tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60884360268704280422024-03-13T16:08:48.124+01:00uj tánc gondolatok / new dance thoughtsrelated to my work as a contemporary choreographer, interested in developing the status quo further in a conscious way<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>
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<small><small>AUTHORSHIP: UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE, ALL MATERIAL ON THIS BLOG IS THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF THOMAS KÖRTVÉLYESSY. VERBATIM-QUOTATIONS ARE FREELY PERMITTED, IF THE AUTHOR IS NAMED IN A CLEARLY VISIBLE WAY. ADDING THE LINK IS VERY APPRECIATED :-)</small></small>Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-50008498212985550362024-03-11T08:43:00.002+01:002024-03-11T08:43:24.487+01:00decolonization, reparations, Kinetic Awareness®, the legacy of Elaine Summers, and the danger of the simple/single story<p>in times of acute crisis, a painkiller may be the only means to get at least a semblance of rest, even if the problem causing the pain is still as violent as ever. but at least for a moment, there is time and space to think more clearly again, not be consumed by the pain. the longer and more costly road is healing, finding the root cause, working on understanding and what works to help it get better, where and when needed. </p><p>in the regions of the world influenced by European cultural zones, the 20th century brought us many more simple and single stories, good and bad, black and white, evil and noble, a direct consequence from the previous centuries. it takes time, and means to grow out of them, find the necessary details. as Nigerian writer <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie pointed out not so long ago</a>, there are very real-world dangers in the differences with the nuances of real word details. </p><p>trans BIPOC writer <a href="https://kaichengthom.com/">Kai Cheng Thom</a> equally writes about transformative justice, which looks at entire affected communities working together, even when just one or a few individuals have been affected by wrongdoing. <br /><br /></p><p>reparations could then mean re-balancing, healing. this is very different from a winner making a looser pay up, because they finally lost. (though to some extent, that, too can be a part, if not only to stop an aggressor) currently, realizing that our existence on this planet as a species is getting lost for good and with all consequences. doing what is still possible to minimize the inevitable losses. and realizing that no single one of us can do it alone, we must make concert-ed efforts for a longer time. </p><p>on this blog and elsewhere i have written a lot about Elaine Summers, Kinetic Awareness® and the nuance they enable. of course I am personally biased, since they worked so well for me. at the same time, this is what I have worked on just about all my life and what I can offer, for when and where it may work well beyond my own limitations, not more and not less. </p><p>fortunately I am not alone with this, on <a href="http://www.kineticawarenesscenter.org">www.kineticawarenesscenter.org</a> and <a href="http://www.elainesummersdance.com">www.elainesummersdance.com</a> and <a href="http://www.skytime.org/skyworksnew.html">www.skytime.org/skyworksnew.html</a> there are many more for starters, as there are related people from all walks of life. as Dr. Jill Green stated in a paper on dance and discipline, the image is that of a tree, made up of many roots and many branches. there are many trees, many mycelia, and so on, all over this planet, at least still for now. <br /></p>Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-21408599197730319522023-07-07T11:08:00.001+02:002023-07-07T11:08:55.046+02:00worldwide Gay and Queer alternative theater by the 1970s ... where are they now? <p>yesterday I had the deep pleasure of attending the performance of <b>Flamencoqueer</b> (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/flamencoqueer/" target="_blank">instagram</a>) from Barcelona at gallery <a href="https://www.joeyramone.nl/" target="_blank">Joey Ramone</a> in Rotterdam for their finissage with visual artist <b>Anna Moreno</b> (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/aa_oeo/" target="_blank">instagram</a>). it was a wonderful and very powerful experience, the second performance even partly became an intermedia-event, where the live performance of the dancer & musician on the installation directly interacted with the dance on film/video that kept being projected. </p><p>Anna told me later that in the 1970s Barcelona had known an entire scene of Gay and queer flamenco dancers, but that with ever more touristification they eventually vanished for straight(ened out?) "traditional" interpretations. <br /></p><p>this morning I realized that this era had indeed seen quite a bit of Gay and Queer "Dionysian" theater and dance worldwide, from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cockettes" target="_blank">Cockettes</a> in San Francisco, to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzi_Croquettes" target="_blank">Dzi Croquettes</a> in Rio de Janeiro to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsay_Kemp" target="_blank">Lindsay Kemp</a> in London (his students David Bowie/<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_culture" target="_blank">Ziggy Startdust</a> and Kate Bush made commercially successful crossovers into pop-music ... ) let alone the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_Faeries" target="_blank">Radical Faeries</a> in the US. there was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_54" target="_blank">Studio 54</a> and Disco Music. all gone. </p><p>only <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butoh" target="_blank">Butoh</a> in Japan seems to have survived, the Radical Faeries went underground, too many died during the AIDS epidemic but had no followers. the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_culture" target="_blank">ballroom scene</a> in Harlem and the greater US of A on Turtle Island, largely remained underground until the 1990s.<br /></p><p>these days there are remnants and re-vivals, even commercially exploited re-discoveries (e.g. of Julius Eastman, James Baldwin) but times have changed and become if anything more mercilessly commercial, often superficial, making a living has become a lot more cut-throat, even for those of us in the Global North of the European colonizing countries. <br /></p>Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-15897831839051682592022-06-27T16:43:00.001+02:002022-06-27T16:46:00.614+02:00Art, hope, dance, mo(ve)ment ... <p>How conversations can go: <br /><br />Just this afternoon my colleague <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF9YEO9PZ1QWmINB402ggjQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Elie Nassar</a> and I talked about unravelling societies and breaking down of systems meant for survival. How to survive what feels like a new 'Ancien Regime': an environmentally, financially, and otherwise untenable group of people whose continued actions are ruining everything on a planetary scale, destroying our very species, for a culture of goals that are literally insane, even if presently they may seem the pinnacle of Power. (so were once National/Socialists, Kings, Religious quests etc.) </p><p>And then to enjoy these 30 minutes of "Art resisting/despite War" by <a class="ql-mention" data-entity-urn="urn:li:fsd_company:29069" data-guid="1" data-object-urn="urn:li:organization:29069" data-original-text="ARTE" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6947110325313777665/#" spellcheck="false">ARTE</a>, featuring my colleague <a class="ql-mention" data-entity-urn="urn:li:fsd_profile:ACoAAACpoT0BcIiWT-vjoRfoLrv_gl02XAF_SXQ" data-guid="0" data-object-urn="urn:li:member:11116861" data-original-text="Tebby WT RAMASIKE" href="http://www.tbodance.info/" spellcheck="false">Tebby WT RAMASIKE</a> working with fellow-South African visual artist <a href="https://www.bruce-clarke.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bruce Clarke</a>, on a site of terror in <b class="ql-hashtag">#Kaunas</b> <b class="ql-hashtag">#EuropeanCulturalCapital2022</b> (around 13min11 into the video) <br /><iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="281" scrolling="no" src="https://www.arte.tv/player/v7/index.php?json_url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.arte.tv%2Fapi%2Fplayer%2Fv2%2Fconfig%2Fde%2F105616-007-A&lang=de&autoplay=true&mute=0&previewData=%7B%22title%22%3A%22TWIST%22%2C%22subtitle%22%3A%22Kaunas%202022%3A%20Kunst%20trotzt%20Krieg%22%2C%22image%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fapi-cdn.arte.tv%2Fimg%2Fv2%2Fimage%2FG3sPbhCmgoXqS2AbnRU3u8%2F940x530%22%7D" style="background-color: black; display: block; margin: 0 auto; position: relative; transition-duration: 0; transition-property: no;" width="500"></iframe><br /><a href="https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/105616-007-A/twist/">https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/105616-007-A/twist/</a></p><p>Reminded that <b class="ql-hashtag">#<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Maciunas" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">GeorgeMaciunas</a></b> who originated the rather spritely-adverse-humorous <b class="ql-hashtag">#<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluxus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fluxus</a></b> came from Kaunas. The 1/3 Jewish population of Lithuania that has literally been exterminated during Nazi-Occupation, save for those who like Clarke's or <b class="ql-hashtag">#<a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/william-kentridge" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WilliamKentridge</a></b> 's grandparents could escape. </p><p>The presented works of <a href="https://www.klangas.lt/products/artists/aiste-ramunaite/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Aiste Ramunaite</a> can remind anyone of <b class="ql-hashtag">#<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBRA_(art_movement)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CoBrA</a></b> in Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium after WWII : spontaneity, organic forms, colorist, elements from substrate (folk) art that survived Christianization, even linear Rationality, in a strikingly similar language. </p><p>Not mentioned here, Lithuania is a key <b class="ql-hashtag">#EU</b> country working more closely with and towards officially recognizing <b class="ql-hashtag">#Taiwan</b>. By doing this, it is now on a global axis point between two "opening" countries on the planet, (<b class="ql-hashtag">#Ukraine</b> is the other) each threatened in its existence by an Imperialist Old Power at its borders, also two of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRICS" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BRICS</a>, unfortunately, several of whom are currently governed disastrously by Populist Presidents. </p><p>//</p><p>Art can do a lot, and it was good to be reminded of art that was created in Lithuania during Soviet Occupation. Personal, momentary, small-scale, furtive, unofficial, open-ended, immersive, direct. Dance, coming from our experience of our moving bodymindbeings, originally a tangible art-form, can lead us back there, again & again. (which explains why it is so heavily regulated, censored, kept in formula, guarded jealously) </p><p>Quoting East-German writer Christa Wolf in <i>Kassandra</i> from 1983 : "It is the other, which they squeeze between their sharp distinctions, the Third, which in their opinion does not even exist, the smiling living, which is able to ever again bring itself forth from itself, the undivided, spirit in living, living in spirit."</p><p>And so, the work goes on. </p>Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-54849614714960739212022-04-23T22:45:00.003+02:002022-04-26T22:49:33.827+02:00a response to a paper by Simona Noja-Nebyla via Academia.edu<p>(contribution to discussion of the paper<i> "Approaching Ballet Education Core in the 21st Century</i>) <br /><br /><br />Dear Simona Noja-Nebyla, <br /><br />Thank you very much for your generous invitation. As there are only 11 hours left for me to comment and just before I was about to go to sleep, my contributions will have to remain superficial, given with the aim to honor the invitation. <br /><br />Indeed why and which aspects to preserve, maintain, keep developing? Several approaches from the same cultural zone have emerged, enriched the options. <br /><br />I would invite us to treat whatever anyone of us prefer to think of as ballet as a set of related dance languages. These have evolved over time, like any other language, including English, changed considerably, reflecting social developments, sometimes galvanizing them. <br /><br />The roots of what is considered ballet I would trace as much longer reaching historically than a mere 360 years, which in human terms is, more or less, one empire. As recent empires that have emanated from the European subcontinent are dissolving into something else (decolonization etc.) so comes the question of what will be maintained, by who, and for what purpose. <br /><br />One comparable development may be that of Latin into the Romance languages, based on the popular, "vulgar", not the elite "classical" variance. <br /><br />Today, many use the vocabulary, but often with very different substrates, underlying concepts. Just think of the epochal difference between Merce Cunningham's adaptation of what he learned as ballet-vocabulary into his own way of dancing, via the variation created by Martha Graham in the US of A, again very different from the aims of Alvin Ailey and Janet Collins. And we haven't even begun to look into related contemporary dance languages. <br /><br />Status, power, imperial more than not, may very much be one of the drives, being recognized as Kings and Queens, top of the heap, having made it socio-economically, speaking the language of the Dominators. Decolonization on the one hand, Afro-/American/European/Asian dancers claiming to be just as proficient and recognized in this language as a current process on the other. <br /><br />All that said, I deeply believe that every language, every dialect has their innate wisdom and usefulness, and so it is good if enough people dedicate their lives to studying a very specific language, others in sharing insights from this knowledge with others. <br /><br />The many dance technical aspects of what has been derived from Classical European-formed ballet, has fortunately been challenged to the core, with what is now often referred to as Somatic Dance Techniques as an invaluable gift from the late 20th century. <br /><br />Perhaps the mere kinds of mono-linear figures and forms & sequences could be interesting, comparably to the chromatic 12-tone system that has been formulated from the European cultural zone. (again in response to and dialogue with Persian, Indian, Chinese, Afro-American, and other musical developments) <br /><br />For a contemporary society that has finally understood and internalized the necessity of organic connectedness, mycelial, dynamic, ever growing, creating single lines in time/space, as happens in ballet-related languages, can be a welcome option for expression. <br /><br />Of the current human languages, as we enter what is currently felt to be decolonization, two, English and Spanish, followed on a further place by French stem very directly from the hybridization of Latin with various Gallo-Germanic tribes-languages and dialects. <br /><br />Perhaps that is a more interesting note to end on. <br />I hope this was useful to read. <br /><br />Best of luck! <br />Thomas Körtvélyessy, <br />Rotterdam, the Netherlands<br />April 23, 2022</p>Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-47268930751442782172021-10-21T13:25:00.153+02:002022-02-03T19:22:48.915+01:00lessons from "Raven Kassandra"<p>in many ways, revisiting and further developing "Raven" after its inception at <a href="http://elainesummersdance.