DANSOX presents Interrogating the Dance ‘Classics’; events for Hilary Term 2022

DANSOX (Dance Scholarship Oxford) enters 2022 with a fascinating thematic programme of events over the Hilary (Spring) term. Interrogating the Dance ‘Classics’ began with a sparkling occasion on 25th January bringing together Dame Monica Mason (former principal dancer and Artistic Director of the Royal Ballet) with Jane Pritchard, Dance Archivist at the Victoria and Albert Museum. They talked about The Sleeping Princess and The Sleeping Beauty in the centenary year of the first performances of Diaghilev’s legendary production of The Sleeping Princess in London, bringing the history of this seminal Petipa work and its influence on ballet in Britain up to the present day. Forthcoming events include:

Monday 7th February 1.00-2.30 GMT online

Marcus Bell (St Hilda’s, Oxford) and Marie-Louise Crawley (Coventry) – Listening to Grace: Embodying Hidden Pasts, Imagining Just Futures. This joint presentation and discussion forms part of the ongoing DANSOX/TORCH series Dance as Grace: Paradoxes and Possibilities

Wednesday 2nd March 5.30-7.00pm GMT in person at the Jacqueline du Pre Music Building, St Hilda’s College, Cowley Place, Oxford OX4 1DY

Alastair Macaulay, international writer and critic – Swan Lake

Attend in person or watch the live stream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uoVO76hjZc

Tuesday 19th April 5.30-7.00pm BST in person at the Jacqueline du Pre Music Building

Arabella Stanger (Sussex) – Dancing on Violent Ground: Utopia as Dispossession in Euro-American Theater Dance

For online joining links and enquiries please contact susan.jones@ell.ox.ac.uk and marcus.bell@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk.

Unless otherwise stated all DANSOX events are free and open to all; if held in person the event will be followed by refreshments.

All future in-person events may be moved online subject to COVID19 precautions.

Find out about DANSOX here and watch videos of past events here

 

Life and Death: Kenneth MacMillan, Making Dance Beyond the Boundaries conference 16th March 2019 – Susanna Reece reports

‘I’m always accused of dealing only with sex and violence but what I really deal with is life and death.’  Thus quoted Monica Mason, opening the St Hilda’s College/DANSOX Conference Kenneth MacMillan: Making Dance Beyond the Boundaries held on Saturday 16th March 2019.

Dame Monica, former Principal Dancer and Director of the Royal Ballet Company, was just one of many sharing their memories of MacMillan and his creative approach at this smörgåsbord of delights blending academic research, choreography and performance. On a wet and windy day, in political and climatic times that can sometimes feel reminiscent of the dark events triggered at Mayerling, we were treated to talks by MacMillan’s widow Deborah on how MacMillan worked with designers, Guest Lecturer Natalie Wheen on his innovative use of music, choreologists on how Benesh notation helps to preserve his choreography, and academic specialists on his historical imagination. The conference concluded with excerpts from a reconstruction of Playground by Yorke Dance.

 

DANSOX Conference on Kenneth MacMillan: Making Dance Beyond the Boundaries at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, 16 March 2019 – Maggie Watson reports

The DANSOX Conference Kenneth MacMillan: Making Dance Beyond the Boundaries was an opportunity to reflect on and discover more about one of the twentieth century’s greatest choreographers. It was attended by distinguished practitioners and scholars in dance, and generously open to the wider University and general public.

Dame Monica Mason and Deborah, Lady MacMillan gave insights into what it was like to work with Kenneth MacMillan, his interest in contemporaneous events in society and the arts, his willingness to engage with designers new to the theatre, and his relationship with and support from Ninette de Valois.

 

Kenneth MacMillan: Making Dance Beyond the Boundaries – DANSOX conference, Jacqueline du Pré Building, St Hilda’s College 16th March 2019

Dance Scholarship Oxford (DANSOX) presents a one-day conference on the life and work of the great twentieth-century choreographer Sir Kenneth MacMillan (1929-1992). MacMillan stands among the great innovators of his time in theatre, film, art, music, and dance. This not-to-be-missed conference will discuss his work, the challenges of preserving the record, and explore little known early work, his literary and musical choices, design, and choreographic method. Guest speakers include: the artist and widow of Sir Kenneth, Lady MacMillan; the former Principal and Director of the Royal Ballet, Dame Monica Mason; the music expert, Natalie Wheen; and choreologist, Anna Trevien. Dancers, artists, and filmmakers who worked with Kenneth will join the conversation. A performance/lecture of the reconstruction of Playground with Yorke Dance will conclude the conference.

