Third Symposium on Dance, Music, and Performing Arts of the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, and Islamic Southeast Asia (MENACASEA)     

Few areas of dance research and writing have been as underrepresented and misunderstood in scholarly literature as the dances of the Middle East, North Africa (MENA), Central Asia (CA), and Islamic Southeast Asia (SEA), whether with regards to historical or contemporary contexts of performance.

However, as witnessed through conferences of the Dance Studies Association (formerly Congress on Research and Dance and Society of Dance History Scholars), the number of presentations in this field has increased. Furthermore, there have been increasing numbers of emerging scholars over the past decade whose research has focused on various aspects of dance genres originating in these underrepresented regions. These combined, merit a full conference dedicated to new research in these regions and their diaspora communities.

This year’s symposium expands upon the previous two symposia gatherings to include Islamic Southeast Asia. This geographic expansion is an intentional one. Rather than diluting the scope of the ongoing MENACA project, this inclusion makes space for the numerous historical and contemporary connections maintained between Islamic Southeast Asia and the MENA regions, whether examined through shared instrumentation, melodic form, or embodied movement. This transregional approach allows for a careful consideration of migration and memory in the shaping of the performing arts in Islamic regions and diasporic communities, as they continue to be maintained and passed down by today’s practitioners.

As in previous years, this symposium contributes to important ongoing debates on decolonization and dance studies, especially from the perspectives of the largely misrepresented MENA, Central Asia, and Islamic SEA regions. Decolonization in dance studies remains at the forefront of dance research, as evidenced in the DSA Conference in Malta (2018), the 2020 issue of Decolonizing Dance Discourses, and at the DSA Conference in Vancouver (2022). As our symposium continues for its third iteration, we additionally seek to bring to the debate how future prospects for dance education should reconsider present academic canons.

We welcome you to participate in this exciting opportunity to meet dancers, choreographers, and scholars active in education, performance, and research in MENA, Central Asian, and Islamic Southeast Asian music and dance cultures. We welcome innovative approaches to performing arts research and practice in these regions, including spatial considerations of the environment, resistance practices, arts as dis/empowerment, among other perspectives.

Please complete the following Google Form by June 15, 2025. This year’s symposium will be held virtually on November 7-9, 2025. Notification of paper acceptance will be sent out by August 15, 2025.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3QrwiiNvJ7Vf1lfrgOB-RoyMSwhC2tBb_c3tZhbLKrUUCew/viewform?pli=1