Keynote Speakers

UCLA's Department of World Arts & Cultures (WAC) is proud to present "Dance Under Construction XI - Choreographing Politics/the Politics of Choreography" an annual conference showcasing cutting edge academic presentations and research in dance, performance and the body. It takes place Friday & Saturday May 1st and 2nd and includes workshops, a dance film screening, performances and a round-table discussion. Acclaimed choreographer Victoria Marks and renowned dance scholar Randy Martin are co-keynote speakers. Marks will also lead a 2-hr composition workshop & Martin a 2 hr seminar. A special dance film screening will take place at 5:30pm on May 1st, at the James Bridges Theatre, Melnitz Hall (UCLA).

Keynote Speakers:

Victoria Marks, Choreographer, Los Angeles, CA
Randy Martin, Chair, Art and Public Policy, New York University


Victoria Marks creates dances for the stage, for film and in community settings. Marks’ recent work has considered the politics of citizenship, as well as the representation of both virtuosity and disability. These themes are part of her ongoing commitment to locating dance-making within the sphere of political meaning. Marks is a Professor of choreography in the Department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA where she has been teaching since 1995. She is a 2005 Guggenheim Fellow and has received recent grants from the Irvine Foundation (Dance: Creation to Performance 2004 and DanceMaker 2002), the NEA (2005) and the Cultural Affairs Council (COLA 2001).

Randy Martin is professor of art and public policy and director of the graduate program in arts politics. He is the author of Performance as Political Act: The Embodied Self; Socialist Ensembles:Theater and State in Cuba and Nicaragua; Critical Moves: Dance Studies in Theory and Politics; On Your Marx: Relinking Socialism and the Left; Financialization of Daily Life; and Empire of Indifference: American War and the Financial Logic of Risk Management.