Date:  Saturday 16th March 10.00am-6.00pm

Venue:  Jacqueline du Pré Building, St Hilda’s College, Cowley Place, Oxford OX4 1DY

Tickets: Free and open to all, please book tickets here at Eventbrite

 

 

DANSOX Film Night: New Wave Ballet with talks by Lynne Wake and Dame Monica Mason 19th February 2018 – Maggie Watson reports

There was much to celebrate tonight at St Hilda’s, when five years of fascinating DANSOX events programmed by Professor Susan Jones coincided with the 125^th anniversary of the college that so generously hosts these events. It was a wonderfully inclusive evening that centred round a screening of Lynne Wake’s New Wave Ballet, a documentary film about the early ballets of Kenneth MacMillan, before a packed audience that included members of the college and wider University, participants in the local dance community, practitioners and dance scholars from further afield, Dame Monica Mason, and Deborah, Lady MacMillan.

Wake’s introductory talk vividly described how eager she had been to see Edmée Wood’s films of Royal Ballet productions, her initial disappointment at the poor quality examples that she found, her excitement at discovering the original recordings, and the work involved in their restoration for the Royal Opera House. Her documentary is an outstanding example of the use of archival footage to bring back to life the essence of dances that might otherwise be lost, by showing film alongside interviews with the actual dancers, who know the works from the inside.

Next, Dame Monica spoke about her experiences working with MacMillan, as a dancer and as his répétiteur, noting the wide range of his artistic interests, his willingness to take risks and work with new collaborators, and his ability to reprove but then move on. Almost five years to the day since she spoke at the first DANSOX event celebrating the centenary of The Rite of Spring, she described what it was like to be the Chosen Maiden, dancing between the criss-crossing legs of the corps de ballet as they lay face down on the stage, or being passed from hand-to hand high overhead (an image reminiscent to me of Greek vase paintings of the sacrifice of Iphigenia). I remember seeing her in the role in 1982, and still carry pictures of her performance in my head.

At the reception following the brief question and answer session, St Hilda’s Vice Principal Dr Georgina Paul thanked DANSOX patron Sheila Forbes (the former Principal of St Hilda’s) and proposed a toast to DANSOX’ other patron, Dame Monica, to mark the fact that she is now an Honorary Fellow of the College.

Maggie Watson

19 February 2018

 

DANSOX Film Night: New Wave Ballet – Jacqueline du Pré Building, St Hilda’s College 19th February 2018

Dance Scholarship Oxford‘s first event of 2018 is a real treat; a film night featuring a screening of New Wave Ballet, Lynne Wake‘s documentary film about the early work of twentieth-century choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, newly reversioned for last autumn’s anniversary festival Kenneth MacMillan: A National Celebration.  The film includes historic and lovingly restored footage of some of the ballets as well as interviews with original interpreters.  The showing will be followed by a talk by Lynne Wake on the making of the film, and Dame Monica Mason will also talk about the experience of working with Kenneth MacMillan.  Not to be missed!

Date:  Monday 19th February 5.30pm

Venue:  Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, St Hilda’s College, Cowley Place, Oxford, OX4 1DY

Free and open to all followed by drinks reception, but booking advised

Book here:  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dansox-presents-film-night- new-wave-ballet-tickets-41209915968

Further information about DANSOX and its programme of events can be found here

 

Dancing Lives, Wolfson College Oxford, 8th July 2017 – Maggie Watson reports

The Dancing Lives conference at Wolfson College offered an exceptional opportunity for archivists, academics and dance practitioners to discuss and discover new ways to research and write about dance and dancers’ lives.

The speakers for first panel, on Historical Dancing, demonstrated the vast range of material that dance historians draw upon to investigate the past. Mike Webb and Jennifer Thorp used Jeffrey Boys’s manuscript annotations in his almanac of 1667 to paint a picture of the social dancing scene in seventeenth century London; Michael Burden used caricatures vividly to recreate and interpret the scandalous adventures of Mademoiselle Mercandotti, and Julia Bührle showed how the technological invention of the lithograph helped to make Marie Taglioni a ‘superstar’. While the first four speakers showed how creatively scholars use documents, images and ephemera to advance our knowledge, the plenary session, in which Sue Jones expertly interviewed Jennifer Homans, began to explore what the dance itself can reveal.

