Itching to write about competition?

Just in from the editors of itch, this provocative call-for-submissions of writing about dance and competition:

itch #12 -- Com(petition): The Big Throw Down

The stench of competition seems to be everywhere thanks to the infiltration of prime-time competition reality dramas. Many of us thought the art world was immune to the play of juvenile and canned rivalries, but five years deep into So You Think You Can Dance, followed by Bravo's Work of Art, even non-commercial ventures are employing contest tactics as a P.L.A.U.S.I.B.L.E(!) means of supporting emerging artists. In the aftermath, audiences become collectives whose supposed "voting power" turns them against work that doesn't offer instant gratification, and the veneer of the artwork itself gets shinier and shinier.

While we all know that the politics of art are never immune to popularity contests, what do the unapologetic turns to the "spectacle of the contest" do to the aesthetic discourses and conversations that we value, struggle for, establish and teach?

And what about you? Do you play the game? Does it play you? What are you competing against? (something real, imagined, personal, artistic, conceptual, political, psychological, tactical, choreographic...your last piece???) When does competition inspire you to dig deeper and question your methods, motivations, and desires; and when does it just blow up in your face? What or who motivates you to throw down and where does it go from there?

Competition functions to pit peers against one another, but does it have to? What happens if we instead petition the competition, question its mechanics and tactics, thwart the rules of the game, and refuse its authority?

For this issue of itch, (Com)petition: The Big Throw Down, we're interested in the many ways in which you wrestle with the notion of competition, turning it into a clause of action, a site of inquiry or an avenue for confronting fears of failure. Yes, we're talking about fighting the system, but we're also talking about recognizing and usurping the format of winning and losing altogether.

What's really worth fighting for anyway?

Submission deadline: November 30

Send submissions, questions and provocations as attached, uncompressed word files or pdfs to submit@itchjournal.org

itch is an evolving art project in the form of a journal that aspires to serve the community of dancers and other artists of the Los Angeles area and beyond. Practice participation in the developing LA dance culture: insert your thoughts, your body, your voice. help itch grow should you be enhanced by it...
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