May 9, 2013
by fatsodoctor
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Conference Poster Session CFP

Association for Asian Performance

13th Annual Conference
July 31-August 1, 2013  Orlando, FL

The AAP conference is a two-day event, to be held at the Hyatt Regency Grad Cypress in Orland, FL, preceding and during the annual ATHE (Association for Theatre in Higher Education) conference.

AAP invites submissions for the poster session portion of the AAP conference.

The poster session is a new feature of the AAP conference that had great success during 2011 and 2012.  This unique session allows both junior and senior scholars to share research in a more informal atmosphere that fosters conversation.  It is an especially excellent format for young scholars (students), as well as for established scholars trying a new direction in their research.  When possible, AAP will pair each presenter with a specialist who is able to act as a respondent.

Proposals should include the following:

  1. Title
  2. Name and a short bio of the presenter(s)
  3. Affiliation, specialization (field/region), mailing address, phone numbers and e-mail address for the presenter.
  4. A short abstract (100-200 words) describing the topic of the research.
  5. Include additional details about the visual design (such as a tri-fold standing poster or video) of your presentation and information about any special requirements.  Please keep in mind that AAP has very limited AV resources.

Proposals should be emailed to the organizer for the poster session, Jennifer Goodlander at:  JennGoodlander@yahoo.com

Feel free to contact Jennifer with any questions as well.

THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ALL PROPOSALS IS MAY 25, 2013.

All presenters are expected to join AAP. Membership is $40 per year ($25 for students) and includes a subscription to the Asian Theatre Journal (http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/journals/atj/).

April 30, 2013
by fatsodoctor
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Women In Asian Theatre

One Day Symposium

14 September 2013
School of Performing Arts
University of Lincoln

Confirmed Keynote Speakers:
Professor Kathy Foley, University of California
Mrs Sudha Bhuchar, Artistic Director, Tamasha Theatre Company

Asian theatre traditions, for the past several decades have been an active area of study among researchers all over the world. Although various aspects of Asian theatre including actor-training, performance techniques and play texts have been studied in the past, women’s role in Asian theatre still remains understudied and unexplored.  Why is it so? Kabuki was originated by a woman, but women were slowly eliminated from its performance. Noh was performed by women until 1600s, but we find a systematic elimination of women from its performance. Kathakali didn’t historically allow female performers, although Indonesian performances and Kudiyattam always required female presence on their stages.  On the other hand, the skills of such female impersonators Mei Lanfang (Chinese Opera), or Kottakkal Sivaraman (Kathakali) are much celebrated.

On the contrary, various folk performance traditions, puppetry and religious/ritualistic performances totally embrace (or used to as in the case of Japanese Gidayu) a vibrant presence of female performers in their repertoire. If this was the historical scene, the contemporary scene of the Asian theatre is totally different where we see women in various roles such as the playwright, director and the actor of both traditional classical theatres as well as contemporary dance and theatre.  So, it is a mixed bag – on the one hand, there is this historical absence (or systematic elimination) of women, especially in the so called aesthetically elite theatre forms such as Noh and Kudiyattam. On the other hand, and more from a contemporary perspective, there is increasing visibility and creative engagement of women in Asian theatres in various ways.

Beyond such historical and contemporary scenarios as discussed above, the vision and effort of the female practitioners, both traditional and contemporary, who brought a paradigmatic shift in the theatrical sensibility is also worth discussing here. For example, in India, as in many other Asian countries, a new feminist, political playwriting and re-reading of various performance aesthetics influenced the subsequent reorganising of the patriarchal stage language. Nevertheless, such significant innovations in the theatrical sensibility goes under recognised.

First of its kind, the symposium on ‘Women in Asian Theatre’ attempts to explore the role of women in Asian theatre traditions. The paper contributions are welcomed from, but not restricted to, the following areas:

  • Women’s role in traditional Asian performances
  • Asian women playwrights, actors
  • Female/male impersonation
  • Folk performances/puppetry and female practitioners
  • Asian Diaspora female practitioners
  • Female innovations on stage – traditional and contemporary (eg: female Kathakali, female Noh, Street theatre etc…)
  • Mask and female performers in Asian traditions
  • Female impersonating female/male
  • Female masters/teachers
  • Performance Training for actresses
  • Gender politics in Asian performances
  • Feminine discourse on performance knowledge/scholarship
  • Religion and female body
  • Women, ritual and performance

The Asian Theatre Journal is planning a special section on “Women in Asian Theatre” and papers that go through the review and revision process are expected to be part of an upcoming issue. 

