama Creative Fellow will be celebrated dramaturg Katalin Trencsényi. Katalin is the author of Dramaturgy in the Making: a User’s Guide for Theatre Practitioners (Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2015), editor of Bandoneon: Working with Pina Bausch (Oberon Books, 2016), and co-editor with Bernadette Cochrane of New Dramaturgy: International Perspectives on Theory and Practice (Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2014).

    During her fellowship, Katalin will be collaborating with staff and students at the University of Queensland, and also at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne. A number of her engagements are open to the public, and we warmly invite members of the ADSA community to join us at the following events:

    Public Lecture: “Theatre-Making — Dramaturgy in the Age of Big Data”
    Contemporary Western societies feed on overflow: burgeoning populations, mass production, a multiplicity of information, data, and news. For us individuals, as well as communities, in order to be able to manage and process this deluge, it needs to be contained and organised into some sort of order. So, patterns are recognised and created, details are omitted, and others are emphasised until an abundance of occurrences gains shape, meaning, and value. Stories are formed, narratives emerge, emotions are evoked. What is the difference between manipulating and emphasising truthful meaning? How can dramaturgy, the art of recognising patterns and thus creating meaning respond to this challenge? Since its inception as a separate profession, dramaturgy has been championing critical thinking in theatre-making. What is the role of dramaturgy in a post-truth society? This lecture will also attempt to answer the question: what is the ethical responsibility of dramaturgs and theatre-makers in the creative process in contemporary theatre and performance?
    Wednesday 20 March, 6.00pm — 7.30pm
    University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus

    More information and RSVP

    Research Roundtables: “On New Dramaturgy”
    In 1993 in Amsterdam a landmark symposium, ‘Context 01: Active Pooling, the New Theatre’s Word-Perfect’, took place focusing on the theory and practice of contemporary theatre. The initiators of this conference started out with the recognition of a fundamental shift in the dramaturgical landscape: that “in many countries a form of theatre is being produced which answers to paradigms other than the traditional (reflected significantly in the play’s dramaturgy), and the realisation that there is currently no terminology available to describe those paradigms in all their aspects“ (Van Kerkhoven: 1995). Through the pioneering work of Marianne Van Kerkhoven and her colleagues, this new paradigm, new dramaturgy, a process-oriented way of working, gained not only a name, but a growing terminology, case studies of its processes, and explorations of the questions it posed. This Roundtable event will be held in both Melbourne and Brisbane on the dates below, bringing together the editors of New Dramaturgy: International Perspectives on Theory and Practice with local panellists. The details of each are:
    MELBOURNE
    Thursday 14 March, 6.00pm — 8.00pm

    Dr Phillip Law Room, Elisabeth Murdoch Building, Victorian College of the Arts

    Panellists: Katalin Trencsényi, Bernadette Cochrane, Alyson Campbell, and Marcel Dorney.
    More information and RSVP

    BRISBANE
    Friday 22 March, 4.30pm — 6.30pm
    University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus

    Panellists: Katalin Trencsényi, Bernadette Cochrane, Stephen Carleton and Kathryn Kelly.
    More information and RSVP


    We hope to welcome you to one (or more!) of these fascinating sessions, celebrating the work of one of the world’s leading dramaturgs. For any questions about the events or Katalin’s visit, please contact Dr Bernadette Cochrane on bernadette.cochrane@uq.edu.au.
     
  • CFP International Interdisciplinary conference: INDELIBLE (Eng) / INDELEBILE (It)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 22 Feb 2019
    INDELIBLE (Eng) / INDELEBILE (It) –
    Representation in the arts of (in)visible violence against women and their resistance
    23-25 October 2019 – Adelaide (South Australia)
     
    Visual arts, performing arts and literature are instrumental in exposing the complexity of the numerous forms that violence against women and girls can take in the contemporary world, as well as exploring new and old forms of resistance. 

    Our interdisciplinary conference aims to contribute to the ‘glocal’ conversation on the topic of gendered violence and at the same time raise awareness of the global extent of the problem, by analysing ways in which both such violence and resistance to it are represented in the arts. While a key strand of the conference will concern the arts in contemporary Italy, its scope will be broad, encouraging comparison with other societies across space and time.

    In line with this aim, we welcome papers engaging with any of the following (and associated) topics, in relation to poetry, literature, theatre, opera, music, cinema or other visual arts:
     
    Family violence
    Places and sites of violence
    War, conflict and violence
    Migration, diaspora and violence
    Resistance vs politics
    Language and images of violence and resistance
    Myth in representations of violence
    Historical developments and representations viewed through a contemporary lens
    Activism and international campaigns (including #MeToo / #wetoogether / #TimesUp / Se non ora quando / Non una di meno / La violenza non è amore / Panchine rosse)
     
    Key-note speaker: Dacia Maraini (writer, dramaturg, screenwriter)
     
    Please send a 250-300 word abstract (in Italian or English) and a short bio to Luciana d’Arcangeli, luciana.darcangeli@flinders.edu.au, in an email titled “ACIS 2019 INDELIBLE-INDELEBILE”, by 15 March 2019. A selection of papers will be published in a special issue of a highly ranked journal or dedicated volume.

    This conference is supported by the Australasian Centre for Italian Studies (ACIS) and is part of the ACIS Visual and Performing Arts Research Group project
    INDELIBLE (Eng) / INDELEBILE (It)
    THE REPRESENTATION OF (IN)VISIBLE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
    AND THEIR RESISTANCE
     
    https://acis.org.au/visual-and-performance-studies/
     
  • CFP: Imagined Theatres No. 3
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 14 Feb 2019

    Deadline: 1 March 2019


    Imaginedtheatres.com 
    is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal and archive, dedicated to imagining what might be possible and impossible in the theatre. We publish microdramas, scores, stories, manifestoes, and essays, in prose and in verse. These short texts are paired with a critical response, or “gloss,” extending the argument or view of each imagined theatre in new directions. Imaginedtheatres.com supports creative criticism--creative work that acts critically and criticism that acts creatively. The journal releases issues annually, with thematic issues comprised of entries solicited from guest editors and un-themed issues devoted to user submissions. 

    The journal is an online extension of the book Imagined Theatres: Writing for a Theoretical Stage (Routledge, 2017), winner of the 2018 Excellence in Editing Award from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education.
    Prospective authors are encouraged to explore the website, as well as the book Imagined Theatres, for a sense of possible approaches. We emphasize the written word, but are open to submissions that take advantage of the digital form in interesting ways.

    We encourage the publication of shorter work, though there is not a prescribed word limit. While the themed issues pair each theatre with a response (or “gloss”), open submissions do not need to include glosses. Of course, you are welcome to submit both a theatre and its gloss if you would like. You are also welcome to submit independent glosses that respond to previously published texts; in this instance, please let us know which text you are referencing. 
    We accept submissions via email at submissions@imaginedtheatres.com. Submissions should be sent as attachment in a recognizable format (doc, txt, pdf, jpeg, etc), with the word “Submission” in the title, and should include a brief contributor’s bio alongside contact information. Please visit the website for guidelines. For more info or to contact the editor, write info@imaginedtheatres.com.
     
    Peer Review Policy
    Imaginedtheatres.com is a peer-reviewed publication. Submissions will be read by the Editor and at least one member of the Editorial Board. Any revision may be overseen by either the Board or the Editor. 
    Please note that all submissions must be previously unpublished, though they may have existed in other formats prior to publication. Following publication, authors are welcome to use their material as they wish, but we ask that any future re-publication acknowledge this journal.
    This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. We do not charge fees for accessing articles, nor for publishing or processing submissions.
     

     
  • SAVE THE DATE: Performing Arts and Justice Symposium.  5-6 September 2019. Massey University, Auckland.
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 14 Feb 2019
    Performing Arts and Justice Symposium. 
    5-6 September 2019.
    Massey University
    , Auckland.


    Bringing together performers, arts practitioners, researchers and 
    justice professionals to explore the role of theatre and performing arts within criminal justice in Aotearoa New Zealand and the world.
     
    Attachment:
  • October Issue of ADS now available on line (No. 73)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 4 Feb 2019
    ADS 73  now available online

    a big shout-out to ADS editor Yoni Pryor for getting the second issue onliine issue of ADS up! We realise it's late, but the process has been technically complex as she has had to deal with several "back end" issues.  Moving the journal online is an ongoing process. but we expect it to become easier as various systems are put into place.

    The journal is available to all current members - just go to the ADS Journal tab at the top of the ADSA website and click on "Current and Complete Issues".

    Happy new year everyone!
    Glen
  • CFP Performance Paradigm 15, Performing Southern Feminisms
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 4 Feb 2019
    Co-editors: Caroline Wake (University of New South Wales) and Emma Willis (University of Auckland), and section editors (TBC)

    From Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at the United Nations to comedian Hannah Gadsby on Netflix—the women of Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia have rarely been more visible on the international stage. Like their sisters around the world, the women of the Asia-Pacific raised their hands and voices in 2017 to say #metoo. However, regional differences mean that the movement has unfolded differently here. In Australia, strict defamation laws have stymied the naming of perpetrators and instead facilitated the effective “weaponisation” of the #metoo movement (Maley 2018). In China, women were using the hashtags #??? (#IAmAlso) and #MeToo??? (#MeTooInChina) until the tags were banned, at which pointed they switched to the user-generated nickname for the movement, ??, which translates as “rice bunny” but is pronounced as “mi tu” (Zeng 2018). [I apologise that the eurocentric operating system won't import Chinese characters - Prez] In other instances, the movement served to reanimate previous efforts, for example the Australia Council of the Arts’ report Women in Theatre (Lally and Miller 2012) and in the Republic of Korea, Seo Ji-hyun’s complaint against her senior colleague in 2010 (Haynes and Chen 2018). Now, twelve years after Tarana Burke first tweeted #metoo, and one year after it went viral, women are also asking themselves—what next?

    The aim of this issue of Performance Paradigm—an open-access, peer-reviewed journal now in its 15th year—is twofold. Firstly, to document and analyse the theatre, performance, dance and live art being made by and with cis- and trans-women across the Asia-Pacific. Secondly, and more ambitiously, to develop a theory and vocabulary of “Southern feminisms” for theatre and performance studies. In their recent issue on “Feminisms Now,” Sarah Gorman, Geraldine Harris and Jen Harvie remark on “the inadequacy of the term ‘feminist’ for non-white artists and scholars” (2018, 280). This “inadequacy” has particular regional resonances. For example, on the experiences of Pacific women, artists Lana Lopesi and Louisa Afoa write that, “The liberal feminist idea of a universal women’s experience can be unrelatable for women from cultures who have been victim to colonisation” (2015). Similarly, in her analysis of Hot Brown Honey, Sarah French draws on the work of Aileen Moreton-Robinson, a Goenpul woman of the Quandamooka nation, to argue that “Australian feminism has consistently excluded Indigenous women and … there are necessarily limitations to Indigenous women’s involvement with white feminists” (Moreton-Robinson 2000, cited by French 2018, 322).

    These remarks reiterate the argument Celia Roberts and Raewyn Connell make in the introduction to their special issue on “Southern Feminism” (2016). Drawing on Beninese philosopher Paulin Hountondji (1997), they point out that: “Theory is normally produced in the metropole and exported to the periphery, while the periphery normally produces data and exports this raw material to the metropole. All academic disciplines show these patterns; viewed as a whole, feminist, women’s and gender studies are no exception” (Roberts and Connell 2016, 135–36). Neither are theatre and performance studies, both historically dominated by North American and European scholars. Rather than solely seeking to add some Asia-Pacific data to feminist theatre and performance studies, this issue sets out to develop a theory. It asks: what might Southern feminist performance—and performance theory—look like if we were start with our own “peripheral” selves?

    We therefore invite contributions that problematise, extend and challenge what Southern feminism means in a wide variety of performance contexts including theatre, dance, performance and live art, ritual, activism, burlesque and voguing. Here we are thinking of everything from Arden’s diplomacy and Gadsby’s comedy to anything in between. We are interested in ensembles, solo artists, choreographers, company leaders, and community workers. Moreover, we invite appraisals of both feminist-identified performances and works that may not identify as “feminist” but that engage with the relationship between gender and power by way of their own cultural and aesthetic frameworks. While we do not wish to “colonise” artists who do not identify as feminist by naming them so, we do wish to broaden the parameters of the discussion in order to enrich the critical discourse. 

    Topics may include but are not limited to:
     
    • Pacific feminisms, mana wahine
    • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander feminisms, Indigenous/indigenous feminisms
    • Feminism, allyship, and “decolonising solidarity” (Land 2015)
    • Queer, trans and non-binary feminisms
    • Cultural paradigms that provide their own matrices for articulating the relationship between gender, power and cultural expression in performance
    • Feminism and religious identities
    • Feminism, migration and performance
    • Feminist epistemologies and dramaturgies
    • Feminist performance on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and beyond
    • Pink/pynk aesthetics
    • Intergenerational feminist performance
    • Ecofeminism and performance
    • Xenofeminism and performance
    • Postfeminism
    • Issues of industry, participation and representation

    Please send proposals of approximately 300 words to Caroline Wake (c.wake@unsw.edu.au) and Emma Willis (emma.willis@auckland.ac.nz) by Monday 18 February 2019. Full articles will be due on 31 May 2019 for publication in December 2019.


    Works Cited

    French, Sarah. 2018. “‘Talkin’ Up to the White Woman’: Intersections of Race and Gender in Hot Brown Honey.” Contemporary Theatre Review 28 (3): 320–331. https://doi.org/10.1080/10486801.2018.1475357

    Gorman, Sarah, Geraldine Harris and Jen Harvie. 2018. “Introduction: Feminisms Now.”
    Contemporary Theatre Review 28 (3): 278–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/10486801.2018.1487192

    Hountondji, Paulin J. 1997. “Introduction: Recentring Africa.” In Endogenous Knowledge: Research Trails, edited by Paulin J. Hountondji, 1–39. Dakar: CODESRIA.

    Land, Clare. 2015. Decolonizing Solidarity: Dilemmas and Directions for Supporters of Indigenous Struggles. London: Zed Books.

    Lopesi, Lana, and Louisa Afoa. 2015. “Body Language.” The Occassional Journal 2015 (“Love Feminisms”). http://enjoy.org.nz/publishing/the-occasional-journal/love-feminisms/body-language#article

    Moreton-Robinson, Aileen. 2000. Talkin’ Up to the White Woman: Aboriginal Women and Feminism. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.

    Roberts, Celia, and Raewyn Connell. 2016. “Feminist theory and the global South.” Feminist Theory 17(2): 135–140. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1464700116645874

     
  • About Performance 16: Fashioning Performance/Performing Dress
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 4 Feb 2019
    The latest issue of About Performance is now available online, as digital copies or in print: https://sup-estore.sydney.edu.au/jspcart/cart/Product.jsp?nID=1140&nCategoryID=41&fbclid=IwAR03DyseaQWu5MzSDtwPAf6_6ppL3zEnMJ7eA6aC1-thSg9qXKfc5k6Ip94


    About Performance 16: Fashioning Performance/Performing Dress 
    Editors: Rosie Findlay and Amanda Card 
    University of Sydney Dept of Performance Studies 
    ISSN: 1324-6089

    The mutual resonances accommodated by performance and fashion – and the respective fields of scholarship devoted to their critique and analysis, performance studies and fashion studies – provide a rich theoretical ground from which the articles in this volume have emerged. Their range and breadth mirror the parallel interests of performance studies and fashion studies in the historical and the contemporary, the political and the decorative, in texts and practices, and in the professional and the everyday. However, at the same time, we encourage readers to attend to the ways in which these concepts merge and flow into one another in these works, indicating towards the messiness and capaciousness of both performance, and fashion and dress. Here we encounter everyday dress as political, fashion shows as anti-Western, fashion images as live performance, costume as material memories of performances past, and an ongoing oscillation between text and self, cloth and body, surface and depth.

    Contents

    • Introduction, Rosie Findlay and Amanda Card
    • Tilda Swinton: Performing Fashion, Karen de Perthuis
    • Fashioning Protest: Suffrage as Dressed Performance in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, Harriette Richards
    • Model Tote Bag: Advice on How to Perform the Fashionable Self in Post-war Fashion Modelling Literature, Felice McDowell
    • The Feeling of the Fake: Antonio Syxty’s Fashion Works in 1980s Milan, Flora Pitrolo
    • The Anti-Western Fashion Show: Redressing the Indian Catwalk, Arti Sandhu
    • Dressing to Delight: The Spectacle of Costume and the Character of the Fop on the Restoration Stage, 1660-1714, Lyndsey Bakewell
    • Sartorial Remembrance: Exploring the Weave Between Costume, Memory, and the Performing Self, Rosie Findlay and Natalia Romagosa
  • CFP Special Issue: Carcerality, Theatre, Rights. Research in Drama Education
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 9 Jan 2019
    Schedule:
    Abstract due: 30 September 2019.
    Notification of Acceptance: 31 October 2019.
    First drafts due: 31 January 2020.
    Final copy: February 2021.
    Publication: Aug 2021, 26.3

    This special issue on Carcerality, Theatre, Rights invites submissions exploring the role of theatre and performance in challenging and resisting incarceration in its various forms. In particular, this issue is interested in practice and scholarship that engages with rights discourse in order to highlight the role of theatre and performance in resisting pervasive logics and technologies of carcerality. What role can theatre and performance play in highlighting the rights of those experiencing state sponsored marginalisation, control and imprisonment? And what role can theatre and performance play in challenging the exclusionary structures of carcerality?

    Carcerality
    Within the context of mass incarceration and surveillance, carcerality is becoming an increasingly urgent interdisciplinary field of research and praxis. With etymological origins to the Latin ‘carcer’ for ‘prison’, carcerality today covers a wide range of ‘spaces’, from missions, reserves and residential schools established to contain Indigenous peoples, to immigration detention centres, and the use of ‘black sites’ or secret prison facilities used to detain enemy combatants in the global war on terror. Carcerality also involves considering how surveillance and incarceration are connected to issues of race, class and gender. Currently more than 10.35 million people are held in penal institutions throughout the world, and since 2000 the world prison population has grown by almost 20% (Walmsley, 2016). This global trend, coupled with the increasing privatisation of justice, raises concerns about the potential negative impact of commercial interests on prison populations as well as concerns about the long-term sustainability of prison institutions and facilities (Jacobson, Heard, & Fair, 2017). Moreover, the colonial legacy of disadvantage, over-policing and over-incarceration continues to disproportionately affect Indigenous peoples in settler-colonial nations such as Canada, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand (Cunneen & Tauri, 2016; Webb, 2011). From the world’s largest open-air prisons of Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, to the refugee camps in Europe and the Pacific, to the immigration detention centres in the US, we are locking up and controlling more people than ever before.

    Theatre and Incarceration
    The ability of theatre to imagine new futures for incarcerated communities was documented in James Thompson’s seminal publication Prison Theatre (1998). Michael Balfour’s Theatre in Prison: Theory and Practice (2004) recorded developments in the field since Thompson’s publication. Certain recurring themes are present within this field: how practitioners frame theatre projects with incarcerated communities; the privileging of transferrable skills and therapeutic benefits that come from participating in performance; and the need for critical and methodological models to help evaluate these benefits to promote the use of theatre and performance within criminal justice. It is now 20 years since Thompson’s publication first questioned whether theatre in prisons is about humanising the system or about transforming it (Thompson, 1998, p. 16). Yet much scholarship and practice is still preoccupied with notions of utility. While this special issue does not seek to question the validity or benefits of theatre and creativity to incarcerated communities, we seek contributions that shift the discussion from considerations of ‘use’ to arguments that highlight the importance of art as a fundamental human right, and a potent form of resistance. We seek contributions exploring forms of socially engaged performance that are informed by activism and rights discourse. We also welcome contributions that embrace Indigenous, non-Western or de-colonising approaches to theorising the practice.

    Rights
    Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that “everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits” (UN General Assembly, 1948). Cultural rights are inseparable from human rights, as recognized in Article 5 of the 2001 UNESCO Declaration on Cultural Diversity, and can be defined as the right of access to, participation in and enjoyment of culture (UNESCO, 2001). Moreover, the rights of Indigenous peoples to their culture and intellectual and cultural property has been recognised by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) (UN General Assembly, 2007). Despite their recognition within international law, individuals, groups and communities continue to be denied their cultural and artistic rights. Moreover, a recent report assessing the global state of artistic freedom warns of the emergence of a new global culture of silencing others (Freemuse 2018). According to this report, in 2017, on average one person every week was prosecuted for expressing themselves artistically, while thousands of pieces of visual art, music, theatre, dance and literature were censored, vandalised or destroyed (Freemuse, 2018, p.6). Further, authorities might silence cultural expression within sites of confinement as a strategy for removing identity and agency, or use access to arts experiences as a form of leverage to encourage good behaviour and impose discipline.

    We invite artists, scholars, activists and community workers to submit abstracts for proposed articles that engage with the three key terms of this special issue: ‘carcerality’, ‘theatre’, and ‘rights’. We are particularly keen to hear from practitioners and scholars exploring theatre in prison. Possible areas of focus include:
    • Theatre and decolonising corrections.
    • Performance, incarceration, control and disobedience.
    • Performance and arrest as civil disobedience.
    • Theatre, incarceration and structures of exclusion.
    • Theatre, incarceration, participation and inclusion.
    • Performance, incarceration and the ethics of representation.
    • Performance in confined spaces and notions of immersive theatre.
    • Theatre and performance that resist cultures of mass incarceration.
    • Theatre and performance that resist cultures of surveillance and control.

    This special issue will be co-edited by Dr. Rand Hazou (Massey University) and Dr. Sarah Woodland (Griffith University). Abstracts should be submitted by 30 September 2019 to r.t.hazou@massey.ac.nz and s.woodland@griffith.edu.au

    Dr. Rand T. Hazou – Senior Lecturer in Theatre
    School of English and Media Studies, Massey University.
    Rand is a theatre academic and facilitator with experience working across a variety of creative and community contexts. In 2004, he was commissioned by the UNDP to travel to the Occupied Territories in Palestine to work as a theatre consultant running workshops for Palestinian youths. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Theatre in the School of English and Media Studies at Massey University. His research explores theatre that engages with issues of social justice. His research on Asylum Seeker and Refugee Theatre has been published in a series of international journal articles. In Aotearoa he has recently led teaching and creative projects engaging with both prison and aged-care communities.

    Dr Sarah Woodland- Research Fellow
    Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre, Griffith University
    Sarah is a researcher, practitioner and educator in arts, theatre and performance, with over 20 years' experience in the arts and cultural sectors in Australia and the UK. Sarah has facilitated projects with a number of community groups, including Daughters of the Floating Brothel (Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre 2015), a participatory radio drama exploring the history of female incarceration in Australia. Sarah is currently leading the project Listening to Country, a collaboration with incarcerated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to create an immersive audio work for the purpose of stress relief and cultural connection. Sarah's research interests are in Participatory Arts, Socially Engaged Arts, Community Arts and Cultural Development, Applied Theatre, and Prison Theatre.

    References
    Balfour, M. (Ed.) (2004). Theatre in prison: Theory and practice: Intellect Books.
    Cunneen, C., & Tauri, J. (2016). Indigenous criminology. Bristol: Polity Press.
    Freemuse. (2018). The State Of Artistic Freedom Retrieved from https://freemuse.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Freemuse-The-state-of-artistic-freedom-2018-online-version.pdf
    Jacobson, A., Heard, C., & Fair, H. (2017). Prison: Evidence of its use and over-use from around the world. Retrieved from http://www.prisonstudies.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/global_imprisonment_web2c.pdf
    Thompson, J. (Ed.) (1998). Prison theatre: Perspectives and practices. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
    UN General Assembly. (1948). Universal declaration of human rights. Paris: United Nations. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
    UN General Assembly. (2007). United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. New York: United Nations. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html
    UNESCO. (2001). UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001246/124687e.pdf#page=67
    Walmsley, R. (2016). World prison population list(Eleventh edition). Retrieved from http://www.prisonstudies.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/world_prison_population_list_11th_edition_0.pdf
    Webb, R. (2011). Incarceration. In T. McIntosh & M. Mulholland (Eds.), Ma?ori and Social Issues (pp. 249–262). Wellington: Huia Publishers.
    Williams, F. C. (2013). The embodiment of social dynamics: a phenomenon of Western pop dance within a Filipino prison. Research in Dance Education14(1), 39-56
  • CFP: Theatre & Performance Design. 'Theatre Architectures'
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 21 Dec 2018
    Editors Arnold Aronson and Jane Collins are pleased to announce that Dr Andrew Filmer, Aberystwyth University, has agreed to guest edit a special issue of the journal Theatre & Performance Design on 'Theatre Architectures' (Autumn 2019; Vol. 5 No. 3) and we are now seeking proposals for submissions.

    This special issue on ‘theatre architectures’ proposes an examination of the relationship between theatre and architecture that focuses on the work of scenographers, performance designers, and interdisciplinary spatial artists. Theatre and performance design is a field concerned as much with the authoring of social space and experience as it is about the specifics of design for theatrical performance. Scenography’s expanded and inclusive critical remit embraces a wide range of spatial practices and new media as well as exploring the agency and performativity of objects and materials. So, how are theatre and performance designers engaging with and re-authoring architecture, and what are the implications of this for the design of theatres and performance spaces? How are these artists’ projects redefining the possibilities of contemporary performance space?

    This issue invites contributions that explore how expanded practices of theatre and performance design can shift our understanding of theatre architecture and performance space and open up new possibilities for social exchange and interaction. Looking beyond the theatre building as historic artefact, this issue will consider how designers are exploring and exploiting the performativity of architecture and challenging its presumed fixity. Recognizing that site-specific, relational, and spatially inventive modes of working have in many respects rejected traditional theatre architecture, this issue will also explore how these practices can also re-enable theatres and performance spaces to perform valuable roles as dynamic sites of artistic production, communal gathering, and social expression.
    This special issue of Theatre and Performance Design, ‘Theatre Architectures’, invites contributions from scholars and practitioners in the form of scholarly articles, visual or photographic essays, interviews and dialogues/conversations.
    Possible topics include but are not limited to:
    • Interdisciplinary encounters between performance, scenography, and architecture
    • Artist-led approaches to the design of theatres and performance spaces
    • Projects and practices by architect-scenographers
    • The appropriation, occupation and/or de?tournement of theatre architecture
    • Critical and creative re-appraisals of existing theatre typologies
    • The spatial performativity of theatre buildings.
    • Performative relations between theatre architecture and urban space
    • Performance Architecture
    • Imagined and unbuilt theatre architectures
    • Theatre architecture and the construction/contestation of community and identity
    • Performance space at and beyond the edges of the urban
    In the first instance proposals should take the form of a 300 word abstract to be submitted to editorial associate Nick Tatchell at tpdjournal@arts.ac.uk by January 17th 2019.

    For accepted proposals the deadline for full articles, 6.000-8.000 words, or alternative forms of submission is June 24th 2019.
     
  • Shakespeare FuturEd Conference
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 29 Nov 2018

    Shakespeare FuturEd is an international conference exploring the nexus of Shakespeare Studies and Education to be held at the University of Sydney on Friday 1 - Saturday 2 February 2019. 

    PROGRAM SNEAK PEEK:

    Check out some of our accepted papers and workshops:
    • Talking about my Country – Connecting Shakespeare’s Tempest to questions of land, place, culture and identity in the middle school English classroom (Sarah Coleman, Trinity Anglican School, Cairns)
    • Slow Shakespeare (Rob Conkie, La Trobe University)
    • Shakespeare 4.0: Exploring the Bard in New Digital Media (Hannes Rall, Nanyang Technological University Singapore)
    • The Shakespeare Project - Be Fearless (Monique Johnson, Keebra Park State High School)
    • Bard 101X Reloaded: Student Driven Shakespeare (Lucy Potter and Dalestair Kidd, University of Adelaide)
    • Workshops by Tim Fitzpatrick, the Australian Shakespeare Company, Charlie Thomson (All Souls St Gabriels School), Gillian Neumann and Natalie Scott (Melbourne Girls' Grammar), Bell Shakespeare - with workshop topics including historical theatrical space, hip hop, grammar, Macbeth as a mean girl, and more!

    Shakespeare FuturEd CFP deadline extended to Friday 7 December 2018. We are still inviting submissions of 20 minute papers or 5 minute 'lightning talks'. 

    Find out more about the CFP here.

    We are seeking proposals for papers, panels and workshops that interrogate and experiment with new directions in Shakespeare pedagogy in theory and practice. We welcome proposals from primary and secondary teachers, tertiary educators, researchers, theatre practitioners, and anyone with an interest in Shakespeare and education.

    What does Shakespeare education look like now? Where is it headed? What are its accepted norms and critical problems? How is it theorised? How does Shakespeare education manifest in institutions such as schools and universities? How is it performed by theatre companies and community organisations? How is it affected and transformed by digital, virtual and blended learning initiatives and contexts? What is the role played by collaborative educational projects and informal learning environments? How does present Shakespeare education—its theory, practice and needs—relate to imagined or experimental futures for education?

    Ready to register? Registration is free and available via this link.

    KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

    Catherine Beavis, Professor, Curriculum, Pedagogy, Assessment and Digital Learning, and Deputy Director, REDI: Research for Educational Impact, Deakin University

    Joanna Erskine, Head of Education, Bell Shakespeare

    Laura Turchi, Assistant Professor of Education, University of Houston

    More about the Keynote Speakers

  • ADSA Statement on Ministerial Intervention in ARC Processes
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 2 Nov 2018
    ADSA, Australia’s peak body for theatre, drama and performance studies scholars, is deeply concerned and outraged over Senator Simon Birmingham’s vetoing of eleven Australian Research Council projects that had passed the rigorous assessment process, and were recommended for funding.

    It appears Senator Birmingham based his decisions to reject these projects on a very narrow interpretation of what’s good for Australia. However, Senator Birmingham does not have the expertise to assess the impact of these projects on Australia. Rather, he has speciously judged that the rejected projects focussed on the “wrong priorities” and were “out of step” with what most Australians would deem as important.  

    We understand that the projects may not be to Senator Birmingham’s taste, but his role was not to be a taste maker. Common sense is best applied to common problems; complex thinking, as reflected by these projects, is what’s needed for thoughtful and nuanced responses to complex problems.

    As an organisation that takes seriously the nurturing of junior academics, ADSA is particular disheartened that two of the rejected projects were for early career research scholarships. To have passed expert peer assessment is a testament to the talent of these two scholars, and their rejection by Senator Birmingham has not only stymied their personal career development, but is counter to the government’s ambition to reward ability and hard work.

    Our universities' international reputations stand or fall on the quality of our research performance. In order to maintain the integrity of the Australian Research Council grants processes, ADSA calls on Senator Birmingham to apologise to the affected researchers and for the Minister of Education, Dan Tehan, to immediately reverse the government’s decision and fund these projects.
  • Two Training Grounds Editors: Journal of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 31 Oct 2018
    Now in its 9th year, the Journal of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training runs to 3 issues annually and attracts contributions from scholars and practitioners across the globe. As part of our tenth birthday celebrations, we are planning to grow to four issues per year and these two appointments reflect our expansion both in ambition and audience reach. The journal’s co-editors Professor Jonathan Pitches (University of Leeds) and Dr Libby Worth (Royal Holloway, University of London) are seeking to recruit two Training Grounds Editors to work closely with them and with the rest of the Training Grounds (TG) editorial team, on this very successful journal, published by Routledge. 

    We seek two highly creative, motivated, organised and collegiate individuals with demonstrable specialisms in theatre, dance and/or performer training to join the rest of the TG team at this exciting moment in the journal’s growth. For the last nine years, we have been proud of the diversity of materials and innovation of writing forms offered within the pages of Training Grounds and with this set of appointments we hope to build on this track record, taking the spirit of the experimental backpages section into the journal’s main body.

    The new TG editors will work as part of a team, seeking out materials for the longstanding sections of Essais, Postcards and Visual Essays and adding to this provision with suggestions of new sections. They will also work alongside the revised Reviews section and with the two TG editors tasked with curating this material.  They may in addition feed into the operations of the TDPT Blog team, another important vehicle to attract practitioner voices to the journal.  

    In addition to the opportunities to shape the development of TG, working on TDPT will offer you unique insights into academic publication and provide you with opportunities to develop your own networks with scholars and practitioners, as well as to contribute to wider discussions about the content and continued development of the journal.

    You should be:
    • An active researcher of performer training with a good knowledge base of current published work in the field.
    • Networked nationally and/or internationally in performer training circles. 
    • An individual with some experience of editing and/or curating theatre related written work.
    • Interested and embedded in the contemporary debates concerning training and performance and committed to the principles of ethical research.
    • Highly organised, efficient with excellent communication skills.

    TG Editor’s responsibilities include:
    • Contributing to the development of an internationally ambitious Training Grounds identity within TDPT.
    • Establishing relationships with appropriate practitioners and scholars and encouraging high quality, vibrant content as submissions.
    • Working closely with the other TG and Review editors to ensure a fit with the TDPT ethos and style.
    • Liaising with the Journal’s co-editors and Special Issue guest editors to provide regular updates on the status and content of TG materials.
    • Acting as an advocate for the journal at conferences and symposia.
    • Attending where possible the Associate Editors’ Spring AGM (either in person or by Skype).
    • Attending the TG Editors’ Annual meeting, in Autumn each year.
    • Liaising with publishing staff at Routledge, Taylor and Francis as required.

    In keeping with the rest of the roles in the TDPT team, the post is unpaid but all travel and expenses will be paid.

    To apply please send a CV and a one-page statement of your relevant skills, and interests including your aspirations for Training Grounds’ future development to Thomas Wilson Thomas.Wilson@bruford.ac.uk, Jonathan Pitches
    j.pitches@leeds.ac.uk and Libby Worth libby.worth@leeds.ac.uk.

    For more information and an informal discussion please contact: Thomas Wilson Thomas.Wilson@bruford.ac.uk; Jonathan Pitches j.pitches@leeds.ac.uk and/or Libby Worth libby.Worth@rhul.ac.uk

    Deadline for applications is 5pm (GMT), November 9th 2018
  • CFP: About Performance #18: Perform | Health | Care
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 4 Oct 2018
    PLEASE NOTE: ABSTRACTS DUE 15 DECEMBER 2018


    For this issue of About Performance, we invite submissions dealing with aesthetic and social performance practices in contexts where the fields of arts and health collide or coalesce.


    Artists and healers have long had an interest in each other’s affairs — the connections run as wide as the figure of the shaman across so many of the world’s cultures and at least as far back as Aristotle when he cites the medicinal effect of certain melodies as an analogue to the cathartic effect of tragedy. Today, increasingly, we see health professionals turning towards performance-makers and other creative artists for support with a myriad of tasks: improving the amenity of hospitals and other health workplaces; enhancing our understanding of, and respect for, the patient experience; promoting better health and wellbeing in the wider community; helping to train health professionals in the supposedly ‘softer’ skills of their craft (ethical practice, teamwork, inter-professionalism, ‘sympathetic presence’ and empathy).

    Broadly speaking, the agenda here is one of ‘re-humanising’ the practice of healthcare, of re-evaluating skills and recommitting to values that seem under threat in many health systems. At the same time, many artists, including artist-patients, as well as scholars in health humanities and related disciplines, would want to extend this agenda to include a more rigorous critique of the underlying factors that place at risk a society’s capacity to care: the barriers of prejudice, discrimination, poverty and other social determinants of health; the rise of managerialism with its constant demands for ‘efficiency dividends’; the increasing specialisation within health professions; the hierarchical culture of health workplaces and the attendant bullying and harassment experienced by many workers; the particular challenges of caring for an ageing population, and so on.

    The arts in health are important therefore not just as an aesthetic supplement to the core business of healthcare or even as a model of the ‘care-full’ social performances we would hope to see more regularly and successfully enacted between health professionals, patients, their families and communities. Aesthetic performance practices might also offer the necessary distance for health professionals and health consumers to become critically reflexive—to see more clearly what values and identities are (re)produced by the performativity of health systems—and to intervene in processes of systemic change.

    Authors are invited to propose an article for this issue of About Performance which may wish to consider, but need not be restricted to, questions such as the following:

    Innovation and risk in arts-in-health practice
    Arguably, the early development of health humanities bought into the notion that lessons in empathy could be learned from exposure to a canon of ‘great’ artworks, as if by osmosis, without bothering to critique the assumptions underpinning this canon. How have these assumptions been challenged in contemporary arts-in-health practice? How are artists engaging with the interests and experience of people whose lives were never well represented in the canon: people of colour, women, LGBTQI people, differently-abled people, people living lives marked by deprivation and precarity? What new genres of arts-in-health practice are emerging? Where are the influences coming from? What are the ‘affordances’ of different genres? The default assumption seems to be that the arts are a safe way of dealing with difficult issues but the arts in health can also be very invasive—what is at stake and what is there to gain in these interdisciplinary dialogues?

    Art or instrument?
    Despite the openness of health professionals towards arts-in-health practices, the blunt realities of health funding require that they be able to prove the arts provide good ‘bang for buck’. What claims to efficacy are being made on behalf of ‘applied theatre’ or other arts-in-health practices? How are such claims evaluated and how robust are the findings? What matters of substance fall below the radar when discussion of arts-in-health practice must be shaped to match the distinctive disciplinary norms of arts/humanities and health scholarship, respectively? What do the encounters between arts practitioners and health professionals reveal about the logics of practice in these fields?

    Affect, Embodiment and Agency
    If, as James Thompson and others have argued, the affective dimensions of performance are every bit as important as any instrumental efficacy, what do we know about the ways in which these affective relations between performers and audiences work? What would a Geertzian ‘thick description’ of the processes by which an arts-in-health project unfolds look like? How do modes of embodied, inter-corporeal engagement between participants in an arts-in-health project compare to the everyday social performances within health settings? What sort of agency is involved when health consumers, including artist-patients, are using the arts to interrogate their experiences within health systems, reappropriating, for instance, the technologies of medicine and recycling its products in artistic projects that don’t always have neat and predictable objectives?

    Questions of culture
    How do patients, family members, nurses, doctors and allied health workers learn to play their respective roles within health settings? How are their interactions potentially influenced by representations of health practices in art and popular culture? Where and how does performance explicitly come into the training of health professionals? How is the potential of arts-in-health practice constrained or enabled in different ways in particular cultural contexts? How well do the assumptions underpinning various arts-in-health practices travel between different cultures?
    __________________________________________________________________________

    Submission Details and Information about the Journal
    In the first instance please send proposals/abstracts (200-300 words) by 15 December 2018 to the Issue Editors of About Performance #18:

    Dr Paul Dwyer (paul.dwyer@sydney.edu.au)
    Mr James Dalton (james.r.dalton@sydney.edu.au)
    Department of Theatre and Performance Studies
    Woolley Building (A20), Manning Road
    The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006
    Australia
    Please include a brief outline of your institutional affiliation, recent publications or creative work, your postal and email addresses. We will notify you within a month as to whether your proposal has been accepted.

    The deadline for completed articles (normally between 6000 to 8000 words in length) is 30 June 2019. Articles are then submitted to a peer review process and any suggested revisions are to be completed by 30 November 2019. This issue of the journal will be published in June 2020.

    About Performance is published by Sydney University Press and the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Sydney. The journal is available in print and online. Articles are peer reviewed in accordance with guidelines of the federal Department of Education and Training and the Australian Research Council.

    For more information, including the contents of previous issues, please go to:
    https://sydney.edu.au/arts/performance/research/publications.shtml
     
  • CFP: ADS Special Issue: The Actress in 21st Century Australasia
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 20 Sep 2018
    Edited by Mary Luckhurst

    This edition of Australasian Drama Studies (ADS) celebrates the wealth and diversity of extraordinary actresses in Australasian theatres and performance and investigates how their work challenges, enriches and advances the theatre industry and debates about acting. Authors are asked to consider the implications of the bigger picture of their argument as well as the specifics of their focus.

    Subjects for essays might include:
    • Actresses and the negotiation of celebrity
    • The representation of actresses in the media/by critics/in academe
    • Female roles on the 21st century stage
    • Actresses and indigeneity
    • Constructions of the female on stage
    • Working processes and the actresss
    • Actresses and independent/underground theatre
    • Resistive stage constructions and the actress
    • Actresses and mainstream stages
    • Actresses and their audiences/fans
    • Actresses, voice and accents
    • The actress/director
    • Actresses and musical theatre
    • Age and the actress
    • The female body on stage
    • The actress and star studies
    • The actress and the archive  
    • National stereotypes, nationalism and the actress
    • Actresses and hierarchies of power in the acting industry
    • The acting industry, ethics and the actress
    • Formally trained and untrained actresses
    • Comediennes and their craft/burlesque and the actress
    • Technology and the actress
    • Actresses, costume and fashion

    Essay abstracts should be no more than 400 words and clearly state the title, author/s and give a clear sense of what the argument or investigation will be. Essay length is a maximum of 6,000 words including bibliography. The deadline for essay abstracts 1 November 2018. Contributors will receive notification about acceptance by mid November. The deadline for final essays is 30 April 2019 and the journal will be published in October 2019. Please send essay abstracts to Mary Luckhurst m.luckhurst@unimelb.edu.au

     
  • New publication: Australian Theatre, Modernism and Patrick White: Governing Culture by Denise Varney and Sandra D'Urso
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 18 Sep 2018
    Anthem Press www.anthempress.com

    Book Summary

    In the early 1960s the board of governors of the Adelaide Festival of Arts in Australia rejected two Patrick White plays, The Ham Funeral in 1962 and Night on Bald Mountain in 1964. Australian Theatre, Modernism and Patrick White documents the scandal that followed the board’s rejections of White’s plays, especially as it acted against the advice of its own drama committee and artistic director on both occasions. Denise Varney and Sandra D’Urso analyze the two events by drawing on the performative behaviour of the board of governors to focus on the question of governance. They shed new light on the cultural politics that surrounded the rejections, arguing that it represents an instance of executive governance of cultural production, in this case theatre and performance. The central argument of the book is that aesthetic modernism in theatre and drama struggled to achieve visibility and acceptability, and posed a threat to the norms and values of early to mid-twentieth-century Australia. The recent productions indicate that despite the Adelaide Festival’s early hostile rejections, White’s plays endure.
     
    Advance Praise for Australian Theatre, Modernism and Patrick White
    ‘This timely book emphasizes the vitality of Patrick White’s plays and his contribution to current Australian theatre. Although White’s 1973 Nobel Prize was for his novels, Denise Varney and Sandra D’Urso present a compelling and detailed case for the drama’s enduring status. Their thoughtful exploration of the 1960s rejection of White’s drama reveals a radical challenge to types of modernist governance and sovereignty including the Australian separation from British culture.’ —Peta Tait FAHA, Emeritus Professor, Theatre and Drama, HUSS, La Trobe University, Australia

     
    About the Authors
    Denise Varney is professor of theatre studies and co-director of the Australian Centre in the School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne, Australia. She publishes on Australian theatre, feminist and women’s theatre, theatrical modernism, and theatre and ecology.
    Sandra D’Urso holds a PhD in performance studies and is currently a researcher at the Australian Centre in the School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne, Australia. D’Urso has published in the areas of theatre and politics, performance art in the twenty-first century, Australian aesthetic modernism and the plays of Patrick White, as well as in contemporary Australian poetry.

     
  • CFP:Hybrid Practices: Methodologies, Histories, and Performance
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 12 Sep 2018
    Annual Conference hosted by the School of Performing Arts at the University of Malta

    13, 14, 15 March 2019

    Keynote Speakers
    Anne Bogart (Co-founder and Artistic Director – SITI Company)
    Nicola Dibben (Department of Music, University of Sheffield)
    Royona Mitra (Dance and Theatre, Brunel University London)

    Convenors
    Frank Camilleri (University of Malta)
    Paul Allain (University of Kent)

    The sixth Annual Conference of the School of Performing Arts (University of Malta) considers hybridity in relation to performance, in particular the making, reception, and study of performance as practices emergent from heterogeneous sources. 

    In its most fundamental sense, hybridity refers to mixture and fusion, of species, races, plants, or cultures. The contemporary application of the term can be traced across various disciplines, from biology and chemistry, to linguistics, politics, racial theory, and popular culture. Developed from its roots as a biological term, hybridity is invoked in discourses about identity, multiculturalism, and globalisation. 

    The conference explores hybridity in an expanded sense that marks the coming together of performer and environment, materials and practitioners (including directors, designers, and technicians), performance and reception, event and analysis. Hybridity, therefore, as encounter, fusion, or grafting that informs and forms performance: as compositional and production strategy, as ensemble and assembly, as inter- and intradisciplinary endeavour, as inter- and intracultural phenomenon. 