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Elaine Summers Dance & Film Co. </a>/ <a href="http://kineticawarenesscenter.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kinetic Awareness® Center</a>, 2005 and its first climax in 2009 at the <a href="https://cndb.ro/en/home/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">National Dance Center</a> in Bucharest, Romania, helped me complement & understand a lot, deeper, better. <br />it does make sense, the acronym BUILD (<b>B</b>etter <b>U</b>nderstanding <b>I</b>nvolves <b>L</b>earning and <b>D</b>oing ) ... <br /><b><br />revisiting the black series</b><br />the central equation of the piece is 1 over 0 = existence over non-existence, creating movement / process > presence vs. poetry (shaped expression)<br /></p><div style="text-align: left;">this formula is also the base for the entire black series, of which this dance is a part. the black color could be inspired by the black clothing code of 20th century Existentialists, 1980s New Wavers. but even more importantly black as the radical absence of light, hinting at nothingness. (in 2013 I finally <a href="https://realdancecompany.org/pelleas.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">explored black as in Blackness</a>, within the same series) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">none of these choices were very conscious: inspired by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9ret_Oppenheim" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Meret Oppenheim</a>, I always took the freedom to realize the pieces as they came to mind, including those that would form the austere, daunting, black series, the dark forces of nature. this existential series is always theatrical, fully absorbing, at times hermetic, cutting, austere, dramatic, but also present in the here and now of the performing moment. (like just about all of my work) </div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"><p><b>no more "cold-starts" into a project<br /></b>I realized while preparing for the performance that having
continuously done cold-starts with the project-choreographies has been as
harmful in the long term as it would be with the dancing body. </p></div><p></p><p><b>spoken text (voice) vs. movement (text)</b><br />delving into the text "Kassandra" by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christa_Wolf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Christa Wolf</a>, exploring it in translation, from German to English, from meaning into presence, movement, props, persona's, became a main feature of the resulting performance.<br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><b>elements that help to create communication in the moment<br /></b>each part of the text that I decided on during the rehearsals got its costume (from just about every performance of works from the black series) </div><div style="text-align: left;">one part already had specific lighting, the scene where Kassandra dreams of the God Apollon, giving her the gift of prophecy, but then wanting to have sex with her as a reward ... <br /></div><p></p><p><b>during the performance<br /></b>the drama, talking, (Tanz-)theater became very prominent, lots of spoken words, bringing me on edge as a performer, because as an actor I have little training when it comes to using my vocal chords for speaking in public. </p><div><p>fortunately the speaking did not completely push back all other movements, I could dive (back) into a continuum where movement would happen "naturally" on its own flow, at times going together with the speaking, at other times more autonomous. </p><p><b><br />a sober cover for underlying mystery </b><br />I was surprised at my overall sobriety before, during and after the performance. I felt very matter of fact, despite the rather dramatic and existential topic and content. </p></div><div style="text-align: left;">the outbreaks of movement were - except towards the end- mainly "uncontrolled", uncensored, the most simple, unrestrained stream of movement. not unlike the prophetess getting overwhelmed by that piping, shrieking, ghastly little voice, hanging over her and wailing, screaming ... </div><p>a better balance between the two extremes, ideally shaping in the moment would be good. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWiU_9-U99krHK7lV067-wojAM6hjCxhqyfmn3gBGRacFzs18jmAWxYn5TaATiGmEqNseE5CoPRz01NUj2tQv7UIVDyeBNjyezABop0G2RrAtsG5ViZTqfxauPQJg96QBdBdqCeVxcaMzizN_4Hr_l8AJsN-uXpC55jXcvqGIO_bc1CBOZMXUyqU2-Gg=s1683" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="1683" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWiU_9-U99krHK7lV067-wojAM6hjCxhqyfmn3gBGRacFzs18jmAWxYn5TaATiGmEqNseE5CoPRz01NUj2tQv7UIVDyeBNjyezABop0G2RrAtsG5ViZTqfxauPQJg96QBdBdqCeVxcaMzizN_4Hr_l8AJsN-uXpC55jXcvqGIO_bc1CBOZMXUyqU2-Gg=w400-h306" width="400" /></a></div><p>the outstretched arms to the side had been a very clear moment that I knew would be a corner-stone of this performance, and I am glad that I found a way into enacting them. it is very nice to have gotten a better understanding of the degree of form-alisation of action into poetry, specific words, nouns, compounds that are created to be holding specific moments of meaning. </p><p>towards the end I did quite consciously re-enact rather specific movements from the very beginning of the <a href="https://youtu.be/t8UhF3XpWxk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Raven in 2005</a> : a quick contretemps of the hands and arms, triggering a vertical lunge/fall/precipice of the entire body downward. if I kept working more on this piece, listen to the dance more, would more pre-set movements emerge that would help re-enact the dance as itself? </p><div style="text-align: left;">I was also surprised how much my voice became an exact reproduction of how I spoke the final words during the recorded <a href="https://youtu.be/d69t51V3FZM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">performance in Bucharest</a>. <b><br /><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>resisting women, female resistance and silencing</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>countering innovation, (post)modernism</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVV4ZeuwJLQJdyW_o8L0aTURbGar0FfmKhdHitXskOjQ3HL3aNKzcZXGmLGm6UrYcuY2rPHI6Jl8-jj3SffS0X9QbX_fxYiSsH3jAHMfxd2WbPQzatWF4u4Fc6Fo7dTHhiew5BC8WmZhoryAwfWkSUvyMxTRs0XSTeRqnmI81Y_h0FYONHArCAawweUg=s1471" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="824" data-original-width="1471" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVV4ZeuwJLQJdyW_o8L0aTURbGar0FfmKhdHitXskOjQ3HL3aNKzcZXGmLGm6UrYcuY2rPHI6Jl8-jj3SffS0X9QbX_fxYiSsH3jAHMfxd2WbPQzatWF4u4Fc6Fo7dTHhiew5BC8WmZhoryAwfWkSUvyMxTRs0XSTeRqnmI81Y_h0FYONHArCAawweUg=w400-h224" width="400" /></a></div>there was no music at any time in this piece, except an audio-recording of activist and co-founder of Code Pink, <a href="https://therealnews.com/in-viral-video-medea-benjamin-confronts-trump-official-on-iran" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Medea Benjamin, as she publicly denounced, ridiculed and exposed the</a> ... shortcomings(?) of a right-wing ThinkTank defending the unilateral annihilation of the Iran Nuclear Deal by then-US president Donald Trump. I am not an uncritical admirer of her political views, but I loved how she just got up in the middle of a "serious" military meeting and started to deflate and debunk it, speaking a plain language, speaking her truth to power.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">one direction that would interest me further is to explore is my long involvement with resisting, dissenting women (artists) who as often as not were downplayed and marginalised by their contemporaries: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_von_Droste-H%C3%BClshoff" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Annette von Droste-Hülshoff</a>, <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=meret+oppenheim+artworks&t=h_&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Meret Oppenheim</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Stein" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gertrude Stein</a>, ... and/or in dance more recently <a href="https://www.annahalprin.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Anna Halprin</a>, <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22Elaine+Summers%22+dance+artworks&t=h_&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Elaine Summers</a>, <a href="https://maryodonnellfulkerson.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mary O'Donnell-Fulkerson</a>, <a href="https://www.sixviewpoints.com/maryoverlie/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mary Overlie</a>, to name just a few. (update: later this year, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_hooks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">bell hooks</a> passed away, again an important voice who <a href="https://youtu.be/sUpY8PZlgV8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">spoke out</a>, against comfortable notions of any kind, an early advocate of <a href="https://youtu.be/RoWea7y918E" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">James Baldwin as a Black Gay writer and thinker</a> who just like her, prepared us for intersectionality)<br /></div><p>these women clearly said no to then-dominant narratives that were kept over their chosen profession, they refused to give in and were in turn often bypassed, ridiculed, ignored, simply not mentioned more widely, despite their innovative achievements and hard work. </p><div style="text-align: left;">somewhat the paths that they forged, are now more accepted and understood, even taken for granted, even if they themselves are often as not still glossed over, "forgotten", not mentioned in favour of (male) (White) and/or more recent colleagues. but their potential is still a challenge for most of us, today. <br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">obviously there is a very patriarchal context: in a society where people who are categorised as women get blacked out by custom and design, they can be more prone to dissent and alternatives to the mainstream. (Gay men and non-genderconforming people alongside with them) but we must not forget that patriarchy is in no way more 'natural' or Goddess-given than sexual differences. <br /><br /><p><b>a living talking dancing book? <br /></b>if
I do it often enough, I could indeed become a living interpreter of the
book "Kassandra", a medium interpreter, quoting each time what is the
most fitting for the moment. my physicality and personality can
co-create a very full, but not unbiased continuation, ... or bring my
audience to read the book? (the English translation, is it good
enough??)<br /></p><p><br /><b>thanks to close: <br /></b>before the final rehearsal period, I had been in Berlin to present a work by Elaine Summers at POOL Shine New York Traces. (<a href="http://www.elainesummersdance.com/ZionskircheElaine.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">link here</a>) that weekend, on Sunday morning, I had a long and important conversation with <a href="https://ychuma.wixsite.com/headinthesand" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Yoshiko Chuma</a> when we took a walk in a nearby park. the artistic directors of the festival, Wibke Janssen and Sara Möller also contributed directly to the inspiration of this performance. thank you! <br /></p><p>it was also very inspiring to have Julia Hoza who came as part of her last year at the <a href="https://muk.ac.at/en/home.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna</a>, Austria (MUK) come to follow the rehearsal process as an understudy. we talked a lot, also about both being diasporic, 2nd generation, having roots from pretty much the same region between Romania, Ukraine, and Hungary, hers Romanian, mine Hungarian and German. <br /><br />with all of the above, the piece came back to itself. <br />thanks to <a href="https://worm.org/production/queer-performance-art-evening-9/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Anthony Hüseyin for curating the evening</a>, all at Ubik/Worm who made it possible, the fellow performance artists, Cuartito Azul for the safe and workable rehearsal space, A. Enser and all supporters. <br /></p>videos & webpage: <a href="https://realdancecompany.org/raven-kassandra.html"><br />https://realdancecompany.org/raven-kassandra.html</a><br /></div>Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-16148559862329190412021-06-24T23:04:00.000+02:002021-06-24T23:04:12.621+02:00pain and trauma: Butoh, Kinetic Awareness® and political dance<div><p>today I finally got to work on my own spine again and noticed how a kind of 'cake' had formed around it, made of residual / habitual tension: it eased but at some level also constricted functioning. </p><p>practicing Kinetic Awareness® and the ball-work I was able to finally address my spine without expectations, listen openly, not demand it to feel in a certain way or to move, if at all, at a certain speed, or ability/agility. instead I could leave it be, give it space, listen to it, gently allow myself to open up when I noticed I was moving at a speed (still slow, but noticeable and continuous, and mentally at a quite fast pace) <br /><br />once again I realize how with Butoh, any potential restrictions are potentially undone, opened up, should not have to be confined in any way. this liberating potential, openness to being in connection with the environment & people remains an important challenge against norms & habits. <br /><br />
