“We find ourselves in the midst of an ephemeral art explosion,” says curator Jenny Schlenzka. “The moment of performance, of dance in the art world, is happening.” With this in mind, curators and critics discuss how best to address performance in the museum.

Where do we begin the conversation about the extraordinary contemporary dance movement afoot in Africa and some of its stellar young leaders? Will entrenched biases distort even fresh discussions about the continent? Dr. Joan Frosch looks at the work of choreographers Kettly Noël, Nelisiwe Xaba, and Mamela Nyamza.

Taiwan’s Anarchy Dance Theatre is behind a new, ultra-interactive performance space that responds to dancers’ movements. With the help of mapping software, a blank stage transforms via optical-illusion projections that move alongside each performer.

For the next week, four New York Times art critics will be discussing shock value in art. “Can art still shock?,” asks Roberta Smith. “Of course. It can, it must and it inevitably will in ways both large and small, interesting and not, lasting and fleeting.”

Distrust of the body, says firebrand dancemaker Miguel Gutierrez, is part of the reason why dance is sometimes perceived as a second-class art form: “There’s an idea that to go into an exploration of the body is this indulgent, non-rational thing.” In a recent conversation, he discusses dance, the senses, the mind/body split, and his new performance, And lose the name of action.

At MoMA as at the Walker, dance “has become a high-profile fixture in museums, galleries and international exhibitions,” with artists like Sarah Michelson, Deborah Hay, and Jérôme Bel performing in spaces usually reserved for visual art.

Remy Charlip, a choreographer and founding member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, passed away Tuesday at age 83. Also a prolific author of children’s books, he won three Illustrated Book of the Year citations from the NY Times.

As we consider new ways of looking at performance objects in a museum setting, we can’t ignore the ways physical movement has shaped them. The Walker’s acquisition of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s collection of costumes and decors has researcher Abigail Sebaly asking, “How do the various rubs, pills, and scuffs indicate an imprint of the movements that were performed in them?”

On Friday the Aperture Foundation launches the iPad app “Merce Cunningham: 65 Years.” Expanding on David Vaughan’s 50-year Cunningham book of ‘97, its creators see it as a model for how performing artists can use technology.