Theory Editorial March/April 2022
Mariama Diagne opened the TQW theory programme this year by exploring the multiple facets of the notion of shadow: of what remains hidden but calls to be illuminated, what is out-of-sight but a necessary condition of visibility. The programme continues to function as a spotlight for subjects, bodies and practices that too often remain in the shadow: Gerko Egert discusses choreography from the critical perspective of neurodiversity; Eike Wittrock shares his research into hitherto unacknowledged queer dance archives; while Frédéric Pouillaude pleads for dance as a force fostering silenced collective energies.
Beyond providing a platform for critical voices in dance and performance theory, the Tanzquartier Wien programme also works to support the field producing that theory in the long term. Doing Things with Theory is a project that invites groups of university-level students – both from practical and theoretical backgrounds – to work together with an artist-researcher, exploring crossovers between their fields. The project TQW Research Affiliation in its turn supports early career and/or independent researchers by offering a medium-term residency, thus responding to the conditions of precariousness that may lead theory practitioners away from the field. Performatorium (Olivia Jaques/Marlies Surtmann), the first affiliates, propose a project employing embodied mapping, oral history, and critical archival research practices to reframe dance theory within the performance and visual arts contexts. In a further interdisciplinary trip, Netta Weiser’s Radio Choreography invites us to cross modalities and sense dance through auditory channels: tune in!
Anna Leon (TQW Theory)