CFP_Energizing the Past through Performance (CATR 2016)

[Marlis Schweitzer]

*CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR THEATRE RESEARCH 2016*

*Calgary, Alberta*

*May 28-31, 2016*

**

*CFP: Energizing the Past through Performance Workshop*

Conveners: Roberta Barker (Dalhousie University), Marlis Schweitzer 
(York University)

**

In /Performing Remains: Art and War in Times of Theatrical Reenactment, 
/Rebecca Schneider challenges traditional notions of linear time. 
Drawing examples from the experiences of Civil War re-enactors, she 
calls attention to moments when “times touch” and distinctions between 
past, present, and future collapse or fold over one another. Schneider 
is but one of a number of scholars pushing theatre and performance 
historians to rethink their relationship to the past and to develop new 
methods for analyzing historical documents and other “matter.” In the 
Canadian context, scholars such as Jill Carter, Heather Davis-Fisch, and 
Ric Knowles have foregrounded Indigenous understandings of time and 
place in their efforts to decolonize linear historical narratives, many 
of which continue to inform the “imagined communities” that we associate 
with “Canada.” Alongside these studies, a surge of scholarly interest in 
historical reenactment at museums, heritage sites, and related 
institutions has led scholars to think critically about the various ways 
that performance has been enfolded into public history projects in order 
to serve larger (sometimes laudable, sometimes questionable) political 
agendas.//

Building on these and other studies, this 90 minute workshop asks: how 
can performance energize the past and offer new insights into historical 
events, practices, gestures, and related lived experiences? What can 
performance disclose about the past that other research methods cannot, 
and how can historians use performance in tandem with other methods to 
enrich their understanding of their research subjects? What risks are 
inherent in performance-based historical inquiry and how can historians 
address these when undertaking their research?

_Workshop structure:_

In advance of the workshop, participants will be asked to read a 
selection of articles/ book chapters assigned by the conveners. This 
will ensure that everyone has some shared vocabulary for undertaking the 
work. Workshop participants will then be asked to bring one historical 
document/ source they’re using in their research, which they would like 
to explore in/through performance (e.g. photograph, illustration, sheet 
music, script, letter, newspaper clipping, audio or video recording, 
etc.). In the first 30 minutes of the workshop, participants will 
briefly discuss the readings in order to identify various techniques for 
animating the past through performance. Participants will then have 30 
minutes to work with volunteer performers to animate the document/source 
in some way (e.g. creating a tableau, playing a short scene). In the 
remaining 30 minutes, participants will discuss their work and identify 
any major discoveries/ challenges.

_How to apply:_**

We have limited space for this workshop so to secure a spot, please 
submit a short (100-150 word) statement of interest identifying why 
you’d like to attend the workshop (e.g. how does it relate to your 
research? what are you hoping to discover?) and outlining in 1-2 
sentences the kind of material you’d like to bring with you for 
exploration through performance. Send these statements to *Marlis 
Schweitzer* (schweit at yorku.ca <mailto:schweit at yorku.ca>) and *Roberta 
Barker* (barkerr at Dal.Ca <mailto:barkerr at Dal.Ca>) by *January 15, 2016.*

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