Please join us for a conversation about how to preserve and transmit the histories and legacies of dance, with Gabriele Brandstetter and Nanako Nakajima. Drawing on the research and performative processes of the cross cultural project “Dance Archive Box Berlin,” the conversation will address questions of archiving and re-creating dance through the traces and fragments of its archived remains: how can we read the objects and documents of dance, its fragmentary costumes and incomplete notations? What are the modalities for re-interpreting these legacies within another cultural context? Can this process of translating reanimate and revitalize dance from an “archive box” that is located between Asia and Europe? And what can we learn about the legacy of archives as mobile institutions?
About the Speakers:
Dr. Nanako Nakajima is a scholar and dance dramaturge. She was a Valeska Gert Visiting Professor 2019/20, at Freie Universität Berlin. Her recent research and -dramaturgy projects include “Yvonne Rainer Performative Exhibition” at Kyoto Art Theater Shunju-za in 2017 and the lecture-performance “Noh to Trio A” at Nagoya Noh Theater in 2021. She received the Special Commendation of the Elliott Hayes Award in 2017 for Outstanding Achievement in Dramaturgy from the Literary Manager and Dramaturgs of the Americas. Her publications include The Aging Body in Dance: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, and she recently launched a bilingual website on dance dramaturgy.
Gabriele Brandstetter is Professor of Theatre and Dance Studies at Freie Universität Berlin and since 2008 co-director of the International Research Centre “Interweaving Performance Cultures.” Her research focus is on the history and aesthetics of dance from the 18th century until today, theatre and dance of the avant-garde; contemporary theatre and dance, performance, theatricality and gender differences; concepts of body, movement and image. Her numerous books include "Poetics of Dance" (Oxford UP, 2015).
Attendance Information:
Registration is free and open to the public. Visitors are required to follow the Visitors Policy, and they must have proof of vaccination and a booster.
Co-sponsor:
This event is co-sponsored by Barnard College's Dance Department.