    We call for presentations that investigate the ways in which performance and its study is bound up with questions of environment, encounter, and evolution that the concept of hybridity entails. We welcome case studies and conceptualisations that address these issues, whether or not they come from the performing arts. We are particularly interested in hybridity as it cuts across various aspects of performance, including the methodologies and processes that go into its production as well as the historical (analytical and archival) accounts of performance. 

    Presentation topics might include, but are in no way limited to, issues and themes of hybridity in relation to practice, methodology, technology, spaces/sites, and fluid identities. For example:

    •    the hybridisation of physical and digital elements in performance (intermediality, multimedia, mixed media, MOOCs, use of mobile apps) 
    •    inter/multicultural performance 
    •    analytical frameworks like postcolonialism, postphenomenology, sociomaterialism, and interdisciplinarity in performance
    •    historiography and ethnography as hybrid and evolving practices that involve diverse methodologies and technologies from various sources
    •    training processes and compositional strategies like devising, choreography, and ensemble work
    •    practice as research case studies and applied performance as hybrid methodologies and practices
    •    issues related to genre, including performance art, ‘total theatre’, opera, and other forms like music theatre, mime, and dance that can be conceived in hybrid terms

    Abstracts of a maximum of 300 words should be submitted in Word doc by 17 December 2018 to the conference convenors, Prof. Frank Camilleri (University of Malta) and Prof. Paul Allain (University of Kent), on this address: p21.spa@um.edu.mt. Acceptance will be confirmed in early January 2019. If an official invitation is required earlier for research funding purposes, please contact the convenors and ensure that you submit your abstract as early as possible. Abstracts should also include a brief bionote and any technical equipment you might need. Primarily, the conference will take the form of conventional 15-/20-minute presentations, but presenters wishing to suggest other forms are also encouraged to contact the conference convenors.

    The conference is organised under the auspices of Performance 21: Twenty-First Century Studies in Performance – one of the research groupings within the School of Performing Arts. P21 is committed to studying the twenty-first century through performance, to seeking new means and new meanings in the dynamic collisions of twenty-first-century practices, technologies, and theories, with the emerging knowledge benefiting practitioners and scholars across its transdisciplinary boundaries.

    The conference is supported by the European Theatre Research Network (ETRN) of the School of Arts at the University of Kent (UK).
  • CFP: Special Issues of Theatre Journal
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 4 Sep 2018

    Special Issue for September 2019: "Theatre and the Nonhuman"

    As terms continue to pile up to describe a condition, a time, or a mode of thought that must begin to acknowledge the nonhuman elements in a decidedly anthropocentric world--"becomings-," "post-human," "Anthropocene," or Donna Haraway's latest, "Chthulucene" (the tentacular or weblike series of interrelations with other species or "things," as Jane Bennett might put it)--Theatre Journal proposes a special issue devoted to considering the nonhuman in theatre and performance. This special issue turns to the nonhuman not as a turn away from the ongoing human concerns, indignities, and inequalities in the current global climate, but rather to suggest that a "nonhuman turn" might make us, as humans, more attuned and responsive to our reliance on nonhuman "others."

    Expanding the issues raised in Ric Knowles's 2013 Special Issue "Interspecies Performance," where "interspecies" emerged from intercultural and interdisciplinary concerns, this issue aims to examine and encounter nonhuman figures themselves within theatre and performance practices. In his edited collection The Nonhuman Turn, Richard Grusin proposes that: "To turn toward the nonhuman is not only to confront the nonhuman but to lose the traditional way of the human, to move aside so that other nonhumans--animate and less animate--can make their way, turn towards movement themselves." (Grusin, xxi) How nonhuman forms and figures move through theatre and performance is the focus of this issue.
     

    Theatre and performance have always relied on nonhuman forces--from stage spectacle to animals (live, pantomimed, imitated, or metaphorical), from technologies to environmental or site-based scenarios, from the chimeric figure to the mechanical robot. Nonhuman figures historically have populated texts and stages: from the Dog of Montargis to the robots of R.U.R; Actors "exit, pursued by a bear," and co-create figures with masks or puppets. Animals, chimeras, and spirits have also been central to ritual and religious performances. More recently practitioners have turned to bio-art, to cyborg figures, to environments devoid of human actors in an attempt to relate to or evoke the nonhuman. This issue then invites essays that encounter, analyse, and/or historicize nonhumans in theatre and performance, broadly understood. How and why has theatre traditionally addressed the nonhuman? How has the nonhuman been represented historically or in contemporary performance? How might the nonhuman begin to shift theatrical forms, texts, futures? 

    This special issue will be edited by Theatre Journal editor Jen Parker-Starbuck (Jen.Parker-Starbuck@rhul.ac.uk)

    Submissions (6000-9000 words) should be e-mailed to managing editor Bob Kowkabany (bobkowkabany@me.comno later than 6 January, 2019  

    Please Note: Theatre Journal tends not to publish essays that focus predominantly on one play or production.

     

    Theatre Journal

    Call for Papers

    Special Issue for December 2019: “Water”

     

    The 2011 appointment of an emergency manager to take over the city of Flint, under Michigan's controversial "Emergency Manager" law had disastrous consequences for the safety of Flint's water and the health of Flint's residents. The water crisis reverberated through the state, as water shut-offs began in Detroit, and protestors sought to block the state from allowing Nestlé to withdraw more water from its well in central Michigan. At the same time, climate change has brought about an increase in extreme weather patterns, leading to more frequent and more intense hurricanes and longer and more severe droughts. It also brings a rise in sea level, that threatens archives and architecture in Venice, and devastates communities such as the Ninth Ward in New Orleans. While water covers three-quarters of the planet, less than 1% is available for use. The United Nations predicts that by 2025, nearly two billion people will not have access to clean water.

     

    We invite scholars to submit essays that examine the relationship between water and performance, broadly defined. Essays might cover a wide range of water topics, including: Desiree Duell's A Body of WaterFire on the Water by the Cleveland Public Theatre, plays on water rights in the Global South such as Water! by Komal Swaminathan, Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses, the Vesturport Theatre's underwater finale to their production of Woyzeck, Juliana Snapper's performance in the underwater opera You Who Will Emerge from the Flood, drama-in-education and Theatre for Development water projects, creative protests for clean water, the act of water boarding, and water performance as a representation of community identity. What is an ethical use of water in performance and in spectacle? How might theatre be used as a tool for agitating for water justice? What is our relationship to water as artists, theatre scholars, and as human beings?

     

    This special issue will be edited by Theatre Journal co-editor E.J. Westlake (ej.westlake.theatrejournal@gmail.com).

    Submissions (6000-9000 words) should be e-mailed to managing editor Bob Kowkabany (bobkowkabany@me.com) no later than 1 February 2019.

  • New publication:What Matters? Talking Value in Australian Culture
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 24 Aug 2018
    Julian Meyrick, Robert Phiddian and Tully Barnett, with contributions from Heather Robinson and Fiona Sprott.  
    Monash University Press, 2018

    For authors Julian Meyrick, Robert Phiddian and Tully Barnett, cultural leaders and policy makers too often chase the perfect metric for activities whose real worth lies in our own personal experience.  When, they ask, did culture become a number and experience become data?

    The authors, now four years working collectively as Laboratory Adelaide, have researched the main challenge facing Australian culture today – how to demonstrate its value to governments, business and the public.  

    What Matters? charts a new way through an important debate stranded between the hard heads (for whom the arts are just another industry) and the soft hearts (for whom they are too precious for dispassionate analysis).

    As other sectors from sports to banks, churches to media platforms, reappraise their core purpose, this book argues our cultural values have likewise been distorted by political forces, the empty language of ‘function’ and methodological confusions.  For artists, managers, policy makers and board members, here are practical solutions to the current metric madness.  Say the authors,

     “The aim of the book is to rescue discussion about the value of culture from three flawed approaches – the bland but deadly platitudes of policy-speak; the obscure locutions of cultural theory; and the elitist ‘club’ talk that gathers around particularly high art forms. 

    As citizens of a multicultural, pluralistic democracy, we must be able to talk about the value and purpose of cultural activities in a way that makes sense both to artists and the public.

    Theatre director and Strategic Professor of Creative Arts, Julian Meyrick; Professor of English, political satire scholar and co-founder of the Adelaide Festival of Ideas, Robert Phiddian; and English lecturer and digital humanities expert, Dr Tully Barnett, reject the bogus idea that it is possible to measure the value of arts and culture without knowing anything about them.

    “There is no algorithm that will objectively rank an art gallery against a publishing house or a computer game company.  We have to acknowledge that culture only has value through direct, meaningful human experience. This is why What Matters? is full of actual examples.”

    The time is ripe to find a better way to value our culture – by finding a better way to talk about it.

     
    Attachment:
  • New Journal: Imagined Theatres Australia
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 14 Aug 2018
    Imagined Theatres Australia  is a collection of material from artists, writers, performers and directors/producers on their idea of an ‘imagined’ theatre if there were no budgetary or other constraints.  The project links to Daniel Sack’s book Imagined Theatres and Australia is the second site for the online version – the first being South Africa. It will operate, from now on, as a peer reviewed open-access online journal for artists and scholars. Submissions welcome (see flyer, attached).
    Attachment:
  • CFP: Theatre and Internationalisation and Barrie Kosky: Past, Present, Future
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 30 Jul 2018
    The Department of International Studies: Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Arts, Macquarie University, in co-operation with the Goethe-Institut invites abstracts for a joint conference in Sydney on 26-27 April 2019:

    Theatre and Internationalisation

    and

    Barrie Kosky: Past, Present, Future

    The conference will consist of parallel streams, joint sessions and a panel discussion at the Goethe-Institut on the above topics. 250-word proposals for 20-minute papers on any aspect of Theatre and Internationalisation in the contexts of Australia and/or Germany, Austria and Switzerland and/or any aspect of the work and influence of Barrie Kosky (the Australian Intendant of the Komische Oper Berlin) should be submitted by e-mail to both Ulrike Garde (ulrike.garde@mq.edu.au) and John Severn (john.severn@mq.edu.au) by 17 September 2018.

    Registration costs of $100 full price and $75 concessions include a light lunch on both days.

    This conference is supported by the “Staging Migration in Berlin: Opera, Theatre, Performance, Film” research cluster in the Department of International Studies: Languages and Cultures, Macquarie University.

     
  • CFP: Australasian Drama Studies Journal, General Issue (74), April 2019
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 20 Jul 2018
    Edited by Yoni Prior

    We invite submissions for the general issue of Australasian Drama Studies, Issue 74, April 2019.
    Essay abstracts should be no more than 400 words ,stating the title and author/s, and should give a clear sense of the proposed argument or investigation. Essay length is a maximum of 6,000 words including bibliography. Please also submit a brief biography and set of key words.

    The deadline for essay abstracts is 30th September, 2018. Contributors will receive notification about acceptance by late October. Peer review will take place through November. The deadline for final essays is 31st January, 2019 and the journal will be published in April 2019.
    Please note that the journal is now published online, so we welcome the integration of rich digital format such as images, video footage, sound files etc.

    Please send enquiries or essay abstracts to Yoni Prior at yoni.prior@deakin.edu.au

     
  • CFP: Performing Ecologies
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 17 Jul 2018

    Please note: the deadline for abstracts has been extended to 31 August 2018

    An interdisciplinary conference hosted by

    The Performance of the Real Research Theme

    The University of Otago, Otepoti/Dunedin, New Zealand

    21 – 23 November 2018

     

    Keynote presenters: 

    Emeritus Professor Baz Kershaw* (School of Theatre & Performance Studies and Cultural & Media Policy Studies, University of Warwick, United Kingdom)

    Louise Potiki-Bryant* (Ngai Tahu Choreographer - Dancer - Video Artist)

     

    The current “ecological crisis” has become a major contention, forming a variety of compelling performances which mediate and serve a complex nexus of political, ethical and social agendas. Indeed, many writers on ecology are increasingly arguing that we have to face the fact that the world is, so to speak, “in the shit”, and that, somehow, we have to learn to live with/in it. Besides attracting considerable media attention, there are questions raised around how performance – in a broad sense –might contribute to the discussion and work towards a more promising ecological future. By drawing together scholars and creative practitioners from a variety of fields to focus on the subject of ‘performing ecologies’, this interdisciplinary conference thus aims to provoke consideration of the role that performance and creative practice can and does play in our ‘learning to live with/in’ this “ecological crisis”.
     

    We invite interdisciplinary and discipline –specific responses to any of the following provocations:
     

    ·      Ecocritical research of and through performance

    ·      Media framings and performances of ecology, the “ecological crisis” and climate change (post-truth)

    ·      The performance of “nature” and particular environments

    ·      Ecomimesis (Timothy Morton, 2007)

    ·      The efficacy of performing ecologies; what performance might ‘do’

    ·      The use of the environment in performance – such as site-specific theatre

    ·      Dark ecology

    ·      Performances of apocalypse / dystopic future

    ·      Affective ecologies

    ·      ‘Morality’ performances and mediations

    ·      The performance of environmental activism/ protest

    ·      Performances of ecology in/for tourism

    ·      Ecologies in indigenous paradigms

    ·      Performances of the Anthropocene 

    ·      The performance of posthumanism and the environment
     

    We welcome abstracts for papers, performances, panels or other presentation formats, such as installations. Please submit a 250-300-word abstract of your presentation and a 150-word biography for each presenter by August 31, 2018. Please send us your abstract as a Word document, and use your surname as the document title. Please clearly indicate the title of your presentation, as well as your full name (first name, surname) and institutional affiliation (if relevant). Please send your abstracts or any enquiries to the Theme administrator, Alex, at performance.real@otago.ac.nz. 
     

    There are a limited number of travel bursaries available for postgrad students. Please contact the theme administrator for details.

     

    The Performance of the Real is a University of Otago funded interdisciplinary Research Theme. The project is to investigate what it is about representations and performances of the real that make them particularly compelling and pervasive in our current age. At its core is the study of how performance/performativity, in its many cultural, aesthetic, political and social forms and discourses, represents, critiques, stages, and constructs/reconstructs the real, as well as the ethical, social and form-related issues involved in such acts.

     

    Website: http://www.otago.ac.nz/performance-of-the-real

     

    Follow us on Facebook and Twitter on:

    https://www.facebook.com/performanceofthereal/

    https://twitter.com/performingreal
     

    *Louise Potiki-Bryant is a Ngai Tahu choreographer, dancer, and video artist. With her artistic practice Louise aims to honour her whakapapa (genealogy), and relationship to the whenua (land). Louise is a founding member and choreographer of Atamira. She has also choreographed for companies such as Black Grace Dance Company, The New Zealand Dance Company and ?rotokare, Art, Story, Motion.

     

    *Emeritus Professor Baz Kershaw is at the School of Theatre & Performance Studies and Cultural & Media Policy Studies, University of Warwick, United Kingdom, and is author of Theatre Ecology (2007). Baz has directed PARIP (2000-06) investigating performance as research. His projects in experimental/community/radical theatre include shows at London’s Drury Lane Arts Lab, with Welfare State International, and since 2000 several eco-specific events in southwest England. Publications include Politics of Performance (1992), Radical in Performance (1999), Theatre Ecology (2007) and Research Methods in Theatre and Performance (2011: with Helen Nicholson

  • CFP: The S Word: Stanislavski in Context Symposium
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 16 Jul 2018
    Annual Symposium organised by The Stanislavski Centre and The Department of Theatre Studies (University of Malta) in collaboration with The University of California Riverside.
     
    5th, 6th, 7th April 2019
     
    Venue:                        The Valletta Campus of the University of Malta, Valletta, Malta
     

    Keynote speakers:       Prof. Laurence Senelick (Tufts University)
                                        Prof. Vicki Ann Cremona (University of Malta)

    Co-conveners:             Prof. Paul Fryer (The Stanislavski Centre)
                                        Dr Stefan Aquilina (University of Malta)

    Creative Adviser:        Prof. Bella Merlin (University of California Riverside)

     
    Following on from the past three successful editions of the Symposium, we are very pleased to announce the Call for Papers/Presentations for the fourth major event of The S Word project.
     
    In choosing ‘Stanislavski in Context’ as its title, the 2019 edition of The S Word Symposium shows a dual ambition. It invites proposals that reflect on Stanislavski’s work within the social, cultural, and political milieus in which it developed without however forgetting the ways in which this work was transmitted, adapted, and appropriated within recent and current theatre contexts. The Symposium’s reach, therefore, is both historical as well as contemporary, and participants are encouraged to think of Stanislavski both as an instigator of modern theatre as well as a paradigm for performance practices within twenty-first-century training and performance scenarios. 
     
    We invite proposals for contributions in the following formats:
    • an individual conventional paper (20 minutes);
    • practical/workshop sessions (40 minutes);
    • panel presentations (a minimum of three participants) (60 minutes);
    • and, for the first time this year, practice-as-research sessions/practical presentations (20 minutes).

    In the first instance please send a short written proposal (no more than 300 words) to Prof. Paul Fryer (paul@paulfryer.me.uk) and Dr Stefan Aquilina (stefan.aquilina@um.edu.mt), to arrive no later than 30th November 2018. Please include a short bionote.

    Booking for this event will open on 1st September 2018.

    This event is generously supported by the School of Performing Arts of the University of Malta, and presented in association with Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance (UK).
     
  • New publication: Interdisciplinarity in the Performing Arts: Contemporary Perspectives
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 16 Jul 2018
    Dr Stefan Aquilina (Theatre Studies) and Dr Malaika Sarco-Thomas (Dance Studies), both of the School of Performing Arts of the University of Malta, have recently co-edited the publication Interdisciplinarity in the Performing Arts: Contemporary Perspectives (Malta University Press). The volume contributes to current discussion about the intrinsic interdisciplinary nature of the performing arts, while also identifying the potential which theatre, dance, and music have in creating bridges with other disciplines like neuroscience, social sciences, philosophy, pedagogy, and therapy.
     
    Featuring contributions from KU Leuven (Belgium), Royal Holloway (London), Ghent University, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Brazil), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the University of Malta, and Adam Mickiewicz University (Poland), Interdisciplinarity in the Performing Arts explores questions brought forward by approaches to performance that interweave theory and practice, through examples of methodologies, philosophies, interpretations, and applications of interdisciplinarity today. It should be of interest to scholars, practitioners, and students engaged in advancing practice and knowledge beyond the safety of segregated and well-trodden academic pathways.

    In this pertinent new volume, Aquilina and Sarco-Thomas bring together a timely collection of essays that articulate the potential, the potency, and the problem solving encountered in interdisciplinary research across the performing arts. Sharing methodological findings across a range of projects intersecting with neuroscience, philosophy, and the social sciences, this is a wide-ranging and persuasively argued book that engages with the practices and pedagogies of interdisciplinarity across both creative and academic arenas.
    -- Professor Maria M. Delgado, Director of Research of The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (University of London)?


    This is an immensely valuable collection that provides a much-needed contribution to understanding the nature of interdisciplinarity in the performing arts. Aquilina and Sarco-Thomas have selected and carefully structured a diverse range of case studies, rooted in historical, philosophical, and critical discourses, bringing welcomed attention to a broad spectrum of interdisciplinary practices and scholarly enquiries. Accessible, engaging, and occasionally provocative, the book will be an important reference point.
    -- Professor Sarah Whatley, Director of the Centre for Dance Research (C-DaRE) at the University of Coventry


    For more information about the book, including details on how to purchase it, please visit: https://www.um.edu.mt/performingarts/publications/form.

    The editors can be reached on stefan.aquilina@um.edu.mt or malaika.sarco-thomas@um.edu.mt.
     
  • CFP: Behind the Scenes: Journal of Theatre Production Practice (BTS) invites submissions for Volume 2.
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 5 Jun 2018
    This issue will allow for a broad range of papers in response to the growing number of researchers in the production disciplines of theatre.

    BTS is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal focusing on the technical and production aspects of live performance that aims to encourage the advancement of research into performing arts production processes. We actively invite discourse from researchers and practitioners with an academic interest in the theory of production practice.

    General submission guidelines: Papers should be 3000 - 6000 words, excluding references, with illustrations, figures and tables included in the body of the document. APA is the preferred style and referencing guide for submissions.

    Papers may be submitted online at: http://journals.sfu.ca/bts
    or emailed directly to Managing Editor, Dr Sue Fenty Studham at fenty.studham@depaul.edu


    Submission Deadline: 1 August 2018
  • CFP: Performing #MeToo: How Not to Look Away
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 15 May 2018

    Editor: Judith Rudakoff


    “Suggested by a friend: ‘If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too.’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.”

    This tweet by Alyssa Milano, sent on October 15, 2017, opened the flood gates to an outpouring of testimony and witnessing across the Twitterverse that subsequently reverberated throughout social media. Facebook status lines quickly began to read “Me too,” and the hashtag #MeToo was trending. Abby Ohlheiser wrote in The Washington Post on October 19, 2017, “#MeToo has produced a kind of unity by volume, but when you speak to individual women about it, you find a wide range of responses — empowerment, exhaustion, solidarity, trauma.”

    The original MeToo movement began a decade earlier, in 2006, when African American activist Tarana Burke adopted the phrase as part of her campaign to raise awareness of sexual violence against women. Today’s provocative campaign has inspired not only awareness, testimony, and witnessing, but also artistic response.


    This CFP invites the international community of scholars and artists to contribute essays to a book that will focus on the diversity of responses to and critical engagement with live performance emanating from or dramatizing issues and experiences central to the #MeToo movement.


    Essays might examine contemporary work, or adaptations of works from other eras, re-imagined in a #MeToo context. A wide range of cultural voices reflecting a diversity of perspectives is encouraged.

    Critical engagement with live performance that blurs boundaries between genres or is outside of conventional theatre form is also encouraged. (For example, discussion and close reading of Kesha’s moving #MeToo performance of “Praying” at the 2018 Grammy Awards.)


    Essays should document, analyze, and interrogate specific performances and the contexts that inspired them.
    Abstracts of up to 500 words should be submitted on or before June 30, 2018 (to rudakoff@yorku.ca with the subject line #MeToo: your surname) as a double-spaced MS Word file attachment and should include a brief biographical note and indication of professional affiliation.

    Anticipated production schedule (subject to change)
    1. Abstracts due June 30 2018
    2. Papers due December 30 2018
    3. Revised papers due May 1 2019
    4. Manuscript submitted to publisher (Intellect Books UK) June 30 2019

    Full articles will be due on or before December 30, 2018, and should be submitted (to rudakoff@yorku.ca with the subject line #MeToo: your surname) as a double-spaced MS Word file email attachment following the editorial style of Chicago Manual of Style 16th Edition. Articles should be written in English and 5,000-7,000 words in length (including notes), although shorter pieces will be considered. Please include a brief biographical note with the final submission of up to 500 words that includes your affiliation.
     