</p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/553260931?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="500"></iframe>
</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/553260931">WITH YOU - dancing for peace in Myanmar -</a> collaboration lead by <a href="https://vimeo.com/user3962530">kiori kawai</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</span><br /></p>as in more recent projects, I could also feel how relatively unharmed my
spine, my central nervous system had been for the last 30 years of
adulthood = no trauma, no hits (ok, one fall, of my own accord, in 2007) <br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zYqCSWMvD8Q" width="320" youtube-src-id="zYqCSWMvD8Q"></iframe></div><span style="font-size: x-small;">* original song with footage from Myanmar <a href="https://youtu.be/zYqCSWMvD8Q">https://youtu.be/zYqCSWMvD8Q</a><br /></span><br /><br />confronted with ongoing trauma and violence, from beatings to pushbacks, state terror, torture, sometimes over generations, what can be an honest and still emphatic response? (how) can I express solidarity, that I am moved by this suffering, without creating a shortcoming or travesty? <br /><br />is it okay to work with my own traumatic experiences, apply them to a role, to give my hint towards what more there may be, but not pretending it was I who was made to suffer violation? or is it even a duty, since I happen to free enough of such trauma that I even can begin to speak of it, exactly because I am no longer in the middle of it being (re-)inflicted? <br /><br /><br /><p></p><p></p>Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-56378163886812094012021-01-16T17:21:00.010+01:002022-09-05T23:12:54.928+02:00dancing snowflakes ... <p><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yq5i72dfGp0/YAMPvA61k2I/AAAAAAAAC6s/-tWcM_0uuaQ4fjssPoDjLZm4Df3ReSoUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2543/20210116_164531.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2543" data-original-width="1236" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yq5i72dfGp0/YAMPvA61k2I/AAAAAAAAC6s/-tWcM_0uuaQ4fjssPoDjLZm4Df3ReSoUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/20210116_164531.jpg" /></a> as the first snow of the year 2021 is falling in Rotterdam right now, I am reminded again of the <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?kl=us-en&q=refugees+bosnia+freezing&t=seamonkey&iax=images&ia=images" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">hundreds of refugees who are still left to die away from freezing </a>as I am writing this post, in ever new waves of people, year in year out, now in makeshift camps in Camp #Lipa in Bosnia-Hercegovina, or on #sosmoria, all literally left in the cold by our murderous longterm impotence indifference including #EU and also very notably the recent #Dutch governments. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><br />* the Dutch cabinet resigned officially yesterday, after they no longer could hide that under their responsibility ca. 20.000 families had been systematically racially and ethnically profiled and aggressively financially ruined by bureaucrats of the neoliberalized Dutch "welfare" system. if it hadn't been for internal officers like Sandra Palmen, let alone lawyer </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Eva González Pérez, and continued attempts to work against being silenced, finally taken up widely by more mainstream White-oriented media, all too often casually 'forgetting' to name the ethnic profiling part, they still may be left alone today. also notable: no matter how much they already had suffered from the "missteps" of this "affair", they can apparently receive no compensations, before May ... </span></p><p><img alt="Snow Worsens Migrant Plight in Squalid Bosnian Camp ..." class="tile--img__img js-lazyload" data-src="//external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.m8-uXLhGVEfPgoiVngENfQHaEK%26pid%3DApi&f=1" src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.m8-uXLhGVEfPgoiVngENfQHaEK%26pid%3DApi&f=1" /> <br /> </p><p><img alt="@rtful pursuit: September 2010" class="detail__media__img-highres js-detail-img js-detail-img-high" src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F_wKBWWMy89xE%2FTKNYl1iucOI%2FAAAAAAAAACQ%2Fb7FOlWO8cf0%2Fs1600%2Fsnowflakes.jpg&f=1&nofb=1" style="display: block; height: 262px; width: 399.645px;" /><br />as much as I can accept the subjectively innocent magic of <i>The Nutcracker</i> ballet in its <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_query=dancing+snowflakes+nutcracker&search_sort=relevance&search_category=0&page" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">countless variations</a>, deemed the "right" tradition, justified, high-culture, and especially the much better preserved music by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Piotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky</a>, with its Romantic and unmistakeably Gay vibes from my childhood, it gets an especially multiple dimension today, ... after all, when this ballet was performed, millions of people, all over then the Russian Czar's Empire were equally and literally left out in the cold, ignored by those who got to watch and enjoy the ballet, in the relatively heated and comfortable theatre.... #lecharmediscretdelanostalgie <span style="font-size: xx-small;"> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Discreet_Charm_of_the_Bourgeoisie" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">link</a>)<br /><br /></span></p><p><b>today</b> one could re-imagine this part with all of the above dimensions, including #WhiteFragility the #snowflake trope , geometric mass-dancing of the (*all white) (female) corps de ballet, all silently echoing the coldheartedness of haves versus have-nots, who as the latter are made out-of-sight-out-of-mind, at least for a moment. and still find a way to evoke what magic had been conjured by the original dance, since it, too, was and continuesto be a given.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /><br /></span>it could become a very interesting choreographic challenge to rise to. </p><p>instead, I begin with this already very different variation by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_B%C3%A9jart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Maurice Béjart</a>, the Marseille-born choreographer, who went on to feed Belgian, Northern French, and Swiss cultures with his highly sophisticated and crafted emotion-evoking intelligently entertaining arts and spectacles, based on aristocratic variations of what had once been peasant dance moves. notice the various cultural tweaks around race, gender & class in this part, as he revisits his own childhood ... <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hT2K6VkFCh0?t=2365" width="320" youtube-src-id="hT2K6VkFCh0?t=2365"></iframe></div><br />As visual artist Jean-Ulrick Désert said recently, it is all
happening at the same time, valid and effective simultaneously, ... and
it all works, together ... <p><br /></p><p>* PS from June 4th, 2022<br /><br />#WarUkraine<br />#artistresistance<br />#UseofRussianBallet<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f9MR5_7pssc" width="320" youtube-src-id="f9MR5_7pssc"></iframe></div><br /><br /><p></p>Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-55701204444161291902020-09-30T13:58:00.018+02:002020-10-16T16:54:28.680+02:00Contact Zone : Extended Body - Extended Self, outdoor session Luchtpark @Hofbogen Rotterdam 27 sept 2020<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5NYMBq9kSfQ/X3Hh7Dq1IlI/AAAAAAAAC1k/6e2IMtC4LJciz9Rh6do0Yj_i-OOtAkoOgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1464/hofbogenpark.JPG"><img border="0" data-original-height="651" data-original-width="1464" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5NYMBq9kSfQ/X3Hh7Dq1IlI/AAAAAAAAC1k/6e2IMtC4LJciz9Rh6do0Yj_i-OOtAkoOgCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h320/hofbogenpark.JPG" width="100%" /></a></div><p>this session was part of the overall project <b>Extended Body - Extended Self</b> which I am organising with <a href="https://contactzone.nl" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Contact Zone Rotterdam</a> as a response to the Covid19 pandemic and its consequences in the Netherlands. <span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;">*at the moment of writing, the number of infections has reached proportions of the first wave in March 2020 and keeps rising. Rotterdam is especially hard hit, ever since the pandemic began. until the time of writing this article, comparable to some States in the USA, the UK or Sweden, </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">the official approach in the Netherlands </span>has been marked by neoliberal exceptionalism and covert ableism, leading to unusually high rates of mortality, especially among the elderly population. </span><br /></p><p>our main objective was to temporarily discontinue the monthly afternoons of contactimprovisation due to the high risk of contagion from the continued close contact with this dance form. we were also very aware of ongoing cases of ableism and sometimes new-age related denial of the virus that circulated in our related communities. </p><p>as a consequence we decided to reconsider our course & re-visit skills that we found central in contact improvisation to deal with the current situation: listening care-fully, to our own bodymind and that of possible partner(s), open for sensing connectivity in the moment. how to find again such moments of connectivity, even if we keep a more safe physical distance from each other, is the main objective of this project. <br /></p><p>our approach is multiple: every month there is a Zoom-session for people who wish to stay at home, a studio session where we maintain a safety distance of at least 1.5m in a very well-ventilated space, and for the months September and October, an outdoor session in a public location.<br /></p><p>(for more information about the entire series of the overall project, please click <a href="https://contactzone.nl" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>) <b> </b></p><p><b> </b></p><p><b>the location</b> <br />the Luchtpark Hofbogen is a public-private enterprise which is partly an open community garden near the city center of Rotterdam. the main edifice is a former local train-connection to Den Haag, and especially the above-ground former train-station that was part of it. after redesigning the entire space, the park borders directly on an area of parking lots and warehouses (labelled ZoHo by project developers), which for a while has been undergoing gentrification and became a prestige object for the city, wanting to promote design and creativity. <br /><br /> </p><p><b>urban sketching</b><br />our objective for the outdoor session was the practice of <i>urban sketching </i>: visual artists getting together on an outdoor location to make sketches of what they see & perceive. every one works on their own and on their own terms, but they all do this in each others' presence.<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>in return, we would do the same but with our presence and our bodies in potential movement.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">(thanks
to Lody Meijer for bringing in this idea)</span></p><p></p><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/468753975" width="100%"></iframe><div><p><b>participants<br /></b>NuRy Lee who currently studies for her Masters interior architecture: research and design at Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam, and Alina Fejzo, formally a dancer with Dansgroep Krisztina de Châtel, who works now as a freelancer and since some time also explores video and photography, both joined for this session. it was clear that everyone else the space with us had as much a right to do as they pleased and were not to be hindered by us. <br /></p><p><a href="https://www.alinafejzo.com/contactzone" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here for the foto-page of shots by Alina Fejzo</a></p><p></p><p><b><br />results & observations<br /></b>we all found the area very wide & rich in information, spatious, open, 360 degrees. there are virtually not limitations in terms of how wide one can look. one can see the yellow air-bridge on the same level as the former train-station and people moving on it, but also people in the nearby residential areas on the ground below. the skyscrapers of the commercial office-area of the Weena are just as visible as the ongoing trains rushing through on the main line to Rotterdam Central Station. <br /></p><p>on this Sunday afternoon plenty of people came by to stroll, meet each other, hang around, move around on their own as well.<br /></p><p><br />for myself it was the first time since the lockdown that I could move in such a wide open space. thanks to my continued practice of Kinetic Awareness® which I could partly maintain, and the previous performance series <a href="https://wittgensteindance.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Wittgenstein</i></a>, it was possible for me to move into this situation full-bodied and ready for the adrenalin rush and pleasure. <br /><br />I was amazed at the amount of connectivities that were possible for me, also the clarity of sensation, of how far I could go, when I needed to stop etc. I could play with the weight and counterweight of the main construction on the location, the various parts of the former train platform, the massive stone, the wooden beams of the roof, the shapes, directions, various axis and levels that were all over & everywhere, and with my own physicality and weight in a continuously changing relation to them. the ease with which I could switch between these various planes and axis and feel these connections, was a true delight to experience. <br /></p><p>timing added another possible connection in the moment, echoing rhythms and movements around me, including those of my fellow sketchers. Nury and I could trade movement vocabulary with each other, such as skipping-turning on one foot, looking from left to right, while Alina was busy making video and photo recordings of us and the location.<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1lEt50hAqcE/X3HuflcT_yI/AAAAAAAAC1w/YDMADzq5ZAQ_QXmnWE5nWX3ytwJGYDe6gCLcBGAsYHQ/s794/afzetlint%2Bcopy.jpg"><img alt="red-white tape" border="0" data-original-height="131" data-original-width="794" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1lEt50hAqcE/X3HuflcT_yI/AAAAAAAAC1w/YDMADzq5ZAQ_QXmnWE5nWX3ytwJGYDe6gCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h320/afzetlint%2Bcopy.jpg" width="100%" /></a></div><b>separation-connection tape</b><br /><p></p><p>following the suggestion of M.T. from Contact Zone, the red-white tape which is usually used for separating spaces, often for personal security, now also became an item that we could use for connectivity. brought in during the session as an by Nury Lee, she and I took a lot of time measuring objects of the space with parts of these tapes, which we also had attached to ourselves as a visual and symbolic marker that we participated in this performance-session.