The ABC's of Dramaturgical Ecologies

Dramaturgical Ecologies, a Concordia-based multi-disciplinary group of artists and researchers interested in the ecologies of dramaturgical processes, invites you to attend the second event of the 5-part series, The ABCs of DE, in conversation with Stéphane Martelly and 'Funmi Adewole.

The series of five moderated events emerges from a desire to provoke conversations that are themselves movements between disciplines, concepts, scholars and practitioners, aiming to both generate and destabilize dialogue and reflection on black performance. The ABC's of DE addresses commonalities and/or tensions in and between the fields of dance dramaturgy and black performance studies. Focusing on how the concepts of ‘blackness’ and ‘dramaturgy’ (productively) rub up against one another, the conversations speak to how theories of blackness - and its fugitivity, opacity and expression - challenge performance dramaturgy’s implicit supposition that the performer’s body, and the resulting creative work, is a “neutral canvas” on which the dramaturgical process might unilaterally ascribe meaning.

Each event will highlight two primary “keywords”, placed in relationship and hopeful movement. This is less about asking our guests to engage with specific definitions but rather an invitation to generate movement between what the keywords evoke in their different practices and perspectives.

“Praxis” and “diaspora” are the keywords that anchor the conversation between Stéphane Martelly's research-creation practice in decolonial Haitian cultural production and 'Funmi Adewole's creation and study of afro-diasporic dramaturgies and dance practice.

This second event will be moderated by Dana Dugan, Ph.D. student at Concordia University and research-assistant with Dramaturgical Ecologies.

How can you participate? Register for the Zoom meeting or watch live on our YouTube channel. 

Have questions? Send them to info.4@concordia.ca

Speakers

Stéphane Martelly is Assistant Professor in the Department of Arts, Languages and Literatures at the Faculty of Letters and Humanities of the Université Sherbrooke. Writer, painter, and researcher, Martelly was born in Port-au-Prince. Through a profoundly transdisciplinary approach that brings together theory, critical reflection, and creation, she pursues a reflexive approach to contemporary Haitian literature, to creation, to literary marginality and to the limits of interpretation.

‘Funmi Adewole is a practitioner-researcher and lecturer at De Montfort University, UK. Her academic research and professional practice are in the areas of dance and contemporary African arts exploring issues of postcolonialism, modernity and interculturalism. Her research interests are Aesthetics - Black Atlantic perspectives on work by black choreographers, contemporary dance from Africa versus African contemporary dance, African visual arts, dance dramaturgy, choreography that draws on African and diaspora dance forms.

About the Dramaturgical Ecologies Research Group

Dramaturgical Ecologies is a three-year research-creation project, of which Angélique Willkie is principal investigator. Working at the intersection of dance dramaturgy and black performance studies, this project is supported by an interdisciplinary team of four Concordia and two affiliate artist-researcher assistants. The fundamental premise anchoring Dramaturgical Ecologies is that the body of the performer is not a blank canvas, but rather, a locus of personal, cultural and political signification. This interest is influenced by Angélique Willkie’s experiences as a Black, Jamaican-born and Canadian-based dance-artist and dramaturg with a 30-year career in European concert dance. Critically, the proposed series of events reflects a desire to provoke conversations that are themselves movements between disciplines, concepts, and individual scholars and practitioners, aiming to both generate and destabilize dialogue and reflection on black performance.

This event is funded by The Office of Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies (OVPRGS ARRE program), The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FRQSC). Our institutional partners are Concordia’s 4^th Space, Milieux Institute, LePARC, Faculty of Fine Arts, Centre for Interdisciplinary in Society and Culture (CISSC) and 3ecologies project.

Next events:

April 7th, 2 to 4pm. Third iteration with guests Daniel McNeil (Queen’s University) and Jamila Johnson-Small/SERAFINE1369 (Artist and dancer, UK). Daniel McNeil shares his scholarly engagement with 'multiculturalism' and its normalizing impulse and Jamila Johnson-Small/SERAFINE136 reflects on her practice as an artist and dance-maker interested in the construction of performative environments which challenge and remake identity/ies. Keywords: “friction” and “opacity”.

May 3rd, 1 to 3pm. Fourth iteration with guests Naila Keleta-Mae (University of Waterloo) and Dana Michel (Independent dance artist and choreographer/Montréal). Naila Keleta-Mae brings her scholarly practice of activating minoritarian histories and historiographies in performance. Dana Michel reflects on her artistic and choreographic practice in the Canadian and international dance communities. Keywords: "embodiment" and "representation".