{"id":59,"date":"2020-04-26T18:54:26","date_gmt":"2020-04-26T18:54:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/?p=59"},"modified":"2022-02-05T13:08:41","modified_gmt":"2022-02-05T13:08:41","slug":"art-world-authenticities-postmodern-curators-creators-and-performers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/art-world-authenticities-postmodern-curators-creators-and-performers\/","title":{"rendered":"Art World Authenticities: Postmodern Curators, Creators and Performers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dena Davida<\/strong>*<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

As global art worlds e\/merge and artists circulate with increasing intensity, discussions around authenticity are spinning new and compelling narratives. While moving among gatherings of live arts curators and in daily conversations with creative artists in North America and Europe the concept frequently resurfaces, often with urgency and in divergent forms. From the meditative practice of Authentic Movement to the integrity of a curatorial vision, why is this ethos so pervasive at this time and what does it mean to postmodern performers, live arts creators, curators and audiences? In this self-reflexive essay, grounded in fieldwork, lived experience, literature and interviews, I will investigate the variations on and meanings of this contemporary quest in art worlds to \u201cbe true to ones\u2019 self.\u201d
Keywords<\/strong>: art curation, authenticity, dance, choreography, Authentic Movement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ethos of authenticity is ubiquitous in contemporary\nartworlds. Recently, it seems to have taken on a renewed urgency\nin this post-colonialist era, at least within the North American social\nenvironment that I inhabit in my work as a postmodern dance curator and anthropologist,\nuniversity educator and researcher. The pursuit of authenticity reappears\nfrequently as a motive for artistic creation in the course of conversations with\nart world colleagues. It is articulated in many of the choreographic statements\nof belief in proposals which I have received in recent years as the curator of Tangente<\/em>,\nthe dance presenting space I co-founded in Montr\u00e9al, Canada in 1980. While reviewing\nfield notes, interviews and gathering data for this essay, it soon became\napparent that this social construct is on display not only in galleries and\ntheatres, but extolling its virtues most everywhere I turned my attention: in\nstreet and print media advertising, food writing, presidential elections, the\nbooks I am reading and even advertising for clothing and household furniture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what do performing artists and live arts curators mean when speaking and writing about an authentic artistic practice or performance work, and why is this concept so prevalent at this time? This essay explores these questions and was developed over six months of ethnographic research for an annual conference of the Dance Studies Association, one which proposed \u201cBeyond Authenticity and Appropriation\u201d in 2016 as a thematic framework. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nsubject is vast! And so, in the limited space of this journal article, I have\nchosen to concentrate on a circumscribed body of evidence gleaned from\npractice-based fieldwork and from an auto-ethnographic perspective. I will\nleave behind for future investigation other intriguing theories and ideas related\nto authenticity in the arts, such as: that art-making is in fact a biological\nimperative (Dissanayke 1992); how the m\u00e9tier of artist was a social invention\nthat followed that of the artisan (Shiner 2001); the post-colonial politics of arts\npresentation (Lepecki 2017); debates on institutional (Marstine 2006) and art\nmarketplace (Thornton 2008) critiques; cultural appropriation (Foster 2009); and,\nthe sociological nature and function of art worlds (Becker 1982). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginning\nwith an autoethnographic account of how I formed my own understanding of authenticity,\nI\u2019ll move on to the term\u2019s etymology while offering a surprising collection of synonyms\ngathered from interviews. The second part of the text will consider what an\nauthentic practice might mean to live arts curators, artistic creators, performers\nand audiences from their lived experiences. I\u2019ll wrap up the essay with the\ncase study of Tangente<\/em>, and how it can be seen as a dance presenting\norganization that embodies my own authenticity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNew Age\u201d Seekers of Authenticity<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