 

Dancing Lives: Oxford Centre for Life Writing & DANSOX Colloquium, Wolfson College, 8th July 2017

How do people write about the lives of dancers and choreographers?  How does dance as a silent form represent life stories?  The Oxford Centre for Life-Writing and Dance Scholarship Oxford (DANSOX) are hosting a one-day colloquium Dancing Lives on Saturday 8th July exploring this.  The day will feature: Jennifer Homans, Founder and Director of The Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University, in conversation with Professor Sue Jones; Dame Monica Mason, former ballet dancer, teacher, and artistic director of the Royal Ballet, on travelling and dancing; contributions from Michael Burden, Mike Webb, Jennifer Thorp, Jane Pritchard, Judith Mackrell, Michael Huxley, Funmi Adewole, and Ramsay Burt; and a closing performance by Simone Damberg Würtz & Liam Francis from the Rambert Contemporary Dance Company.

Date:  Saturday 8th July, 9.00am-6.30pm

Venue:  Wolfson College, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UD

Tickets:  £20, or £10 for unwaged delegates. Booking here: http://bit.ly/OCLW-Dance

There are a small number of B&B rooms available at Wolfson College for 7th and 8th July. These can be booked here using the Promotional Code: DANCE2017

For more details please contact The Oxford Centre for Life-Writing here

Download the full colloquium programme here

 

DANSOX presents Dame Monica Mason in discussion: Is Ballet Relevant in the 21st Century? St Hilda’s College, 18th June 2014

In its next event DANSOX (Dance Scholarship Oxford) supported by Oxford University TORCH funding presents Dame Monica Mason, former principal dancer and Artistic Director of the Royal Ballet,in discussion on “Is Ballet Relevant in the 21st Century?“

Date: Wednesday 18th June 2014. Time: 5.30 pm

Venue: Lady Brodie Room, Hall Building, St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford.

The discussion will be followed by refreshments.

There is no charge to guests to attend. All are welcome. Bookings are essential, as places are limited.

Book here via Eventbrite, where you can also send in any questions about the discussion.

 

 

Launch of Dance Scholarship Oxford, DANSOX

Following the very successful event last year commemorating the centenary of The Rite of Spring, news of further exciting initiatives in dance scholarship centred at St Hilda’s College, Oxford.  The newly formed Dance Scholarship Oxford (DANSOX) is launched to provide a major forum for dance scholarship in Europe, promoting dialogue between prominent academic disciplines and the worlds of dance theory and practice. This programme of events funded by TORCH, The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities, gives access to these enquiries and disseminates ideas through workshops, functions, and the website presence.  DANSOX inaugurates an international exchange of interdisciplinary dance-related research with a major programme investigating a wide range of enquiries into all forms of dance. These events explore the ways in which the role of choreographic practice reveals its essential contribution to innovations across academic fields, theatre and performance.  The programme starts with an event exploring Twentieth Century Collaborations: Cunningham, Cage and Joyce on Thursday 20th February 2014 at the Jacqueline du Pré Building (see separate post).

 

The DANSOX team:

Dr Sue Jones, Fellow of St Hilda’s College and CUF Lecturer in English, formerly soloist with The Scottish Ballet

Dr Fiona Macintosh, University Lecturer in the Reception of Greek and Roman Literature, Supernumerary Fellow of St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford, and Director of the Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama

Dr Helen Slaney, Randall MacIver Junior Research Fellowship in Classics at St Hilda’s College

Dana Mills, Lecturer in political theory at Hertford College and DPhil candidate in political theory at Mansfield College.

The Patron of DANSOX is Dame Monica Mason. Dame Monica joined the Royal Ballet Company at the age of sixteen, became principal dancer, and later Director of the company until 2012. She oversaw the groundbreaking ‘Metamorphosis: Titian 2012’ at the Royal Opera House, a collaboration with the National Gallery that produced new work by choreographers, poets, designers, artists, and composers. Dame Monica continues to work closely as expert consultant with the Royal Ballet.

 

For full  information:  http://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/dansox

Affiliations:

 

The Royal Ballet www.roh.org.uk/about/the-royal-ballet

 

Siobhan Davies Dance www.siobhandavies.com

 

Archive of Performances of Greek and Roman Drama (APGRD) www.apgrd.ox.ac.uk

Other Links:

 

www.new.ox.ac.uk/annual-oxford-dance-symposium

 

https://oxforddancewriters.wordpress.com

 

http://www.dancinoxford.co.uk/

 

Forthcoming in 2014 and 2015:

 

Dame Monica Mason (Royal Ballet) discusses with open audience: Is Ballet Relevant in the Twenty-first Century?
June 2014 (date and time TBA) St Hilda’s College
 

---

Choreographers Talk series: Wayne McGregor, resident choreographer, Royal Ballet discusses and explores new work; also workshops featuring Shobana Jayasingh; Professor Nicky Clayton (Cambridge) on dance and cognitive behaviour; Kim Brandstrup; Will Tuckett (Royal Ballet).