Karen Vedel

Denmark °1955
affiliation: University of Copenhagen, Dept. of Arts and Cultural Studies

comments

Exposition: Practices of Performing at Senegalese Sabar Dance Events (15/02/2019) by Elina Seye
Karen Vedel 21/05/2019 at 12:26

The following peer review was presented to the author during the process and has influenced the final exposition. It is here presented in a slightly edited form.

 

Karen Vedel:

 

Positioning itself strongly within a discourse where performance studies overlaps with ethnography, the exposition addresses questions relating to the cultural performatives of the improvised solo dancing in Sabar, a dance form/event that is at the same time social and performative. The research, in which the author’s own dance practice has been actualized as a means of soliciting knowledge, engages with both these dimensions.

 

The clarity with which it frames the improvised solo dancing of the Sabar event as ‘temporary space for a particular kind of performative social interaction’ as well as the subsequent analysis of three different kinds of performances, each of which ‘does’ something different (i.e. re-construct tradition; cultural performatives of self to others; the possibility of constructing alternative selves and realities).

 

In the section named Dancing for Knowledge, the author argues that her engagement as a dancer in the Sabar dance event has been important for gaining insight into the Sabar tradition and its cultural meanings. It is moreover suggested that the methods of participatory ethnographic research are close to artistic research – even if the outcome is the dissemination of knowledge through verbal forms and other media (e.g. video) rather than a work of art. I find that the latter part of the argument needs to be unpacked more for it to become fully convincing. I should like to know more about the author/dancer’s own experience of ‘making herself known to others’ through the dancing and its impact on both the performative and the analytical dimension of the research?

 

NB. The artistic research aspect is found lacking from the abstract.

 

The performance studies dimension of the research is theoretically framed with relevant references to among others Butler, Schechner, Neveu Kringelbach and Heath. The analysis is complemented with three video clips that help the understanding. The research methods seem adequate, although as indicated above, the analytical dimension of the practical involvement warrant further theorisation in order to strengthen the claim of affinity between participatory ethnographic research and artistic research.

 

The exposition design features six ‘panels’ of text and three video clips, all of which are referenced in one way or another in the exposition. The sequence of the subsections of the text is not entirely clear in the sense that the section entitled Dancing for Knowledge, in which the relevance of the research methods as artistic research is motivated, is placed at the side of the videos and above the bibliography, which suggested that I should read it last. However, I would like for this discussion to be presented earlier and given more weight.

 

The exposition is well written. Aside from a grammatical slip in the third sentence of the section entitled Sabar dancing, I did not stumble on grammar or language.

 

I conclude that the submission is publishable with some changes. First and foremost a more thoroughly argued case for the affinity between participatory ethnographic research and artistic research needs to be made. My suggestions in this respect would be to engage in theoretical/critical terms with methodological questions of the two fields. Moreover, it would be interesting to know in more detail about the participation of the author/dance practitioner in the Sabar and how it impacted on the performative dimension as well as the analysis of the event. On a similar note, I suggest that the methodological discussion and the argument stating the research relevance as ‘artistic research’ is given higher priority in terms of the layout/sequencing of the ‘text panels’.

 

NB. The claim of relevance as artistic research should also be highlighted in the abstract.