As a\nformer child of the New Age now entering my 70s, the term \u201cauthenticity\u201d brings\nto mind my generation\u2019s devotion to a set of beliefs in which I was imbued while\nliving in California in the 1960s and 1970s. That was a formative period for\nconsolidating the humanistic worldview which still holds true for me, and which\n(in)formed the foundation of Tangente<\/em> in the 1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nseemed to us then that the ravages of high capitalism (today\u2019s term being neo-liberalism)\nhad robbed the occidental world of its profound personal and cosmic meanings. So\noff we went, children of that new age, to distant lands and remote\ncountrysides. We meditated in the ashrams of India or moved away closer to home\nto form rural communities, in search of the inner life of our \u201cauthentic selves.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthat era, authenticity was largely a matter of exploring \u201calternative\nspiritualities\u201d and various other forms of self-realization. British social\nanthropologist Steven Sutcliffe has researched and written an informative,\ncritical and thought-provoking ethnographic narrative of the rise and proliferation\nof various New Age spiritual cults and cultures in the U.K. from 1930 to\npresent day. He detailed the diverse orientations, loyalties and practices of\nits Seekers, affirming that these groups were far from creating consensus about\na common path to truth and enlightenment (2003).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Portrait of Dena Davida and Daniel Godbout, choreographers and performers, from \u201cEach Man For Herself: A pas de douze<\/em> for one woman and eleven men.\u201d Photo: Normand Gr\u00e9goire<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Among the goals of the communities with whom I lived and worked in the early 1970s was to attain inner and world peace and, of course, a state of universal love. It is still true that my conception of authenticity\u2014in the sense of \u201cbeing true to ones\u2019 self\u201d\u2014is closely linked to valuing integrity. From my understanding, this meant living within the body\/mind of a politically engaged artist whose mission was to advance social justice, environmental sustainability and so to forge a better world. With characteristic optimism and self-admitted idealism, I continue to believe\u2014to \u201chold on to the dream\u201d \u2014that we can advance towards these aims through the realization of bold artistic visions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Varieties of Authenticities<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Nearly\nhalf a century later, as contemporary art worlds merge and emerge and circulate\nwith increasing intensity in most corners of the world, discussions about\nauthenticity are spinning novel and compelling cross-cultural narratives. While\nmoving among colleagues in professional circles of dance and theatre curators,\nchoreographers and dancers, I notice this concept resurfacing and taking on diverse\nforms and meanings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nterms of etymology, suffice it to recall here that it is rooted in the Latin authenticus<\/em> and translates as \u201coriginal,\ngenuine.\u201d Dictionary definitions attribute at least three characteristics to the\nterm \u201cauthentic\u201d: (1) it resembles an original; (2) it is based on facts, is\nreliable and accurate; and (3) it is real, true (Oxford 2020; Antidote 2020).\nOf interest to this essay is also the contribution that the field of\nexistential philosophy has brought to the notion of the authentic as: \u201crelating\nto or denoting an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and\nresponsible mode of human life\u201d (Oxford 2020). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\nis a whimsical, if provocative, collection of variations and synonyms that were\nunearthed in the course of interviews for this essay. When asked to elaborate\non what this idea meant to them, art world colleagues described their way of\narticulating authenticity in a surprising array of terms: a quest for \u201cthe real,\u201d\nfinding one\u2019s true self, getting at the heart of one\u2019s desire; honesty,\ntruthfulness, sincerity, integrity, genuineness, earnestness; the primordial\nquest, an alignment between being and doing; making decisions from the inside; a\nthrough thread about identity; being comfortable with just being; transparency,\nvulnerability; an end to bullshit (my personal favorite); something raw and the\n\u201chome-made.\u201d The latter reminds me of the intriguing case for \u201cauthentic cuisine,\u201d\nwhich food consultant Katie Ayoub explains as that which \u201cspeaks to origin,\nintegrity, tradition and intent\u201d and so requires \u201crespect for the heritage or\norigin of the dish\u201d (Ayoub 2016). It is, in particular, the notion of\n(artistic) intent that will be reintroduced later in the essay when considering\nthe aims of authentic artistic practice.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Authentic Live Arts Curator<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

What\nmight it mean to curate a theatre or a festival with authenticity? To begin\nwith some background, as of this writing the vocation of live arts curator has barely\nattained the status of a profession. It was only with the publication of the Croatian\njournal Frakcija No.55<\/em> special issue on \u201cPerforming Arts Curation,\u201d in\n2010, that a body of literature, as well as university-level courses and\nprogrammes have emerged to support the practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Cover for the Frakcija Performing Arts Journal<\/em>, no. 55, 2010, \u201cCurating Performing Arts,\u201d eds. Florian Malzacher, Tea Tupaji\u0107, Petra Zanki<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This and consequent publications throughout the last decade confirm that those who claim the title of curator in the live arts are generally arts-experienced