Imagining Dances Speculative, Unseen and in Resistance

Description:

Imagining Dances Unseen, Speculative, and In Resistance was an online writing workshop hosted by writer Mercedes Webb (Malidi Hanuse) that invited participants to reimagine dance outside of the confines of Western thought, ableism, and formalist understandings. 

Webb began by leading the group in a grounding exercise to music before moving into writing prompts. Each participant was provided with access to the Winter 2021 issue of The Capilano Review to reference during the workshop. Imagining Dances Unseen, Speculative, and In Resistance created a space for participants to share their own experiences of dance, movement, and embodiment while exploring questions: What seemingly mundane functions, both micro and macro, can dance encompass? What does dancing look like in resistance to colonial borders? What dances happen unseen inside and on our individual bodies, between microbiomes? What does dancing look like when living with chronic pain? Can ideas dance? What occurs when bodies meet? 

Imagining Dances Unseen was presented as part of the project No Single Dancer, curated by Jasmine Hynes. 

Presented with support from the Killy Foundation and the Audain Endowment for Curatorial Studies through the Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory in collaboration with the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at the University of British Columbia.