Francophone Dance Studies in Quebec: Decolonial Shifts, Situated Practices, and Research Communities

This article traces the current transformations in francophone dance studies research in Quebec. Long shaped by French, European, and Anglo-American theoretical traditions, the discipline has undergone a major shift since the 2010s under the influence of social movements such as Black Lives Matter, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and #MeToo. These contexts have prompted researchers to question the colonial foundations, power relations, and absences in dance historiography. The article presents a portrait of three faculty research projects in progress at the Université du Québec à Montréal illustrating this change: Danser au Québec: une hantologie (Dancing in Quebec: A Hauntology), which proposes a counterhistorical approach; doctoral research on the decolonization of knowledge and dance teaching practices in schools; and the Movement Educator’s Forum, a space dedicated to exchange among diverse sub-communities of practice. Together, these approaches aim to build a research ecology based on listening, hospitality, plurality of knowledges, and the decentering of perspectives.