and\/or arts-educated artistic directors of theatres and festivals, or independent artist-curators who have elaborated curatorial visions and frameworks for the events they envision that are in sync with their (art) world views. For so many postmodern arts curators, the idea of being authentic is that of maintaining a devotion to supporting those artists whose work they see as impactful, innovative and transformative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From\nfour decades of professional exchanges with live arts presenters, the organization\nof an international symposium in 2014 (see cica-icac.com) and through editing an\nanthology Curating Live Arts<\/em> (Davida, Gabiels, Hudon, Pronovost 2018)\nwith 60 curator-contributors, I can say with confidence that we think of\nourselves as most authentic when we act with integrity, passion and personal\nconviction, and succeed in resisting the mercenary forces of the for-profit\n\u201ccultural industries.\u201d In this spirit, we also often take on the role of\neducators, artistic \u201cmediators\u201d as well as artists\u2019 advocates, seeking to\nfurther the proliferation and impact of the contemporary arts and its proponents.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some\nof us are also dramaturgs, in other words consultants to choreographers and\ntheatre directors as they forge their creative processes. Current discussions\nand writing about the vocation of live arts curation include the idea of\ninstitutional critique, and also how we are integrating an \u201cethics of care\u201d\ninto our practice as we negotiate and navigate relationships between artists,\naudiences, institutions and communities. Indeed, the Latin root curare<\/em>\ntranslates as \u201cto care for\u201d as well as \u201cto cure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\nillustrate this idea of an authentic curator in this mold, there is one who was\nsitting by my side last dance season and has now taken my place at Tangente<\/em>:\nMarco Pronovost. This insightful young cultural worker whose field of practice\nhe has baptized art social,<\/em> which is a concept that is fleshed out in his\nbook Art et d\u00e9veloppement<\/em> (Pronovost 25\u201326). Based on his Masters\u2019\nresearch, he proposes a world in which artists become agents of social change\nby cultivating the qualities of empathy, self-confidence and emotional\nintelligence (93).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nhave observed how these traits are made manifest in his conversations with\nyoung artistic creators, his deft management of contentious group discussions\nand his careful handling of audience talks with artists. Within his multi-layered\ncuratorial practice, for example, he has organized exhibitions of artwork made\nby homeless men, created a national Canadian forum in \u201csocial arts,\u201d ran a\nchildren\u2019s introduction to performing arts series at Place des arts, Montreal, and\ncreated instruction booklets for arts workers on racism, indigenous peoples and\nsocial inclusiveness. For Pronovost, curation is a means to building community,\nto bettering society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authentic\nCreators and Performers  <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Turning now to dancemakers and dancers, I am reminded\nof dance historian Sally Banes\u2019 metaphor \u201cdemocracy\u2019s body,\u201d the title of her ethnographic\nportrayal of the daily workings of Judson Dance Theatre (Banes 1983), in\nthinking about authenticity in the light of the emergence of postmodern dance\nin the 1960s and its aftermath. This New York City dance collective was\ncertainly emblematic, along with the practice of Contact Improvisation that was\ninitiated by one of its members, Steve Paxton (Novack 1990), of collective and\negalitarian ways of creating dance performances as they sought to allow each\ndancer to fully engage in their distinct artistic visions. It is now more than six\ndecades since we have shifted our theories and practices towards this paradigm\nof social equality, equity and decolonization, in our ways of being and living\ntogether in the (now globally entangled) world of live arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For so many creators and\ninterpreters alike, the practice of postmodern dance has meant adopting a complex\nof ideas that is imbued with an ethos of authenticity. It has signified, for\ninstance, \u201cbeing true to one\u2019s self\u201d by way of crystallizing a singular and\npersonalized artistic vision, arising from a particular world view; creating\ndemocratic models for working together with humanity and respectfulness; and bringing\nart and life together by \u201cbeing real\u201d onstage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the dance performers, I have often heard them speak about the necessity of being honest and vulnerable in their role as a medium to channel the choreography to an audience in the course of a performance. Indian theatre researcher Ruhi Jhunjhunwala echoes this idea, referencing her recent M.A. thesis \u201cThe Power of Vulnerability in Performance\u201d (2018), when she sheds light on the performer\u2019s authenticity as a matter of \u201cfaith\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted to talk about the importance of faith and belief (not religious) that a performer brings on stage. Their unwavering belief (in what?