<br /></p><p>the tape was partly echoed by having it attached to the ground, but also to the info-box set up on one corner. <br /></p><p>making personal connections with other people in this space proved to be the most challenging for me: on the one hand, I very much could and would need to actualize my own self in the space as a dancer, moving beyond the vocabulary of everyday visitors such as walking. I was aware that this was partly expected of me in my social function and specialisation as a dancer. ( = extra ability, training, spectacle, but also specialized kinesthetic exploration) on the other hand, without visible boundaries between the other people in the space and myself, the openness of the situation also could make them feel more unsafe, not wanting to get engaged, or disturb the performance area. <br /></p><p><b><br />ecology - the environment and a connective holding form<br /></b>when the recently deceased choreographer and pioneer of somatic release work in the UK and Europe, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Fulkerson" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mary O'Donnell-Fulkerson</a> introduced <i>Responsible Anarchy</i>, she mentioned the use of a holding form for the various indeterminate actions that could become part of a dance performance in a desired way. </p><p>I realize now that for us, this holding form, was actually the space in which we performed and its ecology, connectively linking independent agents, each on their own course, amid on-lookers, other visitors of the space, within the city, etc. indeed, we had various options at being response-ible with ourselves, each other, and our surroundings. <br /><br />in many ways, having worked with <a href="https://www.deborahblack.net/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Deborah Black</a> on her way of teaching the Six Viewpoints, was also very helpful to facilitate this awareness of scale and connection, near and far. <br /><br /><br /><b>conclusion</b><br />rather than demand of myself that I fulfill each of these tasks of the moment to 100% perfection, I allowed myself a decided degree of sketchiness, moving through, knowing that I would need even more time and practice to do better a next time. <br /><br />above all I am grateful that I have been able to make this session come true. <br />thanks to all who have been making it possible!<br /><br /><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-47094713528413816232020-07-10T10:40:00.002+02:002020-07-10T13:25:41.567+02:00Wittgenstein: first theses-results during yesterday's after-talk about <a href="https://wittgensteindance.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Wittgenstein</a> at <a href="https://leeszaalrotterdamwest.nl/" target="_blank">Leeszaal Rotterdam West</a> (dank &
nogmaals warm bedankt!) Joke van der Zwaard, who kindly supported and
helped this project to be realized, asked what my results were of these
dance-philosophical investigations.<br />
<br />
the underlying 9 points are a first attempt, which will need to be further formulated.<br />
rather than the mere 7 of Wittgenstein's inspiring <i>Tractatus Logico Philosophicus </i>I
am happy that these points so far come to be 9, also used as the old medieval
European number of the Holy Trinity x 3 = divine perfection ... :-)<br />
<br />
<br />
(for more visual results such as notes, videos, photos, see also the <a href="https://wittgensteindance.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">project-blog</a>)<br />
<br />
<br />
= <br />
<br />
1.
dance as the experience and communication of movement has its own
specific aspects, just like communication that is based on the use of
breath & vocal chords. ( = in some human cultures traditionally the
only recognised “voice” “words” "literature" etc. - this view is by now
sensorially and cognitively scientifically untenable) <br />
<br />
2.
dance is a part of our process of being alive, it includes movement (=
kinaesthetic) sensing, thinking, dreaming, remembering, abstracting into
(audio-) visual imagery, notation etc. like any other sensorial process
<br />
<br />
ad 2. just like cells multiplying, plants growing
etc. our organic actions, have organic consequences which need to be
taken seriously. there is becoming/ growth, life / activity, death,
destruction / dissolution, recycling. <br />
<br />
<br />
3.
dance is a fundamental experience, as well as communication and
expression of our state of being, since it involves our entire physical
aspect of existing as organic beings, closely linked to proprioception,
emotions, interpersonal = social interaction. <br />
<br />
4. there is no anatomical division between body ( = our physical aspect) and mind ( = the functioning of our physical aspect) <br />
<br />
ad 4. because there is no actual division, all (repeated) actions, instincts, "life-hacks", stories,
myths, rituals, art, science, fiction, dreming, are all parts of these needed actions to
survive. <br />
<br />
<br />
5.
dance as a way of being involves the full organic vulnerability of our
existence. in cultures that assign aspects of hardness or softness to
certain groups of people ( e.g. based on perceived and constructed
genders ) these qualities are associated with those groups ( compare for
example = “feminine intuition”, homosexuality as an inherently
“feminine” or in any case “non-male” quality) <br />
<br />
6. to
silence, withhold, frustrate, impede the organic functioning of our
bodyminds is not only a matter of control that can help with temporary
survival: if it is done wrongly it leads to aggression, imbalance, with
all destructive consequences (compare Reich, Lowen, et al.) <br />
<br />
7.
to silence and obliterate the personal aspect of a person, including
their sexual preferences and life, as entirely separate from their
professional achievements is dishonest, blocks information and learning
for others who are in need of this information, and all too often used
for the above (6.) <br />
<br />
<br />
8. any simplifying
abstraction, formula, pattern is on the one side a necessary and
elementary function of survival, culture(s) are the direct result of
many of such patterns collected and practiced. however, any such
abstraction ( e.g. resulting mono-linearity) is never and must never be
confused, let alone absolutely imposed on organic and chaotic
multiplicity. Queerness, and many other kinds of “otherness” are good
examples of such failures, all too often with catastrophic results, both
on a smaller and definitely on a larger (e.g. planetary) scale. <br />
<br />
ad
8 (via M. Tuk, T. Horvers) - communication functions via abstraction(s)
of sensorial existence ( = signs) that are re-translated while drawing
from personal experience: this is their potential richness in the case
of shared ( = comparable) experiences & their shortcoming /
limitation as well. <br />
<br />
ad 8. ad 8 - successful communication creates communion = shared, common wealth<br />
this is why art gets destroyed and controlled the more totalitarian a government turns out to be. <br />
unfortunately such control often over-extends no-longer viable patterns of art / science / religion / communication / culture. <br />
<br />
9.
change remains possible. dance, as an organic function of the human
body mind reminds of the chaotic existence and the balance with
abstracted order, every day, every moment when we breathe, let go,
re-tense, etc.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_yxGs5w06o/Xwgn7SfniaI/AAAAAAAACy4/4PZ9P8FD2PgnjR4PGH9IvJXDJQ6uj7vHACPcBGAsYHg/s1600/verdichtung%2B-%2Bein%2Berster%2Banfang.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="959" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_yxGs5w06o/Xwgn7SfniaI/AAAAAAAACy4/4PZ9P8FD2PgnjR4PGH9IvJXDJQ6uj7vHACPcBGAsYHg/s1600/verdichtung%2B-%2Bein%2Berster%2Banfang.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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<br />Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-59884136557900152872020-06-15T09:07:00.003+02:002020-06-15T09:07:30.646+02:00needing form/ulawhile working on <i><a href="https://wittgensteindance.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Wittgenstein</a></i> and in the middle of social & cultural change around <b>Black Lives Matter</b>, I finally realise (again) the need for form and formula, to survive. these help to navigate within the world, and are essential. from identifying danger to dealing with other(s of the same) species, it is mandatory to perform the best working ones, in the best possible interaction and outcomes for all.<br />
<br />
one may call this state truth where the action performed is most closely in sync with all other processes, and becomes a "natural" part, can be absorbed.<br />
<br />
from instinct to habit to technology to culture to religion to science, these are all essentially strategies for survival. and they need to work well, for all involved.<br />
<br />
( hence the famous <b><i>think global act local</i></b> )<br />
<br />
<br />
with ongoing evolution ever wider areas of existence need to be considered and understood.<br />
what is referred to as 'the' <b>scientific method</b> is but one way to better understand what is going on, how to best adapt, what course of action may be safest in a situation.<br />
<br />
art is the same, creating, understanding by doing, <b>sensorial thinking and interaction</b>, a field of conversations where with every word we speak, every move we make, we re-create the dance, literature, acting of our times.<br />
<br />
just like in science there are general pools of such interactions and then some of us specialise in observing and trying to understand them better.<br />
<br />
extreme actions cost and can necessitate extreme counter-actions, unless a more deeply effective solution can be found.<br />
<br />
<br />
i believe history teaches that <b>any pattern and solution evolves</b>, has its shelf-life, needs ongoing dealing-with, understanding, refinement, at some point needs to dissolve and let go, make space for newer evolving forms. like with DNA it can be good to retain a memory of such earlier forms, in order to understand better what is happening in the present. risk confusion, but then trust that with more complex evolving, an resulting outcome may be more sustainable.<br />
<br />
there also needs to be space/energy for <b>alternatives</b> that at some point can provide a better solution, to avoid mono-cultures. in short, a well-working biotope of <b>biotopes</b>.<br />
<br />Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-90765437696047701742020-06-08T21:52:00.001+02:002020-06-08T21:52:55.384+02:00ungrowing from neurotic constrictions - Reich, body work, police defunding towards community programs<a href="https://www.democracynow.org/shows/2020/6/8" target="_blank">today's show of DemocracyNow!</a> (June 8, 2020) gave very inspiring examples of demands to de-fund the enormous budgets used by police in the United States of America. my immediate thought went towards the understanding of Wilhelm Reich, more than 100 years ago, about the desperate need for a freely moving, breathing, acting bodymind, which then can be much more response-able, social.<br />
<br />
in many ways I am following his analogy to cancer-growth, needing
enormous amounts of energy, and depriving vital functions of the oranism
from functioning because of uncontrolled growth.<br />
<br />
the
call for defunding an overgrowth of a single apparatus and re-using that
energy/funding towards programs that go to many of the roots of why
policing can be needed in the first places makes all the sense: invest
in the organ-ism as a whole, in its well-being, actively de-fund energy
from the armour.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">excursion Wilhelm Reich and body armour</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Reich understood the problem of constricting this movement in such a way that it interferes with vital movements of the bodymind, calling it neurosis, identifying an exalted state with the name emotional pestilence, citing racism as one of the outcomes. Reich re-discovered that these constrictions are actually muscular, ongoing contractions that are insufficiently released or not released at all. his analogic name for this state was body / muscle armour, because he understood that it did keep the individual "together" literally shielding weaker parts of the body from damage, but also kept the overall energy low. more often than not, sexual moves, especially of the pelvis would be most restricted, leading to an inability to orgastic release. </span></span><br />
<br />
dance has always been heavily regulated through all ages, precisely because it culturally regulates body movements and physical communication.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(in the Netherlands, enormous cuts have been made into the increasingly de-funded arts, with subsidized dance taking some of the most crippling cuts, for a relatively unremarkable saving of money. bullying is a more apt name of what is being done. parallel to these actions were governmentally lead defamation campaigns marginalizing art as "leftist hobbies", de-professionalizing the practitioners. today, in 2020, the Dutch Royal Airlines company receives a 4 Million Euro bailout, employing 30.000 people, with nearly 1 Million Euro bonusses to the top CEO's, while the entire arts-sector, after much protest, receives 300 Million Euro, but employing 300.000 people) </span></span><br />
<br />
it is time to re-vive dance again, with the openness of pioneers such as Elaine Summers, Mary O'Donnell-Fulkerson, and their precedessors, the rigour of somatic work that is to understand, rather than (re-)constrict, with the individual dancer as the very "frame", creating their own dance.<br />
<br />
existing dance languages remain precious collections of knowledge, movement and expression technologies, repositories of states of being evolving over time. they give understanding of where we came from historically, give examples that can be studied.<br />
<br />
at the same time it must remain vitally clear that development of contemporary dance become more than just a re-evaluation of these traditionally grown forms, even the oeuvres by all the mentioned choreographers & thinkers above. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-15282077196792421892020-01-13T10:28:00.000+01:002020-01-13T10:28:07.105+01:00bridging technique / hypber.ballet <div data-contents="true">
