Ephemeral materials in contemporary dance under state of emergency in Venezuela

Abstract

The following text explores the preservation of the material and immaterial memory of contemporary dance in Venezuela based on Mark Franco's notion of exception. Contemporary dance in Venezuela, at least that which remains autonomous with respect to the cultural policies of the State, faces the problem of a politicization that affects its modes of production, consumption, and preservation. This dynamic, according to the results of our research, does not seem to be sustainable over time. Emphasizing bodily practices as sites of resistance and creation, their relationship with new practices and technologies, and their place in the dynamics of contemporary cultural consumption, I propose to approach this issue from the theories developed by Mark Franco regarding dance and its relationship with totalitarian regimes, as well as through the research on archive and repertoire proposed by Diana Taylor and André Lepecki (among other researchers) incorporating interviews and expert testimonies, as well as documentary research, to expose the challenges, practices and potentialities in relation to ephemeral materials, focusing on the vulnerability of the transmission of their memory.