|
Search the site
|
|
Lauren Crow (Dance and Performance Studies major)
"(De)Formation of Body Protocols: Dance's Changing Ontology in the Choreography of Meg Stuart and Sasha Waltz"
Sponsor: Shannon Steen, Theater, Dance & Performance Studie
Project Description
Modernity is characterized by its inclination towards increased speed, production, and efficiency. In most commercially viable theater dance productions this manifests itself as the propensity for constant motion and the execution of virtuosic movement. However, Berlin based choreographers Meg Stuart and Sasha Waltz disrupt dance's ontology and escape the homogenizing temporalities of modernity by incorporating slower motion and stillness in their choreography. Through an analysis of their creative work, Lauren will expose discursive possibilities pertaining to the body, consumerism, and individualism in relation to both Western cultural theory and traditions of contemporary theater dance. After conducting ethnographic and movement research in Berlin, Lauren will investigate the critical distinctions between the social context of Stuart's and Waltz's work in comparison with dance practice and scholarship in the United States.
Scholar's Photo
 |
Lauren standing in front of the Tanz im August posters at the Podewil Theater in Berlin, Mitte. She looks quite gleeful after having attended two particularly thought provoking performances. |
Scholar's Journal
This past summer has been truly incredible; the number of opportunities, insights, and discoveries I have had has far surpassed what I expected. After arriving in Frankfurt in mid June, I quickly made my way to Cologne where I spent one week watching as many archival videos as I could of the work of Sasha Waltz at the Deutsches Tanzarchiv Köln. Next, I made my way to Berlin which was to be my home base for the remainder of the summer months. In Berlin, I was able to visit the Mime Centrum Berlin which has extensive documentation of contemporary dance that has been performed in Berlin and elsewhere in Europe. In addition to archival work and reading, I also immersed myself within the contemporary dance community by partaking in two week long workshops at the dance studio, Tanz Fabrik, and made many valuable contacts with working artists. In addition, I was also privileged to meet and interview choreographers Maria Scaroni and Jess Curtis, whose work with embodiment in performance as part of The Symmetry Project has become another central focus for my study into contemporary dance performance as a mode of investigation into body theory and perception.
Over the course of the summer, I saw a total of twenty-seven live performances in both Germany and Austria, many of which were accompanied with an artist discussion, and all of which allowed me to get a clearer understanding of the context of dance production within Europe. Notably, I took a trip to Stoltzenhagen, a small country town north of Berlin near the Polish border, to attend the Ponderosa Dance Festival and was able to watch Meg Stuart perform an improvisation with Jeremy Wade. Although I had seen many recordings of her choreographies, upon viewing her performance I felt suddenly engaged with her modes of improvisation in a more direct and personal way. It reinforced for me the critical role that active participation through perception changes the way I engage with dance; the medium is so intrinsically connected to the body that viewing live performance consequently becomes a social engagement between choreographer, dancers, and audience which is much different in dynamic and quality from the experience of viewing archival footage. In addition to Ponderosa, I also attended numerous performances at the Impulztanz Dance Festival in Vienna as well as the Tanz im August festival in Berlin.
So far, my understanding of the goals, ideas, and discourses surrounding this project have acquired a fluidity that gives the working title (de)Formations new meaning for me; again and again they seem to dissolve and subsequently solidify in curiously satisfying ways. At times I was slightly discouraged when it seemed unclear to me how all of my extensive fieldwork would fit together into a coherent thesis but in retrospect I realize that this is what makes research so exciting. I often found that the murkiness of these moments became the points of departure for embarking upon new lines of inquiry which continue to engage me.
Of course none of this would have been possible without the generous support of not only my mentors and Haas cohort, but also the work of the artists, scholars, festival coordinators, archivists, and friends who I have met along the way. I have come to view this project as an instigation of cross continental and cross disciplinary dialogue which has enriched my access to the world in invaluable ways.
|
