Singularities

How does the production of performance engage with the fundamental issues of our advanced neo-capitalist age? Andr Lepecki surveys a decade of experimental choreography to uncover the dual meaning of performance in the twenty-first century: not just an aesthetic category, but a mode of political power. He demonstrates the enduring ability of performance to critique and subvert this power, examining this relationship through five singularities in contemporary dance: thingness, animality, persistence, darkness, and solidity. Exploring the works of Mette Ingvartsen, Yvonne Rainer, Ralph Lemon, Jrme Bel and others, Lepecki uses his concept of singularitythe resistance of categorization and aesthetic identificationto examine the function of dance and performance in political and artistic debate.