  • Last date for receiving proposals: 15 May 2013
  • Proposals confirmed: 01 June 2013
  • Date for the Symposium: 14 September 2013
  • Proposal specification: The proposal has to be under 250 words. Please also send a brief bio of under 100 words.

For more information or to discuss your initial ideas please contact Dr Arya Madhavan at amadhavan@lincoln.ac.uk.  Please contact the conference office of the University of Lincoln at conferences@lincoln.ac.uk or 0044-1522-886407 for discussing any administrative matters. Paper proposals can be sent by email either to Dr Arya Madhavan or the conference office by 15 May.

April 4, 2013
by fatsodoctor
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Sexual Artifice in Asian Art

Call for Papers and Presentations
International Symposium
Shifting Dialogues II: Objects of Desire—Sexual Artifice in Asian Art and Performance

October 17-19, 2013
University of the Arts Helsinki

The Asian Art and Performance Consortium (AAPC) of the Academy of Fine Arts (Kuva) and the Finnish Theatre Academy Helsinki (Teak) (now components of the new University of the Arts Helsinki) will host a symposium focusing on manifestations of sex and gender in Asian Art and Performance.

This is the second symposium organized under the ongoing research project, Shifting Dialogues – Asian Performance and Fine Arts. The project is funded by the Academy of Finland in 2011-2014. More information on the project can be found from http://www.teak.fi/Tutkimus/Tutkimushankkeet (please scroll down the page for the Research Plan in English).

Last year we focused onThe Politics of Site, Locality & Context in Asian Performance and Visual Arts. This year we are focusing on sexual practices and gender roles in Asian art, film, video art, installation, live art, and dialogical work. We are looking for new framings of sexuality and gender, beyond orientalism, the tattered dualisms of “East vs West”, and are looking into the specificity of the fetish object and its social context. How are various social practices, from religion to bureaucracy to economics to politics and terror sexualised and fetishised. While the focus of this seminar is the fetish and art object, we are interested in fleshing out the body in its material, sexualised and all genres of gendered performances.

Our symposia are small, intimate and dialog-based, rather than formalized panel presentations. Presentations can be in the form of papers or well-researched interventions and provocations. There are no parallel sessions, so the number of presentations will be small. In 2014/15 we will be publishing a peer-reviewed volume of selected papers from three annual symposia.

We are looking for research in the following areas but are interested in other initiatives in line with the symposium theme as well.

* Sexploitation, sexwork, refugees and art
* AIDS, STDs, Art and Performance in Asia
* Mapping bodies: the erotics of colonial and post-colonial biometrics
* Trans-sexing histories and traditions in visual arts and performance
* Feminist challenges and interventions in Asia
* Gender and violence
* The gendered barricades: Elections, riots, demonstrations
* Terror –Weaponry – Fetish
* Taking hostages– Performance art and the ‘Stockholm Syndrome’
* Sleeping with the Other: Colonial and Post-colonial sex, war and tourism
* Love Pray : Sexual typing, gender roles and religion
* Challenging global queer culture: queering practice, activism and theory in Asia
* Trans-orientalisms & occidentalisms: Muscular Asia & the Feminine West
* Strategic self-orientalism
* Who subalterns the subaltern now?
DEADLINE for proposals is 17 May 2013. Decisions will be confirmed by 20 June, 2013.

Presentations reflecting practice-based artistic research relevant to the symposium topic are strongly encouraged.

