Call for papers—The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet

Edited Volume: The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet
Editors: Dr Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel (Faculty of Education, RAD) and Dr Jill Nunes Jensen (Loyola Marymount University)

We are seeking contributions to an edited volume on contemporary ballet. The book will posit ‘Contemporary Ballet’ as a new domain within the broader frameworks presently recognised by discourses in dance.  

In May 2016 we welcomed more than one hundred attendees, including over fifty presenters and ten invited speakers to the Center for Ballet and the Arts and Barnard College in New York City. Professionals from many fields of dance spoke about ballet as it related to gender, race, the choreographic form as tradition and innovative, as well as national practices and politics from the global north and south. Attendees witnessed the range and breadth of scope that confirms a new chapter in ballet’s history is being written. The proposed volume looks to bring into dialogue those who understand the examination of contemporary ballet to be an emergent area of study.

The book will feature essays not only from scholars but also historians, choreographers, practitioners, music specialists, critics, and performance theorists. We seek to collect diverse perspectives and scholarship on ballet. Topics may include the following: contemporary narratives, legacies and exchanges, pedagogy and training, emerging and current choreographers, global connections and border-crossing repertoire, theater and new re-imaginings of iconic works; exchanges between global north and global south, amongst others. We also welcome co-authored works, particularly those in partnership with ballet choreographers, practitioners and pedagogues and other creative interpretations of the theme.

Please send the editors (emails above) a specific abstract of no more than 300 words, alongside a short biography, to the editors by 1 November 2017. Selected authors will be notified by December 2017. Completed essays of 6,000–8000 words will be due 30 March 2018, subject to contract.