Performance, Dance and Political Economy: Bodies at the End of the World

This book examines the relation between bodies and political economies at micro and macro levels. It stands in the space between ends and beginnings - some long-desired, such as the end of capitalism and racism, and others long-dreaded, such as the climate catastrophe - and reimagines what the world can be like instead. It offers an original investigation into the relation between performance, dance, and political economy, looking at the points where politics, economics, ethics, and culture intersect.

Arising from live conversations and exchanges among the contributors, this book is written in an interdisciplinary and dialogical manner by leading scholars and artists in the fields of Performance Studies, Dance, Political Theory, Economics, and Social Theory: Marc Arthur, Melissa Blanco Borelli, Anita Gonzalez, Alexandrina Hemsley, Jamila Johnson-Small, Elena Loizidou, Tavia Nyong’o, Katerina Paramana, Nina Power, and Usva Seregina. Their critical and creative examinations of the relation between bodies and political economy offer insights for both imagining and materializing a world beyond the present.

Katerina Paramana (PhD) is an artist-scholar and Lecturer in Theatre and Performance at Brunel University London, UK. Her research has been published with Performance Research, GPS: Global Performance Studies, Contemporary Theatre Review, activate and Dance Research journals. Her performance work has been presented in the US, UK and Europe.

Anita Gonzalez (PhD) is Professor of Theatre, Chair of Dance and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs at the University of Michigan, US. Gonzalez is co-editor of the book Black Performance Theory with Thomas DeFrantz and author of Afro-Mexico: Dancing Between Myth and Reality and Jarocho’s Soul, as well as of numerous articles and book chapters.