Conference
The Transmission of Dance Knowledge
Springdance Festival, Stadsschouwberg, Utrecht
14.00 to 17.00, 19 April 2009
Public Panel Discussion — Springdance announcement link
Springdance Conference Panel 19 April 2009. Photo: Thomas Lenden
Panel Members (left to right in the above photo):
Can contemporary choreography be brought into meaningful relationships with audiences outside of the normal conventions of dance creation and production? Would such exchanges constitute the transmission of dance knowledge? This panel featured two artist-initiated projects seeking to answer these and related questions by building unique resources for reflection on choreographic practice and for mediating interdisciplinary exchange.
Norah Zuniga Shaw presenting Synchronous Objects. Photo: Thomas Lenden
Norah Zuniga Shaw described her recent work with choreographer William Forsythe and collaborators creating an interactive on-line learning environment that uses computer-aided analysis and design to illustrate the principles that animate Forsythe’s choreography One Flat Thing, reproduced. The aim of the project, titled Synchronous Objects, is to offer the general audience and professional researchers direct access to the “complex structures of choreographic organization”; and to serve as a platform where choreographic ideas can be expressed in alternative forms.
Scott deLahunta presenting Capturing Intention. Photo: Thomas Lenden
Scott deLahunta traced the beginnings of the Notation Research Project that aimed to “investigate systems for recording and transmitting the essential elements of Emio Greco | PC’s creative work”. That project, and its follow-up Capturing Intention, evolved to become part of a two-year collaborative, interdisciplinary research into “new methods for the documentation, transmission and preservation of contemporary choreographic and dance knowledge” entitled Inside Movement Knowledge (IMK) involving a new inter-institutional consortium of partners. deLahunta presented some of the results of the first eight months of this project.
Springdance Panel and Audience. Photo: Thomas Lenden
The presentations were followed by responses from Maaike Bleeker, Bram Ieven and Sally Jane Norman, specialists in a range of topics including performing and digital arts, cultural theory, philosophy, embodied perception and contemporary aesthetics. At the close of the session, questions and comments will be invited from the audience.
