Choreographic Practices (Intellect Press)
Special Issue, Spring 2017
WORDS and DANCE
Guest Associate Editor: Robert Vesty (Middlesex University)
Call for Contributions
Deadline for full essays: June 1st 2016
This special journal issue of Choreographic Practices - WORDS and DANCE – aims to draw together, contribute to and exemplify debates around the use of spoken word in current and future 21st Century dance practices as well as its place in the contemporary cultural landscape.
What are the intersections between spoken words (in the form of live narrative, poetry, dialogue or writing) and choreographic practices?
What is the relationship between the word and the move?
How can/do spoken words and dance work together, especially in improvisatory practice?
What implications does the use of voice have in dance practice?
Choreographic Practices provides a space for disseminating choreographic practices, critical inquiry and debate. Serving the needs of students, teachers, academics and practitioners in dance (and the related fields of theatre, live art, video/media, and performance), the journal operates from the principle that dance embodies ideas and can be productively enlivened when considered as a mode of critical and creative discourse. This journal seeks to engender dynamic relationships between theory and practice, choreographer and scholar, such that these distinctions may be shifted and traversed. See:
This special issue emerges from a workshop/symposium in which artists and scholars were invited to engage with the question – What Skills Are Required of the Dancer and Poet to Produce Dance and Poetry in Performance? This day-long event ended a week-long workshop and performance event led by dance artists and poets Julyen Hamilton and Billie Hanne at Chisenhale Dance Space, London entitled Space and Words for Dancers. It brought together twenty-five dance artists working through improvisatory practice to engage with the issues of space and words. It looked at how words take space; how their geometry is somatically informed. It engaged questions to do with the place spoken words can have in instant composition. This special issue draws, in part, from this event, while aiming to embrace wider concerns in a broader context at a time where it could be said there is a resurgence of interest in spoken word (and especially poetry) in relation to dance and other artistic practices.
We seek new critical insights into interdisciplinary, immersive, participatory and collaborative dance practices, and an articulation of how these may elucidate the way in which spoken words are used by dancers in choreographic practice. Submissions that reflect upon the historic lineages of contemporary dance in Europe and their relationship to new and emerging contexts are welcome. Contributions that capture and articulate choreographic practices explicitly engaging with poetry, aesthetically, thematically, politically or socially, and employ practice-as-research/practice-led research as a methodology are especially encouraged.
The above might include considerations of:
- Ways in which dance practices might both respond to and shape the use of spoken word in 21stcentury performance practice.
- Contemporary relationships to representations of the political body and identity through dance practices that incorporate spoken words.
- Experimental approaches to dance making that make explicit the use of spoken words with a particular focus on instant composition as a methodology.
- Somatically informed approaches to vocal practice.
- Contemporary propositions for the interpretation, experience, critique and creation of dance that uses spoken word either for or as poetry.
We ask that authors/artists submit articles or artists pages that articulate these territories and offer refreshing critical angles on contemporary practice and its place in our cultural experience. Contributions to this discourse may be in the form of research essays, transcribed debates, interviews, performance documentation, poems, collections of words, and the like.
How to Submit to Choreographic Practices
It is our intention to publish this special issue in Spring 2017, therefore your contribution would need to be sent by June 1st 2016 at:
If you have any questions about the theme or focus of your submission please, in the first instance, contact Robert Vesty (associate editor for this special issue):
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Choreographic Practices is an international peer-reviewed journal, thereby all articles published in the journal undergo rigorous peer-review, based on initial editor screening and anonymised refereeing by at least two anonymous referees. All reviewers are internationally recognized in their fields. Peer-review reports will normally be returned to us within two months and the editors will provide feedback to you shortly after. Submission of an article to the journal will be taken to imply that it presents original, unpublished work not under consideration for publication elsewhere. By submitting a manuscript, the authors agree that the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute the article have been given to the publishers.
Instructions for Authors
Submissions:
- Full article (approx 6,000 words or equivalent in other formats), including article title, abstract (200 words) and 6 keywords.
- And, in another document, please include author’s name and affiliation, biography (200 words),
- Plus contact details – both postal and email addresses.
Format: Word format
File Labeling: Clearly name your file with the title of your submission
Spacing and fonts: Please double-space your article and use Arial (or similar) font, size 11 or 12.
Referencing: Choreographic Practices follows the Harvard Style Guide with a full reference list at the end of the article. See Intellect’s for full presentation details.
Images: Choreographic Practices will be able to carry photographic images. If you have access to high quality images appropriate for your article it would be very helpful if you could send 2 or 3 such images in a separate file but with your article. Images should be sent as JPeg or tiff files at 300 dpi. If you are able to send us images please ensure that each contains relevant information including date, title and name of photographer and that the file name is clear.
- You are responsible for obtaining all appropriate permissions.
Writing style: We encourage a diverse range of writing styles and layouts in line with the form, purpose and content of each submission. You might also consider our readership of dance artists, scholars, students, teachers, academics and practitioners in dance and related fields when writing. It will also be assumed that the author has obtained all necessary permissions to include in the paper items such as quotations, musical examples, images, tables, etc
If you have more general questions about Choreographic Practices or how to submit, contact, Vida Midgelow at:
We very much look forward to receiving your submissions and continuing the conversation,