\u2014their training and\/or something else?) allows them to be vulnerable and authentic on stage. This, in turn, is an invitation to the audience to do the same and in that moment of a truthful encounter between the performer and the spectator lies the transformative power of performance. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It is also safe to say that the old school classical\nand modernist body-as-instrument model, in which the choreographer \u201csets\u201d the\ndance on the dancers\u2014 within this postmodern aftermath\u2014has been giving way to\nthe idea of the body-as-a-site-of-knowledge (see, for instance, the research in\nRouhiainin 2007). As Sylvie Fortin and Pamela Newell explain, in describing the\n\u201cparticipant\u201d dancer\u2019s role, \u201c[she] is appreciated, not only as a bodily filter\nfor ideas, but also as a fully formed human being with a unique biography,\nmorphology, education, and culture\u201d (194). Within this paradigm, certainly\ninfluenced by recent research in neuroscience and somatics, we can see now how articulate,\nthinking and self-aware bodies are valued and authenticated. Dancers are more\nfully empowered participants, more \u201ctruly themselves,\u201d as they contribute to\nshaping choreographic aesthetics during their creative processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a first generation of postmodernist choreographers\nand dancers are coming of age and preparing their legacy, some are constructing\npedagogies and practices out of their singular choreographic ethos (for\ninstance, Gaga, Axis, Fighting Monkey, Flying Low and so many more). We now\nhave an increasing variety of choices from which dancers can choose their\naffinities, to train and shape their own bodies and personal visions. There\neven exists a practice named Authentic Movement whose stated purpose is to\nembody the unconscious mind. As an early precursor of the above-mentioned\npedagogies, it is certainly emblematic of today\u2019s \u201cauthentic mover\u201d as one who\nseeks to unlock an intrinsic, deeply intuitive and somatic source of\ninspiration for choreography and performance.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And\nnow, free (or at least freer) from the dictates of a small group of Modern Dance\ntechniques, each postmodern dancemaker is called upon to flesh out \u201ca school of\ntheir own,\u201d as maverick founder of the Mus\u00e9e\nde la danse<\/em> Boris Charmatz would have it (2009). So, how might a dance creator\nfind their authentic footing, otherwise known as their aesthetic \u201csignature\u201d or\n\u201cvoice,\u201d in this revolutionary and subjective choreographic landscape? There is\nno simple, singular answer. Vancouver choreographer Ziyian Kwan shared her\npersonal struggles with the intricacies of navigating authentic contemporary\ndance-making in light of her fluid state of mind. She wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authenticity is a double-edged sword. It\u2019s the sharp intelligence of the heart, and also a blunt ideal, rife with befuddling nuances. As an artist who is a many-headed beast, my approach is informed by a constantly shifting ethos. Integrity is just another word for versatility. Sometimes the action that feels right tomorrow is wrong today. . . . At the beginning, middle and ending of every nanosecond, there is authenticity in being mindful of the fact that our choices have untenable circumstances. (2016)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ziyian Kwan in her solo The Odd Volume<\/em>, a work that subverts the racialization and cultural displacement experienced by one artist of colour. Photo: David Cooper<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

And choreographer-researcher kg Guttman reminded me that authenticity might after all be a matter of acquiring a deeper sense of self-understanding that brings an acute awareness of one\u2019s context and its shifting conditions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

kg: So, I guess tonight, the notion of authenticity for me is taking into account my own body in relation to a circumstance or many circumstances\u2014to take the situatedness of how and when a thought or a gesture or a creative process comes to appear, and respond to that singularity. For me, it\u2019s trying to build a deep awareness of all the levels\u2014somatic, social, political\u2014of who I am in the world and how I am moving or able to move within a certain set of parameters (limits are always there). (2016)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
kg Guttman in an informal showing of her choreography \u201cstudy with red gloves\u201d (2009). Photo: courtesy of Atelier David Rolland Chor\u00e9graphies<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

