Dance Congress 2013: Bewegungen übersetzen – Performing Translations

VIBRATING IN THE “TRANSLATION ZONE”
Questions of Cultural Translation
By Sandra Luzina
It was a three-day delirium for André Lepecki from New York, one of the most prominent dance theorists. ... [PDF]

Translating Differences

CULTURE MOVES – BEYOND WESTERN CATEGORIES
By Asoka Mendis de Zoysa
“Most people think that the Pacific region is just some small islands”, says Katerina Teaiwa, “but all continents and one more Africa would fit into this vast space.” ... [PDF]

AND WHAT OF THE WEFT?
Considerations around Interweaving Cultures, questioning the Contemporary and the Critical, and discussing Cultural Policies in the Postcolony
By Anusha Lall
My first day at the Dance Congress, Duesseldorf, and I recognise the beginnings of that familiar stirring within. A mild sense of displacement. ... [PDF]

CRITICAL AGE STUDIES IN DANCE OR DANCING AGING
By Katherine Mezur
One of the most exciting areas of dance studies at the Tanzkongress was the Age and Aging studies presentations and performances. ... [PDF]

Intervene/Participate

NOT BEYOND, BUT IN THE HEART OF SOCIETY
Events dedicated to the Body's Agency
By Elisabeth Nehring
Along the lines of ‘Intervene and Participate’ questions were raised under different circumstances as to the limits and possibilities of becoming involved in social processes, shaping them, participating and intervening in them. ... [PDF]

DÉ-POSITION.
Research on the Body's Agency
By Noémi Solomon
How might we think of the “body’s agency,” its capacity to affect and be affected, in the midst of negotiations and social protests, crisis and political upheavals? ... [PDF]

Passing on/Taking over

ARCHIVES OF FREEDOM
The digital Pina Bausch Archive and the Egyptian ARC.HIVE of Contemporary Arab Performing Arts
By Helmut Ploebst
It is known that the archiving of ephemeral art forms such as dance, performance and theatre further a new understanding of collecting, storing, systematising and public accessibility. ... [PDF]

Theory of Practice – Practice of Theory

THE NEW KNOWLEDGE
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Deborah Hay and the “Tandem Series” Project
By Helmut Ploebst
In the intensively led debates on the relationship between theory and practice in the context of dance in the past years, concepts and models are currently being implemented that aim at dissolving this old dichotomy. ... [PDF]

DANCE ENGAGING SCIENCE
By Grete Götze
Held in tandem with other ‘Motion Bank’ activities, ‘Dance Engaging Science’ is a series of workshops that brings experts from various disciplines together to develop new forms of collaborative research in the area of dance. ... [PDF]

Choreographic Methods

DANCE DRAMATURGY
By Heike Albrecht
‘Choreographic Methods’ was one of the seven subjects of the Dance Congress 2013 that were brought to the fore of the debate. ... [PDF]

Testing Tools

RECONSIDERING TOOLS IN DANCE MEDICINE
By Özlem Alkis
‘Times in Motion’ was a round table format presented at Dance Congress under the thematic focus ‘Testing Tools’. Dealing with “facets of dance medicine” it focused on four topics: ... [PDF]

DIGITAL TOOLS
By Grete Götze
Lunch break is coming to an end and things are pretty hectic in the Capitol Theater’s Club auditorium. Everyone is preparing for the ‘Motion Bank score release’. ... [PDF]

Negotiating Conditions

ART INSTEAD OF ADMINISTRATION
New Paths in Funding Dance
By Gabriele Wittmann
Around 1,000 choreographers create one to two premieres a year. 10,000 professionals work in the field of dance. 10 million euros go to independent projects, 100 million to permanent venues. Yet this richness, this diversity, is not visible. ... [PDF]

BACKSTAGE. SPACES, (HI)STORIES OF TANZHAUS NRW
A research project with students of the Centre for Contemporary Dance in Cologne
By Pirkko Husemann
The venue of the Dance Congress 2013 was tanzhaus nrw. It was founded in January 1978 under the name “Die Werkstatt für Tanz, Theater, Malen, Werken und Gestalten e.V.”, which itself emerged from a collective that had existed since 1973. ... [PDF]

PROMOTING PARTICIPATION, BOLSTERING IDENTIFICATION
The Renaissance of Dance Cities
By Gabriele Wittmann
“Is dance the ‘negro’ of the arts?” someone asked at the first Dance Congress 2006 during a panel on postcolonial studies. It was heatedly debated whether such binary concepts merely re-produce and thus re-establish colonial thought ... [PDF]

SOOTHING THE SOUL OF POLITICIANS
Drawing a mind map for Funders of Dance
By Asoka Mendis de Zoysa
A historical “First Hour” was scheduled to work on a ‘Handbook for Politicians’ on the second day of the Tanzkongress. In the course of a 90 minute discussion, a mind map was constructed, documenting threads that may link two seemingly unrelated key words: “dance” and “politician”. ... [PDF]