Disco defies death.听Over forty years after the so-called 鈥渄eath of disco,鈥� disco music is everywhere. From Donna Summer to Beyonc茅, disco is on the radio, in the clubs, and on the dance floor. This conference brings together scholars of disco/dance music, industry professionals, and dance activists to discuss disco鈥檚 history, present, and future. We are especially interested in exploring disco鈥檚 disruptive potential. How does disco confuse strict categorizations of gender, race, and sexuality? How does it blur the lines between high and low culture? How does its insistence on decadence both play into and disrupt the logics of capitalism? What were, and are the economics of disco in the music industry?
This conference will take place at the University of Exeter Penryn Campus in the UK. The conference will take place July 5鈥�6. 听Links will be posted to conference session recordings after the conference.
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Stayin鈥� Alive: The Many Afterlives of Disco
Virtual Conference July 5鈥�6
Sponsored by听University of Exeter, British Association of American Studies, University of Colorado鈥檚听Department of Women & Gender Studies, LGBTQ Studies, Research & Innovation Office,听and the University Libraries鈥� Rare & Distinctive Collections.
鈥淒Js of 1970s New York鈥�
Featuring DJ Luis Mario Orellana Rizzo and DJ Ronnie Soares
July 5, 7 a.m. MDT
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"Disco's Afterlives: From the 1980s to Today"
Featuring DJ Frankie Elyse, co-founder of the Scotland-based Polka Dot Disco Club,听a collective of women, trans, and nonbinary DJs
July 5,听 8:45 a.m. MDT
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鈥�(This Ain鈥檛) Nodisco: How a Changing Disco Sound Divided and United Queer Dance Scenes听in the Late 1970s鈥�
Dr. Louis Nieber, University of Nevada Reno, author of听Menergy: San Francisco鈥檚 Gay Disco Sound
July 6,听 8:45 a.m. MDT听
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