    Please address any questions to:
    Dr Judith Rudakoff
    Professor
    Theatre Department
    Centre for Film & Theatre
    York University
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    rudakoff@yorku.ca
     
  • book launch: Feminist Ecologies: Changing Environments in the Anthropocene
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 30 Apr 2018
    Edited by Lara Stevens, Peta Tait and Denise Varney

    This new volume critically engages with ecofeminist scholarship and defines ecofeminism as a multidisciplinary project.

    Feminist Ecologies: Changing Environments
    in the Anthropocene (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) explores a variety of perspectives on ecofeminism through case studies in diverse areas, such as the arts, politics, and the economics of the mining industry.

    'As this extraordinary collection of writings decisively demonstrates, feminist theory’s fundamental commitment to equality and justice make ecofeminism the most powerful intellectual framework for tackling the increasingly complex and urgent manifestations of the global environmental crisis... Feminist Ecologies will be an invaluable resource for thinking, teaching, and acting responsibly in and about the Anthropocene.’
    —Una Chaudhuri, Professor of English, Drama
    and Environment Studies at New York University, USA

    Event Details
    6.30 - 7.30pm
    Wednesday 2 May
    4th Floor Linkway John Medley Building
    University of Melbourne Parkville VIC 3010
    Admission is free. Bookings are required.
    RSVP: http://go.unimelb.edu.au/dit6
  • CFP: Australasian Drama Studies (ADS) Special Issue:Turangawaewae/A Place to Stand: Situating Contemporary Indigenous Performance in Australasia (and beyond)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 12 Mar 2018
    Turangawaewae is a term from Te Ao Maori (the Maori world) which is often translated as 'A Place to Stand', but refers to the concept of home, or traditional grounds/whenua. It is explained by Te Ahukaramu Charles Royal as “places where we feel especially empowered and connected. They are our foundation, our place in the world, our home.[1]
    Turangawaewae draws on the representation of home/place/culture/identity from inside and outside traditional landscapes, as well as connecting with the provocations of 'standing ground' or standing up. Prioritising the work and voices of First Peoples, this Special Issue will explore how Indigenous performances in Australasia assert, negotiate, share and challenge distinct places to stand’.

    Submissions might explore topics such as:

    The distinct ways indigenous performances are made and/or received, at ‘Home’ and ‘Away’;
    • Ways of reading and seeing indigenous performance in indigenous contexts
    • How to engage indigenous audiences locally, nationally and internationally
    • Challenges of working on and off country

    How indigenous performance negotiates cultural and artistic exchange on many platforms;
    • Trans-indigenous collaboration between artists across nations, and between artists and activists
    • Funding and Festivals: how indigenous performance is ‘placed’ and curated in a national and/or global framework
    • Negotiations between local and global, between the traditional and the contemporary

    How indigenous performances assert ‘place’;
    • The interweaving whakapapa (genealogy)of contemporary indigenous performance
    • Ecocentric representations of land and place
    • Themes of Kaitiakitanga (caretakership)

    The issue will be co-curated by Dr Nicola Hyland, Dr Liza-Mare Syron and Associate Professor Maryrose Casey. We are looking for a variety of submissions (max 6000 words), both critical and creative, which speak to these ideas. Please contact us for more information, or to send an expression of interest and abstract.

    Submission drafts are due by August 1, 2018.
     

    nicola.hyland@vuw.ac.nz    
    lizamare.syron@mq.edu.au
      
    maryrose.casey@monash.edu


    [1] Te Ahukaram? Charles Royal, 'Papat??nuku – the land - T?rangawaewae – a place to stand', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/papatuanuku-the-land/page-5 (accessed 12 March 2018)
  • CFP: Colloquium on the Work of John M. Clarke Massey University, Palmerston North, 25-26 May 2018
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 12 Mar 2018
    John Clarke (1948-2017) was one of Australia’s and New Zealand’s most accomplished and most celebrated humourists. From his early performances as the iconic character, Fred Dagg, to his creation of one of Australia’s most acclaimed screen comedies, The Games (1998-2000), and through his three decades of incisive comic interviews alongside Bryan Dawe, Clarke emerged as the pre-eminent antipodean political satirist, working across multiple media and formats. His influence was such that he did not simply embody the comic traditions of two nations but transformed and extended them. Clarke’s comedy occupies a central place in the cultural landscape of both countries that he called home.

    One year after his untimely death in 2017, contributors are invited to propose papers for a colloquium that will critically examine his life and work. The event will be held at Massey University, Palmerston North—the city of Clarke’s birth and childhood—from May 25-26. The academic program is planned to accompany several other events remembering Clarke’s life and work.

    Papers are welcome on any aspect of Clarke’s life and work, his relationship to comic and national traditions, his work across different media, and his role as a satirist, commentator and public figure. A limited number of papers may be selected for inclusion in a forthcoming 2019 special issue of the Journal of Comedy Studies [http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcos20/current] dedicated to Clarke’s comedy.

    Submission of Abstracts and Bionotes

    Abstracts should be no more than 500 words, including a title and any essential references.  Please prepare a word-document using Times New Roman 12 pt font and double spacing. The Call will close on 18 March 2018. Submit your abstract, accompanied by a 150 word bio-note that includes your affiliation and contact details, by email to:
    Dr Nicholas Holm
    English and Media Studies
    Massey University, Wellington

    N.H.F.Holm@massey.ac.nz

    Review Procedure
    Abstracts will be independently reviewed in the order received by at least two members of the Colloquium Scientific Panel, comprising:
    Nicholas Holm, Massey University, Wellington
    Robert Phiddian, Flinders University, Adelaide
    Jessica Milner Davis, Sydney University, Sydney
    Anne Pender, University of New England, Armidale
    Mark Rolfe, University of New South Wales, Sydney

    Correspondence about the Colloquium should be addressed to Nicholas Holm (see details above).
     
  • CFP: Performing the University (working title) an anthology about the concept of the university as performance
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 6 Mar 2018
    Volume Editors:
    James Arvanitakis (Western Sydney University)
    Peter Copeman (University of Canberra)
    Amanda Burrell (Western Sydney University)


    Universities are cultural entities, fashioned, refashioned and contextualised in specific social and historical circumstances, in elaborate and protracted processes. As such, they are constituted by behaviours that are learned, rehearsed, presented and re-presented over time as a series of performances.

    We can see parallels between performance events and the idea of the university. Performance events seek the productive immersion both of performers and of audiences in a co-constructed present experience of meaning-making, in a way where something significant happens to them, where they contribute to and shape what is happening, and where they are also conscious of the experience in a way that takes them into and beyond the present moment. Similarly, in the university, we search for ways to promote the productive involvement both of educators and of students in co-constructed experiences of meaning-making. This happens in a way where something significant happens to both, where they contribute to what is happening, and where they are conscious of the experience in a way that takes them into and beyond it.

    The vein is richer if we widen the scope to embrace the wider shades of meaning of performance, around notions of identity, agency, influence and efficacy.

    This book is primarily geared toward university administrators, academics, students, government education bureaucrats, politicians, and anyone else with a stake in the tertiary education sector and an interest in what universities are and do. It should also be of interest to the performance studies community.

    We invite chapter proposals for contributions representing a range of perspectives from performance scholars and practitioners, academics and researchers in other disciplines, students, university leaders and administrators, and others. Contributions might explore the broad notion of the university as performance as touched on above, but might also apply a more specific performance studies lens to themes such as:
    • The university as a site of improvisation.
    • Assessment of institutional, team and individual staff achievement, efficacy and impact, against predetermined criteria such as key performance indicators, including notions of the performative university where performative has a narrow meaning around measurements of efficiency, accountability, and meeting the demands of the market.
    • Outward-facing front stage impression management by universities via branding artefacts such as websites, social media, strategic plans and so on, compared with actual back stage experiences for staff, students and other stakeholders.
    • Gamification of university staff performance management, recognition and reward.
    • The dramaturgy of curriculum design and delivery, research and publication, academic career-building.
    • Student liminality, identity-building and becoming.
    • Masking and unmasking in teaching, research, and university administration.
    • The performance of academic expertise and credibility in a post-truth era.
    • Celebritisation of academic rockstars.
    • Universities as gendered organisations.
    • Metaphors of teaching, learning and assessment as performance.
    • The explicit adaptation and application of performance techniques in university teaching and learning contexts (e.g. public speaking and presentation, language learning, clinical simulation).  
    • University ceremonies, rituals and costumes, whether formal or informal.
    • The representation of universities, academics and students in theatre, film, television, song, music, dance or other performance events.
    • The status of explicit performance schools within universities, and the influence of the presence of such schools on overall institutional performance.
    This list is not exhaustive. We invite other interpretations that assert a good fit with the book concept. Please feel free to contact Peter Copeman peter.copeman@canberra.edu.au for an initial discussion to help determine likely suitability.

    We also propose to include a bibliography of previously publications that could otherwise have been eligible for consideration for this book, and so invite submissions either of copies of such publications or links to them, together with a paragraph or so for each outlining a case for why they should be considered.

    The deadline for proposals is Tuesday 3 April 2018.

    Proposal Guidelines
    Email a 300-400 word abstract to Peter Copeman (peter.copeman@canberra.edu.au).
    Please include a 150-200 word bio highlighting your performance/performance studies or related credentials.
    Final length of accepted manuscripts will be 4000-6000 words.
     
  • New publication: Elfriede Jelinek Goes Australia: Indigenising an Austrian Nobel Prize Winner (2017); edited by Andre Bastian
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 26 Feb 2018
    Austrian writer and 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature winner Elfriede Jelinek has never shied away from bringing up painful issues within the discourse of modernity. In her oeuvre of over sixty plays and novels she has worked time and again on a vast variety of related topics spanning from the repression of the weak to the fascisms of everyday life in consumerist societies.

    Elfriede Jelinek Goes Australia: Indigenising an Austrian Nobel Prize Winner is the first volume entirely published on Jelinek’s work in Australia and gathers a series of analyses around Princess Dramas at Red Stitch Actors Theatre—the first-ever production of one of her plays on an Australian stage, in Melbourne, 2011. It discusses questions of the Austrian writer’s complex writing strategies, potential problems of cultural transfer, the international reception of Jelinek’s work, and the contribution her work for theatre can make to a series of fundamental aspects of the global discourse of current times: feminism, sports and racism.

    ISBN: 9781925588514

    North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing

    Further Information: http://www.scholarly.info/book/573/
  • CFP: Popular Entertainments Working Group, IFTR 9-13 July 2018
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 13 Dec 2017

    The Popular Entertainments Working Group will be meeting again during the next conference of the International Federation for Theatre Research, 9-13 July, at the University of Arts, Belgrade, Serbia, and invites proposals from scholars, scholar-practitioners, emerging researchers, and those joining the Working Group for the first time. Occasional attendees and members who are not presenting are also welcome to participate.

    Call for papers

    The Popular Entertainments Working Group invites papers that either engage with the conference theme, or that explore areas of ongoing interest in the study of popular entertainments. In 2018 the Popular Entertainments Working Group is particularly interested in papers which address:

    a) popular entertainments as part of the wider ecology of theatre;

    b) methodologies used by researchers in the field of popular entertainments; 

    c) papers that span a combination of these two;

    d) and papers that address the main theme of the 2018 IFTR conference.

       

    Popular entertainments within the ‘legitimate’ theatre ecology

    Over its ten-year history the working group has largely been engaged in a project of recuperation, of uncovering varieties of popular entertainment, and of giving them a place ‘at the academic table’, so to speak. As many of the papers presented in the working group indicate, however, popular entertainments are an integral part of theatre ecology.  The working group is interested in papers that bring to light the importance of the popular within ‘high’ art practices, or that provide links between the ‘legitimate’ and the ‘illegitimate’. Topics might include, for example:

    • Transfer of practices between ‘high’ and ‘low’;
    • Performers who work/ed across genres;
    • Technological advances stemming from popular entertainments;
    • The changing status of entertainment/art forms e.g. contemporary circus

    Methodology

    The working group is also interested in papers concerning the following:

    • What are appropriate methodologies for research in popular entertainments, given the often highly ephemeral nature of performances and the often limited archival record of them? 
    • What are the common sources/methods used, and what difficulties do these present to the researcher? 
    • What is the ‘archive’?   What are the sources commonly being used within our

    practice, and what are the possibilities and limitations?

    • Alternative ‘archives’: what are they, what these might consist of?
    • Approaches to reconstruction of an ephemeral performance practice;
    • Oral histories: possibilities and limitations;
    • ‘Accidental research’: into what strange byways do the limitations of the archive send (or lead) the researcher working in the field of popular entertainments?   

    Submission of Abstracts
    Abstracts of 250-300 words should be submitted no later than 15 January 2018. Please specify ‘Popular Entertainments’ working group when submitting your abstract at:
    https://www.iftr.org/conference/abstract-submission
     
    The full text of participants’ papers (no more than 5000 words) should be emailed to the convenors as a Word attachment by 10 June 2017. Papers will then be distributed to members of the group for reading and a discussant will be allocated to each.
     
    Structure of Working Group Meetings
    The Popular Entertainments Working Group operates by circulating members’ draft papers (up to 5000 words in length) in advance of the conference, enabling a more focused discussion at our meetings. Once papers are circulated (usually a month prior to the conference), participants are then asked to nominate another paper they’d like to moderate. At our meetings during the conference, we allocate approximately twenty minutes for discussion of each paper. Members are asked to speak about their research for ten minutes; visual or AV material that amplifies or supports their paper in some way is encouraged. (As all papers are read in advance, presenters are not required to provide an oral summary of their paper.) The moderator previously assigned to the paper will then lead the remaining ten minutes of discussion.

    The joint convenors of the Popular Entertainments Working Group are Dr Gillian Arrighi, Senior Lecturer, School of Creative Industries, University of Newcastle, Australia Gillian.Arrighi@newcastle.edu.au and

    Dr Mikael Strömberg, University of Gothenburg, Sweden mikael.stromberg@lir.gu.se

     

  • CFP: Theatre and Architecture Working Group, IFTR 9-13 July 2018
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 8 Dec 2017

    Theatre, nation and identity: between migration and stasis

    The Theatre Architecture Working Group invites proposals from new and existing members for the 2018 IFTR World Congress

    Deadline for bursary applications: 10 December 2017

    Deadline for proposals: 15 January 2018

    The purpose of the Theatre Architecture Working Group is to explore all that theatre architecture has been historically, is at present, and might be in the future, while also asking how else the disciplines of theatre and architecture intersect. For our forthcoming meeting during the IFTR World Congress in Belgrade, Serbia, we invite proposals which engage with the main conference theme: ‘Theatre, nation and identity: between migration and stasis’. Focused on the term migration, this theme poses the question, ‘how have theatre and performance responded to issues of exile, displacement and Otherness?’ It also asks how the notion of migration might be used to think about the mobility of bodies and the mixing and cross-fertilization of forms, practices and ideas.

    For our meeting in Belgrade we invite new and existing members from diverse disciplinary backgrounds to submit proposals which investigate how theatre architecture and/or the relationship between theatre and architecture might be understood through the associated concepts of migration, mobility and stasis.

    Proposals may address (but are not limited to):

    • Spatial performativity and architecture/theatre architecture
    • Open, closed, mobile, or nomadic theatres
    • Impermanent, transient or porous spaces of performance
    • The mixing and remixing of concepts and practices between theatre and architecture
    • The migration of architectural and/or theatrical conventions and styles across nations and cultures
    • Choric spaces: dynamic, choreographic spaces of performance
    • Borders as theatrical spaces and sites of performance (see Nield 2006)
    • Issues of exclusion, containment and restriction
    • Theatres and other sites of performance in times of war and geopolitical and/or cultural upheaval
    • The encounter of mobile, moving bodies and architecture/theatre architecture
    • Theatre architecture and the construction/contestation of community and identity
    • Theatre architecture and processes of political, social and cultural change
    • Theatres as places of stasis in a dizzyingly mobile world
    • The appropriation and/or détournement of monumental architectures/theatre architectures
    • Artist-led approaches to the design of new theatres and spaces of performance
    • Empty and abandoned theatres
    • Temporality, materiality and theatre architecture
    • Speculative, imagined and unbuilt theatre architectures
    • Theatre architecture and ecological aesthetics

    During the IFTR World Congress in Belgrade we also warmly welcome new members who wish to take part in the group's discussions, but who do not want to submit a paper.

    Submission Procedures

    Abstracts should be submitted through the Cambridge Core website https://www.cambridge.org/core/membership/iftr where you can also find information on membership and a link to the conference website. When you submit your abstract please make sure that you indicate that you are submitting to the Theatre Architecture Working Group. Please also send a copy of your abstract to the Working Group conveners via email. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 15 January 2018.

    Our Process

    The Theatre Architecture Working Group works by circulating papers (of approximately 3,000 words) to members in advance of the conference. For our meeting during the IFTR conference in Belgrade speakers will be invited to speak for no more than fifteen minutes and will be paired with a respondent from the group who will offer a brief response. This presentation and response format will then be followed by further discussion by the group. This format is structured to encourage more in-depth exchange and a constructive and supportive ‘workshopping’ of members’ papers than is normally the case with standard conference panels.

    We ask that speakers email copies of their papers to the conveners by July 1, 2018, for uploading to the group’s shared Dropbox. We also strongly encourage members to attend every session of the Working Group during the conference so as to contribute to discussion throughout.

    Further Information about the Theatre Architecture Working Group

    https://www.iftr.org/working-groups/theatre-architecture

    Bursaries

    In its aim to foster international exchange, the IFTR offers financial aid to scholars wishing to participate in its Annual Conference. These bursaries are awarded on the basis of merit, relevance to the conference or Working Group theme, and financial need. For information and instructions about bursaries, and to download the application form, please visit: https://www.iftr.org/conference/bursaries

    Working Group Conveners

    Dr. Andrew Filmer: awf@aber.ac.uk

    Dr. Juliet Rufford: juliet.rufford@gmail.com
  • CFP: IFTR CONFERENCE 2018 // THEATRE AND MIGRATION POLITICAL PERFORMANCES WORKING GROUP
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 4 Dec 2017
    We would like to invite researchers to submit their work for discussion at the Political Performances Working Group meeting at the 2018 IFTR conference, which will take place on 9-13 July in Belgrade, Serbia.
     
    Presentation formats

    For IFTR 2018 we plan to curate presentations in a variety of formats, including 15/20 min papers, performance presentations, shorter provocations, and round tables. If you have a preference for a particular presentation format or would like to team up with other colleagues for a panel, please indicate so in your abstract submission. Depending on the type of presentation, colleagues may be asked to share their work with other members in advance of the conference to facilitate deeper and longer discussions at the conference.

    IFTR 2018: Call for Papers

    The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Theatre and Migration’, a pressing area of enquiry that directly relates to the preoccupations of the Political Performances Working Group. As such, we encourage colleagues to address the general CFP for specialist discussion within the Working Group meetings. As noted in the CFP, possible topics include but are not limited to:

     
    ·       Migration/ national identity/ national theatre
    ·       Performing borders
    ·       Access and mobility
    ·       Theatre history and historiography of migration
    ·       Migrating histories
    ·       The nascence and consequences of stasis
    ·       Creating and deconstructing stasis
    ·       Identity politics and the ‘humanism of the other’
    ·       Gender, race, ethnicity, and performances of belonging
    ·       Language and translation
    ·       Performing migratory geographies
    ·       Stasis as a counterpoint in a world of velocity and constant movement
    ·       Staging the paradox of hospitality
    ·       Theatres of migration, mobility, and citizenship
    ·       Performing stasis
    ·       Stasis as a possible solution to the postmodern state
    ·       Postmodern stasis as vacuum filled with or without meaning
    ·       Political theatre and migration
    ·       Performing community and displacement
    ·       Theatre of migrants/theatre for migrants
    ·       Ethics and agency of staging the Other
    ·       Open, closed and mobile spaces of performance
    ·       Migrating aesthetics
    ·       Theatre, migration & spectatorship
    ·       Migrating audiences
    ·       Migration, mutation, appropriation
    ·       Migration as the release of tensions
    ·       Performances of inclusion—migration and cultural policy
    ·       Migration, participation and delegated performance
    ·       Media, migration, theatre
    ·       Affect and efficacy
    ·       Theorizing migration and theatre
    ·       Ecologies of theatre and migration
     
    Delegates

    The Political Performances Working Group welcomes new members and is keen to hear from academics across all career stages and geographical locations.

    Submitting your abstract

    Abstracts for the Political Performances Working Group should be submitted through Cambridge Core by 15th January 2018.

    In order to make a submission, you will need to become a member of IFTR first. If you already have a Cambridge Core account, you can download instructions on how to join IFTR here. If you do not have a Cambridge Core account, you can download instructions on how to join IFTR here.
  • CFP: Performance Paradigm 14, Performance, Politics and Non-Participation
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 30 Nov 2017

    Co-editors: Caroline Wake (UNSW, Sydney) and Emma Willis (University of Auckland)

    I would prefer not to. —Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853)

    Like Bartleby, the legal clerk who famously decides that he would prefer not to, this issue of Performance Paradigm—an open-access, peer-reviewed journal now in its 14th year—investigates the politics and performance of non-participation. The figure of Bartleby appears everywhere in political theory and philosophy: in Gilles Deleuze’s “Bartleby, ou la formule” (1989); in Giorgio Agamben’s companion piece (1993; published in English 1999); in Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s Empire (2000); and in Slavoj Žižek’s The Parallax View (2010). In performance, his spirit manifests in Noor Afshan Mirza and Brad Butler’s project Museum of Non-Participation (from 2007). In performance scholarship, he recently appeared in Daniel Sack’s After Live: Possibility, Potentiality and the Future of Performance (2015). Perhaps we hear him in phrases such as “don’t do it on my account” and catchphrases such as “computer says no”. We might even see him, his slogan printed on a bag or a t-shirt. What are we to make of the fact that more than 160 years after Bartleby first appeared, both pizza ads and productivity coaches proclaim: “No is the new yes” (Huffington Post 2012; Kellaway 2017; Schwartz 2012)? And what is the difference between the “no” and the “non” when it comes to participation? One can choose not to participate (refuse) or one may be excluded from participation, which is altogether different. Is to refuse important in and of itself or should it build towards action; is it, in fact, more a type of action—a striking against—than non-participation?

