Contemporary PerforMemory – Dancing through Spacetime, Historical Trauma, and Diaspora in the 21st Century

Layla Zami's concept of perforMemory applied to dance creates a fascinating intricate network among historical trauma, diaspora, resistance, and empowerment, moving from embodying the past to representing the present with a vision of the future--expressed so well in Oxana Chi's choreographic work. I love the book's poetic language, and I dove into its linguistic paintings, most new to me and challenging in an intriguing way.--Dr. Dagmar Schulz, Prof. emerita, Alice-Salomon University of Applied Sciences / John F. Kennedy Institute of North American Studies, Freie Universitat Berlin Zami is committed to a rigorous methodology in order to think through and theorize contemporary dance in diaspora. Her book is intercultural and cross-cultural and demonstrates an understanding of race and gender from the perspective of someone who can think globally. This, combined with a discerning critical eye for reading unique contemporary performance, has yielded a remarkable body of research.--Prof. Nadine George-Graves, Chair of Dance, Ohio State University Carefully thought out and clearly written and presented, Contemporary PerforMemory makes a significant contribution to several fields: memory studies, dance studies, postcolonial studies, diaspora studies, affect studies, as well as scholarly reflections on the archive, on embodiment, the emotions and movement, all from an informed, critical feminist perspective. Zami makes surprising connections that reveal important resonances between shared histories of remembrance.--Prof. Marianne Hirsch, Columbia University