Contemporary Choreography

Fully revised and updated, this second edition of Contemporary Choreography presents a range of articles covering choreographic enquiry, investigation into the creative process, and innovative challenges to traditional understandings of dance making.
Contributions from a global range of practitioners and researchers address a spectrum of concerns in the field, organized into seven broad domains:
Conceptual and philosophical concerns
Processes of making
Dance dramaturgy: structures, relationships, contexts
Choreographic environments
Cultural and intercultural contexts
Challenging aesthetics
Choreographic relationships with technology.
Including 23 new chapters and 10 updated ones, Contemporary Choreography captures the essence and progress of choreography in the twenty-first century, supporting and encouraging rigorous thinking and research for future generations of dance practitioners and scholars.

Jo Butterworth is Professor of Dance Studies at the University of Malta. Liesbeth Wildschut lectures in dance history, dance theory, and dance dramaturgy at the Department of Media and Cultural Studies, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.

General introduction Jo Butterworth and Liesbeth Wildschut SECTION 1 Conceptual and philosophical concerns Section introduction Jo Butterworth and Liesbeth Wildschut 1.1 Knowing through dance-making Choreography, practical knowledge and practice-as-research Anna Pakes 1.2 Expert-intuitive and deliberate processes Struggles in (the wording of) creative decision-making in 'dance' Susan Melrose 1.3 'Throwing like a girl'? Gender in a transnational world Susan Leigh Foster 1.4 Choreography that poses problems Bojana Cveji- 1.5 Choreography as research Iteration, object, context Ben Spatz SECTION 2 Processes of making Section introduction Jo Butterworth and Liesbeth Wildschut 2.6 Too many cooks? A framework for dance making and devising Jo Butterworth 2.7 Facilitating choreographic process Larry Lavender 2.8 Velvet Petal: Getting Lost Fleur Darkin 2.9 Risk-taking and group dance improvisation João da Silva 2.10 Dancing strategies and moving identities The contributions independent contemporary dancers make to the choreographic process Jenny Roche 2.11 Jonathan Burrows' Postdance Conference keynote address, Stockholm 2015 Jonathan Burrows INTERVENTION Peggy Olislaegers SECTION 3 Dance dramaturgy: structures, relationships, contexts Section introduction Jo Butterworth and Liesbeth Wildschut 3.12 Dance dramaturgical agency Pil Hansen 3.13 The catalytic function of dramaturgy Working on actions in choreographic processes Konstantina Georgelou, Efrosini Protopapa, and Danae Theodoridou 3.14 Decentred dramaturgy Non-structural contexts in contemporary choreography Anny Mokotow SECTION 4 Choreographic environments Section introduction Jo Butterworth and Liesbeth Wildschut 4.15 Dancing around exclusion An examination of the issues of social inclusion within choreographic practice in the community Sara Houston 4.16 Choreographic approaches in the community context Diane Amans 4.17 Escola Livre de Dança da Maré in Rio de Janeiro A ground to share Silvia Soter and Adriana Pavlova 4.18 Experiencing space Some implications for site-specific dance performance Victoria Hunter 4.19 Whispering Birds Site-specific dance, affect and emotion Karen N Barbour SECTION 5 Cultural and Intercultural Contexts Section introduction Jo Butterworth and Liesbeth Wildschut 5.20 Principles of African choreography Some perspectives from Ghana Francis Nii-Yarty 5.21 The body as a site of power An artistic case study on contemporary choreography in the Arab World Sandra Noeth and Samar Haddad King 5.22 Beyond the intercultural to the Accented Body An Australian perspective Cheryl Stock 5.23 Minority visibility and hip hop choreography: France 2015 Felicia McCarren 5.24 Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Akram Khan Intertwined journeys in-between dance cultures Guy Cools 5.25 Akram Khan on the politics of choreographing touch Royona Mitra SECTION 6 Challenging Aesthetics Section introduction Jo Butterworth and Liesbeth Wildschut 6.26 In search of Asian modernity Cloud Gate Dance Theatre's body aesthetics in the era of globalisation Ya-Ping Chen 6.27 The body as the stage of abstract space Sculpting of spectatorship in Meg Stuart's choreography Jeroen Fabius 6.28 Hi, who are you? On choreography and the aged dancer Efva Lilja 6.29 Inclusive choreography Lucy Bennett and Stopgap Dance Company Sho Shibata SECTION 7 Choreographic Relationships with Technology Section introduction Jo Butterworth and Liesbeth Wildschut 7.30 Choreographic performance systems Johannes Birringer 7.31 Virtually touching Embodied engagement in telematic and virtual reality performance Sita Popat 7.32 How does motion capture mediate dance? Laura Karreman 7.33 Social media and choreographic practice Creative tools for collaboration, co-creation and creative practice Sophy Smith