    Participation and performance have been well theorised by Jen Harvie (2013), Josephine Machon (2013), and Adam Alston (2016), among others. This journal issue extends that work by examining participation’s silent siblings: withdrawals, refusals, boycotts, strikes, and even the occasional sulk in the corner. So many participatory performances rely on a mode of compulsory conviviality that eventually becomes coercive. In Helen Iball’s memorable phrase, spectators generally want to “give good audience” so that the artist’s work may “work” (Heddon, Iball and Zerihan 2012: 124). Except when they don’t. Sometimes audiences don’t feel like swallowing the strawberry (Heddon, Iball and Zerihan 124) or tipping the bucket icy water over the performer (Cairns 366). Or, having done so, they feel remorse not only at their actions but at doing the artist’s bidding so easily (Cairns 366). On other occasions, audiences do want to participate but find themselves excluded because an artist has not factored in different regimes of the senses and their associated accessibility needs. On still other occasions, artists and audiences have conscientious objections—to structures, to sponsors, to subject matter—in which case they might boycott the event (Warsza 2017). In these instances, the artist never arrives at the scene of the performance and this becomes, in turn, the artwork.

    The irony of inviting you to participate in this issue of Performance Paradigm is not lost on us. Nevertheless, we seek papers on any of the following topics listed below. We also welcome other provocations, suggestions and replies:

    • Non-participation versus refusal and the question of volition
    • Suspension, inaction, non-production, inoperability
    • Withdrawals, boycotts, strikes, and strike-breaking
    • Voting and abstaining
    • Interactivity, unhappy compliance, and cheery refusals
    • Diversity, access, and “differential inclusion” (Mezzadra and Neilson 2013)
    • Uninviting aesthetics (to rewrite White 2013)
    • The operations of consent in theatre and performance (see LaFrance 2013)
    • Permissions, waivers, and disclaimers
    • Curfews, bans, and censorship
    • “I can’t work under these conditions!”
    • Humour as refusal
    • On “slow scholarship” (Mountz et al 2015) and other academic subversions of the participatory imperative

    Please send proposals of approximately 300 words to Caroline Wake (c.wake@unsw.edu.au) and Emma Willis (emma.willis@auckland.ac.nz) by Monday 15 January 2018. Full articles will be due on 31 May 2018 for publication in December 2018.

  • CFP: WHY DEVISE? [working title]
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 13 Nov 2017
    PLEASE NOTE: DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS 15 JANUARY 2018

    Volume editors Heather Fitzsimmons-Frey & James McKinnon

    Devised theatre, performance creation, collective creation, performer-created theatre – by these or many other names, “devising” is increasingly visible in the global theatre industry, and as such it invites attention in post-secondary theatre studies and training contexts. How and why is devising embraced (or not) in advanced training centres, universities, and colleges? What are the perceived risks and rewards? While there are many collections suggesting techniques for devising, or analysing devised practices and projects (Barton 2008; Bicat and Baldwin 2002; Milling and Heddon 2005; Oddey 1994), this collection seeks contributions examining devising and performance creation in the contexts of post-secondary teaching, training, and research. Editors Heather Fitzsimmons Frey and James McKinnon are looking for essays investigating the purposes, practices, and outcomes of devised theatre projects in institutions of higher learning and/or advanced training.

    This book is geared toward practitioners, students, scholars, and anyone with a stake in the issue of what post-secondary drama, theatre, and performance programs do—and for whom. We invite practice-based approaches reflecting current research, and/or case studies focusing on how devising aligns with or challenges the traditional disciplinary boundaries, praxes, and policies. Acknowledging that our curricula and practices vary enormously worldwide, we seek contributions representing a range of perspectives (including students, alumni, industry professionals, scholars, scholar-artists, and others) on “devising” in a variety of post-secondary educational contexts, including (but not limited to): liberal arts, drama in education, applied theatre, and conservatory training programs. Essays might explore any of the following areas:
    • Pedagogy: What do we learn from devising? How does this learning prepare students for life after study, either in or out of the professional theatre contexts? How are outcomes (for both faculty and students) defined and evaluated?  How does devising align with—or how can it be aligned with—evidence-based theories of teaching and learning? What special risks or rewards does it offer? What assumptions about student learning and devised projects do educators need to reconsider?
    • Inquiry: How does devising present or catalyze unique opportunities for participants to practice and/or participate in inquiry, investigation, and dissemination, or interdisciplinary scholarship?
    • Diversity: How do devising projects address local contexts, cultural difference, language, previous theatrical skill training and performance traditions? How, for example do potential identity markers like racial constructs, gender, sexuality, ability and disability, age, religious affiliation, or language knowledge influence planning, process, and reception of the projects?
    • Tradition, lineage, and methodology: Through what channels do knowledge and techne of devising and performance creation—including well-known systems such as the RSVP Cycles—flow between training institutions and practitioners?
    • Devising and Campus Theatre Production: How do theatre and performance training programs position student-devised new work in their public performance mandates? When (and why) is this work featured, or marginalized?
    • Devising’s mantras and myths: What clichés, truisms, and assumptions need to be carefully examined and re-evaluated when placed in post-secondary/tertiary training and education contexts?
    • Disciplinary division: Embracing devising implies moving away from traditional models of drama studies and theatre production; how do practitioners, students, scholars, and programs perceive and address this implication?
    • Industry and stakeholders: How does training in performance-making and devising align with our perceptions of what the theatre industry needs, and what graduates need to succeed in it? Contributors may also want consider professional contexts like drama therapy, drama educator, community facilitator, cultural venue animator, etc.
    Submission guidelines:
    • Email a 300-500 word abstract to both editors: James McKinnon (james.mckinnon@vuw.ac.nz) and Heather Fitzsimmons Frey (fitzfrey@yorku.ca)
    • Please include a 150 word bio and/or 2 page CV highlighting your creative & scholarly contributions.
    • Final length of accepted essays will be 4000-6000 words
    • Illustrations welcome, 300dpi
    • Queries welcome!

    The deadline for proposals is 15 January 2018
  • How Can the Show Go On? Performing Arts Wellbeing summit (Sydney) 13 Nov 2017
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 31 Oct 2017
    How Can the Show Go On? Performing Arts Wellbeing summit (Sydney)
    Monday, 13 Nov 2017 9.00am - 5.30pm
    The Studio, Sydney Opera House

    The summit has been developed by the NSW Performing Arts and Screen Working Group with support from Create NSW and industry.

    In early 2016, Entertainment Assist released significant research findings on the high rates of mental illness and suicide for workers in the Australian entertainment industry. Sadly, this report reflected other research findings and what many working in the industry already knew from personal experience.

    We can do better, says Deborah Mailman who commits not just to getting on with the show but to getting our performing arts and screen industry better.”

    The award-winning Australian television and film actress has recorded a special video message in support of the event. Other speakers involved in the conference include Fay Jackson, Deputy Commissioner of NSW Mental Health, Marie Jepson of the Jepson Foundation, and Susan Cooper from Entertainment Assist who will speak about the new national initiative Australian Alliance for Wellness in Entertainment (AAWE).

    Lex Marinos will MC the day’s program that includes a NSW sector roundtable led by Entertainment Assist and Everymind to identify AAWE priorities. The summit also includes panels, workshops, as well as practical and inspiring examples of industry and individual approaches to improving wellbeing. It’s a day designed for the sector and those who support them to come together, learn from one another and determine a better future.

    “The tyranny of production schedules, low incomes and job security, limited access to support resources, drug and alcohol abuse, isolation and intense competition are aspects of our ‘glamorous industry’ that are often endured in silence and even secrecy,” concludes Mailman. “We can no longer ignore the cost.”

    Deborah Mailman has also recorded a Youtube message of support
    https://youtu.be/Qj0Bf4CChk8
     
    Tickets for the summit are $35 and include morning/afternoon tea & lunch. They are on sale at: https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/content/soh/events/whats-on/ideas-and-talks/2017/how-can-the-show-go-on.html
  • New Publication: Australian Theatre After the New Wave: Policy, Subsidy and the Alternative Artist by Julian Meyrick, Brill Rodopi, Oct 2017
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 31 Oct 2017
    In Australian Theatre after the New Wave, Julian Meyrick charts the history of three ground-breaking Australian theatre companies, the Paris Theatre (1978), the Hunter Valley Theatre (1976-94) and Anthill Theatre (1980-94). In the years following the
    controversial dismissal of Gough Whitlam’s Labor government in 1975, these ‘alternative’theatres struggled to survive in an increasingly adverse economic environment. Drawing on interviews and archival sources, including Australia Council files and correspondence, the book examines the funding structures in which the companies operated, and the impact of the cultural policies of the period. It analyses the changing relationship between the artist and the State, the rise of a managerial ethos of ‘accountability’, and the growing dominance of government in the fate of the nation’s theatre. In doing so, it shows the historical roots of many of the problems facing Australian theatre today.

    “This is an exceptionally timely book... In giving a history of Australian independent theatre it not only charts the amazing rise and strange disappearance of an energetic, radical and dynamically democratic artistic movement, but also tries to explain that rise and fall, and how we should relate to it now.”
    — Prof. Justin O’Connor, Monash University

    “This study makes a significant contribution to scholarship on Australian theatre and, more broadly… to the global discussion about the vexed relationship between artists, creativity, government funding for the arts and cultural policy.”
    — Dr. Gillian Arrighi, The University of Newcastle, Australia

    For more information see http://www.brill.com/products/book/australian-theatre-after-new-wave
  • CFP: Theatre Dance and Performance Training Journal (TDPT)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 16 Oct 2017

    Special issue entitled What is New in Voice Training? To be published in TDPT Vol 10.3 (September 2019)

    Call for contributions, ideas, proposals and dialogue with the editor

    Guest edited by Konstantinos Thomaidis, University of Exeter (K.Thomaidis@exeter.ac.uk).

    Background and context

    This will be the 11th Special Issue of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training (TDPT) following issues on a range of topics including sport, politics, Feldenkrais, writing training, interculturalism and digital training. TDPT is an international journal devoted to all aspects of ‘training’ (broadly defined) within the performing arts. The journal was founded in 2010 and launched its own blog in 2015. Our target readership is both academic and the many varieties of professional performers, makers, choreographers, directors, dramaturgs and composers working in theatre, dance and live art who have an interest in and curiosity for reflecting on their practices and their training. TDPT’s co-editors are Jonathan Pitches (University of Leeds) and Libby Worth (Royal Holloway, University of London).

    Call Outline: What is New in Voice Training?

    Voice has returned to academic discourse with renewed force. 20th-century philosophical and critical debates may have generated important questions around speech, vocality and listening (particularly through the works of Lacan, Derrida, Merleau-Ponty, Ihde, Barthes and Kristeva), but the first two decades of the 21st century have witnessed an unprecedented proliferation of publications taking voice as their main area of enquiry (see Connor, Cavarero, Dolar, Neumark, among others). In the same period, a similar plurality marked the way voice is practised in performance, particularly in its entanglement with new media, new scenic and everyday architectures as well as new hybrid genres and aesthetics. The emergent field of voice studies situates itself at the juncture of these practical and theoretical advances and advocates for research in and through voice that is markedly praxical, international and interdisciplinary in scope.

    In bringing the concerns of this new inter-discipline to bear on performance studies, this issue of Theatre, Dance and Performance Training proposes a timely re-examination of voice in performer training. The literature on voice and the pedagogy of performance is, of course, vast. In the case of singing, it is largely dominated by paradigms appropriate for operatic and musical theatre performance. In the case of speech training, areas that have been systematically explored include the pedagogies developed by an influential generation of mid-twentieth-century, UK- and US-based speech trainers—and, to a lesser extent, the voice practices pertaining to (post)Grotowskian lineages or integrating first-wave somatics into voice work. While drawing impetus from these significant insights, the purpose of this special issue is to lend an attentive ear to emergent or less widely circulated training methodologies and to chart the rapidly shifting landscape of voice training.

    In other words, it wishes to ask: What is new in voice training?

    The term ‘new’ is not taken here as an exclusively present-orientated delineation; rather, it is intended as a generative provocation. In this light, potential contributors are invited to engage with topics and questions such as:

    • New practices: What are the new approaches to voice, speech and singing training currently in the making? How do they depart from or extend current conceptualisations of voicing? Which performance contexts are they designed for? How are they taught, recorded, written about and transmitted?

    • New documents: Which practices of voice training have not been systematically documented and disseminated? Which non-Anglophone practices have received less critical attention and how can new translations or archives engage us in dialogue with them? What is the place of the ‘document’ in practice-as-research approaches to voice pedagogy?

    • The new voice coach: Which are the new exigencies placed on coaches today? What challenges do they face? Which methodologies have been developed in response? How is voice training conducted beyond the studio, through Skype lessons, MOOCs and other interactive platforms? What is the impact of neoliberal economics on the way voice training is currently conducted?

    • New contexts: How is voice training taking into consideration gender, class and ethnic diversity? How is the pedagogy of speech and song responding to neurodiverse trainees? How are interdisciplinary performers, such as speaking dancers or intermedia artists, trained in voice work? How is training originally developed for artistic performance adapted in contemporary oratory, advertising, sport, teaching, community or health work?

    • New criticalities: Which emergent critical methodologies can we deploy to critique voice training or to generate new approaches? How can voice training embrace ecocritical or new materialist strategies? What is the place of the expanding corpus of vocal philosophy in the studio?

    • New histories, new lineages: What does new archival research reveal about the lineages and historic practices of voice training? How is the history of voice training rewritten? How are premodern forms of voice training revitalised in contemporary performer training?

    • Re-newing voice training: How are existing systems, exercises and practices reconfigured in new settings? How can we re-evaluate the foundational premises of voice training through recent discoveries in physiology and advances in critical theory? In what ways are such methods hybridised, repurposed, recycled, rethought?

    To signal your interest and intention to make a contribution to this special issue please contact Konstantinos Thomaidis for an initial exchange of ideas/thoughts or email an abstract or proposal (max 300 words) at k.thomaidis@exeter.ac.uk. Please consider the range of possibilities available within TDPT: Essays and Sources up to 6500 words; photo essays; shorter, more speculative, essais up to 3000 words and postcards (up to 200 words). All contributors could extend their work through links to blog materials (including, for example, film footage or interviews). Questions about purely digital propositions can be sent directly to James McLaughlin at jimmyacademy@gmail.com along with ideas for the blog. Firm proposals across all areas must be received by Konstantinos Thomaidis by 30 January 2018 at the latest.

    The issue schedule is as follows:

    Autumn 2017: Call for papers published

    30 January 2018: abstracts and proposals sent to Konstantinos Thomaidis

    May 2018: Response from editor and, if successful, invitation to submit contribution

    June to End October 2018: writing/preparation period for writers, artists etc.

    Start November to end January 2019: peer review period

    January 2019 – end May 2019: author revisions post peer review

    End June 2019: All articles into production with Routledge

    July-August 2019: typesetting, proofing, revises, editorial etc.

    September 2019: publication as Issue 10.3.
  • Research participants wanted
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 9 Oct 2017

    Expressions of Interest

    Are you an independent theatre maker who often works on multiple projects simultaneously and across extended time frames?
    Have you been engaged and active in building a practice for 15 years or more?
    Would you be interested in participating in a research project exploring sustainability for creative practitioners in the contemporary theatre sector?

    Are you in Brisbane Sydney or Melbourne at the following times and available to meet?
    Brisbane: 12 - 16 October 2017
    Sydney 2-6 November 2017
    Melbourne 20 - 24 November 2017

    Entitled Creative Sustainability and Distraction Strategies within the practices of Contemporary Theatre Artists, the main aim of the project is to investigate the way in which mid-career artists sustain their professional practice.
    For more information and to Express Interest in participating email Dr Rea Dennis at Deakin University for Participants Pack. rea.dennis@deakin.edu.au
  • CFP: Popular Entertainment Studies Volume 9, no. 1 (March 2018) Volume 9, no. 2 (September 2018)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 3 Oct 2017
    Expressions of interest are invited from scholars and scholar/practitioners for the next issues of the international, peer-reviewed e-journal Popular Entertainment Studies. We would like to encourage all those interested in the history and practices of popular entertainments to submit a proposal for inclusion in our next two issues. The interests of the journal are diverse and wide-ranging and have included such areas as popular entertainments in the context of a mediatised culture, street performances, music theatre, vaudeville, minstrelsy, and professional wrestling.

    However, the September 2018 issue has a special focus:

    250 Years of the Modern Circus

    In 2018 we will commemorate the establishment of the modern circus with a special focus issue. The interdisciplinary domain of Circus Studies has gained academic traction in numerous countries over recent years and for this special focus issue we welcome submissions from scholars around the globe that will contribute to this growing academic field. Critical research essays that address topics ranging across the past 250 years of circus activity, from Philip Astley’s earliest shows in 1768 up to the present day, are encouraged. The editors welcome the opportunity to discuss scholars’ ideas prior to submission. For this special focus issue the due deadline for full submission is June 1 2018.

    The journal has now been operating for eight years, now in its ninth year, and its contents are indexed and abstracted by the Thomson-Reuters organisation for inclusion in its Arts and Humanities Citation Index and Current Contents/Arts and Humanities. The journal is an open access one and can be viewed for further information at: https://novaojs.newcastle.edu.au/ojs/index.php/pes/index

    Expressions of interest should be forwarded as soon as possible to the General Editor, Victor Emeljanow at Victor-Emeljanow@newcastle.edu.au or the Associate Editor, Gillian Arrighi at Gillian.Arrighi@newcastle.edu.au.  The deadline for final paper submissions is January 12 2018 for the March 2018 issue, June 1 2018 for the September 2018 issue.

  • CFP: Behind the Scenes: Journal of Theatre Production Practice
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 22 Sep 2017
    SUBMISSIONS CLOSE 1 DECEMBER 2017

    The Editorial Team of Behind the Scenes: Journal of Theatre Production Practice invites submissions for its second Issue, scheduled for publication in 2018. Please submit articles online at:  http://journals.sfu.ca/bts
    We look forward to submissions by 1 December 2017.

    Behind the Scenes: Journal of Theatre Production Practice is a peer-reviewed, open access journal focusing on the technical and production aspects of live performance.

    Submissions: Papers should be at least 3000 words and not more than 6000 words in length, excluding references. All articles should follow the APA style and referencing guide, with all illustrations, figures and tables placed within the text at appropriate points, rather than at the end. Authors are required to register as a user on the registration page to create a username and password before submitting a manuscript.

    Issue 1:  http://journals.sfu.ca/bts/index.php/bts/issue/view/1

    For further information, please contact Sue Fenty Studham: fenty.studham@depaul.edu
  • CFP: Costume Research in Australasia
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 21 Sep 2017

    NIDA Graduate School Centre for Contemporary Performance Ideas
    9 – 5 pm, November 14
    th & 15th, 2017.

    Peter Ivany Reception Room, Level 3, Graduate School National Institute of Dramatic Art
    215 Anzac Parade, Kensington, NSW.

    The Costume Research in Australasia seminar will offer an opportunity for mentoring and feedback to postgraduate research candidates, early career researchers and academics conducting research in the emerging field of performance costume studies, or in related artistic fields involving dress and performance.


    NIDA is pleased to host this inaugural seminar which will take place over two days on Tuesday 14
    th and Wednesday 15th November.  The two day long event will involve
    short presentations by researchers on their work in progress. Following each paper researchers will receive feedback from a panel lead by Key Respondent Professor Sofia Pantouvaki from Aalto University, Helsinki.

    The event will include an informal social gathering on Tuesday night at a nearby restaurant at participants’ own cost. There will also be an opportunity to view NIDA’s graduating courses exhibition and tour the NIDA costume production facilities.

    Lunch, coffee and morning tea is available at participant’s own cost at the NIDA Café, the nearby University of NSW Kensington campus, or bring your own.

    Metered parking is available adjacent to NIDA in the UNSW car park (entry via Day Ave) or limited street parking is available around the area.

    Frequent buses operate to NIDA. https://www.nida.edu.au/contact-us/getting-to-nida

    Presentation Submissions DeadlineOctober 29th
     

    If you are interested in presenting please register, pay and provide your title, abstract (200 words) and biography (150 words) by Friday 29th October.

    It is intended that submissions for presentations should come from either Doctoral or Masters by Research candidates, early career researchers, designers engaged in scholarly research, as well as scholars engaged in post-doctoral research projects. The focus is on research in progress rather than on completed conference papers, though we welcome presentations that are being developed for presentation at other conferences and events, or for publication.  We are limited to 20 presentations over the two days, so please get in quick to make sure yours is included.

    Presentations should be 20 minutes in length and AV projection will be provided.

    Seminar Registration DeadlineNovember 8

    Attendees are welcome to come and hear the presentations and take part in the seminar activities. There are only 40 places available for attendees.

    Registration for both presenters and attendees includes attendance at any or all of the presentations, a booklet of abstracts, a guided tour of the NIDA Graduation Exhibition EXPONIDA and the NIDA costume production facilities.

    Early Bird (to 15 September)               $35 Regular (closes 8 November)     $40

    Presenter and attendee registration and payment is available through the NIDA events page at:

    https://s.myfeedback.io/survey/?c=50176&id=209

    For further information contact seminar convener, Dr Suzanne Osmond at  suzanne.osmond@nida.edu.au

  • CFP: Two Special Issues of Theatre Journal
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 21 Sep 2017
    Special Issue for September 2018:

    “Directions”
     
    “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows”: Bob Dylan’s lyrics to the 1965 “Subterranean Homesick Blues” call into question how we understand a contemporary moment and its directionality. Yet, in the challenging politics of the current global moment, from climate change to renewed populisms, often the signs are not clear or direct. The age of GPS has produced a shift from the earlier skill of map reading, now directing our focus only to the immediate next turn rather than the landscape around us or an individual’s sense of direction. The theatre has the potential to remind us of the importance of directions, from the Althusserian hail of “Hey you there” that interpellates the subject and calls her into an ideological sphere (that in the age of #BlackLivesMatter remains ever more crucially politically loaded) to re/directed theatrical encounters with directors and directing to explicit stage directions.
     
    In a time when Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins has redirected Boucicault’s The Octoroon to a politically potent An Octoroon pointing to questions of racial injustice, memory, and technological evidence, and when plays like Paula Vogel’s Indecent and Lynn Nottage’s Sweat have broken glass ceilings for women playwrights and directors even as their closing notices were announced, the idea of what directions we take reminds scholars and artists that we must always remember the past as we create the future.
     
