Dancing Postcolonialism

This book presents the first in-depth critical and historical examination of the internationally renowned National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC) in the context of postcolonial theatre. Combining a postcolonial theoretical framework with performance studies and dance analysis, the study examines the interrelationship of Jamaican modern dance theatre aesthetics and the Caribbean's complex cultural genealogy since 1492. Addressing issues of postcolonial nationalism and Jamaican identity politics, the book provides the first comprehensive study of the NDTC's modern dance theatre works as it situates dance theatre choreography at the centre of postcolonial independence politics and cultural theory in the Caribbean.

Sabine Sörgel received her PhD in Performance and Media Studies from Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz/Germany. In 2003 she conducted field research with the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica in Kingston. From 2008 - 2012 she was Lecturer in Drama, Theatre and Performance at Aberystwyth University and a research fellow at the Interweaving Performance Cultures Research Centre Berlin in 2011. From 2013-2019 she was Senior Lecturer in Dance and Theatre at University of Surrey in Guildford, UK. Her publications include 'Dancing Postcolonialism - The National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica' (2007), 'Dance and The Body in Western Theatre. 1948 to the Present' (2015) and 'Contemporary African Dance Theatre: Phenomenology, Whiteness, and the Gaze' (2020) as well as several book chapters, edited volumes and journal articles on contemporary dance, theatre and performance.