Center for Performance Studies

UCLA TAPS Graduate Conference
Contact: Performing Proximity
Feb. 19-21, 2021

Join us to explore the theme of "Contact" with our keynote speakers,
graduate student panels, and featured perfomances.

From its Latin roots, contact describes encounters facilitated by and through touching (con-tactus). In an increasingly globalized and mediatized world, touch between audience and performer, the human and non-human, the material and the virtual, the past and the present, all evoke explorations of how contact is shaping and is shaped by performance, both within the everyday and the aesthetic realm. From the #MeToo movement to the rise in global protest following the murder of George Floyd, from the increased detention of immigrants to the COVID-19 pandemic and its myriad repercussions, contact reverberates with possibilities for connection, violence, reconciliation, and desire.

Register for Events Below

View the Full Conference Program (PDF)

Join the “Let's Be in Touch” Project

Explore contact by participating in the "Let's Be in Touch" project, a durational analog performance.
Sign up and receive a piece of mail crafted by artists Elizabeth Schiffler and Sarah Guilbault.
Learn more and sign up below. Sign Ups Close Feb. 6th.

Info and Sign Up

Conference Schedule

Friday, Feb. 19th
NOTE ON REGISTRATION: Registration is free and open to the public. Please register individually for each online event to receive the web links via email. Please note that all events are in Pacific Standard Time (PST). For any issues and technical sign-up problems please contact Crystal Santana at csantana@tft.ucla.edu
	10:00-11:45am PST Opening Remarks & Graduate Panel: Digital Touch: Technology, Performance, & (Dis)Embodiment Panelists: Suzahn Ebrahimian, Adin Walker, Henry Neim Osman, Angela Pinholster Register for the Zoom Meeting Here
	12:00-1:30pm PST Working Sessions * “The Body as Interface: Co-presence, Intimacy, and Embodiment” led by Prof. Sarah Bay-Cheng (contact Devon Baur) “Art/History, Identities, and (Per)forming Place” led by GLAM Collective (contact Clara Wilch) “Race, Embodiment, and Historiography” led by Prof. Daphne Brooks (contact Danielle Howard) “Performance as Practice and Research” led by Profs. Sylvan Oswald & Marike Splint (contact Guillermo Aviles Rodriguez) “Human Migration & Identification in Performance” led by Prof. Summer Lee Kim (contact Yun-Pu Yang) “Unsettling Matter(s)” led by Prof. Anurima Banerji (contact Sarah Lewis) *to observe a working session, please contact the Session Facilitator listed
	1:45-2:45pm PST Interactive Workshop: Access-Centered Dance Improvisation for Lovers Alone: Special Edition - Un/Stable Connections and Close Contact of the Virtual Kind hosted by Neve Register for the Zoom Meeting Here
	3:00-4:30pm PST Keynote Address: G.L.A.M Collective (Dr. Heather Igloliorte, Dr. Julie Nagam, Dr. Carla Taunton) Register for the Keynote Here (3:00 - 4:00) Register for the Q&A Here (4:00 - 4:30)
Saturday, Feb. 20th
NOTE ON REGISTRATION: Registration is free and open to the public. Please register individually for each online event to receive the web links via email. Please note that all events are in Pacific Standard Time (PST). For any issues and technical sign-up problems please contact Crystal Santana at csantana@tft.ucla.edu
	10:00-11:30am PST Keynote Address: Prof. Sarah Bay-Cheng York University Register for the Keynote Here (10:00 - 11:00) Register for the Q&A Here (11:00 - 11:30)
	11:45am-1:15pm PST Graduate Panel: Performing Citizenship, Protest, and Penalty Panelists: Madison House-Tuck, Marisa Plascencia, Zach Loeffler, Zachary Easterling Register for the Zoom Meeting Here
	1:45-3:15pm PST Graduate Panel: Transnational Contact: Shaping Contested Categories and Relationality through Performance Panelists: GJ Sevillano, Mona Merhi, Patricia Gomes, Christina Novakov-Ritchey Register for the Zoom Meeting Here
	3:30-5:00pm PST Working Sessions * “Framing Touch: Queer Proximities & Performance” led by Prof. Joshua Guzmán (contact Elizabeth Schiffler) *to observe a working session, please contact the Session Facilitator listed
	6:00-6:30pm PST Featured Performance: "The Party to End All Parties" by ANU Productions You can join the performance at this link, which must be joined via a computer: https://ohyay.co/s/cpsgrad
Sunday, Feb. 21st
NOTE ON REGISTRATION: Registration is free and open to the public. Please register individually for each online event to receive the web links via email. Please note that all events are in Pacific Standard Time (PST). For any issues and technical sign-up problems please contact Crystal Santana at csantana@tft.ucla.edu
	10:00-11:30am PST Keynote Address: Prof. Daphne A. Brooks Yale University Register for the Keynote Here (10:00 - 11:00) Register for the Q&A Here (11:00 - 11:30)
	11:45am-12:45pm PST Artist Talkback: "The Party to End All Parties" with Louise Lowe (Director) and Lynnette Moran (Producer) Register for the Zoom Meeting Here
	12:45-1:30pm PST The "Let's Be in Touch" Project & Closing Remarks Register for the Zoom Meeting Here