Workshop on Tracing, Telling, Retelling, and Making Dance Histories
CoFestival, the international festival of contemporary dance, and the Temporary Slovenian Dance Archives (Nomad Dance Academy Slovenia, Ljubljana), in collaboration with the project Para uma Timeline a Haver (For a Timeline to Be, Associação Parasita, Portugal), are organizing a series of working sessions for dance archivists, historians, researchers, curators, and practitioners.
The gathering will take place at Kino Šiška – Centre for Urban Culture in Ljubljana from 26 to 29 November 2026 every day between 11am and 5pm. It aims to create a space for participants to share knowledge, discuss challenges, compare methodologies related to digital and material archiving, and present selected research projects connected to dance history and historiography.
Alive Dance Archives is conceived as an open studio: a space for the conversations, exchanges, and reflections that often begin after the formal programme of conferences has ended. It seeks to provide time for in-depth discussions, the sharing of experiences and critical information, comparative perspectives on dance histories, and collective reflection on the challenges of archiving and historicizing dance.
Working FormatPublic Presentations and Internal Work
The programme will combine partially public sessions with internal working and research situations. The first two days will be curated in advance in dialogue with selected participants.
Daily Collective Curating
Rather than following a fixed structure, the workshop proposes a flexible collective rhythm. Each day may begin with a curatorial session dedicated to identifying urgent questions, emerging topics, and shaping the programme together.
Group Work
Participants may work in smaller thematic groups while maintaining collective moments for sharing, discussion, and reflection on ongoing processes.
Documentation
The workshop will include dedicated documentation practices through written notes, audio recordings, and audiovisual documentation. Invited collaborators may contribute to documenting discussions, processes, and outcomes.
Invited Experts
Specialists may be invited to contribute to specific topics such as digitization, preservation infrastructures, archival methodologies, and related areas of expertise.
Focus
At its core, the workshop aims to create the conditions for colleagues to exchange practices, ideas, methodologies, challenges, and unresolved questions while collectively reflecting on how dance histories are produced, preserved, narrated, and activated today.
Participation
To apply, please send an email to:rok.vevar@gmail.comanabigottevieira@gmail.comwith the subject: “Alive Dance Archives – proposal”. We invite you to submit a proposal outlining:- what you would like to contribute,- why you would like to participate,- and how you envision your participation. Please note that staged works requiring complex technical setups cannot be accommodated.
In addition, please include:– a short biography,- a brief description of your project or research,- and links to relevant projects or activities. Supporting materials should not exceed 2 pages in total.
Practical Information
Number of participants: up to 20Venue: Kino Šiška – Centre for Urban Culture, LjubljanaDates: 26–29 November 2026Deadline: 20 July 2026 Selected participants will be notified by mid-September
Production
CoFestival (Nomad Dance Academy Slovenia, Kino Šiška – Center for Urban Culture)
Organization and Selection:
Rok Vevar (Nomad Dance Academy Slovenia) and Ana Bigotte Vieira (Para Uma Timeline a Haver, Portugalska) More info on Temporary Slovene Archives can be found here, and info on Para Uma Timeline a Haver project can be found here. Unfortunately, we are unable to cover accommodation, travel expenses, or participation fees. Daily free lunch is going to be organized. Participants are going to have free access to the Cofestival events. We supply the invitation and recommendation letters for applicants, in cases of fundraising for the travel and accommodation costs.
Financing
Funded by European Union: DanceMap: Innovation Pathways and Policies to Promote European Dance Heritage at Home and Abroad, Ministry of Culture of Republic of Slovenia and Municipality of Ljubljana, produced by Nomad Dance Academy Slovenia, Kino Šiška, Center for Urban Culture. Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA can be held responsible for them.
