New Mobilities on the Turn? 

Friday, 8 September at The Place, London (United Kingdom)
The Place & The Society for Dance Research 

A quarter of a century after the ‘mobile turn’ in anthropology, cultural studies, geography, migration studies and sociology, this symposium sets out to explore the limitations of/to mobility in the current historical moment. The phrase ‘...on the turn’ speaks both to mobility as a paradigm across the humanities being in a state of change, and to mobility and its promises turning sour, giving way to critiques and a leaning into mobility’s limitations. In London, for instance, this question manifests itself in response to the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns, the full implementation of Brexit, the increasing unease with the environmental impacts of travel and the changes in arts and education policies towards disability and social mobility issues. We propose to question how dance and performance studies might speak to the various mobilizations of movement as it encounters pandemics, wars, migration, and border controls. Hence, this event seeks to bring together voices from within and beyond the disciplinary boundaries of dance and performance, through conversations and interventions.