Below is a link to an interesting simulation of a moshpit.
I can’t insert it into this WordPress site as iframes are not allowed.
http://mattbierbaum.github.io/moshpits.js/
A definition of art
Art is something that you need to be told to look at.
Met a Four
…by using tools from schools of thought that deal in metaphor, we end up constantly looking for metaphor…
discuss
Technique trains instinct
Another definition for Contact
Con –
1. a prefix meaning “with,” “together,” “in association”
2. a verb meaning “to commit to memory” or “to study or examine closely”
3. an adverb meaning “on the negative side” or “in opposition”
4. a verb meaning “swindle”, “manipulate”, “persuade”, or “cajole”
Tact –
1.a keen sense of what to say or do to avoid giving offense; skill in dealing with difficult or delicate situations.
2.a keen sense of what is appropriate, tasteful, or aesthetically pleasing; taste; discrimination.
3.touch or the sense of touch.
2.a keen sense of what is appropriate, tasteful, or aesthetically pleasing; taste; discrimination.
3.touch or the sense of touch.
A defintion
Improvisation: bodies manifesting and dissolving dynamic temporal-spatial structures according to aesthetic and physical potentialities and proclivities in a planar arena.
Theater vs. Gallery or What vs. Where
If a dance piece is different in a theater than in a gallery, white box vs. black box, how would it change in a movie theater?
in an elementary school theater?
a high school theater?
a college theater?
the art gallery next to the black box theater at the college?
at a theater at a university, a university without a dance major?
in the theater of a university?
in the theater of a PAC 10 university?
in the foyer of that theater?
in the bathroom off the foyer of the theater of the PAC 10 university that doesn’t have a dance major?
in a bus stop near that university?
the bathroom at that bus stop?
the bus that just left the bus stop?
the bathroom on that bus?
the Wendy’s that bus stops at 3 hours later?
in the parking lot of the gas station?
next to pump number 3?
next to pump number 7 that Henry in a red and green plaid shirt is using to fill his Toyota Tundra’s tank?
OK, forget all that. Let’s go back to a traditional performance space.
A sprung bamboo floor on a 15×10 meter rectangle of concrete with radiant heating. The concrete is 20 cm thick. Surrounding the dance floor is gravel. This floor is in a room that has 5 other such floors and each one is surrounded similarly by gravel. This room has windows on the north and south sides and has an arched roof. The walls are white; the gravel grey; the ceiling silver. The east and west sides have brown sliding door 4 meters long and 2 meters tall. Each door has a cement landing and benches.
Maybe this isn’t a traditional performance space, but my dream studio.
OK, back to this piece…hmm…how about this – We, in the performance world, shall never make a new piece ever again, but agree upon 1 piece that we will all repeat in different contexts. Never again will we have to worry about what we will do. The only question is where we will do it.
P.S.
There are an infinite number of contexts (as there are pieces).
I’d rather make the pieces than the contexts.
Logic determined beforehand
A piece is choreographed if the logic is determined before the piece begins.
Personnel vs. Content
I was just at the Texas Dance Improvisation Festival this past weekend. Thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Sitting in on a class taught by a friend and fellow Lower Lefter, Leslie Scates, I listened to the discussion at the end of class. One of the participants brought up the question of personnel vs. idea during the exercise of Number Score.
Usually, during Number Score, the content happening in the work/performance space changes when the personnel/dancers change.
This need not be.
How to train Number Score to focus on shifting personnel but maintaining the content?
Does Number Score inadvertently simultaneously train Jump Cuts?
How to train Number Score and not drop material?
Maybe beforehand determine what the material/content will be…
must investigate (though, I have always had trouble with Number Score. Not that I think it is a pointless exercise. I see its value, but I have (almost) never enjoyed it)
Another definition
Art is that which provides no comfort, gain, or reward to its creator.