To celebrate Modern Moves’ second birthday, we organised a RESEARCH SHOWCASE ON AFRO-HERITAGE COUPLE DANCE on the 18th-19th of May, 2015 at King’s College, London. To toast this special date, we began the showcase with a specially commissioned range of spectacular dance performances: definitely sights not worth missing! The Modern Moves team, performers and fans enjoyed a night of innovative dance shows, rhythm loaded tunes, Caribbean cocktails, and delicious moves, including:
CALI-STYLE ACROBATIC SALSA with Camilo Soler Caicedo and Izabela Pilecka (Bogota/London)
‘SALSAMBA’ (mambo meets samba) with Arthur Araujo Gontijo and Aiste Kalabuchova Gontijo (London)
And, via skype: a mini Lecture-Demonstration on ARTISTIC KOMPA by Cliford Jasmin and Gaelle Cadignan Jasmin (Ecole Salsabor, Miami)
MM resident DJ Wilfrid Vertueux (DJ Willy the Viper, Paris) delighted us with his usual genre-spanning panache.
On the 19th, we continued with a day of discussions and presentations by scholar-dancers from the UK, Europe, and the USA: the full Modern Moves family.
Here is the programme as a souvenir!
10.00-10.30
Beyond the Binary: Rethinking Afro-diasporic couple dance (with an accent on the ‘Afro-‘)
Prof. Ananya Kabir, King’s College, London10.30-11.45
Feminist dilemmas in social Salsa dancing, Chip McCLure, King’s College London
Salsa dancers and their transnational moves, Joanna Menet University of Neuchatel
Respondent: Dr Kathy Davis, Free University of Amsterdam12.00-1.15
Paris kizomba dance floors: a new home for zouk lovers, Brenna Daldorph, Independent Journalist, Paris
Placing Lisbon n the transnational kitchen of Kizomba, Dr Livia Jimenez Sedano, INET-MD, University of Lisbon
Respondent: Professor Theresa Buckland, University of Roehampton2.15-3.30
“Don’t Cross Main Street”: Salsa as a kinesthetic tool in understanding boundaries, Minkyoung (MK) Kim, University of Manchester
Insight exploration of salsa performance, Noelia Tajes, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
Respondent: Dr Jonathan Skinner, University of Roehampton3.45-5.00
Trans-continental and trans-genre: Preliminary considerations on the history of mazurka music and dance, Stefanie Alisch, University of Bayreuth
Patting Juba, Cakewalking, and Ragging Modernism in fin-de-siècle Europe, Dr Matthew Morrison, Tisch School of Performance, New York
Respondent: Dr Elina Djebbari, KCL5.00-6.00: Closing Roundtable led by Dr. Madison Moore
Attendees on the 19th are welcome to use the lunch break to explore the Strand and riverside with their own lunch arrangements. After the showcase, we will close our day with a drinks reception and chance to talk to all the participants. The Modern Moves team looks forward to welcoming you to our special event!
