This article examines Dao Yin (Saying Vagina), a feminist play produced by the Beijing-based theatre collective Vagina Project, focusing on textile theatrical objects representing the vagina, such as cloth, plush puppets and woven fabric scenery. Sharing methodological foundations with Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, Dao Yin engages in feminist myth making through textile art. By analysing both onstage and offstage female textile work, this study highlights a dual dynamic: the visible artistic labour animating textile props onstage and the inert woven vaginal scenery that obscures the labour of its fabrication. Situating this work within a global commodity meshwork, the article foregrounds the weaving labour of female migrant workers and its translation to symbolic representation. Drawing on Eve Sedgwick’s concepts of texture and ‘texxture’, the analysis surfaces effaced histories of textile labour, the corporeal vulnerability it entails, and the material traces entangled in a theatre of feminist vaginal symbolism.

The pursuit of a utopian community through theatre-making involves re-examining the concept of stage presence. This article contributes to the discourse on the nature of stage presence in theatre, proposing a middle ground between the views that stage presence is solely a result of the performer’s quality and that it is an effect that technology can produce. Through a phenomenological lens, the author argues that stage presence is a contingent and relational phenomenon achieved through the bodily communicative process of both the performer and the spectator. Through the exploration of traditional Chinese theatre, this research found that the bodily encounter between the performer and the spectator contributes to stage presence. The article aims to stimulate further discourse on the significance of stage presence in constructing a utopian community.

This dialogue begins with Egil Bakka’s proposal for a science-based definition of dance. Bakka identifies four principles to structure the definition which are (1) drawn on methodologies from studies of dance as culture, (2) informed by the natural sciences, (3) influenced by a relation-based approach adapted to computer science, and (4) based on methods used in constructing dictionary definitions. Following peer review, we solicited public responses to gauge scholarly receptivity to the initial essay. The result is a single-authored proposal by Bakka followed by four independent responses by Kunej, Sarkar Munsi, Savage, and López-Yánez, respectively, ending with a response to the comments by Bakka.

In Tuscany, music is employed by park authorities, as well as cultural and conservation organisations, to attract visitors to natural and protected areas. This article examines the benefits of incorporating music performances within these natural settings, highlighting improvements in management, income generation for maintenance and conservation, increased visitor numbers, and enhanced environmental awareness. Through qualitative interviews and the analysis of four case studies, this article explores how integrating musical performances into ecotourism activities can foster a sense of place and stewardship among visitors and local communities.