Narratives in Black British Dance: Embodied Practices
- Submitting institution
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Middlesex University
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 1549
- Type
- B - Edited book
- DOI
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10.1007/978-3-319-70314-5
- Publisher
- Palgrave Macmillan
- ISBN
- 9783319703138
- Open access status
- -
- Month of publication
- February
- Year of publication
- 2018
- URL
-
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- Yes
- Additional information
- Dr Akinleye edited/curated this anthology with the aim to address the lack of literature published about dance from those identified as, or identifying with Black, British and dance cultures. The book began as a call for contributions from amongst those attending the ADAD Re:Generation conferences 2010 and 2012 in UK. Later a general call was made for chapters, this was in order to draw contributions from across the field.
Dr Akinleye gave writing support to contributors whose primary form of expression is dance rather than text. Thus the anthology includes a first time chapter by Namron, a founding member of London Contemporary Dance Theatre, the first publication of research done by Beverly Glean and Rosie Lehan that has subsequently led to the first BA course in dance of the African diaspora in UK, as well as landmark texts from established writers, such as the last text written by the late Thea Barnes.
The book explores the multi-layered, multi-dimensional nature of artists and artistic work in order to reject the injustice of attempting to classify Black British dance as ‘one thing’. The book’s aim is to offer the reader theoretical possibilities for engaging with notions of Black-ness, British-ness, dance through the voices of scholars and artists, while also offering narratives about the impact of racialisation in dance through reflections that readers might have experienced themselves or witnessed around them.
Each contributor to the book writes their chapter from within the experience of Black, British and dance. Therefore, the editing/curation of the book also attempts to avoid simply responding to ‘white’ representations of Black-ness (hooks, 1992). Rather the book collates chapters in order to evidence the interwoven relationships of dance across the African and British diasporas in order to stimulate further conversation and publications across the field.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -