The Dayton Artist-in-Residence Program
Igniting Emancipatory Possibilities through African Diaspora Dance
February 8-10, 2024
Calling dance artists, scholars, practitioners, teachers and students for a three-day free summit of dancing, scholarship, and performance at Connecticut College February 8-10, 2024.
African Diaspora Dance has made significant contributions to the field of dance, but too often it is relegated to the margins of dance departments at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) in higher education. The purpose of this summit is to bring artists, practitioners, students, and scholars from across the Northeast to create community, solidarity, and collaboration in order to envision and embody emancipatory possibilities for the future of African Diaspora Dance in predominantly white contexts. We recognized that teaching African Diaspora Dance at PWIs presents distinct challenges that need to be identified, unpacked, worked through, and most importantly danced out. Our chief aim is to come up with innovative solutions for not only empowering students, but to also empower faculty who too often have to justify their legitimacy in the academy. This summit will engage artists, scholars, and students in three days of dancing, lecture demonstrations, research presentations, panel and roundtable discussions around these themes. Bring your performance work, your classes, and your research focused on African Diaspora Dance. We invite proposals for any of the above formats through the linked google form.
Keynote Speaker:
Ofosuwa M. Abiola, Ph.D., Associate Dean of Research and Creative Endeavors, Associate Professor of Africana Dance History, Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, Howard University
Call for Presenters, including suggested themes:
pedagogy
faculty-student learning,
study away,
cultural competency,
advocacy,
institutional support,
tenure and promotion,
mentorship,
artist career development,
teaching in community settings and studios,
authenticity + appropriation,
commercial dance,
choreographing African diaspora dance,
embodiments of African diaspora histories,
preservation, traces, and retention of African diaspora Dance,
choreographic process and critical choreographic feedback,
queerness,
identities,
wellness and well-being,
propose your own topic
Cost:
There is no cost to participate in the conference. Travel and lodging will be the responsibility of the presenter or participant, but there is financial support available to assist with travel and lodging if you apply by December 15, 2023. Apply for financial support in the general application form.
Presenters and Participants apply here.
Deadline for participant registration if applying financial assistance: December 15, 2023
Deadline for presentation+teaching proposals: December 8, 2023
Non presenting participant registration will close when the conference is full. Register early!
We acknowledge the land we currently occupy and honor the Native peoples who were its first inhabitants. Specifically, we honor the Mashantucket Pequots, Eastern Pequots, Mohegans, and other tribal nations who are indigenous to Nameag, now called New London, and the land surrounding Coastal Algonquin, also known as the “Long Island Sound Region.” We appreciate their careful stewardship of the land over many generations and acknowledge the suffering endured through the historical period of settler colonialism. Finally, we express gratitude that these tribal nations remain as neighbors in the region.
This conference is made possible by the Dayton Artist-in-Residence Program which enables students to encounter and learn from artists and performers who are not typically accessible in an academic setting, giving them the opportunity to explore a wider variety of artistic approaches and techniques.