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e62ar" data-offset-key="ce5cn-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ce5cn-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="ce5cn-0-0"><span data-text="true">like 'skeletal' architecture, where the columns free the walls from having to carry the building, </span></span><b><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="ce5cn-1-0" spellcheck="false" start="98"><span data-offset-key="ce5cn-1-0"><span data-text="true">#bridgingtechnique</span></span></span></b><span data-offset-key="ce5cn-2-0"><span data-text="true"> can free the dancer from a single vocabulary (compare with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dom-Ino_House" target="_blank">maison Dom-Ino</a> by LeCorbusier, brought into full movement by </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaha_Hadid" target="_blank"><span class="_247o" data-offset-key="ce5cn-3-0" spellcheck="false" start="232"><span data-offset-key="ce5cn-3-0"><span data-text="true">Zaha Hadid</span></span></span></a><span data-offset-key="ce5cn-4-0"><span data-text="true"> ... ) </span></span></div>
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<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7j3ka-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="7j3ka-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e62ar" data-offset-key="3bmg3-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="3bmg3-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="3bmg3-0-0"><span data-text="true">this approach requires a careful choice of the best possible 'skeleton' and ingredients : so far I have found </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="3bmg3-1-0" spellcheck="false" start="110"><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-1-0"><span data-text="true">#<a href="http://kineticawarenesscenter.org/" target="_blank">KineticAwareness</a></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-2-0"><span data-text="true">, </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="3bmg3-3-0" spellcheck="false" start="129"><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-3-0"><span data-text="true">#<a href="https://www.bodymindcentering.com/" target="_blank">BodyMindCentering</a></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-4-0"><span data-text="true">, </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="3bmg3-5-0" spellcheck="false" start="149"><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-5-0"><span data-text="true">#<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_improvisation" target="_blank">contactimprovisation</a></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-6-0"><span data-text="true">, </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="3bmg3-7-0" spellcheck="false" start="172"><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-7-0"><span data-text="true">#<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_chi" target="_blank">taijiquan</a></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-8-0"><span data-text="true">, </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="3bmg3-9-0" spellcheck="false" start="184"><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-9-0"><span data-text="true">#<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laban_movement_analysis" target="_blank">LabanMovementAnalysis</a></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-10-0"><span data-text="true">, </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="3bmg3-11-0" spellcheck="false" start="208"><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-11-0"><span data-text="true">#<a href="https://www.mercecunningham.org/the-work/cunningham-technique/" target="_blank">CunninghamTechnique</a></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-12-0"><span data-text="true">, </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="3bmg3-13-0" spellcheck="false" start="230"><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-13-0"><span data-text="true">#<a href="http://noaeshkol.org/about-eshkol-wachman-movement-notation/basic-principals-of-ewmn/" target="_blank">EshkolWachmanMovementNotation</a></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-14-0"><span data-text="true">, </span></span><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="3bmg3-15-0" spellcheck="false" start="262"><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-15-0"><span data-text="true">#<a href="https://sixviewpoints.com/thesstems" target="_blank">SixViewpoints</a></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-16-0"><span data-text="true">, all together creating the possibility of </span></span><b><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="3bmg3-17-0" spellcheck="false" start="316"><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-17-0"><span data-text="true">#hyperballet</span></span></span></b><span data-offset-key="3bmg3-18-0"><span data-text="true">, as one of many options</span></span></div>
</div>
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<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="7c582-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="7c582-0-0"><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e62ar" data-offset-key="4kgnu-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4kgnu-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="4kgnu-0-0"><span data-text="true">fortunately this is just one of the many diverse directions in dance, each dance-culture has different goals and means, in the endless desire to move, communicate, and survive ... </span></span></div>
</div>
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<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="e5f10-0-0">
<span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="e5f10-0-0" spellcheck="false" start="0"><span data-offset-key="e5f10-0-0"><span data-text="true">#EuropeanNotEurocentric</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="e5f10-1-0"><span data-text="true"> </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="e62ar" data-offset-key="cquld-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="cquld-0-0">
<span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="cquld-0-0" spellcheck="false" start="0"><span data-offset-key="cquld-0-0"><span data-text="true">#globalawarenessordieouttrying</span></span></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="cquld-0-0">
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<span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="cquld-0-0" spellcheck="false" start="0"><span data-offset-key="cquld-0-0"><span data-text="true"> * for a more detailed description and critique, read </span></span></span><br />
<a href="https://ncpa.eu/knowledgebase/bridging-technique-a-blueprint-for-dancing-the-rainbow/" target="_blank"><span class="_5zk7" data-offset-key="cquld-0-0" spellcheck="false" start="0"><span data-offset-key="cquld-0-0"><span data-text="true">https://ncpa.eu/knowledgebase/bridging-technique-a-blueprint-for-dancing-the-rainbow/</span></span></span></a></div>
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Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-38138330931796716092019-12-08T22:38:00.002+01:002019-12-08T22:40:43.144+01:00Art Authorities & (state) Power<i>When the canary in the coal mine goes silent, we should be very afraid —
not only because its song was so beautiful, but also because it was the
only sign that we still had a chance to see daylight again.</i> <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Eve L. Ewing, University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration</span></span></span><br />
<br />
after I recently attended several pieces and discussions about majority-minority questions at the <a href="https://www.dunapart.net/en/home.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">duna part festival</a> 2019 in Budapest, Hungary, I realize this sentence about the dis-senting Other is more important in the age of machine-enforced (totalitarian) perfection than ever ...<br />
<br />
please read the full article here <br />
<a href="https://nyti.ms/2oLKNnN">https://nyti.ms/2oLKNnN</a><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mwjub6X5I-I/Xe1tHgBbAHI/AAAAAAAACog/KuIYIN4bUskZPyd54OHI8QXseBKLgLzcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/CultureIsTheNationalFund.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="512" height="158" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mwjub6X5I-I/Xe1tHgBbAHI/AAAAAAAACog/KuIYIN4bUskZPyd54OHI8QXseBKLgLzcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/CultureIsTheNationalFund.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Logo for Hungarian Protest Movement against Imminent Cuts</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-200077713745722582019-02-25T12:06:00.003+01:002019-02-25T12:20:28.395+01:00naked bare (bear) pieces: music - and other "helpers"/facilitators/enzymes of/for movementafter a very long phase where works grew and still keep growing from and by interaction with set musical pieces, I am once more thrown back onto movement without this additional element. for a while, ongoing sounds <a href="https://youtu.be/yKj_OBus98A" target="_blank">like these healing drones</a> felt especially good, and for training with others to them. but now even that should be off, for a time.<br />
<br />
it feels almost like getting off drugs, because in my current state it is so easy to move in response to musical stimulation on all levels.<br />
<br />
I had always made it my point to dance as a Gesamtkunstwerk, using my own bodymind as the core system, where all would come together, be perceived, worked with, each at its own intensity (in a way, following through on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Summers" target="_blank">Elaine Summers</a>' notion of intermedia, where two or more media merge to in-form a "third" ... ) <br />
<br />
but now I am returning to the sense that just my moving body is enough justification for the dance to be "legitimate", worth the effort <b>and</b> the attention. and that without the extra stimulus/happening, my bodymind can and will have some quite different things to do / "say", on its own.<br />
<br />
<br />
additionally I also increasingly enjoy dancing naked (easy enough in my home backroom/studio) <br />
again there is a similar feeling of bare openness of myriads subtle possibilities and chances. <br />
<br />
finally, I recognize that -just as in the first phase of Kinetic Awareness® (echoing Viewpoints)- it can be good to slow everything down and explore one element / bodypart at a time. in this case the / my moving human bodymind, on its own, with only the co-incidental sounds that John Cage rightly identified as music.<br />
<br />
and challenge the idea of a 'machine' with a limiting, and more <b>safe</b>ly expectable, outcome / result ...<br />
<br />
<br />
on a similar plane, but not the same: <i><br /></i><br />
<i>And this then began to bother me because perhaps I was getting drunk with melody [...] and so I began again. [...] That led me to some very differnt writing that I am going to tell you about in the next thing. </i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Gertrude Stein, from <i>Portraits and Repetition</i>, "Lectures in America", 1934</span><i> </i><br />
<br />Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-66061399589912464832019-02-24T11:02:00.005+01:002022-07-11T20:42:15.134+02:00male abandon - conceiving/dreaming of group pieces<p>after having enjoyed beyond words the enormously stimulating (!) public research by <href ="https://www.randomcollision.net/" target="_blank">Random Collision</a> at <b>Theater Rotterdam / Moving Futures</b> two days ago<a href="#NEWLINK">**</a> , I keep working on a series of dances that all put (cis-passing?) men in very vulnerable and open situations, emotional, sensitive and sensual, present, embodied.<br />
<br />
much of the work is made for gay and Queer men who already by their sexual practices are not enjoying the same kind of mainstreamed-culture protection.<br />
<br />
but in the basics, I am surprised how much a male thing it seems to be, to go for abandoning the self, surrendering to the impuls, the risk, beckoning a partner for mating, daring to give it all away for this one moment of maybe procreating (...)<br />
<br />
this to me, also from personal experience, seems to be a centrally male quality in a sense.<br />
and how far it may permeate other choices. </p><p><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/541023770#t=224s?h=469bdbb53d" width="500"></iframe>
</p>
<a name="NEWLINK" id="NEWLING">**</a>
<br>
the Moving Futures webpage exists no longer, instead here is a <a href="http://www.randomcollision.net/notes-on-synchrony/" target="_blank">link to the project</a>Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-11697455026002198832019-02-11T19:12:00.001+01:002019-02-11T19:12:50.455+01:00Budapest quotes"<b>Tradition ist Schlamperei</b>" (tradition is sloppiness) - attributed to Gustav Mahler, no source<br />
<a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Gustav_Mahler">https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Gustav_Mahler</a><br />
<br />
"<b>if it ain't impossible to begin with, at the very least, it's not worth my time or attention</b>" (unknown) Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-25098041449030290572018-05-31T11:28:00.001+02:002018-05-31T11:54:12.009+02:00understanding culturetranslate for movement ... including emotions, body states, dealing with energy & dynamics in communicating from & with body states to one another <br />
<br />
culture is creating shortcuts, patterns that can help to survive<br />
whether it's on a level of growing cells into bones (for example) for translating gravity into movement, or a habit or an opinion. for training dance this insight is crucial.<br />
I hope more dance professionals will grow into this understanding.<br />
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PS - keep in mind though ... ;-)<br />
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<br />Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-58599763961181073782018-03-09T22:05:00.002+01:002022-05-04T23:14:18.525+02:00in response to Laura Shapiro's post "Reading and Writing and Dancing"see the <b><a href="https://quicksilverdance.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/reading-and-writing-and-dancing/" target="_blank">original post by Laura Shapiro here</a></b><br />
responses published by kind suggestion & in communication with the author who is performing today, March 9th, 2018 *<br />
__________<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;">[...] </span>what is
deemed<b><i> language</i></b> is multiple in "structures" (as in formations) and
media, some of it expressed by use of vocal chords & visual
abstractions made from those sound-patterns. But true literacy goes much
further, known or unknown.
