From Employment to Projects: Work and Life in Contemporary Dance World

Abstract

This essay discusses the question of labor in contemporary dance using the frame of broad changes in contemporary economy that generate some intensive debates on immaterial labor, new modes of production, precarity, and austerity across different disciplines. Dancers around the world are affected by these changes, and this essay reflects on current dance labor practices by addressing terms such as projects, mobility, and time in the organization of work. I hope both to broaden a discussion on dance labor and to map out anxieties, fatigue, and fear that characterize the Zeitgeist of contemporary artistic labor.

Keywords:

• Contemporary dance
• Modes of production
• Immaterial labor
• Precarity
• Mobility

I am grateful to the anonymous reviewers whose critical and encouraging comments helped me develop this essay to its final shape. I am also grateful to the University of Chester for giving me time and support to develop my research interests. Finally, I am forever grateful to the dancers who were a vital part of this research, especially to Cosmin Manolescu, Ziya Azazi, and Igor Koruga.

I am grateful to the anonymous reviewers whose critical and encouraging comments helped me develop this essay to its final shape. I am also grateful to the University of Chester for giving me time and support to develop my research interests. Finally, I am forever grateful to the dancers who were a vital part of this research, especially to Cosmin Manolescu, Ziya Azazi, and Igor Koruga.

Notes

[1] The term “postmodern” is not without its difficulties. In this article, by “postmodernity” I mean “contemporary modernity” as outlined in Hardt and Negri's Empire.

[2] Unlike Lepecki and Pouillaude, D'Amelio localizes the “new turn in contemporary dance” to a particular French avant-garde scene. Notwithstanding the differences in understanding, the dance phenomena they each describe is the same.

[3] The citizens of the non-European Union bordering states, including the citizens of Romania and Bulgaria, which are European Union states, need secure, permanent jobs in order to obtain valid work visas, which is difficult for artists whose work is usually short-term and contract-based. Alternatively, dancers may acquire yearly stipends for short-term projects (for instance, Tanzstipendium by Berliner Kulturverwaltung) or they can enroll in education, thus acquiring student statuses and visas. All of these options are, at best, temporary.