CALL FOR PAPERS

Call for Papers: “Renegade Bodies: Dance in Canada during the 1970s”

Society of Canadian Dance Studies Conference
Dates: June 10-12, 2010
Locations: University of Ottawa and the Canada Dance Festival at the National Arts Centre, Ottawa, Ontario

The 1970s were an energetic and productive period for dance artists in Canada. Inspired by a variety of social developments in Canada, including multiculturalism, second-wave feminism, and separatist and federalist nationalism, dance artists across the country also participated in the ongoing international rethinking of dance forms and definitions, and experimentation with modes of performance. As the independent dance movement emerged and gained force in Canada during the decade, many dancers rejected the traditional hierarchical company structures, co-opted the latest technologies and transgressed disciplinary boundaries.

The distance created by the intervening years provides an opportunity to reflect on the significance of the 1970s for dance in Canada and to investigate how the artistic innovation and experimentation that propelled the decade might inform the Canadian dance community in the twenty-first century.

Although proposals addressing individual choreographic works or biographical portraits of artists important in the 1970s will be considered, papers that analyze larger trends and situate Canadian dance activities of the 1970s in their social, political, economic and aesthetic contexts are strongly preferred.

Possible topics include the following:

· 1970s multicultural federal policies and the representation of racial and ethnic groups on 1970s Canadian stages
· 1970s dance and new technologies (e.g. Portapak)
· The Dance Boom in Canada
· The embodiment of 1970s political activism in Canadian dance
· The role of post-secondary institutions in the development of the independent dance movement in Canada
· How the immigration facilitated the pollination of experimental international ideas and/or how foreign artists were influenced by their new cultural environments
· The importance of “backstage” stakeholders, including dance presenters and funders during the 1970s
· The effect of separatism and the election of the Parti Québécois in 1976 on the dance community in Montréal
· Canadian dance and the emergence of postmodern aesthetics
· The response of the Canadian television and/or film industries to dance innovation in Canada during the 1970s
· How the concerns of second-wave feminism as outlined in the Royal Commission on the Status of Women might help us re-conceptualize the independent dance movement in Canada during the 1970s
· Canadian adaptations of contact improvisation principles and practices
· Images of femininity, masculinity or sexuality constructed by independent dance artists through their bodies, artistic work or public personas
· The relationship between dance and performance art in Canada during the 1970s
· 1970s dance collectives in Canada
· Non-traditional performance spaces
· A comparison of the goals and activities of the 1970s independent dance movement with those of dance artists working prior to the establishment of long-term dance companies and/or the Canada Council, which was created in 1957.
· The exchange of ideas between the independent dance movement and ballet and/or modern dance companies
· The reception of dance experimentation in the mainstream media and/or in dancer-generated publications like Spill

Proposals for individual papers as well as panel proposals are welcome. Send abstracts (250 words maximum) and a short bio (100 words maximum) for each author to Allana Lindgren at aclind@uvic.ca. Proposals must be received by November 1, 2009.