Dancing with Decolonisation is an online, global dance conference, taking place Thursday 1st August 2024. Dancing with Decolonisation is a set of conversations between students, academics, choreographers, performers, and other dance practitioners, hoping to discuss how concepts of colonisation and decolonisation intersect and relate to dance and movement practices. We understand that labour engaging hegemonic power structures across borders may be engaged with this subject in a matter of different ways. Due to this, we take a broad view of decolonisation, allowing various interpretations addressing a broader multi-cultural understanding.

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The premiere iteration of DwD ran online from 23-25 July 2021, with attendees logging on from around the world to gather in the possibility of knowledge exchange and developing a greater sense of community. The conference was not meant to simply 'decolonise' dance in one weekend, but instead explore the questions, "what does it mean to 'decolonise' dance, if it is even possible, and who does this work?" Across the weekend we engaged with an enthusiastic, knowledgable, and diverse range of speakers and subject matter, navigating both theoretical learning and physical movement practices. Participants and speakers engaged with presentations focussing on:

• the very practical aspects of staging and teaching dance and movement practices in well-known dance companies and classroom/studio contexts

• questions of 'what counts as dance?' and 'what is classical or traditional dance performance?"

• examining our own bodies, practices, and identities, hoping to deconstruct our own embodied concepts of movement, both thought and physical

• how performance in specific spaces may cause engagements and disruptions

• how current technological frontiers impact and commodify movement and the body

• shared spaces, ideas, and practices, allowing ourselves to learn and grow both as individual dance and movement practitioners, and more importantly, as a community.

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​Continuing to build upon the momentum of the first gathering, DwD 2022 took place over six weeks between July - Aug, allowing for even greater levels of presentation and participation. We continued to build upon the foundations laid in our first year, connecting once again with our growing community of dance and movement practitioners in the shared pursuit of knowledge sharing, encouraging greater representation, and understanding how we all play a role in shaping de/colonial conversations and practices  in dance and dance education. For more information regarding previous conference proceedings, please head to the archives.

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Attendee interest registration and call for proposals is now open; please follow the link at the top of the page to register your interest and to receive regular updates.

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The organisers of this conference are all dance and movement practitioners, hailing from multiple countries and varying movement and educational contexts across the globe. We unite in our pursuit of knowledge and a greater understanding as to how dance and movement practices intersect with colonial and decolonial themes and how we can better support this work on local and international levels. Members of the DwD board and organising committee work on a voluntary basis; any funding we seek aims to facilitate the technology required to host our speakers/performers and directly compensate our speakers/performers for their time and generosity.

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