    This Special Issue invites essays around the theme of “Directions”—from the comings and goings within the field of theatre and performance to investigations of theatrical trajectories and routes; from directions such as “hailing” or “call and response” to theatrical forms such as stage directions.

    This special issue will be edited by Theatre Journal editor Jen Parker-Starbuck. Submissions (6000-9000 words) should be e-mailed to managing editor Bob Kowkabany (bobkowkabany@me.com) no later than 6 January 2018.

     

    Special Issue for December 2018:

    Post-fact Performance

    After the 2016 presidential election, Diane Rehm hosted a discussion on the reflective mood in journalism following the surprise upset of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. After other guests pondered ways of getting the truth out over the din of Trump fabrications, one journalist, Trump supporter Scottie Nell Hughes, declared "There's no such thing, unfortunately, anymore of facts." Hughes went on to explain that Trump's tweets were true for Trump supporters and "people that say facts are facts, they’re not really facts.”

     

    Indeed, one thing that the past election cycle has revealed is the widespread mistrust for the discourse of the perceived elite (the state, the wealthy, and intellectuals). First theorized by Francois Lyotard in The Postmodern Condition, the incredulity toward metanarratives arose as a result of the epistemological crisis created by the paradox of scientific knowledge having to rely upon narrative for its own legitimation. While potentially liberating in terms of resisting regulation of gender, race, and sexuality, this incredulity can also result in the creation of alternative narratives by anti-science and anti-democratic crusades. In the age of Trump, the "post-fact" era has been accelerated by information siloing vis-à-vis social media. As Hannah Arendt notes: "Philosophical truth, when it enters the market place, changes its nature and becomes opinion."

     

    For this special issue, essays might take up the discussion of performance in a "post-fact" political climate. Essays might address simulacra, siloing, along with examinations of social media, political rhetoric, and fact-checking as performance, performances of "truthiness" (parody of truth), and representations of incredulities toward scientific knowledge narratives of climate change, vaccinations, or evolution. How might theatres respond? What performance practices contribute to incredulity in either liberating or oppressive ways? To return to Arendt, what kinds of truth testimony can artists and scholars create, and who are the "reliable witnesses" that Arendt requires?

     

    This special issue will be edited by Theatre Journal co-editor EJ Westlake. Submissions (6000-9000 words) should be e-mailed to managing editor Bob Kowkabany (bobkowkabany@me.com) no later than 28 February 2018.

    Please Note: Theatre Journal tends not to publish essays that focus predominantly on one play or production.

  • CFP: Performance and Culture: Cities, Embodiments, Technologies
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 19 Sep 2017

    Annual Conference hosted by

    The School of Performing Arts (University of Malta)

    7, 8, 9 March 2018

    Keynote Speakers:

    Sir Jonathan Mills, Programme Director of 2018 Edinburgh International Culture Summit

    Prof. Maria Delgado, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London

    Prof. Ann Cooper Albright, Department of Dance, Oberlin College and Conservatory, Ohio, US

    The fifth Annual Conference of the School of Performing Arts (University of Malta) aims to generate debate on possible ways of articulating the relationship between Performance and Culture. Two inherently fluid phenomena, Performance and Culture resist fixity and limiting definitions when treated separately, and even more so when considered in tandem.  Instead of looking at definitions, contemporary thinking about Performance and Culture might be better served through the application of critical and conceptual frames, which offer a clear focal point while allowing for the integration of multiple perspectives, approaches, and understandings.

    The conference in Malta invites scholars, practitioners, and cultural theorists to consider three such critical frames around which to reflect on Performance and Culture, namely Cities, Embodiments, and Technologies. Its aims are partly fueled by the 2018 European Capital of Culture, which next year will be held in Valletta, the capital city of Malta, and Leeuwarden, in the Netherlands. Capitals of Culture attract international attention to the way a particular city defines its identity, also within the framework of performance.

    Presentations exploring (but not limited to) the following questions and themes are, therefore, welcome:

    • How do the suggested three frames inform our understanding of performance and culture?
    • In what ways do these frames interact together?
    • How do institutional standards relate to artistic creativity and production?
    • What possible historical approaches define interaction between performance and cultural practice and discourse? How are they relevant to contemporary performative initiatives in the public sphere?
    • Which other frames invoke a relationship between performance and culture? How do these dialogue with cities, embodiments, and technologies?

    Abstracts of a maximum of 300 words should be submitted by 7 December 2017 to the conference conveners, Dr Stefan Aquilina (stefan.aquilina@um.edu.mt) and Prof Vicki Ann Cremona (vicki.cremona@um.edu.mt). Acceptance will be confirmed by the end of the year. Kindly include a brief bionote and any technical equipment you might need. Primarily, the conference will take the form of conventional 15-20 minute presentations, but presenters wishing to suggest other forms of presentation are also encouraged to contact the conference conveners. 

  • Creative Ageing Symposium
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Wed, 6 Sep 2017

    Two Day Event: Wednesday 25 October + Thursday 26 October 2017

    Join leading international arts practitioners to explore how engaging with the arts can maintain and improve health and wellbeing as we age, and also support people with chronic conditions, such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease. This special symposium and workshop aims to support professional development across disciplines and occupations in creative aging that produces an innovative and robust workforce of artists, educators and advocates. For more information please contact Professor Michael Balfour m.balfour@griffith.edu.au

    Presenters will include:

    • David Savill, Artistic Director, Age Exchange (London, UK)
    • Andrea Creach, Music and Creative Ageing (Chair of Music, University of Laval, Quebec)
    • Queensland Ballet
    • Queensland Conservatorium
    • Opera Queensland
    • Playful Engagement and Dementia
    • Representatives from SE Queensland aged care providers

    Cost:

    • $60 attend both days (+$6 GST)
    • $40 attend one of the days (+$4 GST)

    This event will cater for a maximum of 60 attendees so please register early to ensure your place. 

    For more information please check out our Facebook event page and our Twitter event page

    This might interest

    • Professionals working in aged care
    • Arts Practitioners 
    • Arts and Health Researchers
    • Academics
    • Students
    • General Community
  • New Journal: Behind The Scenes: Journal of Theatre Production Practice Vol 1, No 1 (2017
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 29 Aug 2017
    The inaugural issue of Behind the Scenes: Journal of Theatre Production Practice has just been published. It a welcome addition to  Australian performance research.

    Behind the Scenes: Journal of Theatre Production Practice is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal focusing on the technical and production aspects of live performance. This journal aims to encourage the advancement of research into performing arts production processes. We actively invite discourse from researchers and practitioners with an academic interest in the theory of production practice.
  • Opening Soon: Miss W Treads by Jane Woollard
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 14 Aug 2017

    Miss W Treads is a new work by award-winning writer and director Jane Woollard. It celebrates one of the first stars of the Sydney stage, Eliza Winstanley. Weathering the rough and ready days of Sydney theatre in the 1840s, Eliza became the first Australian-trained performer to achieve international success.

    In the play, Imogene, a youthful contemporary theatre maker resurrects the phantoms of her too-long forgotten theatrical ancestors. As she encounters obsolete technologies and outmoded acting techniques, she becomes addicted to conjuring up her subject. Her yearning to fill in the historical gaps leads to obsessive imaginings, wild abstractions and fanciful wonderings.

     Miss W Treads bristles with ghosts and sword fights. It revives the archaic languages of melodrama, and calls up long dead theatrical ambitions. In this work, Australia’s fledgling theatre traditions collide with contemporary arts practice to produce an unexpected cross-century collaboration that reveals shared histories and desires.

    In Miss W Treads Jane Woollard continues her exploration of the lives and creative work of past female artists. Actors, Fanny Hanusin (True Adventures of a Soul Lost at Sea, Asylum, Bogan Pride, Bright Shiny & Green Night) and Nicholas Kato (Play It Safe, Bright Shiny & Green Night) return to work with Jane alongside new comer Ruby Johnston.

    An outstanding creative team including dramaturg Melanie Beddie, (Sisters of Gelam, Aviary, Hammer of Devotion); composer Peter Farnan (Boom Crash Opera, Asylum, Hitchcock Blonde, Sleeping Beauty); designer Amanda Johnson (Hammer of Devotion, Aelfgyva, Letters from Animals, Asylum); and lighting designer Bronwyn Pringle (Letters from Animals, Alias Grace, The Realistic Joneses) continue their collaboration with Jane Woollard to create this witty and intricate theatrical work.

    Performers: Fanny Hanusin, Ruby Johnston, Nicholas Kato
    Written & Directed by Jane Woollard

    Dramaturgy: Melanie Beddie

    Designed by Amanda Johnson

    Sound design & composition by Peter Farnan

    Lighting design by Bronwyn Pringle

    Stage management by Imogen Titmarsh

    Season:            6 – 17 September

    Preview           Wednesday 6 September, 6:30

                            Thursday, Friday, Saturday 7:30pm

                            Sunday 4:00pm

    Venue:             La Mama Theatre, 205 Faraday Street, Carlton

    Bookings:        www.lamama.com.au or (03) 9347 6142

     

  • New Book: Ethical Exchanges in Translation, Adaptation and Dramaturgy, Brill/Rodopi, 2017
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 10 Aug 2017

    Edited by Emer O'Toole, Concordia University, Andrea Pelegrí Kristi?, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile / Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense and Stuart Young, University of Otago

    Ethical Exchanges in Translation, Adaptation and Dramaturgy examines compelling ethical issues that concern practitioners and scholars in the fields of translation, adaptation and dramaturgy. Its 11 essays, written by academic theorists as well as scholar-practitioners, represent a rich diversity of philosophies and perspectives, and reflect a broad international frame of reference: Asia, Europe, North America, and Australasia. They also traverse a wide range of theatrical forms: classic and contemporary playwrights from Shakespeare to Ibsen, immersive and interactive theatre, verbatim theatre, devised and community theatre, and postdramatic theatre.

    In examining the ethics of specific artistic practices, the book highlights the significant continuities between translation, adaptation, and dramaturgy; it considers the ethics of spectatorship; and it identifies the tightly interwoven relationship between ethics and politics.

    For More information: Link

  • CFP:Bodies in/and Asian Theatre
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 24 Jul 2017


     www.iftr-asi2018.upd.edu.ph

    A Joint Asian Theatre Working Group International Colloquium and International Federation for Theatre Research Regional Conference 2018

     University of the Philippines Diliman, 20 – 23 February 2018

     
    A growing interest on the body as a starting point of discourse is seen in the past decades. Even theatre studies has been involved on scrutinizing the body as an important performance aspect. In Western theatre practice, physical theatre is a well-articulated practical approach for understanding the body vis-à-vis theatre and performance. However, the increasing number of the most influential theorizations and conceptualizations has primarily, if not exclusively, focused on how the cultures in the West (Europe and the Americas) conceive it.

     
    Taking cue from Bryan Turner and Zheng Yangwen, it is important to note that peoples in Asia have experienced colonization, decolonization and now globalization albeit different modalities. These contexts, as suggested by Turner and Zheng, are important socio-political and historical factors for understanding the Asian body. With this, Bodies in/and Asian Theatres is envisioned to contribute to the study of the body, particularly its functions and placements in the different performances in the Asian region.

    On the occasion of Katha-wan [a contraction of katha (creative creation) and katawan (body)] or the celebration of the UP Diliman Month 2018 vis-à-vis the National Arts Month in the Philippines, Bodies in/and Asian Theatres invokes the Asian bodies as creative and critical entities.

    The Joint 2018 Asian Theatre Working Group Colloquium and International Federation for Theatre Research Regional Conference (IFTR-Asia) attempts to answer these general questions: what do we mean when we talk about bodies in Asian theatres and performances? What do we mean when we talk about Asian bodies in different performances outside the region? How does theatre affect the way we think about the bodies of Asians?

    Possible sub-themes include but not limited to the following:

    ·      The Spectacularization of the Body in Asia (What does it mean when we think of the acrobatics in China, the thaipusam devotees in Malaysia and Singapore, ta’ziyeh devotees in the Middle East, the magdarame or self-flagellants in the Philippines as actors/performers? What is the implication of associating Asian rituals involving bodily spectacles or self-inflicted pains as theatre and performance?)

    ·      Performing Queer Asian Bodies (What does it mean to be an Asian Queer vis-à-vis theatre and performance? What is the relationship of the queer and body in Asian performances?)

    ·      Performing Displaced Bodies (Issues on representing the Asian immigrant / emigrant in theatre and performance. What is the implication of being Asian in Euro-American theatre?)

    ·      Gendered Bodies (What are the representation and ideologies of the masculine and feminine bodies in Asian Theatre and Performance? What does it mean when the masculine body is performed by a female body or vice versa?)

    ·      Asian Bodies Recuperated (many theorizations in theatre, performance and cultural studies took inspiration from performing bodies of Asians, issues and implications  of such theories in general critical thinking)

    ·      Disembodiments (What does it mean when a body is treated as a formless creature in Asian societies?)

    ·      The Body as Medium (When the body is treated as a medium in theatre and performance, what does it mediate?)

    ·      Asian Corporeality and/in Choreography (Body-centered performance practices in Asia also provide a vital site for exploring the convergence of thought and action)

    ·      The Asian Body as Method (Exploring the possibility of the body – the Asian body – in performance as a starting point of philosophizing and intellectualizing)

     
    Submission of Abstract 15 August 2017 to 15 September 2017.

     
    Notification of acceptance begins on 2 October 2017.

     
    Registration opens on 1 November 2017.


     
    Abstract Submission:

    Before submitting your abstract, you have to become a member or renew your International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) membership.
     
    Your abstract submission will NOT be entertained until you become an IFTR member.

    To register, please visit Cambridge Journals Online.
  • CFP: The Literary Interface
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 13 Jun 2017

    2018 Literary Studies Conventio4-7 July, 2018

        Australian National University, Canberra.

    Jointly held by the Associa1on for the Study of Australian Literature, the Australasian Associa1on for Literature, the Australasian Universi1es Languages and Literature Associa1on, and the Australian University Heads of English.

    Submissions due 1 July, 2017.

    Abstract of 150 words Biographical note of 100 words to: julieanne.lamond@anu.edu.au

    An interface describes a surface or plane that lies between or joins two points in space, but it also refers to ‘a means or place of interaction between two systems’ and ‘an apparatus designed to connect two scientific instruments so that they can be operated jointly’ (OED).

    This convention will bring together scholars working across the broad field of literary studies to discuss the literary as an interface between different forms of knowledge and processes of knowledge formation, looking at questions of how and through what means the literary is communicated, represented, negotiated, and remade. By placing the concept of the literary centre-stage while at the same time interrogating its role as an interface, we wish to open up for discussion questions about the role, dynamism, and value of the literary in a time of institutional change and ongoing disciplinary formation. We would also like to debate the role of the literary text - and literary studies as a discipline - as a site of encounter between diverse languages and potentially alien modes of reading and writing.

    We invite papers and panel proposals, including but not limited to the following topics:

    • Mediation, remediation, and transmediation
    • Literary Formalism - its past, present and/or future
    • Multimedia forms as interfaces
    • The relationship between forms, networks, and hierarchies
    • Encounters between readers and modes of reading
    • Translation
    • The relationship between literary studies and other disciplines, e.g., environmental studies, maths, ethnography, science
    • The interface between academic and public critical cultures
    • Spaces of reading (online and otherwise)
    • The negotiation of literary value
    • The classroom as literary interface
    • Literary objects as interfaces: circulation, reception, paratexts
    • The stage and other spaces of performance as interface between temporalities, bodies, performers, writers and audiences
    • Cultural interfaces
    • Languages of colonialists/ postcoloniality
    • Transnationalism and minor transnationalism.
  • UNSW Sydney Scientia PhD Scholarship 2018: Theatre of the Real
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 2 Jun 2017
    Theatre and Performance at UNSW Sydney invites Expressions of Interest for a UNSW Scientia PhD Scholarship project on ‘theatre of the real’, as Carol Martin calls it in her book by the same title (2013). The joint supervisors are Dr Meg Mumford and Dr Caroline Wake; the secondary supervisor is Dr Theron Schmidt.
     
    Theatre of the Real
    This project explores the politics of participation and representation in theatre of the real, an increasingly prominent form of performance internationally. Such theatre explicitly cites or summons the world outside the theatre. It includes, for example, autobiographical, community-based, documentary, participatory, relational, re-enactment, testimonial and participatory practices. Often involving vulnerable or marginalised people, theatre of the real casts these participants as “everyday experts” with valuable knowledge derived from their lived experience. This project investigates what happens when such experts meet theatre professionals and spectators. To this end it explores the complex politics and ethics that surround the process of representing and empowering real people through theatre.
     
    UNSW Scientia Scholarship Scheme
    Scientia scholars will have a strong commitment to making a difference in the world, with demonstrated potential for contributing to the social engagement or global impact pillars of the UNSW 2025 Strategy. Candidates are matched with researchers who have demonstrated excellence in supervision, and are provided with career coaching, mentoring and access to a series of professional development activities. The scheme offers a prestigious scholarship package of $AUD 50,000 per annum (approximately 29,000 GBP or $US 37,000 at current exchange rates). This comprises a tax-free living allowance of $AUD 40,000 per annum for 4 years, and a support package of up to $AUD 10,000 per annum to provide financial support for career development activities. International students also receive a tuition fee scholarship. The minimum qualification is: (i) an upper second class Honours degree; or (ii) Masters by Research degree; or the equivalent of (i) or (ii). All applicants must satisfy the university’s English-language proficiency requirement. The scheme is looking for strong research potential and research background (including publications, research assistance and related work, previous research degrees, industry experience, exhibitions etc.).
     
    Timeline  
    • Expressions of Interest open: 26 May 2017
    • Expressions of Interest close: 21 July 2017
    • UNSW invites nominated applicants to lodge full applications: 4 August 2017
    • Full applications close: 1 September 2017
    • Offers to successful applicants: 6 November 2017
    • Successful candidate(s) commence in early or mid 2018
     
    Application Process
    Applicants must use the Apply Online system:  http://www.2025.unsw.edu.au/apply/.
     
    Click on the ‘Apply’ button in the top section of the page. On the left-hand side of the next page you will see ‘700 Scientia PhD Scholarships’. Click on ‘View all Scholarships’, then ‘Contemporary Humanities and Creative Arts’, then ‘Theatre of the Real’.
     
    To submit an Expression of Interest, please complete the self-assessment form online and submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to the supervisory team via the website. Supervisors will then contact suitable applicants to discuss the project and the next steps to take.
     
    For further timeline and process information see: http://www.2025.unsw.edu.au/apply/node/69/
     
    Immediate Next Step
    If you are interested in applying for this exciting scholarship, please contact both Meg Mumford (m.mumford@unsw.edu.au) and Caroline Wake (c.wake@unsw.edu.au) for further advice.  You will need to do so before 21 July 2017 and preferably by 30 June 2017.
  • New position: Krishna Somers Lecturer in English and Postcolonial Literature, School of Arts, Murdoch University
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 2 Jun 2017
    Continuous role commencing January 2018
    ACLEB |  $92K to $109K  plus 17% employer superannuation contributions
    Salary Packaging opportunities

     
     
    The School of Arts plays an important role in the academic life and campus culture of Murdoch University, delivering world-class research across a broad range of disciplines and contributing to a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. We teach undergraduate and postgraduate courses in creative arts and media, languages, humanities and social sciences. A number of these courses are taught in offshore mode through long-standing partnerships in Singapore and Dubai, and online through Open Universities Australia. Murdoch is particularly proud of its strong expertise in literary and cultural studies, creative writing, theatre and performance, philosophy and media studies.
    The undergraduate English and Creative Writing major is based around an integrated program of study. Students engage with a cosmopolitan range of canonical and non-canonical fiction, drama and poetry from the Anglophone world, from the Renaissance to the present day, learning to hone their capacity for close reading, reflection, commentary and critique. Through creative and professional writing units they also develop the ability to write a diverse range of literary and other genres. Upon completion of the Major, our graduates are skilled in methods of critical analysis and argument, fluent in oral and written expression and confident in their ability to undertake critical and creative work.
     
    For more information or to apply:
    Please visit http://jobs.murdoch.edu.au/ to view the Guide for Applicants and Position Description, here you will also find the online form to submit your application. Please note that emailed applications will not be accepted.
    We request that international applicants check their eligibility for Australian sponsorship/visa.
     
    Closing date:  22 June 2017 (11:59pm)
  • New Publication: Stanislavsky in the World: The System and its Transformation across Continents.
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 26 May 2017

    Eds: Jonathan Pitches and Stefan Aquilina (Bloomsbury, 2017)

    Stanislavsky in the World is an ambitious and ground-breaking work charting a fascinating story of the global dissemination and transformation of Stanislavsky's practices.

    Case studies written by local experts, historians and practitioners are brought together to introduce the reader to new routes of Stanislavskian transmission across the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and South (Latin) America. Such a diverse set of stories moves radically beyond linear understandings of transmission to embrace questions of transformation, translation, hybridisation, appropriation and resistance.

    This important work not only makes a significant contribution to Stanislavsky studies but also to recent research on theatre and interculturalism, theatre and globalisation, theatre and (post)colonialism and to the wider critical turn in performer training historiographies.

    This is a unique examination of Stanislavsky's work presenting a richly diverse range of examples and an international perspective on Stanislavsky's impact that has never been attempted before. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/stanislavsky-in-the-world-9781472587886#sthash.yYoKxniA.dpuf
     
    Stanislavsky in the World is an ambitious and ground-breaking work charting a fascinating story of the global dissemination and transformation of Stanislavsky's practices.

    Case studies written by local experts, historians and practitioners are brought together to introduce the reader to new routes of Stanislavskian transmission across the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and South (Latin) America. Such a diverse set of stories moves radically beyond linear understandings of transmission to embrace questions of transformation, translation, hybridisation, appropriation and resistance.

    This important work not only makes a significant contribution to Stanislavsky studies but also to recent research on theatre and interculturalism, theatre and globalisation, theatre and (post)colonialism and to the wider critical turn in performer training historiographies.

    This is a unique examination of Stanislavsky's work presenting a richly diverse range of examples and an international perspective on Stanislavsky's impact that has never been attempted before. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/stanislavsky-in-the-world-9781472587886#sthash.SOASr6sy.dpuf
    Stanislavsky in the World is an ambitious and ground-breaking work charting a fascinating story of the global dissemination and transformation of Stanislavsky's practices.

    Case studies written by local experts, historians and practitioners are brought together to introduce the reader to new routes of Stanislavskian transmission across the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and South (Latin) America. Such a diverse set of stories moves radically beyond linear understandings of transmission to embrace questions of transformation, translation, hybridisation, appropriation and resistance.