Further questions: Anna Thuring (anna.thuring@teak.fi)

TO SUBMIT proposals please provide the following by email only:

- abstract of 250 words with low resolution images or directions to on-line video as needed
- short bio and description of research in 150 words
- current cv
- indication of special technical or space requirements

Send proposals by the deadline to: aapc@teak.fi

March 4, 2013
by fatsodoctor
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Saving the ‘Live’

At the University of California, Berkeley, March 11

Saving the ‘Live’: Re-Performance and UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage

Lecture | March 11 | 4:30-6 p.m. |  Durham Studio Theater (Dwinelle Hall)

Speaker/Performer: Diana Taylor, University Professor and Professor of Performance Studies and Spanish, New York University, and Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar 2012-13

Abstract: It’s a widespread fantasy— one shared by individual artists such as Marina Abramovic and world organizations such as UNESCO—that specific performances (or ICH, ‘intangible cultural heritage’) can be kept alive, separated from their moment of knowing and being, and safeguarded, protected, for other audiences at another moment. What does safeguarding performance entail? Is re-performance different from performance, always “twice behaved behavior” according to Richard Schechner, “never for the first time”? How does the now of one particular performance extend beyond its own initial temporality and context? Why attempt it? For whom? Who selects? Who decides? This talk looks at what it might entail to consciously ‘preserve’ performance and keep specifics acts ‘alive’ by looking at two projects—UNESCO’s Intangible Culture Heritage convention of 2003 and Marina Abramovic’s blockbuster show at MoMA in 2010, The Artist is Present,.As a Phi Beta Kappa visiting scholar, Diana Taylor will also be visiting undergraduate classes and directing a special undergradaute seminar for students in Spanish and Portuguese and Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies.

Faculty, Friends of the University, General Public, Students – Graduate, Students – Undergraduate

All Audiences

ignacio@berkeley.edu, 510-642-2101

February 11, 2013
by fatsodoctor
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AAP’s 13th Conference: CFP

Association for Asian Performance 13th Annual Conference
July 31-August 1, 2013   Orlando, FL

The Association for Asian Performance (AAP) invites submissions for its 13th annual conference. The AAP conference is a two-day event, to be held at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Florida preceding and during the annual ATHE (Association for Theatre in Higher Education) conference.

Proposals are invited for papers, panels, workshops and roundtable discussions. Learn more about the AAP at http://www.yavanika.org/aaponline/   The deadline for proposals is April 15, 2013.

  • Proposals for individual papers should include a brief abstract. Individual presentations should be limited to 20 minutes so that there will be time left for questions and discussion. Visual materials (slides, video etc.) are strongly encouraged.
  • Panels should be composed of three paper presenters and one discussant or four paper presenters. Proposals for panels should provide a brief statement that explains the session as a whole and the proposed subject of each paper.
  • Roundtables offer an opportunity for participants to discuss a specific theme, issue or significant recent publication. A maximum of six active participants is recommended. While a roundtable proposal will not be as detailed as a panel proposal, it should explain fully the session’s purpose, themes or issues and scope.
  • Proposals for workshops by performance practitioner(s) with expertise in specific Asian performance traditions are welcomed, particularly workshops that overlap with a panel theme or paper presentation. Workshop proposals should include an abstract explaining methods and goals. Workshops should be designed to run no longer than 80 minutes.
  • Poster session. Your proposal should include a brief abstract and the visual design (including visual aids on a tri-fold standing poster and videos if applicable) of your poster. You will be giving short, multimedia-enhanced presentations to visitors. The AAP will do its best to pair specialists in your subject area to act as respondents. A reception will be held for the poster session. Past presenters at the poster sessions included both junior and senior scholars.

We encourage suggestions for innovative alternatives to the panels, individual papers and roundtables described above.

Proposals should include the following:

  1. Title of panel, roundtable or paper.
  1. Names of all the presenters, including chair and/or organizer and discussant (for panels and roundtables.) A few biographical sentences about each presenter.
  1. Affiliation, specialization (field/region), mailing address, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of al participants.
  1. Explanation of the session (for panels, workshops and roundtables); abstract of each panel presentation or each paper.

Proposals should be emailed to the conference organizer and AAP Vice President, David Jortner David_Jortner@Baylor.edu

If you need help locating other scholars to participate in a panel or roundtable, please submit a preliminary description of your proposal before March 1 so we can post it on the AAP website. Alternatively, you can post suggestions for a panel on the AAP web site by contacting David Mason at masond@rhodes.edu.

THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ALL PROPOSALS IS APRIL 15, 2013.

All presenters are expected to join AAP. Membership is $40 per year ($25 for students) and includes a subscription to the Asian Theatre Journal (http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/journals/atj/).

 

February 5, 2013
by fatsodoctor
0 comments

Women in Asian Theatre Symposium

14 September 2013

School of Performing Arts
University of Lincoln

Confirmed Keynote Speakers:

  • Professor Kathy Foley, University of California
  • Mrs Sudha Bhuchar, Artistic Director, Tamasha Theatre Company

Asian theatre traditions, for the past several decades have been an active area of study among researchers all over the world. Although various aspects of Asian theatre including actor-training, performance techniques and play texts have been studied in the past, women’s role in Asian theatre still remains understudied and unexplored.  Why is it so? Kabuki was originated by a woman, but women were slowly eliminated from its performance. Noh was performed by women until 1600s, but we find a systematic elimination of women from its performance. Kathakali didn’t historically allow female performers, although Indonesian performances and Kudiyattam always required female presence on their stages.  On the other hand, the skills of such female impersonators Mei Lanfang (Chinese Opera), or Kottakkal Sivaraman (Kathakali) are much celebrated.

On the contrary, various folk performance traditions, puppetry and religious/ritualistic performances totally embrace (or used to as in the case of Japanese Gidayu) a vibrant presence of female performers in their repertoire. If this was the historical scene, the contemporary scene of the Asian theatre is totally different where we see women in various roles such as the playwright, director and the actor of both traditional classical theatres as well as contemporary dance and theatre.  So, it is a mixed bag – on the one hand, there is this historical absence (or systematic elimination) of women, especially in the so called aesthetically elite theatre forms such as Noh and Kudiyattam. On the other hand, and more from a contemporary perspective, there is increasing visibility and creative engagement of women in Asian theatres in various ways.

Beyond such historical and contemporary scenarios as discussed above, the vision and effort of the female practitioners, both traditional and contemporary, who brought a paradigmatic shift in the theatrical sensibility is also worth discussing here. For example, in India, as in many other Asian countries, a new feminist, political playwriting and re-reading of various performance aesthetics influenced the subsequent reorganising of the patriarchal stage language. Nevertheless, such significant innovations in the theatrical sensibility goes under recognised.

First of its kind, the symposium on ‘Women in Asian Theatre’ attempts to explore the role of women in Asian theatre traditions. The paper contributions are welcomed from, but not restricted to, the following areas:

  • Women’s role in traditional Asian performances
  • Asian women playwrights, actors
  • Female/male impersonation
  • Folk performances/puppetry and female practitioners
  • Asian Diaspora female practitioners
  • Female innovations on stage – traditional and contemporary (eg: female Kathakali, female Noh, Street theatre etc…)
  • Mask and female performers in Asian traditions
  • Female impersonating female/male
  • Female masters/teachers
  • Performance Training for actresses
  • Gender politics in Asian performances
  • Feminine discourse on performance knowledge/scholarship
  • Religion and female body
  • Women, ritual and performance

The Asian Theatre Journal is planning a special section on “Women in Asian Theatre” and papers that go through the review and revision process are expected to be part of an upcoming issue.

Last date for receiving proposals: 15 May 2013

Proposals confirmed: 01 June 2013

Date for the Symposium: 14September 2013

For more information or to discuss your initial ideas please contact Dr Arya Madhavan at amadhavan@lincoln.ac.uk.  Please contact the conference office of the University of Lincoln at conferences@lincoln.ac.uk or 0044-1522-886407 for discussing any administrative matters.

Please send your paper proposals by email either to Dr Arya Madhavan or the conference office by 15 May.

January 28, 2013
by fatsodoctor
0 comments

Noh Training Project-UK

Noh Training Project-UK Presents ‘An Introduction to Noh Performance’
led by noh specialist Richard Emmert

This two-day practical workshop will introduce participants to the basic elements of the rich and ancient Japanese classical noh theatre form. Noh is one of the oldest continually performed theatre styles in the world, and combines dance, chant, music, mask, costumes and traditional narratives in a powerful and stately performance.