<br />
<br />
In my own view those who deem dance "non-verbal" actually <span style="color: #999999;">are in danger to </span>perpetuate
what some call Kyriarchy (<a href="http://www.bellhooksinstitute.com/" target="_blank">bell hooks</a> calls it White Supremacist
Imperialist Patriarchy for the culture-zone that you and I live with-in
... ) - because<span style="color: #666666;"> <span style="color: #999999;">by implication</span></span> they <span style="color: #999999;">may</span> negate the important kinaesthetic messages that are
transferred, being body-states of all kinds.<br />
<br />
To become literate in these body-languages is essential in becoming
politically more able to act, so therefore it's also a question of
(dis)empowerment, when people (still) do that - or when you get refused a
job on an observation that for you is perfectly normal and clear.<br /><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">[...] </span>What I meant was that the more we are able to understand the signals and languages of our
bodies, how they feel, the states they are in, and what is needed to
do, we become more politically able as well, and have increased agency.
<span style="background-color: #ffa400;">But while for you it is clear that there is no actual division between
mind and body, that they function as one system, others are shocked at
such a statement</span>. <br /><br />
It seems to me that in too many religions not only is a such division
made, but what is relegated to 'the body' is all too often associated
with negativity, such as sinfulness, low levels of existence, drives,
inability etc. <br /><br />
I find these assumptions remarkably similar to how economically
disempowered classes are seen, be they Women, (formerly) enslaved
people, "lower classes", or even other animals: <br /><br />
- <span style="color: #999999;">supposedly </span>not able to deal rationally with themselves, thus needing 'higher
guidance'
<br />- deserving to be ruled, and above all disciplined for the general good,
otherwise danger could ensue for a perceived (social, cosmic, or other
kind of) order.
<br /><br /><br />As choreographers, you and I and those who make poetry out of (human)
movement, can communicate a better understanding of this
system/continuum, where the created opposites of 'mind' and 'body' can
be experienced working together.
<br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">[...]</span><br />I also believe that Elaine Summers and her work, and so many others
(e.g. Anna Halprin) often met such resistance, because she would let her
dancers speak their own language, rather than one already confined
& accepted (e.g. based on forms of what is remembered as
European-American classical Ballet)<br />
<br />
There's actually a nice parallel in the German language for what I aim
at: the word meaning 'mouthy' / 'with a mouth' ("mündig") means able
& allowed to speak & express one's mind & views. Imagine if
e.g. (cis)women (let alone trans-women) suddenly were allowed to freely
speak their mind ... (let alone formerly enslaved people from African
lands) <br />
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;">[...]</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">* <span face="Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Laura Shapiro is a New York-based choreographer, performer and teacher who has steadily continued to create and produce her own works for some decades by now. We met 1996 in Amsterdam at the Connected Bodies symposium at SNDO and have continued to be friends in professional exchange ever since then. </span></span><br />
<br />Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-53631348400835303952018-02-26T11:20:00.004+01:002018-08-15T19:07:41.000+02:00 ecolodances and A Love Supreme (new series..?) after decolonization (<i>Pelléas material / b.a.n.q.</i>) and identity (<i>medvetánc - degrees of (in)tangibility</i>) i am feeling ready for a new series of dance that is freed up towards an ecological continuum and awareness with and in which to move.<br />
<br />
paradoxically the music that I am drawn to can be described roughly as "Liberal Whitey Pleaser Pop/ular" : from a segue of the film-score by Stanley Meyers for the 1980s mini-series of <i>The Martian Chronicles</i>, to <i>Rhythm of Life</i> by Oleta Adams and <i>Oh People!</i> by Patti Labelle (maybe I'll even include <i>Black or White</i> by Michael Jackson ... ) - on the other end of the spectrum Ryuichi Sakamoto's <i>NEO GEO</i> which quotes and alters an Okinawan fisher-song and Balinese monkey-chanting, in an echo of post-colonial relations. despite their well-crafted and evocative sophistication, all of these works of music are essentially, and by today's standards, well-fitting with Bourgeois, well-measured, non-radical. they are also -let's face it- in danger of becoming consumable, and therfore disposable trash-culture, albeit each with a potential message that today may need to be taken more seriously than ever.<br />
<br />
because the delivery is decidedly non-radical in tone, never hurtful, most employing a sandy yellow color in their respective videos, they may very well fit with an urgent need for less violence in the face of mounting ecological desaster for not only the human species.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>the medium is ... the message?</b><br />
despite these musical lenses for the dances, the internal messages are outcries, desperate, enraged, pleading, a push-back against too much careless and/or outdated verbiage that by-passes ecological understanding within or without. <br />
<br />
similar to forms of <i>tai ji quan</i>, all movements are suspended in mid-air, with the spine gently tilted forward, never upright; the motions work with the entire kinesphere in an energetic sense, folding, condensing, contracting, releasing, dissipating etc. all body-parts are very involved, as is the gaze of the performer, usually centered, but receptive, listening, not outward; their acting intention, rhythms, shapes, subtle dynamics in-formation.<br />
<br />
will I succeed to re-create the inner passion, deep emotion, connectedness, committment that the music mentioned above can evoke when I listen to it? <br />
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<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="WUPPERTAL" name="WUPPERTAL"></a>
.<br />
<b>Wuppertal-exchange</b><br />
yesterday, Eurythmic therapist Kyra Flöcker, Jazz vocalist Ute Reinbott, and i worked on an exchange from our respective backgrounds. we explored musical intervals and how they felt in our bodies when moving with them in sound. interestingly I very often got resemblances with the Eurythmic teachings about each interval, which makes sense given that we kept firmly moving within a European-centered cultural zone for both of us.<br />
<br />
for me it also was clear that the wider concerns of Eurythmics can lead to the needed ecological awareness that I believe is mandatory for a chance of further survival. the same ecological concern, but in a Socratic or even Zen-like tradition of not-assuming directly translates into the discipline of Kinetic Awareness® where the primary action is open listening.<br />
<br />
for Kyra and myself, opening up ourselves to Jazz as a form of expression that we are familiar, but do not actively engage with (Elaine Summers loved to work with Jazz, for that matter) was a further step in our ongoing exchange. I also remembered when I accidentally discovered the use of swing in movement, which at that moment on the job helped me to keep on walking despite a serious impediment by a sprained ankle. this made great sense remembering the conditions for enslaved Afro-Americans trying to survive the plantations. the amount of internal pain that seems to keep on swinging in so much of African American music, even when the tone seems cool and low in energy, equally keeps making sense, not just from intellectual reflection. <br />
<br />
<b>A Love Supreme</b><br />
somewhat in contrast to the above, i also find myself listening to John Coltrane's <i>A Love Supreme</i>,
which given my own cultural development is a bit of a surprise: unlike
with my youngest brother, Jazz never got too much of a direct hold on
me, I missed clarity of melodic lines or chord-sequence, and quickly got disillusioned with the kinds of improvisation that did not fulfill what i was after - all of this coupled with a "subtle distance" (=internalized racism) towards Black African people. <br />
<br />
despite snide remarks from a.o. Miles Davis about this piece, the title alone suggests devotion and committment, risk, and movement. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salva_Sanchis" target="_blank">Salva Sanchis</a> made a series of dances to it in 2014 and continued to work on them. the kinds of movement suggest a very similar development as what I described above. so much for being con-temporaries ... <br />
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<br />
anyway, i have only just begun working. <br />
thank goodness I have a working space, and now a camera to record rehearsals with - thanks ever & again <a href="https://www.deborahblack.net/" target="_blank">Deborah Black</a>* and <a href="http://kineticawarenesscenter.org/" target="_blank">Kinetic Awareness® Center</a>!<br />
<br />
looking forward to further developments ... <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><br />* Deborah Black is currently developing and teaching her own practice called Radical Presence. more about it can be found on her <a href="https://www.deborahblack.net/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">website</a>. </span>Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-58705719007831639432017-09-07T21:01:00.000+02:002017-10-14T13:57:34.954+02:00revisiting "In Circles", 20-year anniversary | Rotterdam 2017<i><a href="http://realdancecompany.org/incircles.html" target="_blank">In Circles</a></i> was started in 1996 and the original dance was conceived directly during the last months of my study at the Rotterdamse Dansacademie (now codarts) - a whirling furioso ... <br />
<br />
on October 18th, 1997 the dance had its <a href="https://youtu.be/EjmWmkyPIMc?t=11m0s" target="_blank">first public performance in New York City as Reàl Dance Company</a>. now it's 2017 and <a href="https://youtu.be/HS6KBUx07v8" target="_blank">I am revisiting the piece for a new performance</a>, 20 years after the first time. the outcome will be presented on <b>October 20th</b> in Dansateliers, Rotterdam. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2017</b><br />
I already felt back in 1996 that I would need much of my
career to grow and develop the tools that I needed to create this dance
that I had in mind. then I went for it, and it was even more work than I had anticipated. but as of last week, I feel that for me the dance is as 'ready' as it could be, still evolving, in front of the audience, which it was and is meant to do. <br />
<br />
for this public performance I got kind permission by Donemus publishers to use the original inspiration of Simeon ten Holt's now very popular classic<i> Canto Ostinato </i>as the music. after a long search, I found the specific recording from 1984 that had been used by <b>Krisztina de Châtel</b> for her work <i><a href="http://www.kdechatel.com/krisztina-de-chatel/choreografieen/typhoon/" target="_blank">Typhoon</a></i> and was also available at the library of the Rotterdamse Dansacademie (now codarts). this recording had been with me for over 20 years and I kept listening to it off and on. because this recording is 'set', I will have to adapt my actions to the set flow of the music. <br />
<br />
in this respect, it was also important to learn about the frame of "open" and "closed" forms of choreography when I studied <b>Open Form Composition</b> at <b>ArtEZ/Dance Unlimited</b>, 2002-2004. It helped me work within the vast understanding opened up by <a href="http://elainesummersdance.com/" target="_blank">Elaine Summers</a> about dance and its infinite, sensorial, options. <br />
<br />
accepting Open Form Composition meant accepting something 'unfinished' which was a major criticism and difficulty that I kept facing. it took a very long time before I could develop the softness and sensitivity of creating with a more kinesthetic memory. now I have a framework that does not have to harm the content, but
help it become itself and still remain alive and in the moment.<br />
<br />
I also feel much more aware of the Dutch local context in Rotterdam, in which I am working. even if I can say that I am continually crossing over various places, I am still very much here and need to understand the ongoing conditions of making work here, if I want to be successful enough to realize what I want. <a href="http://www.skvr.nl/Cursusaanbod/Dans.aspx" target="_blank">SKVR Dansschool</a> are kindly and generously providing much studio space, for which I am deeply grateful. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>X crossings ... </b><br />
basically, the dance is about getting lost in rabbit-holes of
details, self-made, self-created structures that present the ever
ongoing problem of entanglement, but also of growth & development,
for which these structures have been created in the first place, an
inevitable consequence of breathing, living, moving.<br />
<br />
in my daily life, it is time after time that I get caught in these crossings -moments where I cannot move through. most of the time it is very unpleasant, a conflict, something that I cannot resolve, or something that I feel I am doing wrong, out of tune, violating the context at that moment. <i>In Circles </i>keeps literally moving into and exploring these crucial moments, repetitively, changing over time, but always varying around a number of eventually recognizable patterns. at times there are also resolutions, happening live during the performance of the dance ... <br />
<br />
(and of course a moment can also be wonderful, uplifting, liberating, etc. )<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>intersectional => holistic awareness</b><br />