    This important work not only makes a significant contribution to Stanislavsky studies but also to recent research on theatre and interculturalism, theatre and globalisation, theatre and (post)colonialism and to the wider critical turn in performer training historiographies.

    This is a unique examination of Stanislavsky's work presenting a richly diverse range of examples and an international perspective on Stanislavsky's impact that has never been attempted before. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/stanislavsky-in-the-world-9781472587886#sthash.SOASr6sy.dpuf

    Stanislavsky in the World is an ambitious and ground-breaking work charting a fascinating story of the global dissemination and transformation of Stanislavsky's practices.

    Case studies written by local experts, historians and practitioners are brought together to introduce the reader to new routes of Stanislavskian transmission across the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and South (Latin) America. Such a diverse set of stories moves radically beyond linear understandings of transmission to embrace questions of transformation, translation, hybridisation, appropriation and resistance.

    This important work not only makes a significant contribution to Stanislavsky studies but also to recent research on theatre and interculturalism, theatre and globalisation, theatre and (post)colonialism and to the wider critical turn in performer training historiographies.

    This is a unique examination of Stanislavsky's work presenting a richly diverse range of examples and an international perspective on Stanislavsky's impact that has never been attempted before.

    Stanislavsky in the World is an ambitious and ground-breaking work charting a fascinating story of the global dissemination and transformation of Stanislavsky's practices.

    Case studies written by local experts, historians and practitioners are brought together to introduce the reader to new routes of Stanislavskian transmission across the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and South (Latin) America. Such a diverse set of stories moves radically beyond linear understandings of transmission to embrace questions of transformation, translation, hybridisation, appropriation and resistance.

    This important work not only makes a significant contribution to Stanislavsky studies but also to recent research on theatre and interculturalism, theatre and globalisation, theatre and (post)colonialism and to the wider critical turn in performer training historiographies.

    This is a unique examination of Stanislavsky's work presenting a richly diverse range of examples and an international perspective on Stanislavsky's impact that has never been attempted before. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/stanislavsky-in-the-world-9781472587886#sthash.yYoKxniA.dpuf

    Although theatre is the most local of art forms, this important collection documents how the Stanislavsky system became a major force in theatrical globalization in the 20th century. From Malta to Bangladesh to China it shows how actors and pedagogues came to share a common artistic vocabulary.  (Prof. Christopher Balme, current Chair in Theatre Studies at the University of Munich)

    Contributions include:

    • Ian Maxwell’s discussion of a ‘received Stanislavsky’ and the tyranny of distance in Australian actor training;
    • Peta Tait’s analysis of acting idealism and emotions as mobilised by Hayes Gordon and The Ensemble Theatre in Sydney;
    • Hilary Halba’s account on the System experienced through the Maori World in New Zealand;
    • Marie-Christine Autant-Mathieu’s discussion of selected affinities between Stanislavsky and the French Theatre Tradition;
    • Siyuan Liu’s analysis of Stanislavsky’s impact on a Chinese School of Performance and Directing;
    • Raúl Serrano’s teacher-perspective on current Stanislavskian teaching at the Escuela de Teatro de Buenos Aires in Argentina;
    • Moez Mrabet’s discussion of Stanislavsky’s impact on both modern theatre and contemporary actor training in Tunisia;
    • Syed Jamil Ahmed’s articulation of the System as postcolonial appropriation and assimilation in Bangladesh.

    The book’s official launch will be held as follows:

    Date:                5th June 2017

    Time:               17:00

    Venue:             Alec Clegg Studio, stage@leeds building, University of Leeds

    For full details visit http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/stanislavsky-in-the-world-9781472587886 or contact us on j.pitches@leeds.ac.uk or stefan.aquilina@um.edu.mt
  • CFP: Mediating the Real 2: Mediations in a 'Post Truth' Era
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 27 Apr 2017
    A conference at the University of Otago 22nd – 25th November 2017
    Presented by The Performance of the Real Research Theme and the Department of Media, Film and Communication
    Keynote speakers:
    Dr Kim Toffoletti (Deakin University) & Dr Laurie J. Ouellette (University of Minnesota)

     
    ‘Post-truth’ has become a buzzword in the last year generating think-pieces and SNS chatter lamenting 'truth' as a lost object that has enabled and / or smuggled in events like Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. With this discussion, comes a broader demonstration of anxiety that a true 'real' (world, political sphere, social …) has been either lost or obscured. The responsibility for this loss or obscurance has fallen firmly at the feet of 'the media' (as well as the so-called postmodernists).
     
    This conference asks and unpacks the interactions of (post) truth, the 'real' and contemporary media.
     
    Building on and following from the success of Mediating the Real ‘1’, we encourage critically informed approaches – particularly drawing from the work of Lacan. However, this time too, we invite scholars engaged with Jean Baudrillard's prolific engagement in these matters.
     
    Papers might ask but are not limited to:
    What does post-truth mean in the contemporary media saturated context?
    A consideration of the increasingly banal use of ‘post-truth’ (as OED word of the year 2016) in news chatter and the implications of this for understandings of 'truthful’ media
    Where is the real located in this context? This might be through considerations of the Lacanian real and the possibilities for subjectivity and sociality – particularly in terms of the potential to build social bonds within the ‘discourse of capitalism’
    What does the anguished / anxious response to 'post truth', particularly in popular and social media, tell us about contemporary subjectivity and sociality?
    What do Baudrillard’s critical interventions tell us about the contemporary production of reality?
     
    Postgraduate bursary:
    A number of travel and registration bursaries will be available for postgraduate students of around $250 per student. These will be allocated on the basis of the merit of submitted abstracts. We highly encourage postgraduate researchers to submit their work for consideration.
     
    Key information:
    Organisers and contacts: Dr Brett Nicholls (brett.nicholls@otago.ac.nz) and Dr Rosemary Overell (rosemary.overell@otago.ac.nz)
    Abstract information: please email rosemary.overell@otago.ac.nz a 250-500 word abstract and 150 word biography by June 15th 2017.
    Registration: $95 (casual / sessional workers and postgraduates) and $225 (academic and waged workers) – includes cocktail function, lunches and teas
    Dinner:  $60

    Venue: Richardson, 6th floor, Room 4 North
    More info:

    http://www.otago.ac.nz/performance-of-the-real/index.html
    http://www.otago.ac.nz/mfco/index.html
    https://www.facebook.com/performanceofthereal
    https://www.facebook.com/mediafilmcomms/
  • Masterclass with David Diamond: Theatre for Living Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 June 2017 9.00am - 5.00pm Theatre Lab, Massey University, Auckland campus
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 6 Apr 2017
    Theatre for Living has evolved from Brazilian Director Augusto Boal's ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’. It is a way of communicating and working with people so that the 'living community' can tell its stories. Theatre for Living techniques have been applied to mainstream theatre, interdisciplinary work, personal, community and team development, anti-racism and violence prevention, environmental action, education and counselling. Using a symbolic language, participants develop ‘emotional intelligence’, move towards open communication and begin to create their desired realities in an active and entertaining way.

    This workshop is specifically designed for theatre-makers and community workers. The two-day workshop will explore Image Theatre and the evolution of Rainbow of Desire and their applicability in reconciliation issues and as tools to foster dialogue and interaction between disparate groups of people.
     
    This training will be invaluable for anyone who seeks skills and techniques to use theatrical language to explore community dialogue.
    Cost: $200 for two days
    Register Online via the Massey University Webpage:
    http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/learning/departments/school-english-media-studies/newsand-
    events/masterclass-with-david-diamond-theatre-for-living.cfm


    For More Information Please Contact:
    Dr. Rand T. Hazou - Senior Lecturer in Theatre
    School of English and Media Studies | Massey University
    T: +64 9 414 0800 | Ext. 43342 | E: r.t.hazou@massey.ac.nz

     
  • CFP: The Performance and Performativity of Violence
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 4 Apr 2017

    An interdisciplinary conference hosted by The Performance of the Real Research Theme

    The University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, 19-21 June, 2017


    Keynotes:

    Professor Bruce Johnson (Macquarie University, Australia and University of Turku, Finland)

    Dr Lisa Fitzpatrick (University of Ulster, Ireland)
     

    While violence has always permeated society, today it is expressed and constructed in an ever-greater variety of ways. Due to globalization and technological advances during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, performative violence now has an unprecedented range and effect. Jeffrey S. Juris argues that where direct political violence is meant to cause death or injury to human beings, performative violence involves ‘symbolic ritual enactments of violent interaction with a predominant emphasis on communication and cultural expression’ (2005: 415). Thus, protest violence or terrorist acts are often staged in part with an aim to capture media attention (ibid), and may involve further aims such as intimidation and gaining ‘compliance from adversaries’ (Zech and Kelly 2015: 85). At the same time, the potential for artistically bounded performance to be used in more brutalizing ways, or to depict increasing levels of violence has increased. With this come questions of ethics and spectatorship. The performance and performativity of violence is thus of pressing concern.


    This interdisciplinary conference aims to draw together scholars from a wide variety of fields to examine the ethics, politics and nature of representations/orchestrations of violence, as well as what makes the performance and performativity of violence particularly compelling,

    pervasive and or problematic in the current age.
     

    In addition to conventional paper presentations, we also invite papers on the theme with a performance or creative component. We encourage papers relating but not limited to the following topics and questions:
     

    • Violence performance and spectatorship

    • Performative violence used to serve political or terrorists ends

    • Is there an actual cause-effect relationship between performance and violence? Do performances cause violence? Are they an instrument or tool of violence?

    • When performance has violent effects, is any form of reparation due to the victims ofsuch violence? If so, who should assume responsibility (users, performers, the creative industries, the mass media)? What are (or should be) the rights of victims of performative assault?

    • The performativity of institutional or structural violence

    • What are the causes of performance’s violent/pacifying effects? How many of these

    effects are due to the performance’s volume, to aesthetic considerations, to content

    etc.?

    • Do different people experience violence in relation to performance differently? If so,

    how and why?

    • How effective is performative violence? Does it achieve its desired results? Does it

    have unintended and perhaps undesirable consequences?

    • Performative violence related to

    • The ethics and politics of representations/stagings

    • Culturally codified or expected performances/behaviours
     

    We welcome abstracts for papers, performances, panels or other presentation formats. Please submit a 300-word abstract of your presentation and a 150-word biography for each presenter by May 3, 2017. Please send us your abstract as a Word document, and use your surname as the document title. Please clearly indicate the title of your presentation, as well as your full name (first name, surname) and institutional affiliation (if relevant). Please send your abstracts or any enquiries to the Theme administrator, Massi, at performance.real@otago.ac.nz. There are a few small travel bursaries available for postgrad

    students coming from overseas. Please contact the theme administrator for details.
     

    The Performance of the Real is a University of Otago funded interdisciplinary Research Theme. The project is to investigate what it is about representations and performances of the real that make them particularly compelling and pervasive in our current age. At its core is the study of how performance/performativity, in its many cultural, aesthetic, political and social forms and discourses, represents, critiques, stages, and constructs/reconstructs the real, as well as the ethical, social and form-related issues involved in such acts.
     

    Website: http://www.otago.ac.nz/performance-of-the-real

    Follow us on Facebook and Twitter on:

    https://www.facebook.com/performanceofthereal/

    https://twitter.com/performingreal

  • Book Launch and New Publication: Staging Queer Feminisms: Sexuality and Gender in Australian Performance, 2005-2015 by Sarah French (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 4 Apr 2017
    Staging Queer Feminisms examines sexuality, gender and race in Australia’s vibrant independent theatre and performance culture. It analyses selected feminist and queer performances that interrogate the cultural construction of identity, challenge the normative trends of mainstream Australian society and culture and open up spaces for alternative representations of gender identity and sexual expression. Offering the first full-length study on sexuality and gender in Australian theatre since 2005, the book reveals a resurgence of feminist themes in independent performance and explores the intersection of feminist and queer politics. Ranging across drag, burlesque, cabaret, theatre and performance art, this book provides an accessible and engaging account of some of the most innovative, entertaining and politically subversive Australian theatrical works from the past decade.

    “Sarah French’s landmark book astutely frames twenty-first-century performance considered queer and feminist within an artistic category in its own right. It is very exciting to read about these theatrically accomplished but challenging innovative performances, and the complex ways in which they are meaningful. Just as these performances merit thorough investigation, this important book equally deserves the serious attention of a wide readership.” Peta Tait, La Trobe University, Australia

    “Sarah French’s book provides a compelling insight into ten years of vital, subversive, genre-defying Australian performance. She brings the anarchic energy of the performances alive and frames her persuasive analysis within appropriate intersectional feminist and postcolonial frameworks.” Sarah Gorman, University of Roehampton, UK

    Copies can be ordered at: http://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137465429
     
    The book will be launched on Sunday, 23rd April 2017 by Professor Peta Tait FAHA, La Trobe University.
    At fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, from 4pm.

    RSVP’s essential to: Sarah French at frenchs@unimelb.edu.au by Wednesday 12th April
  • CFP: Popular Entertainment Studies Volume 8, no.2 (September 2017)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 4 Apr 2017
    Expressions of interest are invited from scholars and scholar/practitioners for the next issues of the international, peer-reviewed e-journal. We would like to encourage all those interested in the history and practices of popular entertainments to submit a proposal for inclusion in our next two issues. The interests of the journal are diverse and wide-ranging and have included such areas as popular entertainments in the context of a mediatised culture, street performances, music theatre, vaudeville, minstrelsy, professional wrestling and circus performers.

    The journal has now been operating for eight years and its contents are indexed and abstracted by the Thomson-Reuters organisation for inclusion in its Arts and Humanities Citation Index and Current Contents/Arts and Humanities. The journal is an open access one and can be viewed for further information at: https://novaojs.newcastle.edu.au/ojs/index.php/pes/index
    Expressions of interest should be forwarded as soon as possible to the General Editor, Victor Emeljanow at Victor-Emeljanow@newcastle.edu.au or the Associate Editor, Gillian Arrighi at Gillian.Arrighi@newcastle.edu.au.  The deadline for final paper submissions is July 7 2017 for the September 2017 issue, January 12 2018 for the March 2018 issue.
  • CFP: Performing Care
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 10 Mar 2017
    An edited collection of essays: Amanda Stuart Fisher (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama) and James Thompson (University of Manchester) (eds)
     
    This edited collection aims to bring together a range of essays that stage an interdisciplinary dialogue between theatre and performance scholarship and research and practice in the fields of care ethics, care studies and health and social care. The book will examine the boundaries between theories of care practice and performance, re-thinking the encounter between the caregiver and cared for. Through an examination of a wide range of different care performances drawn from interdisciplinary and international settings, this book interrogates how performance might be understood as caring or uncaring, careless or careful and correlatively how care can be conceptualised as artful, aesthetic, authentic  or even ‘fake’ and ‘staged’. Through a dialogic engagement between care and performance, the book considers how the field of performance can be challenged by an examination of the difficulties of inter-human care and examines how a dialogue between performance, practitioners of care and care ethicists might foster a greater understanding of the caring encounter.
     
    This call for contributions invites proposals for chapters ( 6000 words)  from academics, practitioners, artists who are working in the field of performance and theatre studies, nursing, social work, education and other disciplinary contexts who are interested in exploring the relationship between performance and care. In these proposals, we encourage authors to consider how performance and care operate together within their research and how this might offer new ways of understanding the relation between performance and care. While we are interested in a wide range of different articulations of care, we are particularly interested in essays that draw on performance to offer a renewed engagement with the field of care ethics as developed by feminist care ethicists such as Nel Noddings  (1986) Carol Gilligan (1982), Eva Kittay (1991), Joan Tronto (1993), Virginia Held (1993).
     
    We welcome proposals that address a wide range of different perspectives and areas of interest and in particular are interested in essays that address some of the following questions:
    • How does performance offer new ways of understanding the caring encounter?
    • How do the concepts of care and justice challenge contemporary performance practice and vice versa?
    • How might an aesthetics of care redefine performance or the caring encounter in a social or health setting?
    • Can performance re-imagine the relationship between the carer and the cared-for?
    • How might performance offer a critical perspective on the politics of care?
    • To what extent can performance enhance the quality of care provided in health and social care settings?
     
    Abstracts (500 words) should clearly indicate how performance and care will be positioned within the proposed essay, please also submit a short biography (100 words)
     
    Please submit abstracts email to  Amanda.stuartfisher@cssd.ac.uk by 5pm 7th April 2017.
     
  • CFP: RiDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 10 Feb 2017

    Please note - the closing date for EoIs closes on 5 June.


    Themed Issue: Theatre, Dementia and Relationality
     (24, 1. February 2019).

     

    Guest Editors: Nicky Hatton, University of Winchester UK, Michael Balfour and Julie Dunn, Griffith University, Australia.

     

    Over the last two decades, the arts have been increasingly applied in response to the challenges of rising rates of dementia. This growth in practice derives from recognition that, in the absence of a cure, there is a need to develop approaches that address its key impacts of social isolation, depression, and quality of life (QOL). As such, the majority of research that has been conducted about arts and dementia is science-based, with an emphasis on improving the wellbeing of participants.

     

    Arts researchers and practitioners have become increasingly interested in the aesthetic possibilities of arts practices which are created with, for, or inspired by, people with dementia. Theatre research and practice has developed significantly in the last decade, with theatre productions about dementia, creative and participatory work, specially organised theatre visits, theatre projects with a strong inter-generational component, professional theatre companies of older people, multisensory programmes, play readings, and other forms of dementia-friendly theatre movements. Concurrently, there has been a shift in dementia research, from a person-centred approach to care, to one which recognises caregiving as a relational process. Gerontologist Mike Nolan and colleagues argue that dementia care should be defined as ‘a network of social relationships… which are deeply connected and independent (Nolan et al, 2004: 47). The notion of relational care is also being considered by theatre researchers who are interested in the aesthetic connections between care and performance. In his article Towards an aesthetics of care (2015), James Thompson considers the ‘radical potential’ of placing ‘community-engaged arts work within the framework of care’ (432). He suggests that an aesthetics of care ‘seeks to focus upon how the sensory and affective are realised in human relations fostered in art projects’ (436). This research raises new questions about the role of the arts in dementia care, and the relationships between creativity, participation, and care.

     

    In response to this growing area of praxis, this themed edition will explore, critique and document a range of work in this emerging field. We invite proposals from academics, practitioners who are working in the field of theatre and performance studies, social work, critical disability studies, and other related contexts. Contributors may wish to consider, but are by no means restricted to, the following themes: representations of dementia in theatre and performance, multisensory practices, performers with dementia, theatre in care homes, theatre and caregiving, dementia-friendly theatre buildings, engaging care staff and families, and the role of arts-based methodologies. We are interested in submissions in a range of formats, including:

    - video and sound file

    - research essays (6-8K words)

    - interviews, dialogues, and scripts

    - practitioner statements

    - performance and book reviews

     

    Timeframe

     

    Expressions of interest: 5 June 2017

    First drafts: 3 January 2018

    Final drafts: July 2018

    Final copy deadline: 20 November 2018

    Publication: February 2019

     

    Expressions of interest should be 500 words long and submitted by email to m.balfour@griffith.edu.au.

     

    For information about RiDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance and its remit please visit:   http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/crde20/current 

     

     

  • CFP: Performance Paradigm 13 (2017)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Fri, 10 Feb 2017

    Performance, Choreography, and the Gallery

    Edited by Erin Brannigan (UNSW Australia), Hannah Mathews (Monash University Museum of Art), and Caroline Wake (UNSW Australia)

    This issue of Performance Paradigm takes the 2016 Biennale of Sydney as a starting point for a broader discussion about the relations between performance, choreography and the gallery. Of course, the appearance of performance in the gallery and in the GLAM—galleries, libraries, archives and museums—sector more broadly is not new. Indeed, the Biennale’s artistic director Stephanie Rosenthal and two of her ‘curatorial attachés’, Adrian Heathfield and André Lepecki, have been working at this intersection for years. So too have scholars such as Claire Bishop (2012; 2014), Shannon Jackson (2011), and Susan Bennett (2009). What is new, perhaps, is the visibility of artists, art works and institutions from the Global South. The Biennale featured scores of performances that ranged across of a variety of genres (one-to-one, live art, theatre, dance, opera, installations, walks, talks, and tours) and a variety of sites (libraries, galleries, post-industrial halls, inner city streets, and harbour islands). We invite papers from artists, curators and academics that investigate all of these genres and more, across these three themes:

    • Performance: Performances in galleries, libraries and art museums; Black boxes, white cubes, grey spaces, and green rooms; The theatricality of exhibition and display (Guy 2016); The twin, yet distinct, anti-theatricalities of visual art and performance studies (Jackson 2005); How does moving a live work from one locale to another change it and what are the problems and possibilities for the work, its analysis and its audiences?
    • Choreography: Why do museums seem to prefer dance to performance? Is it only to do with the silence, or is there more to it? How does the gallery reconfigure relations between dance and performance (studies)? What do we gain and lose in expanding ‘choreography’ towards the visual arts (Brannigan 2015)? How does the dance-museum relationship navigate the problematic power relations surrounding the choreography of institutionalisation?
    • Gallery (Libraries, Archives, and Museums): How do dance and performance alter the terms of spectatorship in the gallery and vice versa? If ‘choreography’ and ‘performance’ are mobile frames for making and experiencing art, how does ‘gallery’ circulate as a frame beyond its recognisable sites? How do GLAM institutions bring themselves into being via the ‘choreography of bureaucracy’ and the associated genres of grant applications, sponsor events, and collaborations with other institutions such as universities?

    Please send proposals of approximately 300 words to Erin Brannigan (e.brannigan@unsw.edu.au), Hannah Mathews (hannah.mathews@monash.edu) and Caroline Wake (c.wake@unsw.edu.au) by Friday, 24 February 2017. Full articles will be due on 16 June 2017 for publication in December 2017. Last but not least, please note that the website is currently being upgraded so you can plan to embed images, videos, and other materials.

    Works Cited

    Bennett, Susan. Theatre & Museums (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013)

    Bishop, Claire. “The Perils and Possibilities of Dance in the Museum: Tate, MoMA, and Whitney.” Dance Research Journal 46.3 (2014): 63–76.

    ———. Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship (London: Verso, 2012)

    Brannigan, Erin. “Dance and the Gallery: Curation as Revision.” Dance Research Journal 47.1 (2015): 5–25.

    Guy, Georgina. Theatre, Exhibition and Curation: Displayed and Performance (London: Routledge, 2016).

