WHAT NOW is a series of timely and incisive facilitated conversations aimed at contextualising the deep and subtle connections that the choreographed body fosters – in its multiplicity of forms and meanings with the social, ethical and political.

*This is a free event but please book here to secure your place

Mon 18 March: What’s your discourse? – Practising the Practice
Nana Biluš Abaffy, Anouk Van Dijk, Myriam Gourfink and Jo Lloyd in conversation with Philipa Rothfield

Tue 19 March: Who’s got the power? – Artists for/against the Institution, the System and the Money
Jacob Boehme, David Pledger, Jon Perring, Miriam Ginestier and Isabella Whāwhai Waru in conversation with Jana Perkovic

Wed 20 March: Who gets to dance? – Gender and privilege in dance
Mariaa Randall, Priya Srinivasan, Freddie Opoku-Addaie and Jacinda Richards in conversation with Rachel Fensham

Thu 21 March: Can you learn to dance? – Dance education: Reality Check and Dream Machine
Carol Brown, Karen Malek, Antony Hamilton and Kristy Ayre in conversation with Katrina Rank

Fri 22 March: Are we safe? – What is a safe space for makers and audiences?
Ashley Dyer, Luke George, Kate Sullen and Jamie Lewis in conversation with Michelle Silby

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What’s your discourse? – Practising the Practice
MON 18 MARCH
Nana Biluš Abaffy, Anouk Van Dijk, Myriam Gourfink and Jo lloyd in conversation with Philipa Rothfield
What kinaesthetic, discursive and conceptual frames do artists use to define and shape their practice? How do these become daily rituals or distinctive techniques? What does it actually mean to have a practice?
In conversation with some of Australia’s most established dance figures who have each clearly articulated their practices in different ways and forms, this panel examines the interconnected and sometimes problematically productive relationship between what we say we do and what we actually do when working in the studio.
This conversation will look at different theoretical and process-based methodologies of working in the studio or of creating work. It also aims to identify how (self) criticality, authorship, research and performativity define or are defined through artistic practice.

Who’s got the power? – Artists for/against the Institution, the System and the Money
TUE 19 MARCH
Jacob Boehme, David Pledger, Jon Perring, Miriam Ginestier and Isabella Whāwhai Waru in conversation with Jana Perkovic
In recent times, the act of critiquing an institution (institutional critique) has become an artistic practice in itself. This conversation will look at where Australian artists position themselves in relation, or in opposition, to institutional modes of power. These range from activism to tacit complacency. What mechanisms and strategies do artists devise in order to resist, interrogate, challenge, accept or reshape the institutional status quo?

Who gets to dance? – Gender and privilege in dance
WED 20 MARCH
Mariaa Randall, Priya Srinivasan, Freddie Opoku-Addaie and Jacinda Richards in conversation with Rachel Fensham
This conversation analyses how Australian dance deals with aspects of gender representation, class, race and privilege. It looks to the privileged position dance assumes as a form of high art, but also acknowledges its oppositional, critical and political possibilities. Dance can thus be seen as affirming, contesting or undoing dominant norms.
This critical conversation analyses some of the successes, failures and systemic challenges the Australian dance ecology faces with regards to gender representation, class, race and privilege. Is professional dance in Australia truly inclusive, or are we deluding ourselves?

Can you learn to dance? – Dance education: Reality Check and Dream Machine
THU 21 MARCH
Carol Brown, Karen Malek, Antony Hamilton and Kristy Ayre in conversation with Katrina Rank
What are the contexts and goals, the ideals and realities of tertiary dance training? How can dance, choreography, and performance be learned and taught today and by whom? How do individual interests and institutional guidelines as well as theory and practice relate to each other and align with tertiary agendas? What are the responsibilities of universities towards their teachers, students, and local cultural and artistic landscapes?

Are we safe? – What is a safe space for makers and audiences?
FRI 22 MARCH
Ashley Dyer, Luke George, Kate Sullen and Jamie Lewis in conversation with Michelle Silby
Audience and Community participation now has a long established history in both the creation and presentation of dance, visual art and performance works, but should we truly trust the artists with our emotional and physical safety? Is risk management always a necessary mitigating force or does it lead to a form of censorship? Is community participation abusive unpaid labour or should we give priority to the participants’ agency even when they might not completely be informed?
In the light of the recent sexual harassment claims in Australian Theatre, this conversation seeks to unpack best and worst practices and question the responsibilities that the artist has to both their collaborators and their audiences.

 

Presented by Dancehouse in partnership with the Victorian College of the Arts School of Dance as part of Dance Massive 2019