The Vrystaat Arts Festival: July 2020 Online offers this panel event, “Screendance: Diversity & Representation Matters,” that presents and discusses the art form, Screendance. Screendance artists from diverse backgrounds have been asked to present their work, revealing what Screendance is, how they create it, and why it matters. It is also a panel discussion about the form of Screendance, the representation of bodies on screen, cultural diversity and the body’s representation at International Screendance festivals.
Given the current socio-political climate we can no longer skirt around the issues of bodies race, diversity and their representation on screen. To date, this topic has never been fully discussed on a Screendance panel. Being highly contentious these issues are often difficult to talk about and overlooked in favor of other discussions on funding and networking, for example. These are also important issues, but the representation of dancing bodies cannot and should not be a discussion held by academics behind closed doors. Yes, it may be uncomfortable to talk about race and representation, but this discomfort needs to be discussed as we cannot get away from bodies, their representation and context. They are the very medium of Screendance, entangled with the medium of cinema. So how do we overcome something that we cannot and should not ignore? How do we ask these questions in and with our work and how is this represented on screens internationally? There may be no answers, but at least let us try to talk about these issues. We have work to do.
Hosts
Jeannette Ginslov: Screendance and embodied technologies practitioner & PhD Candidate London South Bank University: UK
Georgina Thomson: Dance Programme Coordinator: Vrystaat Arts Festival South Africa
Presenters:
Omari Carter: Associate Lecturer and Screendance Practitioner: UK
Gabri Christa: Dance filmmaker, Associate Professor of Professional Dance Practice Barnard College and Curator-Director of Moving Body-Moving Image Festival: NYC USA
Simon Fildes: Screendance practitioner, producer, curator and teacher: Scotland
Robin Gee: Screendance practitioner, Associate Professor of Dance, University of North Carolina, Greensboro: USA
Smangaliso Siphesihle Ngwenya: Screendance practitioner, writer, choreographer and performer: South Africa
Where: Zoom Online Platform
Kindly let us know if you would like to join in the conversation by 5pm, Wednesday 1 July 2020 RSVP: isabel.lock@gmail.com
You may also view the online event on https://www.facebook.com/vrystaatkunstefees