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Conversations on Choreography:
Background Information

The Conversations on Choreography is a series of ongoing discussions of contemporary dance making with a focus on European contexts. It does not function in the traditional format of a conference or a symposium, but seeks innovative ways of organising contexts for dialogue and exchange. Keeping the practice of choreography close to the centre of the discussions and debates is essential to the aims of this extended discussion. Invited contributors are writers, educators, dramaturges, choreographers, performers, critics, organisers and researchers.

The first session of Conversations on Choreography was held in March 1999 at the School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam. Presented as an improvised conversation in public, the event lasted for two days and derived its broad thematic foci from other related activities (including a dramaturgy workshop for choreographers and a dance and technology festival) happening at that time in the city. Four guests joined the core group (see below), and several choreographers were invited to make 'interruptions' at strategic points throughout.

In November 1999, the second session of Conversations on Choreography was held in Barcelona for two days at La Caldera A.C.D.A.C. (Cultural Association for the Development of Choreographic Activities). Artist members of La Caldera and four guests from Spain joined the core group to continue and extend the discussion that began in Amsterdam with a primary focus on the relationship between dance and dramaturgy. Prior to this session, an intensive practical lab was organised with three La Caldera based choreographers to investigate the relationship between dance and dramaturgy with core group member André Lepecki. Results from this lab were presented during the "Conversations".

Following these two sessions, a co-written article entitled Dance Dramaturgy: speculations and reflections was published in Dance Theatre Journal, April 2000. Further writing and publication on a broader range of topics is anticipated.

The third session will take place 19-21 October 2000 at the Institute for Choreography and Dance (icd) at Firkin Crane, Cork, Ireland. A fourth and final session is under discussion. For more information, contact Scott deLahunta

Core Group: [biographies]

• Isabelle Ginot -- Dance writer/ researcher, associate professor at Dance Department of University of Paris VIII
• Myriam van Imschoot -- Dance critic/ researcher/ theorist, University of Leuven, Belgium
• André Lepecki -- Dramaturge for Meg Stuart, Vera Mantero among others, dance critic/ theorist, based in the USA
• Diana Theodores -- Dance writer/ researcher, Reader in Theatre at Dartington College of Arts, UK

Organiser: [biography]

• Scott deLahunta -- Independent researcher and lecturer in performance and member of Writing Research Associates

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