<i>In Circles</i> marked the beginning of a series of works that I call the black series, related to the (non)color. all works in this series are very theatrical, open to the transcendental, meditative. they all explore emptiness, non-existence, which I realized is a source. all costumes in this series are black, no other colour except the human body of the interpreter. <br />
<br />
although I was greaty impacted in 1996 by growing up gay, a wider intersectional awareness of racism, or classism was all but absent in my mind, or at best in very rudimentary beginnings. living in a very multicultural city like Rotterdam, where delineations of cultural segregation are not always clearly visible in public space, this may strike as an anomaly. but it took me a very long time to slowly grow into some more understanding and I am very grateful to the people who knew how to make a positive difference for me in this respect. fortunately this process is continuing. <br />
<br />
with the current series <i><a href="http://realdancecompany.org/Savage.html" target="_blank">medvetánc : degrees of (in)tangibility</a></i> where the dominant colours are organic brown and gold, I seem to have found a way out of the initial more conceptual white & black, to human/animal, understanding. still, much is to be done.<br />
.<br />. <br />
I realize that I cannot change much about the dance, it is me at that moment, a product of the culture that I come from. and so there are no overt references, as in <i>Pelléas material / b.a.n.q.</i> (2014) <br />
however I believe it can be read in a closed way, or in an open way, open to change. that depends on the response-ability of the witnessing audience member, and once again I am asking myself what I can expect of a general public in Rotterdam, and those who will come to the studio-presentation. <br />
<br />if I were to transfer the dance to the originally envisioned five
performers, each one of them would have to develop their way of dealing
with the music, the movement-vocabulary (based on walking and gestures)
and their interpretation. the very choice of performers would have to be done with consciousness about their society and where the performance will be done. <br />
<br />
.<br />
<b>conclusion</b><br />
it is my hope that whatever will come out as the result, will sufficiently reflect the potential of the
dance to a wider audience, still fulfilling the rule of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9ret_Oppenheim" target="_blank">Meret Oppenheim</a>
about good art ("either it lives or it doesn't!") and her admonition
for the artist to "work, work, work, without looking left or right"<br />the pleasure of being in a stage where this is all I need to do (warm up and then do the dance to my fullest) is very fulfilling and I hope the audience(s) will have the same experience. <br />
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<b>quote of the day:</b> <br />
<i>To oppose something is to maintain it. They say here “all roads lead to Mishnory”. To be sure, if you turn your back on Mishnory and walk away from it, you are still on the Mishnory road. [..] You must go somewhere else; you must have another goal, then you walk a different road. <br /><br />To be an atheist is to maintain God. Existent or nonexistent amount to much the same on the plane of proof. Thus </i>proof<i> is a word not often used among the Handarata, who have chosen not to treat God as a fact, subject either to proof or belief: and they have broken the circle and go free. </i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />(<a href="http://www.ursulakleguin.com/" target="_blank">Ursula K. Le Guin</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Left_Hand_of_Darkness" target="_blank">The Left Hand of Darkness</a>, 1969) </span><br />
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<br />Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-26614578964822516852017-08-17T21:01:00.000+02:002017-09-07T21:03:51.277+02:00multi-dimensional thinking patterns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vv0UvCqkz-c/RzrGa_pNv4I/AAAAAAAAAEs/7yh9uwCGUFcgWmpXUG3iJnq1YxTeI64zgCPcB/s1600/verdichtung%2B-%2Bein%2Berster%2Banfang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="959" height="239" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vv0UvCqkz-c/RzrGa_pNv4I/AAAAAAAAAEs/7yh9uwCGUFcgWmpXUG3iJnq1YxTeI64zgCPcB/s320/verdichtung%2B-%2Bein%2Berster%2Banfang.jpg" width="320" /> </a> </div>
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from complexity to linear </div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kdk0oL3Y_b0/RzrG6vpNv6I/AAAAAAAAAE8/8M_li_T9WzsQQxecqsa8bPwN_oK5qKccwCPcB/s1600/emerging%2Bline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="303" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kdk0oL3Y_b0/RzrG6vpNv6I/AAAAAAAAAE8/8M_li_T9WzsQQxecqsa8bPwN_oK5qKccwCPcB/s320/emerging%2Bline.jpg" width="252" /></a><br />
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many lines, emerging in space & time <br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cA7XQumxlN0/RzrHOfpNv7I/AAAAAAAAAFE/eWNT07-lA3k1w5JsnPlhY7rgFIFRoqbmwCPcB/s1600/relationships%2BMEDIUM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1280" height="230" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cA7XQumxlN0/RzrHOfpNv7I/AAAAAAAAAFE/eWNT07-lA3k1w5JsnPlhY7rgFIFRoqbmwCPcB/s320/relationships%2BMEDIUM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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many such processes happening at the same time</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hfl1ZMxdxJk/SBdyV2NP-xI/AAAAAAAAAGk/i0uDNqj1rQ0r1_kDOqDMjTueoYwCqGmQgCPcB/s1600/Contact%2Bsmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="649" height="256" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hfl1ZMxdxJk/SBdyV2NP-xI/AAAAAAAAAGk/i0uDNqj1rQ0r1_kDOqDMjTueoYwCqGmQgCPcB/s320/Contact%2Bsmall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>relative hierarchy</b>: </div>
here depicted as a continuum between <span style="color: lime;">green</span>, <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">blue</span>, black, or <span style="color: #a64d79;">red</span><br />
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to move uses energy, </div>
con-sequentially -unless the one-directionality of time/energy is reversable- <br />
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e.g. going to <span style="color: purple;">red</span>-black, when you really want to move to <span style="color: lime;">green</span> <span style="color: #666666;">(thus go indirectly)</span></div>
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will not always be helpful </div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">(but sometimes inevitable)</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wgnanikl4s0/SXaaqkM_3XI/AAAAAAAAArY/T52qAhiaNWkEHtPYxXWD-jFmDRaSUR9SACPcB/s1600/particlespath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="403" height="291" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wgnanikl4s0/SXaaqkM_3XI/AAAAAAAAArY/T52qAhiaNWkEHtPYxXWD-jFmDRaSUR9SACPcB/s320/particlespath.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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traces left behind of many such movements</div>
<i>"in circles"</i> ... <br />
<br />Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-80556822118211141242017-05-14T11:27:00.002+02:002017-05-14T11:27:34.193+02:00in response to William Lü's latest experiment on dance/language<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="27go" data-offset-key="63ua3-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="63ua3-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="63ua3-0-0">Here's the link to the video: <br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/kamomeintl/videos/1886580968249854/">https://www.facebook.com/kamomeintl/videos/1886580968249854/</a></span></div>
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="63ua3-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="63ua3-0-0"><br />And here's my response: <br /></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="27go" data-offset-key="1pnfi-0-0">
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<span data-offset-key="1pnfi-0-0"><span data-text="true">Movement is a state (and condition) of existence, and there are as many languages from movement as there are those made with vocals. (e.g. English </span></span><span class="_3gl1 _5zz4" style="background-image: url("https://www.facebook.com/images/emoji.php/v8/f57/1/16/1f609.png"); background-size: 16px 16px; height: 16px; width: 16px;"><span class="_ncl"><span data-offset-key="1pnfi-1-0"><span data-text="true"> </span></span></span></span><span data-offset-key="1pnfi-2-0"><span data-text="true"> ) Just as with everything else, people all over the world have evolved various ways of moving and yes, also dancing: kinds of walking, bowing/greeting, not/touching, working etc. all depending on social norms, desires, and other conditions of life. Dance can exaggerate and/or complement these movements in such wonderful ways. </span></span></div>
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<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="27go" data-offset-key="auuul-0-0">
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<span data-offset-key="auuul-0-0"><span data-text="true">The next thing I am thinking of is how with the growth of European (post) modernism there have been schools like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laban_Movement_Analysis" target="_blank">Laban Movement Analysis</a> where an attempt was made to understand movement beyond a single language or single vocabularies. </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Halprin" target="_blank"><span class="_247o" data-offset-key="auuul-1-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="auuul-1-0"><span data-text="true">Anna Halprin</span></span></span></a><span data-offset-key="auuul-2-0"><span data-text="true">, </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Summers" target="_blank"><span class="_247o" data-offset-key="auuul-3-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="auuul-3-0"><span data-text="true">Elaine Summers</span></span></span></a><span data-offset-key="auuul-4-0"><span data-text="true"> and her work Kinetic Awareness®, </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Fulkerson" target="_blank"><span class="_247o" data-offset-key="auuul-5-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="auuul-5-0"><span data-text="true">Mary O'Donnell</span></span></span></a><span data-offset-key="auuul-6-0"><span data-text="true"> and her work <a href="http://www.releasedance.com/ReleaseDance/HOME.html" target="_blank">Release</a>, and other somatic movement approaches, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judson_Dance_Theater" target="_blank">Judson Dance Theater</a>, the </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Overlie" target="_blank"><span class="_247o" data-offset-key="auuul-7-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="auuul-7-0"><span data-text="true">Six Viewpoints</span></span></span></a><span data-offset-key="auuul-8-0"><span data-text="true">, but also writings of </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich" target="_blank"><span class="_247o" data-offset-key="auuul-9-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="auuul-9-0"><span data-text="true">Wilhelm Reich</span></span></span></a><span data-offset-key="auuul-10-0"><span data-text="true"> (especially his article "The Expressive Language of that which is Alive") are all good examples. I would also think of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurythmy" target="_blank">Eurythmy</a> and the amazing ways of how condensation and dilation of aura/ energy are made by the costumes and movements through space, very codified in specific relation to sound & vocal languages. </span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="jo8f-0-0"><span data-text="true">Fortunately there are many more such theories and thoughts about movement & dance all over the planet, sometimes with very explicit theories explaining every single movement, sometimes remaining centered in ongoing practice & vocabulary with all the philosophy and theory literally embodied and danced ... </span></span></div>
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Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-86094382372829444502017-04-13T11:40:00.003+02:002022-06-21T19:16:57.645+02:00contemporary realities - Trisha Brown's "Set & Reset" - postmodern challenge & promise<span style="color: #999999;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(re-written after the recent passing of Trisha Brown) </span></span></span><br />
<br />
recently I once again reviewed <a href="http://www.trishabrowncompany.org/index.php?section=34" target="_blank">Trisha Brown</a>'s classic <b><i>Set & Reset Version 1</i></b> on VHS-video in its epoch-making one-take recording from 1985 by James Byrne, danced by the original cast who significantly interpreted the choreography: Trisha Brown, Diane Madden, Irene Hultman, Eva Karczag, Stephen Petronio, Vicky Schick, Randy Warshaw<br />
<br />
it was a great joy to experience how after 20 years of seeing this video again & again, this time I could finally follow all the various developments of the simple basic composition: <br />
the dancers perform variations on 3 basic phrases, <br />
which are continually modulated in ever new and exciting variations and
interactions.<br />
<br />
in musical terms, the dance resembles the Baroque form of the Fuga = <br />
<i>a theme is interpreted polyphonically, always with the same start, but different continuations. </i><br />
<br />
that's all, really ... <br />
but in this realization alone there are up to 7 individual dancers, 7 such voices, interacting spatially with each other, and the results are wonderful, brilliant, complex, exploring swinging free-flow momentum and daring excitement. <span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(see <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWr-RusEUQQ" target="_blank">here</a> the re-work of the Budapest School of Dance </span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> facilitated by Eva Karczag and Vicky Shick from</span></span> 2009 with 8 dancers, among them prize-winning choreographer Adrienn Hód and dancer Emese Cuhorka)</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<b><br />1994 ... </b><br />
