UNDER | STAND: An Action Dialogue on Race 

4th Feb 2019 10:30am-5:30pm 

Book in here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-work-day-for-under-stand-an-action-dialogue-on-race-tickets-54406782150

The project UNDER | STAND is an action dialogue on race. Participants in the UNDER | STAND study day will learn and practice tools of social engagement through interaction with this dialogue model and will actively contribute to the adaption of UNDER | STAND for the British context. The study day will be co-led by project initiator, artist and conflict mediator Dana Caspersen, and UK-based cross-disciplinary performing artist Akeim Toussaint Buck, who is a key facilitator at Healing Justice London.

The dialogue model for UNDER | STAND emerges at the intersection of choreographic practice and conflict resolution, where “physical interviews” enable a new way to connect, reflect and exchange around the topic of race. Using simple physical actions, such as walking, tapping, and gesturing, participants create a compelling motion map of their lived experience as individuals and community members. Moving through stations of conversation–physical and spoken– they respond to questions from their own point of view and the viewpoint offered by others. Engaging with voice and action, participants see, hear and offer multiple perspectives simultaneously, allowing the complexities of social experience to find an appropriately rich strength of expression.

This study day will be organised as (a) a morning workshop which will develop and practice the UNDER | STAND model through hands-on exploration, and (b) an afternoon work session, focused on how best to adapt the model’s mechanisms and language to be impactful for the local, London conditions.

This work day is open to TECHNĒ PhD students from any discipline and may be of particular interest to those focusing on art and social action, community activism, movement and relational structures. Space is limited to 20 participants.

The event will be held at Michaelis Studio (1st Floor), Dance Department University of Roehampton.