What’s the relationship between dance and visual art? Is there a difference between dance and theatre? Can dance be exhibited in museum and galleries, or does it have to be live? Is live performance intangible, or can it be documented and archived? 

There’s a significant trend in dance of cross-disciplinary performances, particularly in contemporary dance, but in ballet too. This month we’re focussing on dance across the arts, and particularly how dance relates to other media. We will be looking at all forms of cross-disciplinary contemporary performance.

We’ve seen more and more crossover between dance and theatre in recent years; the line between these two art forms is getting increasingly more blurred. Numerous companies are now labeling themselves as "Dance Theatre", as there seems to be no single branding that suits them entirely. If dance merges with theatre, where do mime and circus fit in? In fact, is there any benefit to categorising a performer or performance as one particular art form? 

Katja Vaghi’s article about Dance in museums raises some interesting ideas about performance and installation art, and highlights some of the issues surrounding Dance in Museums.

Film has been a useful archiving tool across the arts since it was first made available – we are still finding new footage of performances that occurred decades ago – but video is becoming a tool to enhance live performance, and make performance more accessible too. Stephanie Sirabian's article about Dance on Film looks at some recent examples of how film can both preserve and develop dance practice.

Aren’t we forgetting that there’s a pretty special relationship going on between dance and music? Terez Rose asks: Can dance exist without music?

Rosamaria Kostic Cisneros questions whether there is any benefit to categorising dance: does setting a dance form apart from others prevent cross-pollination and fusion works? Does anyone and everyone have a right to perform a culturally-informed dance art, and who has the right to adapt these forms? Can We Categorise Dance?

Plus, keep your eyes peeled for more.

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