About BPT.

The Black Performance Theory working group is a collective of scholars working on the theory, history, and practice of African Diasporic expressive cultures. The primary mission of BPT is to provide intellectual and community support to Assistant Professors as they move through the challenges of academic life. The experience of writing and performing theory links scholars and scholar/performers in unique modalities of conversation, debate, and collaboration. Bringing together diverse disciplinary perspectives provides an unbounded look at performative commonalities/divergences of the African Diaspora including, but not limited to, music, dance, feminist strategies, spirituality, oratory, performance art, architecture and public space theory, racial formation, theatre, historiography, spoken word, and queer cultures. We strive for vibrant critical discussions of methodologies, paradigms, and approaches to theorizing Black performance.

 

At each meeting, a small cadre of scholars and practitioners share work in experimental sessions that have included dance performances, play readings, poetry and solo performance work, film screenings, flash animation presentations, and the creation of group improvisations. A space for active witnessing allows audience members to engage productively with participants' contributions. The group functions as a site for intellectual creativity, for communal consideration of foundational concepts in performance theory, and as a much-needed opening into the space of performance discourse as it might be inflected Black.