How Can We Move? Online conference in contemporary dance

EDN (the newly named European Dance Development Network) invites contemporary dance and performing arts professionals, artists, thinkers and sector representatives to join the online conference How Can We Move? Creating Equitable Spaces in Contemporary Dance, on 22 November 2023.

The online conference will be an occasion to connect with colleagues, artists and peers working in the contemporary dance sector in an engaging programme of participatory movement practices, conversation sessions, presentations, and keynotes by forward-looking representatives working towards a more equitable future of contemporary dance.

The Keynote will be delivered by scholar and storyteller Aminata Cairo, who will talk about her understanding of what it means to hold space.

Aminata Cairo uses the concept of stories and sees the pursuit of inclusive education as the way to expand the collective story. In her presentation Dr. Cairo will take the audience on a journey to explore what makes the pursuit of inclusion so challenging and will challenge the audience to think about what it really requires.

At the occasion of the online conference, EDN will release the research publication “Equity in Working Conditions in Dance” by Dr. Alexandra Baybutt. The publication addresses a shared need to name and rename the key words in power. It describes 3 key tensions in dance exacerbating inequitable working conditions and introduces tools for organisational and individual reflection, as well as examples of good (and bad) practices in professional organisation and communication when trying to create equitable spaces in collaborative settings.