Call For Papers: DC26: Heritage, Memory and Community in Electronic Music and Dance Cultures

14–15 May 2026 | Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

NEW EXTENDED DEADLINE: 31 JANUARY 2026

We are pleased to invite proposals for DC26, a Dancecult Research Network conference to be held 14–15 May 2026 at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, in cooperation with the Dancecult journal, local organizers and the Dancecult Research Network (DRN). This two-day, in-person conference will bring together scholars, students, practitioners, artists, and archivists engaged with the study of electronic music and dance cultures. All presentations will be live streamed.

Conference Theme

Heritage, Memory and Community are central to this edition of the conference, which invites participants to explore the evolving cultural dynamics, legacies and politics of electronic music and dance scenes globally and locally. DC26 will address how these cultures remember, preserve, share and adapt—not only as musical and nightlife practices, but also as deeply embedded social and spatial experiences.

While previous conversations have focused on preservation and archiving, DC26 shifts attention to who defines and holds cultural memory, how community is negotiated, and what terminologies, narratives, and inequalities shape the way we understand these cultures today—especially in the wake of COVID-19, rising forms of party tourism, and new challenges to safety, access, and inclusion.

Topics of Interest

We welcome submissions addressing (but not limited to) the following themes:

  • Heritage, Memory and Community: Whose memories are preserved? Who defines heritage in EMDCs? How do communities practice cultural continuity?
  • Places and Spaces: The significance and transformation of raves, clubs, festivals, and informal dance spaces; architectures of sound and sociality.
  • Togetherness and Solidarity: Communality, care, collectivity and resistance in dance cultures.
  • Safety and Inclusion: Strategies, practices and critiques around safety, marginalization, and care in nightlife environments.
  • Transfer and Translation: How knowledge, music, and subcultural values travel and adapt across geographies, generations and digital/physical realms.
  • Terminologies and Language: How terms like “scene,” “underground,” “rave,” or “techno” are defined, challenged or reimagined.
  • Post-COVID Realities: Partying after the pandemic; new rhythms, risks, rituals, and digital-physical hybrids.
  • Party Tourism and Mobility: Local scenes under global pressure; commodification, cultural displacement, and new host-guest dynamics.
  • New Inequalities: Class, race, gender, migration and power in EMDCs; who gets to dance, where, and at what cost?

Formats

We invite individual papers, panel proposals, and creative or practice-based presentations.

  • Paper proposalsshould include a 300-word abstract outlining the paper’s goals, context, methods and conclusions, as well as a 100-word biography.
  • Panel proposals(60 min + 20 min discussion) should consist of 3–5 speakers in a moderated format. Submit a single 300-word abstract, list of speakers, and designate a panel chair.
  • Include 5 keywordsto help identify the theme(s) of your proposal.
  • Each presenter will have 20 minutes(including Q&A).

Side Events

DC26 will feature site-specific public talks focused on freetekno and club techno cultures in the Czech and Central European context, curated by the local organizing team.

Submission & Key Dates

  • Abstract Deadline: 15 January 2026 31 January 2026
  • Notification of Acceptance: 10 February 2026
  • Registration Opens: 15 February 2026
  • Registration Closes: 15 April 2026
  • Conference Dates: 14–15 May 2026

Submit your proposals – Click here to Open the Submission Form

Organizing Committee

  • Local Organizers: Ondřej Daniel (Faculty of Arts, Charles University), Eduard Adam Orszulik (Music and Dance Faculty, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague), Tomáš Kavka (Centre for the Study of Popular Culture), Lukáš Rychetský (A2)
  • DRN Reps: Anita Jóri, Graham St John, Dave Payling

Please contact the conference chair, Ondřej Daniel, with any queries: ondrej.daniel@ff.cuni.cz