When I took up my position as artistic curator at the CCOV, I had the desire to initiate a project that valorized critical writing and thinking around dance. At that time, I felt there was a lack of specialized journalism about dance in Montreal—particularly in the major print publications (and especially from an anglophone perspective). Thus, the idea of a Writers in Residency Program was born. I invited several writers whose work I admire to install themselves at the CCOV, and I gave them carte blanche to write about whatever they felt important to address. This publication includes three articles that were created through this program.

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As I read the submissions, it was clear that ideas of diversity and inclusion were recurring preoccupations. Over the last few years, there has been an increased awareness about these issues in our field. As an artist who identifies as both queer and racialized, I have been directly implicated in, and affected by, these discussions, and their ramifications have influenced both my artistic and curatorial practices. I am excited that this publication captures some of the recent perspectives that have been circulating in the Quebecois and Canadian dance communities. Also included in the publication are four shorter articles which were previously published online by the Regroupement québécois de la danse as part of their Échos du Milieu series (some of which have been translated for the
very first time). I am happy to partner with the RQD and give further visibility to these relevant perspectives, as I believe that these reflections provide an interesting complement to the articles from the resident writers and, further, serve to contextualize the discourses on these issues in the dance scene.

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Bodies of the Text vol. 1 reads as an eclectic collection of approaches to critical writing: theoretical texts and candid interviews rub up against important provocations related to current events that have happened in the cultural milieu over the past year. There are frank conversations about race and inclusion, indigenous dance issues and reactions to artistic work, all articulated in a way that is honest and generative. It is my hope that these articles will encourage you to continue thinking, provoke potential future actions and stimulate difficult conversations amongst you and your peers. By continuing to work through and unpack these issues we can move forward to the next challenges, and reveal exciting new possibilities for dance, the body and choreography.