Heat and Alterity in Contemporary Dance – South-South Choreographies

nora chipaumire: Rewriting as Decolonizing Heat 

pp 185–210

Abstract: This chapter analyzes the many forms of nora chipaumire’s choreographic strategy of rewriting and layering a hierarchical narrative with alterities, revealing the perspectives of History’s “others.” It refers to her manipulation of choreographic vocabulary as she creates cross-referentialities between works deemed “historic” and “masterpieces” and her rewritings of these pieces and her refusal to monumentalize her own works as consolidated choreographies. It also looks at her commitment to sites of colonial wounding, causing friction as she reimagines these stories, and simultaneously decolonizes existing “master” narratives. This chapter argues that such heated engagements in fact generate empowerment and embodied liberation, foregrounding African feminist perspectives in contemporary dance.

 

Author: Ananya Chatterjea

Series Title New World Choreographies

Publication: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

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