we are two thirds the way through the biennial and the critical writing initiative (Writers Hub) in case you had forgotten the name! We hope you have been reading all our blog posts and opinions on the performa blog : here again, also in case youve forgotten, http://07.performa-arts.org/performa_live.phpand on interface.
we are still building on activity and aims outlined int he worksop: writing about live art and performance for immediate online publiocation (ie blog) with the aim of better serving performance work by creating a more in depth critical analysis of new performance – thus filling the huge gap that is accessible, engaging, yet critically valid writing on this fascinating genre. most peoples individual aims for the workshop were also related closely to our aims for ourselves and the critical writing initiative itself: without exeption people wanted to write better about performance-both for the benefit of performance, future historians, performa 07 and for their own skill as writers. speed was also a key factor-everyone wants to get faster at writing and the the blog activity to date, the practical exercises and feedback sessions all seem to be really helping with reducing the amount of time it takes to write strong texts. one of the aims of the workshop, programme and blogging about perfoma was also to gain better knowledge about the work seen. and many people cited dance as something they wsanted to know more about, write on and therefore create a better groiunding of knowledge in terms of how it fits into visual art performance.
it fits really well, then, that dance is something that performa have concentrated on for this biennial, defne (curator for performa) said that programming dance into performa had been really interesting and exciting, but also very revealing about the kinds of traditional activity, classifications and skill aspects that come up with trying to cross-programme between dance, visual art and performance. according to what defne, said it seems that dance is the last bastion of the art world to hold out against being blurred into visual art or performance and resistence was found, not only in terms of programming dance ionto performa atall, but also from artists and audience members too. its quite fitting then that the performa programme 'dance after choreography' truly does take a slightly renegade, punkish approach to dance, and explodes the genre from within. it blurrs boundaries and goes global with various different traditions of dance that have been indebted to visual and fine art : judson, rainner, bell.
this revisiting dance and brining it back to visual art or live art roots is really lioberating and fascinating stuff; also really confidence building in terms of new audiences who now (myself included) feel entitled, confident and eager to not only see 'contemporary dance' but to critique it. Jerome Bell's 'Pichet Klunchen and Myself' at Dance Theatre Workshop last night, was my first foray into that world of 'contemporary dance', 'post dance , or what performa are calling 'Dance After Choreography'…more to come soon- in my Dance Review!!
in between all the joyous dancing on classical ballet's grave i have had my haircut by a ten year old as part of a performance-photo here. now my (bad) hair cut is actually – literally- a peice of live art. and stands testiment to the radical peice of work out of which it came 'Haircuts by children by Darren O'Donnell. check out my review on the performa blog, writing from live art website or interface for more gory details, suffice to say that before the performance i actually had shoulder length curly hair-and now i dont!!!!
speak soon.
RLxx
