Highlights from the 2018 DSA Conference at the University of Malta "Contra: Dance & Conflict"

Dance Studies Association's 2018 conference was held at the University of Malta in Valletta on July 5-8. After a warm welcome by Ann Flynn (DSA President), Vicki Ann Cremona (University of Malta, Head of Dance Studies), and Brandon Shaw (University of Malta, conference chair), Ann Cooper Albright (Oberlin), Melissa Blanco Borelli (Royal Holloway), and Prarthana Purkayastha (Royal Holloway) opened the conference with a performative provocation addressing issues of resistance and resilience. The delegates were then escorted to the beautiful terrace for food, drinks, and dancing. Friday began with excellent keynotes by Bojana Cveijić (P.A.R.T.S. and Oslo National Academy of the Arts), whose speech was titled "Aesthetic Obfuscations of Conflict in White Western Dance," and Nicholas Rowe (University of Auckland), who spoke regarding "Dance Academia in the 21st Century: Trump's Missionaries, Mercenaries and Minions?"

In all there were over 100 panels and workshops, and nearly 350 delegates from over thirty countries! In addition, delegates were treated to three evenings of diverse performances by Maltese and Malta-based choreographers, including performances by ZfinMalta, the national dance company. Our Awards Dinner honored Jo Butterworth, who founded the Department of Dance Studies at the University of Malta in 2010, with the DSA Distinction in Dance Award alongside deserving graduate students, Natalia Duong, Jessica Friedman, Sammy Roth, Miriam Althammer, Elan Marchinko, and Filip Petkovski. The party--with lots of dancing--continued on the terrace of Le Meridien Hotel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The conference closed with an impassioned convocation, "Agonistic Acts: Anti-Racist and Decolonial Interventions for Dance Studies" with Anurima Banerji (UCLA), Marí­a Regina Firmino-Castillo (UCR), Jasmine Johnson (Brown University), Anusha Kedhar (UCR), Royona Mitra (Brunel), and Janet O'Shea (UCLA).