This transdisciplinary study scientifically reports the way the established contemporary dance sector in Europe operates from a micro-perspective. It provides a dance scholarly and sociological interpretation of its mechanisms by coupling qualitative data (interview material, observations, logbooks, and dance performances) to theoretical insights. The book uncovers the sometimes contradicting mechanisms related to the precarious project-oriented labor and art market that determine the working and living conditions of contemporary dance artists in Europe’s dance capitals Brussels and Berlin. In addition, it examines how these working and living conditions affect the work process and outcome. From a sociological perspective, the book engages with the relevant contemporary social issue of precarity and this within the much-at-risk professional group of contemporary dance artists. In this regard, the research brings novelty within the subject area, particularly by employing a unique methodological approach. Although the research is initially set up in a specific geographical context and within a specific research population, the book offers insights into issues that affect our neoliberal society at large. The research findings show potential to make a relevant contribution with regards to precarity within dance studies and performance studies, but also labor studies and cultural sociology.

Fifty Contemporary Choreographers is a unique and authoritative guide to the lives and work of prominent living contemporary choreographers; this third edition includes many new names in the field of choreography. Representing a wide range of dance genres and styles, each entry locates the individual in the context of contemporary dance and explores their impact. Those studied include: Kyle Abraham Germaine Acogny William Forsythe Marco Goeke Akram Khan Wayne McGregor Crystal Pite Frances Rings Hofesh Shechter Sasha Waltz With an updated introduction by Deborah Jowitt and further reading and references throughout, this text is an invaluable resource for all students and critics of dance and all those interested in the everchanging world and variety of contemporary choreography.

This book examines the relation between bodies and political economies at micro and macro levels. It stands in the space between ends and beginnings – some long-desired, such as the end of capitalism and racism, and others long-dreaded, such as the climate catastrophe – and reimagines what the world can be like instead. It offers an original investigation into the relation between performance, dance, and political economy, looking at the points where politics, economics, ethics, and culture intersect. Arising from live conversations and exchanges among the contributors, this book is written in an interdisciplinary and dialogical manner by leading scholars and artists in the fields of Performance Studies, Dance, Political Theory, Economics, and Social Theory: Marc Arthur, Melissa Blanco Borelli, Anita Gonzalez, Alexandrina Hemsley, Jamila Johnson-Small, Elena Loizidou, Tavia Nyong'o, Katerina Paramana, Nina Power, and Usva Seregina. Their critical and creative examinations of the relation between bodies and political economy offer insights for both imagining and materializing a world beyond the present.

The Journal of Cultural Management and Cultural Policy offers international perspectives on issues in cultural management and cultural policy research and practice. Artists shape policy and management which is integral to their practice. This issue looks at how artists engage in policy making and how policies develop through artistic practice. Authors examine the role of researchers as interpreters and developers of policies originating in artist-focused research, artist agency in artist-led development, and what it means to »give« artists a platform to pursue their policy interests. Additionally, marginalisation of artists and lack of diversity in methodologies are explored in this issue.

This volume collects academic as well as artistic explorations highlighting historical and contemporary approaches to the ›energetic‹ in its aesthetic and political potential. Energetic processes cross dance, performance art and installations. In contemporary dance and performance art, energetic processes are no longer mere conditions of form but appear as distinct aesthetic interventions. They transform the body, evoke specific states and push towards intensities. International contributors (i.e. Gerald Siegmund, Susan Leigh Foster, Lucia Ruprecht) unfold thorough investigations, elucidating maneuvers of mobilization, activation, initiation, regulation, navigation and containment of forces as well as different potentials and promises associated with the ›energetic‹.

The ABC of the projectariat contributes new thinking on and practical responses to the widespread problem of precarious labour in the field of contemporary art. It works as both a critical analysis and a practical handbook, speaking to and about the vast cohort of artistic freelancers worldwide. In an accessible ABC format, the book strikes a unique balance between the practical and the theoretical: the analysis is backed up by lived experience, the arguments are rooted in concrete examples and there are suggestions for constructive action. Roughly half of the entries expose the structural underpinnings of projects and circulation, isolating traits such as opportunism, neoliberalism, inequality, fear and cynicism at the root of the condition of the projectariat. This discussion is paired with a practical account of different modes of action, such as art strikes, productive withdrawals, political struggles and better social time machines. Just as proletarians had nothing to lose but their chains, the projectarians have nothing to miss but their deadlines.

Backstage Economies: Labour and Masculinities in Contemporary European Dance investigates gender politics and labour practices in contemporary European dance. By focusing on masculinities and job careers in professional dance, this study looks at the cultural, historical, and material conditions that shape the dancers' experience of 'the everyday' as they travel to work; struggle to secure funding; nurse injuries; and negotiate their gender and work identities. The emphasis on the dancers' everyday experience is designed to critically explore and to challenge the established methodological boundaries of dance studies: the focus shifts away from the scholarly attentions that are more regularly paid to the phenomenology and perception of performance, towards the material conditions of dance production. In general, this book revisits the debates in dance education related to gender politics and the well-being of dancers; and it also traces and discusses some significant shortcomings of the current European dance policies and employment practices.