In this issue of Nordic Journal of Dance, the readers are invited to an in-depth exploration concerning research and self-reflective processes. The articles in this issue present important and different theoretical perspectives such as intercultural, micro- and macro definitions of the political situation today in the United States as well as in Sweden. The discussions also touch upon the aesthetic analyses of a dance piece as a performance act of archived bodies, as well as the political meaning of different costumes on performing bodies and of cultural appropriation. The political body in performance and as performance is our focus in this issue. We are therefore proud to present these important and updated articles for the readers and hope they offer a forum for new perspectives and personal reflexions.
The first research article by Josefine Löfblad is an analysis of Mette Ingvartsen’s 69 Positions, a dance work in which the audience participates in a guided tour through Ingvartsen’s own “archive”. Löfblad’s analysis of this performance states that the archive includes both actors and audience bodies. Löfblad states that the Body-archive can be stored in single bodies and even transmitted between different bodies by repeatedly reappearing in or during a performance. This discussion leads to the research paper Political by Design: Costume Design Strategies within the Finnish Contemporary Dance Productions AmazinGRace, Noir? and The Earth Song by Tua Helve. She is a researcher and costume designer who investigates how costumes in three contemporary dance performances in
Finland communicate political meaning. She states that costume design not only connects political meaning through its aesthetic choices, but also reveals the versatility embedded in this area of everyday garments as costume within contemporary dance performance.
The last research article is Karen Schupp’s Dancing the ‘American Dream’: Dance Competition Culture in Times of Shifting Values. Using the concept of dance competitions in a critical political perspective Schupp shows how and why local dance studios participate in these kinds of events. The article focuses on different dance genres, which compete in regional and national events for awards. Shupp’s text raises significant questions about the influence of the United States’ democratic ideals and the effects of supporting this competitive dance stage. The informal power- relations in the field of dance are also discussed in Corinne Lyche Campos’ review of the anthology Dansbaren — The Mob without Flash. It is of great interest when it sheds light on the political and democratic perspective that Dansbyrån as a cultural project represented. This issue also includes an essay of Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt. In A Body of Accents, she reflects on her own personal right to participate in and perform the Japanese dance called Nihon Boyō. In this text, she also reveals how her previous experiences in life became a filter for what she was capable of perceiving and embodying.
Finally, we hope that the readers will find these articles of value when it comes to our exiting field of dance as practice, education and research.
Elisabet Sjöstedt-Edelholm and Katarina Lion
Issue Editors