 This workshop will give a taste of what Noh Training Project-UK offers in our main summer intensive workshop, which will be held for the third year running in August-September 2013, at Reading University.

Participants need have no experience of Noh theatre, but should be familiar with some form of music and/or performance.

When: 9th-10th March 2013

Where Regents College, London

Time:10am – 5pm (+ evening screening on 9th)

Price: £100 (£85 if booked before 31st January), student concessions available

Note: Spaces are limited to 12 so please book early!

To book: Email us for a booking form: laura@nohtrainingprojectuk.org

November 16, 2012
by fatsodoctor
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University of Exeter – 2 Positions

Chair in Drama, Theatre or Performance Studies

This appointment of a Chair in Drama, Theatre or Performance Studies is part of the College of Humanities’ ongoing investment in Drama to sustain and build on its notable success. We are looking for a leading international figure with the ability to attract world-class academics to their research groups. Applicants will be innovative researchers with a strong track record of research funding and international quality publications. They will be able to develop new knowledge, innovation and understanding in the field in ways that complement or extend current expertise in Drama at Exeter. In education, they will be able to engage students with theatre theory and practice. They will possess a thorough understanding of institutional management systems and the wider higher education environment, and will possess an ability to foster interactions and links both within the University and externally.

Lecturer in Chinese/East Asian Theatre/Drama (Education and Research)

The post of Lecturer in Chinese/East Asian Theatre/Drama will contribute to extending the research profile of Drama at Exeter. The successful applicant will hold a PhD in Theatre/Drama/Performance Studies and have an independent, internationally-recognised research programme in an active field of Chinese/East Asian Theatre/Drama research related or complementary to existing Exeter strengths. He/she will be able to demonstrate the following qualities and characteristics; a strong record in attracting research funding, or demonstrable potential to attract such funding, teamwork skills to work in collaboration with existing group members, an active and supportive approach to inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary research that will help to foster interactions and links both within the University and externally, the attitude and ability to engage in continuous professional development, the aptitude to develop familiarity with a variety of strategies to promote and assess learning and enthusiasm for delivering undergraduate programmes.

These full-time permanent posts are available from 1 September 2013 at the latest. The closing date for applications is 11 December 2012.

Initial enquiries can be made to Stephen Hodge, Head of Drama ( t: 01392-724524 / e: S.Hodge@exeter.ac.uk ). You may also wish to consult our website (http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/ ) for further details of the College.

More detailed Job Descriptions and Person Specifications can be found at:

University of Exeter, Department of Drama

When adjusted for the 95% of staff submitted to RAE2008, Exeter ranks among the top 15 in the UK for research out of 159 higher education institutions. The Times Higher Education described Exeter as ‘a rising star among research-intensive institutions’, and it joined the Russell Group in 2012 . Drama returned 35% of research in the top 4* category, with 95% of research in Drama ranked as internationally competitive. Drama has had notable success in achieving external research income, including several large AHRC awards, and a high success rate in Creative Fellow and Academic Fellowship awards as well as workshop and practice-based Research Council projects. We foster a strong culture of peer support in relation to staff research, and host three Research Centres within the Drama Department: the Centre for Contemporary Performance Practices; the Centre for Performance, Sciences and Community; and the Centre for Performance Histories and Cultures.

Since 2004, the Department has undergone a major expansion, with an additional new building erected on our Thornlea site as the major part of an investment of GBP 3.7 million, and an accompanying increase in undergraduate, postgraduate students, as well as in academic staff numbers. Our state-of-the-art facilities compare with any in the country. Exeter Drama has performed consistently highly in the NSS, and currently ranks top, based on the average percentage of positive responses across all survey categories for full service universities.

The University of Exeter is an equal opportunity employer which is ‘Positive About Disabled People’: if you have a disability, you should mention this in your application. Whilst all applicants will be judged on merit alone, we particularly welcome applications from groups currently underrepresented in the workforce.