‘Colonial dancing in Europe, European dancing in the colonies’ ; A Call for Papers

The European Association of Dance Historians’ conference is in Porto, Portugal, in 2019. 

Friday 8th and Saturday 11th November 2019, in association with Portingaloise Cultural and Artistic Association, and Ginasiano/Armazém22

The conference proposes an exploratory look at the migration and confluence of dance styles, forms and practices through the wide net linking European nations and their colonies worldwide. In a dialogue between Coloniser and Colonies, what part did dancing have in the cultural exchanges between nations? What impact did they have overseas and to what extent were they absorbed?

Potential lines of enquiry might include (but are not restricted to) the following topics:

o Dancing priests: the impact of Jesuit missions on colonial natives.

o The influence of colonial dancing in forming European national styles.

o Folk and traditional dancing in the colonies, and their European counterparts.

o Political and social assertion or dissent expressed through dancing and/or impacting travelling dancers.

o Does ethnicity help shape dance forms/practices?

o Slavery and submission: dancing your roots.

o ‘Saudade‘: longing and yearning for motherland, manifest in dancing.

o Spaces for dancing: from clearings in the woods to marble clad assembly halls.

o Music for dancing in the colonies: instrumentation, forms, polyrhythmic counterpoint.

Papers and workshops are welcome. More information and to submit a proposal of about 200 words, contact: conferences@eadh.com by Monday, 15th April 2019.