The Loss of Loss: Dance and the Psychopolitics of Re-Assembly

Mlondi Zondi

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Faustin Linyekula’s performance practice addresses historical violence and the violence of History. Sustained in his inquiry is an effort to recover absented maternal heritage. To what extent does the recognition of this absented (maternal) knowledge reveal “truth” and transmit memory beyond the document, and how far does this recovery through performance reconsign African immaterial heritage into the logic of the archive? What kind of philosophy of history emerges through contemporary African dance?

Mlondi Zondi (they/he) is an assistant professor of global Black studies in comparative literature at the University of Southern California. They hold a PhD in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and an MFA in Dance from UC Irvine. Zondi is currently working on a monograph entitled Unmournable Void: Figuration, Violence, and Corporeal Integrity in Contemporary African (Diaspora) Expressive Arts. Forthcoming or published essays by Zondi appear in TDR: The Drama Review, ASAP Journal, Contemporary Literature, Espace Art Actuel, Liquid Blackness, Mortality, Performance Philosophy, and Safundi. In addition to scholarly research, Zondi practices performance and dramaturgy.

Part of “Transversal Re/Configurations: Flesh, Bodies, and Matter in Motion”
Current Topics in Dance Research Colloquium Series: January 08 - March 12, 2026.

– María Regina Firmino-Castillo, Curator & Coordinator. 

Mlondi Zondi’s participation in “Transversal Re/Configurations: Flesh, Bodies, and Matter in Motion” was curated by the 2026 Dance GSA “Critical Dance Experiments” Conference Organizing Committee (Erika Villeroy da Costa, Chair; Michelle Cole, Co-Chair; SUR Sanford; and Sam Briseno-Jimenez) and co-cordinated with María Regina Firmino-Castillo. This collaboration centers graduate students’ vision in the forging of new directions in dance making and study.

Transversal Re/Configurations: Flesh, Bodies, and Matter in Motion was made possible through generous sponsorships from the California Center for Native Nations; the Rupert Costo Endowment in American Indian Affairs, University of California, Riverside; the CHASS Dean's Office and the Center for Ideas and Society; and the Departments of Music, Ethnic Studies, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and Media & Cultural Studies.

Many thanks to: taisha paggett (Department of Dance, Chairperson), Anthea Kraut (Department of Dance, Vice-Chair), Courtney Brubaker (Events Specialist), and Pete Pace (Technical Director) for their generous support of the Colloquium, and to Jonathan Ritter (Department of Music, Chairperson) and María del Rosario Acosta López (Professor, Hispanic Studies Department) for their vision and collaboration.

For Accessibility and Accommodations, contact mariafc@ucr.edu 

Photo credits: ©Studio Kabako, 2018.

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