A CONCEPTUAL PROPOSITION FOR A WRITING FORM

DANCE, LANGUAGE & WRITING

Like other professional domains in society, the professional dance (art) field can be best characterized as a small niche in society where people surrender to the art form of the moving body, or total embodiment. I notice that when I talk about my work practice out standers, it's hard to explain my job clearly or non-provocative for the listener. And the reason these dialogues can be challenging has everything to do with the language we use. Let me explain this further as introduction to the term Motion Territory.

In the making process of dance performances there is often an intellectual approach of the chosen theme to start creating the performance. This is also where the dramaturg plays a role in defining, tuning, creating, reflecting and building a constructive, creative, multilayered dialogue. These processes are often very intensive and shared by small groups of performers and other collaborators to provide a common ground and conceptual framework. Eventually these words are translated, manipulated or transformed to a form of embodiment. In dance we use technical vocabulary, historical determined terms and philosophical & exchange to practice dialogue. This vocabulary is familiar within the network and reflects perspectives on creation, art, society, people and life. But in the end, choreographers & dancers make the aware choice to communicate on other levels than just the spoken word.

In this blog I will start to share personal stories of my work experiences, observations I make and reflections of happenings. The challenge I give myself the challenge to write ACCESSIBLE, PERSONAL and PLAYFUL. I will focus on current developments in contemporary dance and (physical) performance art, but at the same time also the idea of dance as  a powerful resource tool to (re)connect communities in our changed society. I write in ENGLISH, because of the international nature of my work field and the universal reach of the moving body. My inspiration comes directly from DIALOGUE with choreographers, dramaturges and other colleagues, but especially the shared experiences of young dance students I work with. In dialogue theory & practice always meet. (Illustration based on the Golden Circle by Simon Sinek)

There are urgent reasons why I start this writing right now. In the Netherlands (and Belgium) there is hesitation & discussion around art and its function in society. Politics, social environment, multicultural influences, the financial crisis, they're  all having impact on the arts practice. Fear and insecurity are pushing the boundaries of all that is created in human life. Therefore, the question how performance art relates to people's' lives is urgent again.

But I can not deny that lot has been (and will be) written about the changes in society and the state of the arts within that, for example in journals, seminar publications or theoretical essays. The problem with those articles is that they mainly serve their own existing niche in my belief. The construction of language, the perspective and the approach of any issue is already framed from the role these writers fulfill by their practice. I am talking about reviewers, journalists, theorists, choreographers and researchers. For example, a news article about the perspective on art in the political debate will focus on the different standpoints of the politicians and the way they gain power by spoken abstract manifests to overrule the others, rather than to research or analyze what is valuable in the art practice in relation to those standpoints.

The way of existing writing formats like I mentioned above have nothing to do with including the arts, making art part of society. Rather, it is a matter of segregation, all for the sake of staying objective. I will explain how I see that: There seems to be a premises that choosing a clear perspective to analyze, will make us more objective and therefore more related to the truth. So when you write you have to stay in your domain of expertise to  take a respectable space to say something about the topic of choice. Unfortunately this approach is not sufficient or beneficial for the state of the arts or in the matter of respecting our cultural inheritance if you ask me.  It is onlydissecting the story that needs to be told.


Thus, for this blog I strongly propose to write from a more inclusive perspective with great respect for the differences in approach. What I find important is to share stories based on intuition rather than rational perspective and potential rather than determination. In other words, I propose a more subjective writing if it relates to meaning & value of dance in society, where there is space created to (re)connect to the subject matter. A blog is also based on singular perspectives from individuals with their own values and ideals, but the strength of a blog is that you can relate theory & practice, factual & personal knowledge and experiences by a personal story in a format of your choice. (Illustration via www.moretoons.com)

In my belief the discussion about why, how & what gives value to an artistic experiential product is strongly related to the discourse about meaning of art in society. And this conviction fits an existing discourse in the dance field.  Choreographers, reviewers, writers, festivals, seminar & conference stages, festivals are re-thinking their practices and trying to reconnect to other social habitats with dance used as a resource of tool rather than just a work of art. There are several initiatives happening to take control, revise visions on art, renew & redefine their current practice. In relation to that movement, my initiative for this blog is a modest initiative, but with an honest & transparant intention.