These mature dance-makers, although divergent in their assessments, perceive authenticity as being rooted in the quest for self-awareness. Mind, body and intuition are intertwined. Each one portrays the conditions for this self-understanding as complex, layered and ever-changing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tangente<\/em><\/strong>: Authenticity in Arts Presenting<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Returning to the beginning, and\nto the outlook on which I have based my life\u2019s work as co-founder and curator\nof Tangente<\/em>, what might authenticity mean to the mission and in the\neveryday work-life of a such a dance presenting space? How has my quest to create\na better world through the arts shaped our venue?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon immigrating to Montr\u00e9al,\nCanada, in 1977, I quickly became enthralled by the power and potential of its revolutionary,\ninnovative artistic community. But there was scant infrastructure as yet in the\nlocal dance world, and the first provincial conversations were just taking\nplace about the idea of creating a fund to support professional dance. And so,\nin 1980, I joined in the movement of the Canadian Association of Artist-Run\nNon-Profit Centres of Canada and put together a dance collective. Together, we\nbuilt a small performance space, pulling down walls and sanding the floors of a\nsecond story walk-up. It was necessary at this time to create an open,\naccessible space for artists to freely speak their minds and move their bodies.\nWe imbued this new presenting organization with the authenticity of the democratic\nbeliefs which I had carried with me for a decade. In this spirit, we would be not-for-profit,\ncommunity-and-service oriented, an egalitarian and respectful workplace, resource-sharing,\nopen to all forms of physical expression and artists of all ages, aesthetic\norientations, cultural origins and outlooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forty years and many challenges\nlater, we are permanently housed in the newly constructed dance building, Le\nWilder \u2013 Espace danse<\/em> in downtown Montreal. Four of Montr\u00e9al\u2019s oldest dance\norganizations formed a cooperative agreement and forged this project slowly, over\n15 years, sharing its theatre and studio spaces: Les Grands Ballets\nCanadiens, \u00c9cole de danse contemporaine de Montr\u00e9al, Agora de la danse <\/em>and\nTangente<\/em>. Although an increasingly materialistic business model and organizational\nhierarchy have been imposed by our funders, we continue to insist that our\nmission is to foster aesthetic experimentation, support artistic professionalism,\nbring the arts to the wider community as a common good, and not per se<\/em>\nto increase box office and other \u201crevenue streams.\u201d Our three theatre spaces\nare intimate, easy to reconfigure to promote various kinds of\naudience-performer relationships, offer public presentations by 40+ artistic\ngroups each season, and designed to promote dancers\u2019 health and spectators\u2019\ncomfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Le Wilder \u2013 Espace danse<\/em> in downtown Montreal<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When parting with Tangente<\/em> in June 2019, I set into motion a new curatorial model: a group of five culturally diverse artist-curators tasked with power-sharing in the responsibility of programming. As I walked out the door for the last time, placing the venue into the hands of a younger generation, I felt certain that the humanistic values, integrity and progressive vision that have always formed the basis for my authentic belief system were firmly implanted in its future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coda<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Contemplating\nonce again our geographic interconnectedness, I would venture to say that the\ncurrent importance we concede to confirming our \u201ctrue\u201d and \u201cauthentic selves\u201d\nhas taken on momentousness in light of the powerful effects of globalization\nand mobility in creating cultural uniformity and spreading disinformation.\nDetermining who we \u201creally\u201d are and what we \u201ctruly\u201d believe is a complex task\nand is always contextually situated. How we construct our identities is\ninevitably a composite of our adherence to various (local and global) groups\nand networks and so are the beliefs they engender. I am thinking, for instance,\nof how we define our community, gender, nationality, ethnicity, family, social\nstanding and political party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps\nit is only, after all, a state of mind, as Jacob Wren\u2014creator of literature,\nperformance and exhibitions\u2014contends when he writes in Authenticity is a\nFeeling<\/em>, \u201cMy performance work has been a search for authenticity, but I\ndon\u2019t think authenticity is something that exists. A work of art can\u2019t be\nauthentic, it can only feel authentic for certain people at certain times\u201d (13).\nI concur. And I believe that for those of us who have adopted the vocation of artist\nin which passion and purpose are driving forces, our authenticities are inevitably,\ndeeply ingrained in the beliefs and practices of our art world communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
