ID has curated and hosted an HE Roundtable event annually since 2013. These roundtables are intended for artists working in higher education institutions and offer a space in which to discuss pressing issues in HE contexts.
Below you can find notes from each roundtable since 2013. Examples of topics include ‘how to have agency in institutions’, ‘how to teach choreography’, ‘dealing with conflict in academia’. The most recent roundtable, held online in 2020, was titled Recognising Institutional Racism in Our Classroom, and focused on recognising ways in which we might unknowingly be performing systemic racism in our classrooms, language and sense of history. In preparation, we commissioned Dr Adesola Akinleye to write an essay as a starting point and provocation for discussion.
The last roundtable was in September 2022. Titled Speculative Futures; the dance HE we dream of, this discussion invited us to imagine how dance in HE could be – a kind of ‘what if’ version where everything is possible. Guest speakers included Kimberley Harvey, Gillie Kleiman and Jason Keenan-Smith. Notes from this session are available below.
We will now be hosting an HE Roundtable biennially, with the next one due to take place September 2024. If you would like to propose a topic for it, please get in touch!
I just wanted to say how valuable it is to be able to come together as dance artists / educators / researchers (whatever we prefer, it matters little) and speak so honestly and hopefully and progressively. And being in collegiate, co-operative and collective thought and discussion is so welcome and so needed for all of us today. I come away lighter in my heart and more resilient in my thoughts.
Katye Coe, participant
