International conference
Since 2021, the CN D conferences have been exploring dance: as a practice, a culture and a way of thinking, as a living, dynamic arena for the creation of meaning and knowledge.
By fostering a dialogue between practical and academic knowledge, drawing on a wide range of experiences that allow for approaches ranging from the micro to the macro whilst taking into account the diversity of cultural spheres, these biennial academic conferences, open to all, provide a forum for discussing fundamental themes that encourage the study, promotion and sharing of dance histories and cultures in all their aesthetic, practical and representational diversity.
Conceived in collaboration with a scientific committee comprising researchers, historians, anthropologists and artists, these events embody, through their very design (combining academic research, practical workshops, screenings of archive films, performances and exhibitions), the idea that knowledge of dance is constructed through the interplay of perspectives and viewpoints, inviting participants to contribute in a variety of ways, including through performance.
The first conference (2021) explored the power of action inherent in certain gestures recognised as rituals. The second (2023) analysed forms of competition, from antiquity to contemporary battles, as structural experiences of practice at the crossroads of sport, play and confrontation; the third (2025) focused on the wisdom embedded in hip-hop dance, its construction and its specific modes of transmission.