Bibliography<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Antidote 10 Dictionary Software<\/em>. 1\nFeb. 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayoub, Katie. 2016. \u201cIt\u2019s All About Authenticity<\/a>.\u201d Flavor and the Menu<\/em>, 16 Oct. 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banes, Sally. Democracy\u2019s Body: Judson Dance\nTheatre, 1962-1964<\/em>. Duke UP, 1983.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becker, Howard S. Art Worlds<\/em>. U of California P,\n1982.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charmatz,\nBoris. Je suis une \u00e9cole: Art, P\u00e9dagogie, Esth\u00e9tique, Politique<\/em>. Les\nPrairies ordinaires, 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davida,\nDena & Jane Gabriels, Veronique Hudon, Marc Pronovost, eds. Curating\nLive Arts: Critical Perspectives, Essays and Conversations on Theory and Practice<\/em>.\nBerghahn Books, 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dissanayake, Ellen. Homo Aestheticus: Where Art\nComes From and Why<\/em>. The Free Press, 1992.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortin, Sylvie, and Pamela Newell. \u201cThe Montr\u00e9al\nDanse<\/em> Choreographic Research and Development Workshop: Dancer-Researchers\nExamine Choreographer-Dancer Relational Dynamic During the Creative Process.\u201d Fields\nin Motion: Ethnography in the Worlds of Dance<\/em>, edited Dena Davida, Wilfred\nLaurier Press, 2011, pp. 191\u2013218.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foster, Susan, ed. Worlding Dance<\/em>. Palgrave\nMacmillan, 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guttman, kg. Personal correspondence to author. 28 Oct.\n2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jhunjhunwala, Ruhi. Personal correspondence to author. 9 Feb. 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kwan, Ziyian. Personal correspondence to author. 18 Oct.\n2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lepecki, Andre. \u201cDecolonizing the Curatorial. (Essay) (Personal Account).\u201d Theatre<\/em>, vol. 47, no. 1, Duke UP, 2017, pp. 101\u201315, doi: 10.1215\/01610775-3710441.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malzacher, Florian, Tea Tupaji\u0107, and Peta Zanki. Frackcija\nPerforming Arts Journal<\/em>, issue of Curating Performing Arts<\/em>, no.\n55<\/em>, 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marstine, Janet, ed. New Museum Theory and Practice<\/em>.\nBlackwell Publishing, 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Novack, Cynthia J. Contact Improvisation and\nAmerican Culture<\/em>. U of Wisconsin P, 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Oxford American Dictionary Software,\n2.3.0<\/em>. 1 Feb. 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pronovost, Marc. Art et d\u00e9veloppement:\nle geste cr\u00e9atif au service d\u2019un d\u00e9veloppement social soutenable<\/em>. Editions L\u2019Harmattan, 2013. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rouhiainen, Leena, ed. Ways of Knowing in Dance and\nArt<\/em>. Acta Scenica 19<\/em>. Finland: Theatre Academy. 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shiner, Larry. The Invention of Art: A Cultural\nHistory<\/em>. U of Chicago P, 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suttcliffe, Steven J. Children of the New Age: A History of Spiritual Practices<\/em>.\nRoutledge, 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thornton, Sarah. Seven Days in the Art World<\/em>.\nW. W. Thornton & Company, 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wren, Jacob. Authenticity is a Feeling:<\/em> My Life in PME-ART.<\/em> <\/strong>Book*hug,\n2018. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

*<\/a>Dena Davida<\/strong> (PhD) for 50 years has been a dancer, performer and choreographer, curator, educator and researcher. Immigrating from the U.S.A. to Montr\u00e9al, Canada (1977), she cofounded the Tangente<\/em> dance presenting space (1980), CanDance<\/em> touring network and\u00a0Festival international de la nouvelle danse<\/em>\u00a0(1985). At the\u00a0Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec\u00a0she taught dance theory and practice (1997\u2013present) and completed her doctorate, an ethnographic study of meaning in a contemporary dance event. She published widely on dance and culture and edited two anthologies:\u00a0Fields in Motion: Ethnography in the Worlds of Dance<\/em>\u00a0(2012) and\u00a0Curating Live Arts\u00a0<\/em>(2018).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a9<\/strong> 2020 Dena Davida
Critical Stages\/Sc\u00e8nes critiques<\/em> e-ISSN: 2409-7411<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Creative<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution International License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essays","tag-essay-front"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/03\/image4.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":854,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/opera-of-postmodernism-and-new-challenges-of-opera-criti%d1%81ism\/","url_meta":{"origin":59,"position":0},"title":"Opera of Postmodernism and New Challenges of Opera Criti\u0441ism","author":"Dena Davida","date":"June 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Irina Yaskevitch* Abstract This article focuses on the period starting from the 1970s, when opera theatre changed its aesthetics and entered the postmodernism stage. At the same time, the concept of so-called \u201cdirector\u2019s opera\u201d started to spread. The director\u2019s theatre was considered a new socio-cultural phenomenon and the next stage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Special Topic"","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/06\/featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/06\/featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/06\/featured.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/06\/featured.