CONFLUENCES 9 Deciphering decolonisation in Dance Pedagogy in the 21st century in Cape Town, South Africa CONFLUENCES 9 Deciphering decolonisation in Dance Pedagogy in the 21st century in Cape Town, South Africa Hosted by SCHOOL OF DANCE in the FACULTY OF HUMANITIES 12 – 14 July 2017 Conference Convenor: Dr Gerard Samuel Conference Organiser: Sharon Friedman Conference Committee: Sharon Friedman, Lisa Wilson, Jacki Job Proceedings edited by: Sharon Friedman CD Rom compiled by: Dr Eduard Greyling CD Rom design: Assoc. Prof Emeritus Elizabeth Triegaardt Technical Supervisor: Shane van Rheede Published and distributed by: UCT School of Dance Woolsack Drive ROSEBANK CAPE TOWN This collection of papers has been compiled from electronic copies provided by individual authors. In order to achieve a volume speedily available to the conference, any editing and proof reading has been done in the interest of standardised formatting. Individual Contributions: © 2017 by individual contributors. Collection as a whole: © 2017 UCT School of Dance. ISBN 978-0-7992-2537-2 WELCOME LETTER Dear Delegates Central to the subject of Dance Pedagogy is the body, and for so many, violence to their dancing bodies has taken on multiple forms: systemic/institutionalised; communal or cultural; and media-related oppression et. al. On this sombre note, many of us have gathered as ‘pedagogues of hope’ to consider and learn from our peers’ experiences on what has, and can be done to rid ourselves of such subjugation and trauma. I welcome you to Confluences 9 which suggests an entry point and a deciphering, if you will, of crystalised colonialism stagnant in the 21st century. How can we retrace our roots when names and languages have been obliterated? What new sounds should be sung when drums were confiscated? Where do we ignite new fires when beliefs are ridiculed and some art is scorned? How to dance to our own tune in 21st century? I am rejuvenated by the range of conference activities: papers, workshops, posters, performances, exhibitions that have been prepared by the Confluences 9 team since 2015. Thank you. The nuanced reflections of our many illustrious delegates will be presented over the next 3 days and is a tribute to both these VIP guests and dance scholars everywhere. I am deeply grateful to our Keynote speaker, Lliane Loots whose advocacy for Dance from the south seems to hold no bounds. Lliane has a long association with the UCT School of Dance and for me (Lliane was my Master’s supervisor). She has acted as our compass in her capacity as an external examiner and through her artistic works which are critiqued in our curriculum. Lliane continues to guide our dance scholarship in the region. Another fearless choreo-activist and self-declared, ‘intersectionist’, Dr Anita Ratnam has also embarked on a journey with us to fuel the debates on Contemporary Indian Dance to new and seasoned audiences. Welcome Anita as you shift this complex terrain. To all our speakers, panelists, presenters, videographers, dancers – some of you returning and others new, we are very mindful of the extraordinary efforts that you have undertaken to be with us (overcoming dire travel funding and other hurdles). You have finally arrived! And, we warmly welcome each one of you. Please be safe and enjoy our beautiful city of Cape Town this Winter (and bring us more rain with your next visits). Many of our workshop presenters seemed unsure of their invitations and the acceptances by our peer reviewing committee. Could this be that your acts of subversion are already so potent as to erase a colonial past? I would like to suggest that this is in fact so. Therefore, we have included the fields of disability arts, notions of hybridity and modernity, suggesting some of the cutting-edge work in dance which may be the ideal tools needed to disrupt old patterns and irrelevant values. The challenges and tensions between African and black remain, as do questions of aesthetic vs. semiotics in Dance. Perhaps, Confluences 9 will advance deeper dialogues between traditional and contemporary dances for us to find a way back to the body – a humanitarian discourse for Dance Pedagogy. Yours sincerely DR GERARD M. SAMUEL Table of Contents Part 1 – Keynote Speaker Lliane Loots ............................................................................................................................ 1-16 University of KwaZulu-Natal: Drama and Performance Studies Learning to Speak in my Mother Tongue: Ruminating on Contemporary Decolonising Dance Practices for Myself and my African Continent Part II – Scholarly Papers Adriana Miranda da Cunha .................................................................................................... 17-34 University of State of Santa Catarina (UDESC), Brazil Postgraduate Department of Theatre (PPGT Challenging Performances of Hegemony in Gender Representation in Tango: Liberation Through Pedagogy Alina Zhuwawo & Dr Nehemiah Chivandikwa ....................................................................... 35-51 University of Zimbabwe Body Politics in Zimbabwe: The African Body in Ballet Training Dr Anusharani Sewchurran ................................................................................................... 52-67 University of KwaZulu-Natal: School of Arts A Digital Dance Coralie Valentyn ................................................................................................................... 68-80 Plymouth University, UK Department of Theatre and Performance THE POLITICS OF SPACE: A Practice-Led Exploration of the Moving Body Estelle Olivier ................................................................................................................................... 81-89 University of Stellenbosch: Drama Department Honouring the Individual in the Collective: Fostering Empathy Dr Gerard M. Samuel ............................................................................................................ 90-97 University of Cape Town: School of Dance Why Knowing the Codes Will Lead the Dance(R) Ilona Frege ..........................................................................................................................98 -107 UCT School of Dance Deciphering Decolonisation in Dance Pedagogy in the 21st Century Subvert the Dominant Paradigm: How to Throw a Piekniek Jacki Job ........................................................................................................................... 108-120 University of Cape Town: School of Dance Butoh: Decolonising Opera James Macdonald ............................................................................................................. 121-133 Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre (VIAD), University of Johannesburg. +++ “But This Is White” Decolonial Digressions, as Navigating (or Reframing) the ‘Africanisation’ of Christian Iconography in Apartheid South Africa Kristina Johnstone ............................................................................................................. 134-141 Wits University: School of Arts Some Notes on Assembly: Choreography as a Materialising Practice of Thinking and Decolonial Options for Contemporary Dance Lisa Wilson ........................................................................................................................ 142-161 University of Cape Town: School of Dance Articulating a Decolonial Dance Pedagogy Through Teaching the Caribbean Bele Thalia Laric and Kristina Johnstone ..................................................................................... 162-165 New Dance Lab: Creating a Space for Risk, Immediacy and New Research in Dance and Performance Rainy Demerson................................................................................................................. 166-175 University of California, Riverside Diversity and Inclusion in Dance Education: Preparing America’s Future Rodrigo Benza .................................................................................................................... 176-191 Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú: Performing Arts Department Memory and Andean Theatricality in Peru: The Carnival of the Children of Accomarca Part III – Poster Presentations Danielle-Marie Jones .............................................................................................................. 192 Movements H ave Been Spatially Arranged and Encoded to Convey the Meaning of Colonialism in Juxtaposition to Cecolonisation Jamie-Lee Jansen ..................................................................................................................... 192 Red Apples Green Apples: This Poster Explores the Themes and Ideas of the Red Apples Green Apples P roject and Comments on Climate Change Jenna Merrington .................................................................................................................... 192 This Poster Presentation/Exhibition and Research Project is Concerned with Human Behaviour and Dance Part IV – Presentations Adriana Miranda da Cunha ..................................................................................................... 193 Challenging Performances of Hegemony in Gender Representation In Tango: Liberation Through Pedagogy Alan Cliff ................................................................................................................................. 193 Assessment as Social Practice: Design Principles Hilke Diemer ....................................................................................................................