where does my special enjoyment of "amateur"-fluid, minimally pre-designed dance that is created in the moment based on minimal agreements and rules come from?
i have participated in two jams based on contactimprovisation, one by Roffa CI and the other yesterday at Contact Zone, both in Rotterdam, the Netherlands
the dance is in the moment, it works, it fully uses all already existing structures, patterns, personalities, energies, conditions and lets them interact beyond what they would each do on their own. there are clear objectives that can safely allow individual variation with each iteration, ideally these variations and their conscious performance are the point.
such an example was Asymmetry of the Embrace by Snježana Premuš at the Allee plaza in Budapest, May 4, 2025 during the symposium Contemporary Somatics - Bodies Today
if I had to use a metaphor, these kinds of dances create groups of flowers, at times mushrooms, that grow in the wild. they grow directly, of their own accord, there is no further extra intervention necessary. everything that happens happens as it needs to and is therefore congruent, which is a prerequisite for survival, since there is also no extra support and no guarantee.
on the other hand, professional dance as it is practiced more traditionally, would then be the equivalent of growing flowers that are cut for export. part of me rejects this practice both in dance and in daily life altogether as unsustainable and harmful.
then, there are hybrids that do point to a way forward, such as Dobra Voda, also performed at this symposium, at the MÚ theater in Budapest, by Zrinca Šimićić with Bernadett Jobbágy. there was a pre-defined installation of objects and a pre-defined sequence of tasks, partly specified movements, imagery etc. this sequence was repeated a number of times, if I remember well it was open how many. each time the iterations became variations in the moment, giving full openness to how exactly the performer would literally go through the motions.
knowing what to pre-determine, why, trying this out, finding out what works sustainably, by means of rehearsal, remains a basic task of choregraphy. it is possible to re-visit existing traditions, practices etc. but these must not be used mindlessly or without questioning, which risks abuse and their own destruction.
those so-called somatic practices which acknowledge the fullness of human experience, individual variations, bodymind connections, without pre-standardizing them for everyone, work with, not against the human senses of the practicing individual, create a kind of ecology that is conducive to such organic, efficient choreography.
of course at some point a practice becomes hollowed out, no longer enough, just as change, development and evolution are inevitable. then it is important to ask for what was the aim, what were the means pointing at, are there others available or do they need to be developed? is the aim still what we want? (love, peace, happiness, safety, freedom ... and dance)
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