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":875,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/a-pandemic-theatre-album-of-first-reactions-%ce%b1n-introduction\/","url_meta":{"origin":59,"position":1},"title":"A Pandemic Theatre \u201cAlbum\u201d of First Reactions: \u0391n Introduction","author":"Dena Davida","date":"June 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Savas Patsalidis* Pandemic: from the greek words \u201c\u03c0\u03b1\u03bd=all\u201d and \u201c\u03b4\u03ae\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2=people.\u201d A disease that has spread across a large region, multiple\u00a0continents\u00a0or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of people. People talk of \u201cWar.\u201d Definitely not a Third World War but, as it turns out to be, a huge War nevertheless. This is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Covid"","block_context":{"text":"Covid","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/category\/covid\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/06\/covid-featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/06\/covid-featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/06\/covid-featured.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/06\/covid-featured.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":398,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/introductory-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":59,"position":2},"title":"Introductory Words","author":"Dena Davida","date":"May 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yana Meerzon* Dear reader, As we prepare the June 2020 issue (#21) to be released, we find ourselves in a new world of social distancing, self-isolation and developing anxieties for our health and economic wellbeing. This is the world that we could not imagine or anticipate even a few months\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Essays"","block_context":{"text":"Essays","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/category\/essays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/Meerzon.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":569,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/have-you-ever-had-an-intention-the-postmodern-condition-and-the-failure-of-epiphany-in-michael-john-lachiusas-little-fish\/","url_meta":{"origin":59,"position":3},"title":"\u201cHave you ever had an intention?\u201d: The Postmodern Condition and the Failure of Epiphany in Michael John LaChiusa\u2019s Little Fish","author":"Dena Davida","date":"June 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Mara Davis* Abstract Michael John LaChiusa\u2019s 2003 musical Little Fish is a work that engages with the conditions of living in the postmodern age. This article analyses how LaChiusa manipulates the formal properties of the musical in order to express the disconnection and fragmentation of postmodern living. It examines the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Special Topic"","block_context":{"text":"Special Topic","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/category\/special-topic\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/image2-21.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/image2-21.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/image2-21.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/image2-21.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":597,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/argentina-never-abandon-the-theatre-even-in-the-toughest-situations\/","url_meta":{"origin":59,"position":4},"title":"ARGENTINA: \u201cNever Abandon the Theatre, Even in the Toughest Situations\u201d","author":"Dena Davida","date":"May 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Halima Tahan Ferreyra* Most theatres in Argentina, both big and small, are offering a variety of online programmes, including not only their past shows, but also their new activities. Moreover, the greatest theatres, such as Col\u00f3n Theatre and Nacional Cervantes Theatre, are keeping their workshops working fully. The employees at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Covid"","block_context":{"text":"Covid","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/category\/covid\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/argentina.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":443,"url":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/south-africa\/","url_meta":{"origin":59,"position":5},"title":"SOUTH AFRICA: Devastating Effects","author":"Dena Davida","date":"May 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Gaerin Hauptfleisch* and Temple Hauptfleisch** As the first reports of what is now known as the COVID-19 international pandemic began to surface locally in February of this year, and the first confirmed South African case announced on 5 March 2020, feelings of restlessness and uncertainty soon made their presence felt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Covid"","block_context":{"text":"Covid","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/category\/covid\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2020\/05\/flag-s.africa-400.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1142,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/1142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}