Dance critique workshop by Erica Charalambous
Friday, 27/5 – Sunday 29/5/2022, 10:00-13:00
Dancehouse Lefkosia
Dance is a transient form of art, which invites the spectator to become part of an experience. In essence, it is a phenomenological occasion that connects, presents, expresses, and embodies ideas, thoughts, feelings and stories. Dance is considered hard to capture, since it is a ‘wordless’ form of live art, unlike theatre, and therefore does not receive the attention it deserves in cultural reviews.
Writing critically on dance requires a sense of ‘responsiveness’, a balance between poetics, linguistic precision and focused attention, to describe and respond to the dance work performed. Dance critique presents an audience member’s experience, a specialist’s review that stays on as a historical trace of a dance performance. Besides, in a broader sense, dance reviews may elevate dance’s cultural, social and historical significance. In this 3-days workshop, we will discuss about dance critique, examine various reviews and styles of reviewing, as well as discover the nuances of writing about a range of dance styles in a variety of contexts. We will explore through somatic inquiry a series of questions:
How do we write about dance? How do we describe what we have experienced and witnessed in a performance we have seen? How do we begin to evaluate dance as an ephemeral art form, as content that moves and communicates ideas, thoughts and feelings through movement?
Participants will also be invited to delve into their embodied writing skills by viewing and reviewing performances during the On_Bodies Festival. We will read these reviews together, analyse them during the workshop sessions and a selection of these will be published on the Dancehouse Lefkosia’s website and social media pages. For this workshop, you will need to bring your laptop, notebook, something to write with and comfortable clothing.
Participation cost:
50 euros/ 40 euros for friends of Dancehouse Lefkosia
Early bird discount -20%: Expression of interest and payment of the participation cost by end of April.
Limited number of participants / Registration is on a first come first serve basis.
Expression of interest:
For expression of interest please fill in the form below and send it at info@dancehouselefkosia.com with subject DANCE CRITIQUE WORKSHOP
• Name:
• Email:
• Telephone number:
• Short CV:
• A short writing sample (max 200 words) about a performance that you found interesting (from live performance/ online/ video etc):
Erica Charalambous:
Erica Charalambous is a dance practitioner and researcher interested in archiving and documenting dance, exploring embodied practices and dance transmission. Erica has recently completed a cotutelle PhD research candidature at the Centre for Dance Research, Coventry University (UK) and Deakin University Melbourne (Australia). Her research investigates the organization and digital curation of dance archives in Germany, the UK and Australia. Additionally, Erica continues her artistic practice and enjoys exploring various methods of writing and undoing content such as: an un-published journal I am an Archive (ongoing project) funded by Hosking Houses Trust and Coventry University fund – Writer’s Residency for Women Writers (2018), an experimental installation Dance Data Distillery (2018) presented at Digital Echoes 2018 at the Centre for Dance Research Coventry University and a video art digital performance Room under my skin (May- November 2018) presented at the Venice Biennale 2018. Her current research and artistic practice explore the by-products of her PhD research through a variety of writing projects, installations, workshops, talks and dance research-related activities presented in various institutions in Europe, the UK and Australia.