I remember very well how as a young dance student at the Rotterdamse Dansacademie (now codarts) I was very drawn to this piece, entirely fascinated - but not yet able to understand the movements well enough so that I could also follow them more specifically in their complex <b><i>polykinetic</i></b> development.<br />
<br />
the complexity and variations went beyond the more mono-linear dance-vocabularies and practices that I had been trained to understand, even while I had started to independently study the Kinetic Awareness<sup><span style="font-size: xx-small;">®</span></sup> work of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Summers" target="_blank">Elaine Summers</a>. when seeing these works of Trisha Brown I was confronted with movement-languages that originated from a different, deeper and wider understanding of the human bodymind and its possible movements. <br />
<br />
this difficulty went so far that when I first saw a live-performance of Trisha Brown Company in Amsterdam 1992, I nearly fell asleep like babies do, because my brain needed off-time to rewire from the newly received kinesthetic information ... but when I got up from my seat, I could physically feel that my body had gotten a new understanding of movement, much like after a good dance-class. <br />
<br />
ever since then I have kept re-visiting and reviewing this dance-recording, like a very good book, and it has become one of the "Bibles" of my life, a true classic: offering a balance of simplicity and complexity, and an example that invites to be followed - <br />
in fact, I've always had to be very careful not to merely imitate movements from the dance language of this piece and related work, although sometimes some of the moves just "pop-up" right in the middle of an improvisation ... (essentially creating a new tradition)<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZRw5s1USt0o/WO9NXgznfII/AAAAAAAACDg/_1kxHaYPDbUw_EVDpcs5BDQRN5iyS1A9QCLcB/s1600/t%2Ba%2Bk.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZRw5s1USt0o/WO9NXgznfII/AAAAAAAACDg/_1kxHaYPDbUw_EVDpcs5BDQRN5iyS1A9QCLcB/s320/t%2Ba%2Bk.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I believe it is no accident that for some time Trisha Brown collaborated and studied Kinetic Awareness<sup><span style="font-size: xx-small;">®</span></sup> with Elaine Summers: both had been deeply involved with the collective later known as Judson Dance Theater, both created dance-works in public space. Brown had also danced in Summers' early version of <i>Energy Changes</i>, called <i>From the Still Point</i> performed as a duet with Summers at Loeb Student Center, NYU 1971<br />
<br />
there had been ongoing exchanges between both professionals, such as when Pearl Bowser, associate artist at Summers' Experimental Intermedia Foundation, [...] edited footage that Elaine Summers filmed of the performance of Brown's <i>Walking on the Wall</i> at the Whitney Museum of American Art, to be made into an intermedia-installation (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG9qT9GlwGk" target="_blank">see video</a>), etc. ** <br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Linearity, con-formity ... </b><br />
watching Trisha Brown instruct two dancers of her then-company in Michael Blackwood's documentary <i>Making Dances </i>from 1980, I do notice how Brown's ability to articulate her body is much more complex in its simultaneous multi-directionality than that of both dancers, who are trying to absorb the free-flow calligraphy, spontaneously thrown out by her into time and space. <br />
<br />
it must also be mentioned that not much longer after this documentary Trisha Brown eventually did chose to return to the traditional confines of more traditional 'Western' proscenium theaters, and the expectations of a more traditional European/-American socio-economic elite, coupled with capitalist-elitist financial rewards, dearly needed to maintain her company on a professional level, pay a living wage to dancers, administrators, technicians etc. <br />
<b><br /></b>
what for many is new, amazing, revolutionary - especially for those of us who remain in an area where we are repeating incremental variations of ever less deeply understood traditional dance languages (which in return as often as not are made into 'new' disposable toss-fodder for the dance-industrial-complex) - is how Trisha Browns' work manages to bring a wider range of complexity of possible human movement together with such an old-fashioned traditional mono-linearity, but still with enough of the liveliness that created this movement in the first place, evoking a specific kind of human character/state that these movements suggest. again, in that sense a classical artist: offering a balance of simplicity and complexity - in this case also tradition and innovation- and an example that invites to be followed ... <br />
<br />
Trisha Brown actually did what <a href="https://youtu.be/P14KynD0qlk?t=1m36s" target="_blank">back then she said in Blackwood's documentary she so despised</a>: she did turn around and did make a step back, took the most willing people of an audience by the hand, and crossed the line with them, again, ... offered something a bit more understandable, which still had some force of the exciting promise of multiplicity and complexity of organic, spiritual life in it. <br />
<br />
as a result, today even the Paris Opera Ballet can find a way to come closer to an interpretation of Brown's choreography. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #999999;">see <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CXNjkMbriw" target="_blank">video here</a></span></span></span><br />
<b><br /><br />others ...</b><br />
peers, like Elaine Summers, who chose to continue the exploration of entirely new settings and new situations altogether, without looking back, or creating translations to a more traditional mindset, paid dearly in every respect -economically and personally- for forging ahead and not taking the time to revert & effectively take others by the hand. <br />
<br />
some of them are now admitted into the halls of classicism: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merce_Cunningham" target="_blank"><br /></a><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merce_Cunningham" target="_blank">Merce Cunningham</a> managed to continue his career long enough and kept using European-American classical Ballet vocabulary, to form a possible bridge, eventually enough of the rest of the world would catch up with him in time for economic support.</li>
<li>after a long while, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDGeK0wyTUw&t=6s" target="_blank">Anna Halprin</a> is now gradually enjoying more and more recognition and respect; next to her collaborations with her architect-husband Lawrence Halprin, the documentations of her work are by now more acceptable for a larger mainstream, and her deep exploration of healing can be more accepted.</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pina_Bausch" target="_blank">Pina Bausch</a> could find an entry via the languages and codes of German theater/drama and eventually became another icon, complete with a saccharine movie by Wim Wenders that emphasizes conventionally acceptable beauty, with what has become more widely acceptable of her once revolutionary work. </li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #999999;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #999999;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(on the change from revolting new to beautifully classic, <span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">suggestion to </span>read the beginning of Gertrude Stein's <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/essays/detail/69481" target="_blank">Composition as Explanation</a>, written 1926)</span></span> </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>ecological, economical, cultural niches</b><br />
as a con-sequence, it is useful to understand the necessity of both directions: <br />
those of us who forge ahead, and those of us who actually form less radical hybrids with more traditionally accepted forms of expression. either one serves a purpose in the development of research and translation.<br />
<br />
in a post-modern continuum, where there is no longer a single line
directing one way forward or backward, any such developments become
recognizable as ongoing processes of changing
codes/vocabularies/practices/languages.<br />
<br />
it is through languages such as those created by Trisha Brown, that we can become more ready to understand and appreciate her contemporaries (e.g. Summers, Halprin, but also <a href="http://sixviewpoints.com/maryoverlie/" target="_blank">Mary Overlie</a>, <a href="http://releasedance.com/ReleaseDance/HOME.html" target="_blank">Mary O'Donnell-Fulkerson</a>, Pauline de Groot, <a href="http://kdcah.org/katherine-dunham-biography/" target="_blank">Katherine Dunham</a>, <a href="http://ecoledessables.org/en/germaine-acogny/" target="_blank">Germaine Acogny</a>, Tatsumi Hijikata ... - insert here the name of any pioneer, both "Western" and less- or entirely non-"Western" ... <br />
<br />
all of these pioneers, and all of us who are affected by them, create an important ecotope for understanding human movement & eventually the human condition. whether & how much we understand and support each other in these differences, remains a crucial question in these times, where the filters of what will "sell" all too often only allow for the most stereotypical and least understanding forms of dance to be disseminated with a wider audience, and where because of socio-economic inequality such a wider audience does not easily get a choice of acquiring more adequate means for appreciating such physically moving contemporary realities. <br />
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** correction from 2022: While Pearl Bowser was working on her own edit of the footage, the original films were shot by Elaine Summers, of Trisha Brown's <i><a href="https://trishabrowncompany.org/repertory/walking-on-the-wall.html?ctx=title" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Walking on the Wall</a></i> at the Whitney Museum, 1971. Since then, one of two edits available at the <a href="https://trishabrowncompany.org/archive/audiovisual-preservation-project.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Trisha Brown Archives</a> has been fully digitally restored in collaboration with the <a href="http://elainesummersdance.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Artistic Estate of Elaine Summers</a>. Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-8027444987962062852017-01-19T14:37:00.001+01:002017-04-13T11:42:54.972+02:00dreaming econonomicsa very inspiring and much needed quote by Marie Curie, found on the blog of <a href="http://wasswasswass.com/" target="_blank">Andrew Wass</a> : <br />
<br />
<i>Humanity also needs dreamers, for whom the disinterested development
of an enterprise is so captivating that it becomes impossible for them
to devote their care to their own material profit. Without doubt, these
dreamers do not deserve wealth, because they do not desire it. Even so, a
well-organized society should assure to such workers the efficient
means of accomplishing their task, in a life freed from material care
and freely consecrated to research. </i><br />
<i>
</i>
to see the post and more inspiration from his blog<br />
<a href="https://wasswasswass.wordpress.com/2016/11/12/research-2/">https://wasswasswass.wordpress.com/2016/11/12/research-2/</a>Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088436026870428042.post-88726855495896633642017-01-19T14:34:00.004+01:002017-04-13T09:31:03.485+02:00community dance - evolving perspectives: intersectional, intercultural, communalthis article inspired the organizers for the coming <b>International Day of Dance in Rotterdam</b> to open up all levels of organisation and enable all participants to share in the responsiblity. tomorrow will see the first meeting for questions of scheduling, production, PR, and exchange in general ... <a href="http://www.artshub.com.au/education/news-article/opinions-and-analysis/professional-development/tania-canas/diversity-is-a-white-word-252910">http://www.artshub.com.au/education/news-article/opinions-and-analysis/professional-development/tania-canas/diversity-is-a-white-word-252910</a> (includes a very useful scale of participation)<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*I
don't vouch for the assumption about therapy that is put forward in the ladder: therapy is innately for self-empowerment on a personal
level. Whether the approach and outcome are adequate in an intercultural
situation is crucial, but I find the assumption of therapy as the lowest (hierarchical!) end of the ladder, to be falsely generalizing a status
quo and shut down any possible & much needed improvement. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
- <br />
I remember very well the un-ease I felt after leaving the Zwaanshals-area in Rotterdam back in 2004, as <a href="http://con-sens-us.net/consensus_at_ZiM_2004_trailer.html" target="_blank">artists-in-residence</a>. we came and were adopted as the 'village-excentrics', had some nice and inspiring interactions, but now it was time to move on. what about the people who I left behind?<br />
<br />
now in 2017, it is more clear than ever that if I am working in a local situation, I need to be aware of, and get involved with the people who are a part of it, and they with me. this article was very inspiring <a href="https://roarmag.org/essays/worker-control-viome-greece/">https://roarmag.org/essays/worker-control-viome-greece/</a><br />
<br />
artists are sense-workers, communication workers, just like dreamers of any kind. following from this understanding must be an acceptance that just like every individual being, art/science that has an innate value beyond any immediate "use", actual or perceived. Thomas Körtvélyessyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11031713112494219581noreply@blogger.com0