    Jackson, Shannon. “Performing Show and Tell: Disciplines of Visual Culture and Performance Studies.” Journal of Visual Culture 4.2 (2005): 163–77.

    ———. Social Works: Performing Art, Supporting Publics (London: Routledge, 2011).

  • Presentation: National Library Fellow, Dr Gillian Arrighi’s public talk, Pinafores, Prodigies and Precocities, about her research into professional child actors in Australia from 1880-1920
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Mon, 30 Jan 2017

    7 February at 5.30pm in the Conference Room at the National Library,  Canberra.

    Pinafores, Prodigies and Precocities 
    Discovering Australia’s Professional Child Actors in the Library Collections
    Professional child performers were immensely popular with Australian audiences from 1880 to 1920, starring in pantomimes, comic opera, circus, variety and dramas.  Large troupes of child actors toured internationally throughout southern Asia, while some of Australia’s leading child stars also appeared in the United States and Britain. Surprisingly, very little is known about the significant contribution made by child actors to Australia’s vibrant theatre industry of this era. Cultural historian Gillian Arrighi will reveal how the ephemera, manuscript, music and pictures collections are enabling her to piece together this fascinating history, providing new insights into childhood, and Australia’s theatre industry.
    Dr Gillian Arrighi is Senior Lecturer in Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Newcastle. Her research on circus, actors and child performers has been published nationally and internationally in books and essays.

    Tuesday 7 February, 5.30pm
    Conference Room, free
    Bookings essential
    Book here or 02 6262 1111
  • New Book: Japanese Robot Culture: Performance, Imagination, and Modernity by Yuji Sone (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Tue, 17 Jan 2017

    Japanese Robot Culture examines social robots in Japan, those in public, domestic, and artistic contexts. Unlike other studies, this book sees the robot in relation to Japanese popular culture, and argues that the Japanese ‘affinity’ for robots is the outcome of a complex loop of representation and social expectation in the context of Japan’s continuing struggle with modernity. Considering Japanese robot culture from the critical perspectives afforded by theatre and performance studies, this book is concerned with representations of robots and their inclusion in social and cultural contexts, which science and engineering studies do not address. The robot as a performing object generates meaning in staged events and situations that make sense for its Japanese observers and participants. This book examines how specific modes of encounter with robots in carefully constructed mises en scène can trigger reflexive, culturally specific, and often ideologically-inflected responses.

    “Written in lucid prose Sone’s study is essential for theorists working on robotics in social and artistic contexts, arts and performance studies, and Japanese Studies.” Peter Eckersall, Professor, Theatre Program, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York

    Sone gives a fresh and critically incisive performance studies approach to examine robotics in Japan. It neither essentializes Japanese culture nor trivializes the impact of this industry.” - M. Cody Poulton, Professor, Department of Pacific and Asian Studies, University of Victoria

     For more detail:http://www.palgrave.com/la/book/9781137532169

  • Assistant Professor in Theater Studies: Asian Theater and Performance Studies
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 8 Dec 2016

    The Department of Theater and Dance, University of California, Santa Barbara, seeks to fill a full-time, tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level, in Asian Theater and Performance Studies, effective July 1, 2017. The Department of Theater and Dance offers the BA, BFA, MA and PhD degrees. The Theater Studies faculty and PhD program emphasize studying theater, dance, and performance from a global perspective. (See www.theaterdance.ucsb.edu for the curriculum).

    Candidates should have scholarly expertise in one or more Asian traditions, as well as the ability to teach the broad field comparatively. A strong secondary area of research and methodology is important, such as cognitive, gender or media studies and new historiographies.

    Doctoral degree required at the time of appointment. The department is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through research, teaching and service. The department seeks candidates who are on the way to developing a national profile in their research; clear evidence of teaching ability is also required, and evidence showing ability to work with students from diverse backgrounds is desirable.

    The application includes cover letter summarizing qualifications and approach to teaching, a current CV, contact information for three references to write letters of recommendation, and a scholarly writing sample. Applications must be submitted online for consideration at https://recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/apply/JPF00840. Deadline to apply, January 1, 2017; employment begins on July 1, 2017.
     
    The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

  • Call for Papers Theatre Research in Canada/Recherches théâtrales au Canada Special Issue on Festivals
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 8 Dec 2016

    It has been thirteen years since the last special issue of a journal was produced on the topic of Festivals (Contemporary Theatre Review 13.4, in 2003). Yet it remains true that, as Karen Fricker argued in that issue, ““Festivals are a complex, and undertheorized, field within theatre studies. They are a crucially important site for the production, distribution and reception of theatre productions on local, national and international levels, and yet little work has been done within the academy to analyze the ways that contemporary festivals function, and the meanings they contain and disseminate.”

    In that time the numbers and kinds of festivals within Canada and internationally has increased exponentially, and events that used merely to be events have become “festivalized”—structured, marketed, and promoted in ways that stress brand identities, urban centres as tourist destinations, and the corporate attractiveness of “creative cities,” all participating in the “eventification” of culture. These corporate, municipal, and state practices and the critical literature supporting them have paid less attention to the actual content and impact of international festivals that draw from and represent multiple cultures and cultural forms, or to what roles festivals play in one of the most urgent processes of our times: intercultural communication and exchange.

    Meanwhile, a new kind of festival has emerged, in which small intercultural theatre and performance companies such as Aluna Theatre in Toronto, MT Space Theatre in Kitchener, and the Prismatic Festival in Halifax, largely bypass diplomatic brokerage and stage festivals that are explicitly focused on the intercultural, and in the relationships among the local and the transnational. Such festivals avoid the large festival phenomenon in which participants arrive, mount their own shows, and leave, often without even seeing anyone else’s work much less engaging in cross-cultural dialogue. At small-scale, ground-up events such as Aluna’s Panamerican Routes/RUTAS panamericanas and MT Space’s IMPACT, the conferences, colloquia, and workshops, as sites of intercultural negotiation and exchange, are at least as important as the shows.

    Submissions are invited in English or French for a special issue of Theatre Research in Canada/Recherches théâtrales au Canada that focus on festivals, “festivalization,” and their roles in relationship to inter- and intracultural as well as interdisciplinary and aesthetic exchange. Submissions are welcome on individual festivals such as Vancouver’s PuSH, or Talking Stick; Calgary’s High Performance Rodeo; Kitchener’s IMPACT; Toronto’s Panamerican Routes/RUTAS Panamericanas, Summerworks, Nuit Blanche, or Luminato; Montreal’s Festival TransAmérique or Montréal Complètement Cirque; Halifax’s Prismatic; St. John’s’ Sound Symposium, or any others. Submissions would also be welcome on local small and emergent festivals, on fringe festivals, or on festival circuits or individual artists or productions working those circuits, as would submissions taking a comparative approach.

    Possible topics might include, but are not limited to:

    • Festivals as sites of tension between the local and global and sites of (unequal?) negotiation between cultures and cultural forms
    • The impact of globalization, urban promotional discourses such as “creative city” theory, and branding on the ways in which trans- and intercultural negotiations are framed and practiced at festivals
    • The phenomenon of “the festival city”
    • New play development festivals
    • Canadian participation at festivals internationally
    • Festivals and Indigenous performance
    • Festivals, gender, and sexuality
    • Festivals and municipal governance and promotion
    • Festivals and urban or rural space
    • Festivals as tourist destinations
    • Festivals and “Place Myths”
    • “Festivalization” and the “eventification” of culture
    • Festivals as sites of aesthetic and (inter)disciplinary experimentation
    • The funding and sponsorship of festivals

    Submissions of up to 7000 words, using the third edition of the MLA Style Manual and including an abstract and brief biographical note should be sent by 1 November 2017, by email attachment, to:

    Ric Knowles, guest editor, at rknowles@uoguelph.ca, copied to the TRiC editorial office at tric.rtac@utoronto.ca

    (For details submission guidelines see http://tricrtac.ca/en/for-authors/ )

    The issue is scheduled to appear in May 2019.

  • Book Launch and New Publication: The Mill: Experiments in Theatre and Community by Meredith Rogers (Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2016)
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 8 Dec 2016

    The Mill Community Theatre Project embraced the civic and cultural expansiveness of the 1970s and early 1980s to re-imagine the relationship between theatre audiences and performers. National and international movements of the era saw art as generative of social change, and art and artists as agents of cultural transformation. The project’s Artistic Director, James McCaughey, envisaged a program of work in which formal innovation, artistic excellence and community engagement could go hand in hand.

    The Mill Theatre’s life was short, but its legacy—and that of Deakin University’s Performing Arts course, simultaneously founded by McCaughey—has been substantial. This book brings to light the work of a company largely ignored in broad-brush histories, and the profound impact it had on theatre workers and students who were touched by it.

    ‘Time after time … one is struck by the boldness of imagination, the blue-sky dreaming of great skills in practice, the exploration of form and content, the sheer innovation and brilliance of the artists.’
    Andrea Hull

    Copies can be ordered at: http://www.scholarly.info/book/527/

    The book will be launched on 20 December 2016 by Professor Rachel Fensham

    Where: Linkway Meeting Room, Level 4, John Medley Building University of Melbourne, Parkville

    Time: 6.00-7.00pm

  • Society for Theatre Research: Paul Iles Bequest
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 6 Oct 2016

    In addition to the Research Awards, which are wholly and exclusively for research into aspects of the British Theatre, the Society has received a substantial bequest from the late Paul Iles. The terms of the bequest state only that it is to be used “specifically for research awards in the area of Australian theatre”. Initial declarations of interest and outline proposals are invited from interested persons.

    Although it is imagined that projects dealing with Paul Iles’ own interests (such as post-colonial/post-British dominated theatre in Australia, and in particular those companies he was closely associated with – the State Theatre Co at the Adelaide Festival, the Nimrod Theatre of Sydney and the North Queensland Theatre Co.) would be favourably considered, the field is wide open.

    There is more than £1000 available, but individual awards will depend on the number and quality of the projects submitted. This is a one-off event, so there is likely to be more discussion possible around the development of the chosen projects than there can be over the normal Awards projects.

    There is no application form for awards from this Bequest and there is no specific closing date for these awards: applicants are encouraged to send in outline proposals as soon as may be convenient, after which there may be further discussion and development with the committee (via email). Announcements of successful proposals will be made at intervals. For more information please write to awards@str.org.uk.

  • CFP: New Directions in Teaching Theatre Arts [tentative title] Volume editors Anne Fliotsos & Gail S. Medford
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 15 Sep 2016

    Editors Anne Fliotsos and Gail Medford (Teaching Theatre Today: Pedagogical Views of Theatre in Higher Education, Palgrave Macmillan, 2nd. ed. 2009) seek essays addressing the many changes we face in teaching theatre in higher education in the 21st century. Geared toward university students preparing to teach as well as current faculty and administrators, we seek a firm practice-based approach that also reflects current research and/or case studies. Although we welcome historical context in the introduction to each essay, our focus is on new and proven methods that theatre educators may use to engage and encourage student success. We welcome essays from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the U.K, as well as the U.S. In addition to the standard areas of introduction to theatre, theatre history, acting, directing, musical theatre, dramaturgy, and playwriting, subjects may include but are not limited to:

    • Educating Theatre Artists as Entrepreneurs: How can theatre training best prepares students for jobs tangential to or outside of theatre? How can we teach theatre artists to self-market or develop theatre companies?
    • Theatre Administration: Teaching the business aspects of theatre.
    • Applied Theatre: Teaching theatre-in-education (theatre as a pedagogical tool) and as an agent for social change.
    • Children’s or Youth Theatre & Drama: How do we teach perspective theatre artist/teachers to reach the new generation of children and youth? Which approaches are most effective?
    • Theatre Beyond the "Traditional": May apply to conceptions of theatre, theatre practice, and teaching methods that address contemporary structures such as Hip-Hop theatre, Spoken Word, devised theatre, etc.
    • Assessment of Teaching Effectiveness: How do we know our students are learning and practicing what we are teaching? How do we use assessment data (i.e., from rubrics, performance evaluations) to inform improvement of our teaching? What are the goals of courses/programs, and how do we best assess our educational outcomes to meet administrative demands?
    • Online, Hybrid & Flipped classes: How does the move away from live lecture—especially in large introductory classes—alter our goals, methods, assessments, andoutcomes? Are there also drawbacks? How does technology change the way we teach and the way students learn, and what are some broad strategies in using technology in innovative ways?
    • Theatre as the Great Collaborator: Positioning theatre strongly within the academy (i.e., STEAM v. STEM, linking theatre with other areas on campus, such as bridge programs, faculty development) without becoming subservient.
    • The Implications of Neurological Studies on Teaching Theatre

    Submission Guidelines:

    • Email an abstract of 400-600 words to both editors: Fliotsos@purdue.edu and gmedford@bowiestate.edu
    • Include a short bio of 50-60 words at the end of the abstract
    • Include a two-page CV highlighting your artistry/research and publication
    • Please use Chicago Manual of Style, Times New Roman 12 pt. font, 1.5 space
    • Illustrations welcome, 300 dpi (permission forms required for publication)
    • Final length of accepted essays will be 4-6,000 words
    • Queries are welcome

    The preferential deadline for proposals is November 1, 2016.

  • PhD Scholarships in Performance and Disability, and in Theatre for Young People
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 15 Sep 2016

    The School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne is seeking outstanding candidates for doctoral study connected with two exciting new collaborative research projects, one in Performance and Disability in Australia, and the other in Transmedia Performance for Young People in Regional Victoria. Both successful candidates will develop their research project as members of dynamic inter-disciplinary teams, working in partnership with theatre artists and cultural organisations. Details of these two ‘Linkage Projects’ are as follows:

    1) ‘Disability and the Performing Arts in Australia: Beyond the Social Model’

    Investigators: Dr Eddie Paterson, Dr Lachlan MacDowall, Prof Gerard Goggin, Ms Veronica Pardo.

    In partnership with Arts Access Victoria, this project aims to explore the creative and aesthetic value of contemporary Australian disability theatre, dance and live performance. The project seeks to develop inclusive models for collaborating with artists with a disability and to map the field of current practice through investigation of arts and disability companies such as rawcus, Back to Back, Restless Dance, The Delta Project and others. The successful candidate will work with the research team on the topic of ‘Disability and the Performing Arts in Australia: The Last Avant-garde?’ and investigate the innovations of contemporary artists with a disability and their impact on Australian cultural life. Lived experience of disability, and knowledge of disability theory, performance practice and performance studies, would enhance an application. People with disability are encouraged to apply.

    2) ‘Creative Convergence: Enhancing Impact in Regional Theatre for Young People’

    Investigators:  Dr Jennifer Beckett, Prof Rachel Fensham, Associate Prof Paul Rae, Mr Jeremy Rice.

    In collaboration with a variety of theatre companies and cultural institutions working in regional Victoria (Arena, Arthur, Bell Shakespeare, Hothouse, Melbourne Theatre Company, Creative Victoria, GPAC and Theatre Network Victoria), this project seeks to understand and enhance the personal, affective and social impact of contemporary theatre for youth audiences by developing social media strategies and knowledge networks. The successful candidate will work with the research team to analyse the conceptual requirements for impactful audience engagement, establish how online spaces can serve as sites of creative interaction and theatrical remix, and work with partner organisations on practical implementation of the resulting insights. Knowledge of theatre for young people, audience research and/or technical skills in social media use and transmedia storytelling would strengthen an application.

    Applicants should have a strong Honours and/or Master’s Degree. A research background and/or practical experience in relevant areas will also be beneficial. The final deadline for applications to the university is 31 October, and further information can be found athttps://graduate.arts.unimelb.edu.au/degrees/25-doctor-of-philosophy-arts. In the first instance, however, interested candidates should send a CV and covering letter outlining their suitability for the relevant research project by Friday 7 October to Eddie Paterson (eddiep@unimelb.edu.au) for ‘Disability and the Performing Arts in Australia’, or Paul Rae (paul.rae@unimelb.edu.au) for ‘Creative Convergence’

  • New Publication: Performing Neurology (Palgrave Macmillan, Sept 2016), by Jonathan W. Marshall
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 8 Sep 2016

    Performing Neurology provides an interdisciplinary analysis of the work of Jean-Martin Charcot, a founding figure in the history of neurology as a discipline (and with whom Freud studied). The author argues that Charcot’s diagnostic model (how disease is recognized and described) and his pedagogic framework (how one teaches the act of neurological diagnosis) should be seen as in theatrical terms. These theatrical concepts and methods were both part of his genius, as well as his Achilles heel, Charcot often being unfavorably compared to directors such as Wagner. In seeing the constitution of the living, moving body in terms of performance, Charcot created a situation whereby deceptive acting as distinct from real pathology, scientific accuracy versus creative falsehood, and indeed between health and unhealth, became confused. Charcot’s language and practice meant that the physician became a medical subject in his or her own display, transforming medicine into a potentially destabilizing, even grand guignolesque, discourse.

    http://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/978-1-137-51762-3

    Jonathan W. Marshall is an interdisciplinary scholar who has published on the relationship between neurology and the arts, as well as photomedia, sound art, butoh dance, Australian painting and choreography, and other topics. Marshall is a freelance critic and reviewer of contemporary arts. In 2016, he moved from the University of Otago in New Zealand, to a position at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, Edith Cowan University.

    “This work makes an important contribution to our understanding of the place of the Salpêtrière in the larger cultural setting of theatrical performance and dramaturgy and to Charcot’s own role in both borrowing from this world and contributing to it. Marshall demonstrates how an iconography of art, photographs and performance undermined the authority of the clinicians who used it by breaking down old epistemic boundaries and creating new aesthetic alliances, which in turn invited criticism from journalists, artists, and culture critics whose own domains were now more related to clinical method.”

    Professor Robert Nye, Oregon State University

    “From the Grand Guignol to recent studies of neuro-aesthetics, this book provides a compelling analysis of Charcot’s influence upon our corporeal understandings of performance, hysteria and theatricality. Importantly, it also reveals how visualization and dramaturgical devices in medicine and art have sought to persuade audiences of their symbolic power.”

    Professor Rachel Fensham, University of Melbourne

    “Jonathan Marshall’s work offers significant new insight into hysteria through his innovative analysis of Jean-Martin Charcot. He shifts the perspective on Charcot from sterile debates about the adequacy of Charcot’s aetiologies of hysteria to analyses of his presentation of hysteria in theatrical terms. Charcot directed performances, and both patients and audience members were incorporated in the performance. Marshall transforms our approach to Charcot.”

    Professor Charles Sowerwine, University of Melbourne

  • CFP: Performance & Challenging Stigma
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 8 Sep 2016

    Symposium directors: Professor Mary Luckhurst, Associate Director Research VCA with Dr Matt Delbridge, Head of Theatre VCA

    Theatre and performance are increasingly important vehicles of challenging stigma, saying the unsayable, and of advocating for reform. We invite you to submit abstracts for 20 minute presentations/papers. Topics might include - but are not restricted to - performances addressing health, disability, body image, the justice system, torture, ageing, sexuality, refugee rights, racism, equality.

    Symposium Speakers

    Friday 21 October 2016 (9am - 6pm) Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne

    Art Lecture Theatre, Building 877

    STURT STREET ACCESS | SOUTHBANK MAP: http://tinyurl.com/zyf6tsa

    • Professor Michael Balfour, Griffith University
      Stigma, returning military personnel and social health
    • Associate Professor Bree Hadley, Queensland Institute of Technology
      The Social Experiment – Pranks, Political Activism, and Performing Stigma
    • Professor Stacy Holman Jones and Dr Anne Harris, Monash University ‘Heavier than Air’: Queer Teachers, Performance and Challenging Stigma and Invisibility
    • Dr Sarah Woodland, Griffith University
      Beyond the ‘Aboriginal Reality Show’?: Participatory radio drama with Indigenous women prisoners

    Respondent

    • Professor Maria Delgado, Director of Research, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London

    CFP submissions (deadline 19 September 2016)

    Please email your title, abstract, short bio and a liation (with ‘stigma CFP’ in subject line) to jen.rae@unimelb.edu.au

  • CFP: New Stage Idioms: South African Drama, Theatre And Performance In The Twenty-First Century
  •  
  •  Date Posted: Thu, 8 Sep 2016

    An international conference organized by the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
    May 11-13, 2017

    In the years that followed the end of Apartheid, South African drama, theatre and performance were characterized by a remarkable productivity, which entailed a process of constant aesthetic reinvention. In the post-apartheid period, South African playwrights and theatre makers sought to come to terms with the traumatic legacy of the pre-democratic past. Witness thereof are performance works documenting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. After 1994, the “protest” theatre template of the apartheid years morphed into increasingly more diverse forms of stage expressions, detectable in the works of Mike van Graan, Craig Higginson, Zakes Mda, Lara Foot, Paul Grootboom, Omphile Molusi, Fatima Dike, Nadia Davids, Aubrey Sekhabi, Magnet Theatre, Yael Farber, and Neil Coppen to name only a few. This conference will seek to document the various ways in which the “rainbow” nation has forged these new stage idioms, inviting contributions about different forms of performance modes. In order to foreground theatre, the keynote speakers will be active figures from the contemporary post-apartheid stage: Mike van Graan, Craig Higginson, Greg Homann, Nadia Davids, and Omphile Molusi. Here is a list of potential topics for consideration:
    --Contemporary theatre makers working in English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, and/or other African languages. How can Indigenous playwriting be defined?
    -- New thematic and aesthetic trends in playwriting.
    -- Impact of globalization on South African playwriting and stage practices.
    -- Theatre making from marginalised voices (expressing gender, social or ethnic differences; LBGT voices on the stage; playwriting by women) and other issues of identity representation.
    -- Contemporary township and community theatre.
    -- Reinterpretations of European classics for the South African stage;
    -- How are of issues of trauma, violence and cultural memory/amnesia enacted on the contemporary stage?
    -- New forms of political theatre.
    -- Alternative dramaturgies (installation art, site-specific performance, contemporary dance).
    -- The politics of festivals; politics of funding.
    A selection of conference presentations will be considered for publication. 

    Prospective participants should send a short proposal and a brief vita to the convenor, Professor Marc Maufort, Université Libre de Bruxelles, by 26 September 2016 (mmaufort@ulb.ac.be). Notifications of acceptance will be sent in late October 2016.

    Confirmed keynote speakers: Mike van Graan, Craig Higginson, Greg Homann, Nadia Davids, and Omphile Molusi.
    An evening of readings from these playwrights' and theatre practitioners’ works will be held during the conference.