D a n c e D e p a r t m e n t
The Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice
and
Institute of Art Polish Academy of Sciences

announce an open recruitment and cordially invite You to participate in the event
International Conference
DEVISED THEATRE / DANCE THEATRE

Katowice | 9 – 12 November 2023

Devised Theatre is one of the most interesting and dynamic forms of contemporary performance. Initiated in the 1960s in the United States, Great Britain, and Europe (including Poland), Devised Theater began to develop in other cultural spaces as well, and continues to modify its assumptions today. Centered around the search for alternative processes and experimental forms, Devised Theatre artists often lean toward non-artistic contexts and transgress the normative rules and boundaries of commercial, institutional and repertory theater. At the same time, they often make artistic and organizational decisions collectively. Devised Theatre (at times also referred to as collective creation) seeks to be non-hierarchical, without a ready script, and focused as much on the creative process as on its final result, for which each person in the ensemble shares responsibility and credit. Devised performance is also often multisensory, decentering the role of language in favor of body-mindedness, movement, choreography, image theater, music and sound. The preferred working model is of an ensemble or company with a long-term commitment to mutual collaboration. This highly diverse performance work is variously defined by experts on the subject and so requires special methodological reflection today. These practices from the start have evolved through and alongside various schools dedicated to preparing future artists. Starting in France in the 1950s, Jacques Lecoq pioneered a paradoxical “pedagogy of creation” that through a version of the via negativa based in the deep organic perception of the natural world and other people introduced students to physically-based performance and ensemble creation. Contemporary artists such as Pig Iron Theater Company in the United States have both created a large body of devised, physically-based, ensemble work and carried on Lecoq’s pedagogy in innovative ways (in particular incorporating work with the voice in the Roy Hart tradition). In Europe, educational centers in Giessen, the Folkwang University in Essen, and DAS in Amsterdam play significant roles in the propagation of the practices of devised theatre and performance. The Dance Department of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice founded by choreographer and master teacher Jacek Łumiński, works to contribute in similar ways in the rich traditions of Polish dance and experimental theatre.
The goal of the DEVISED THEATRE / DANCE THEATRE conference is to reflect on Devised Theatre in relationship to contemporary dance and to create a platform for joint discussion between researchers, teachers of the practice, and artists on current practices in both arenas. The discussion will extend to the institutional support provided by curators and festivals. These practical sessions and workshops will serve to bring the participants together around their collective work on “inventing” the idea, process, and final form of the performance.
In deep openness, we invite theoreticians and practitioners fascinated by the so-called devising practice, i.e. working methods and tools of Devised Theatre. We kindly ask you to send proposals for theoretical presentations. Please send the completed Application Form ( https://tinyurl.com/bdfzh2ea ) together with the abstract of the presentation (document attached) by September 25, 2023 to the following address |


devised_dance@am.katowice.pl


We plan to choose from among the submitted applications
three Panelists of "Devised Theater / Dance Theatre".
The organizers of the conference undertake to cover the costs of their participation
(accommodation, meals and transport).
Anyone else wishing to participate
in the international scientific conference "DEVISED THEATER / DANCE THEATER"
we cordially invite you to participate.
The conference fee in this case is 150 EUR.
Within this amount, the Organizers provide:
participation in the conference, accommodation and meals.

You're welcome!

Please expect a response from us and detailed information
until October 2, 2023.


Kind regards,
Scientific and Organizational Committee |

prof. dr hab. Krystyna Duniec
prof. Allen Kuharski
dr Jacek Łumiński
dr Adriana Świątek
mgr Mateusz Czekaj
mgr Ewelina Cieśla

The project was co-financed from the state budget, granted by the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Poland within the framework of the "Excellent Science II" Programme