DANCE UNDER CONTROL

DANCE UNDER CONTROL (research) 

 

 

It is fascinating the harmony of movements between the giant puppet and its manipulators. Are they the puppeteers exercising power on a grand scale? Or are they the puppets trying to free themselves from their strings, from the clutches of their manipulators, by completely reversing the relationship structure? The interaction between the giant puppet and the puppeteers becomes the dance of control, the dance of influence, a performance that depicts the dialectic of power and resistance.

 

The Dance of Control is a performance that refers to the dialectic of power and resistance. In the winter of 2021, I was invited by Claire Chalet and Saba Tsereteli to collaborate as a dancer/performer and choreographer with the Theatre of Details in the piece Die Be-Suchenden: A Mobile Backyard Theatre for All. Directed by Claire Chaulet. After that experience, I was very taken with the curious dance of a puppeteer and its physical, spiritual, philosophical, and dramaturgical possibilities. This articulation – which is not always possible or perceptible in art – is more manageable in this respect, in so far as these possibilities are visible, presentable, and expressible from dance in art, in this particular case.

Aspects and questions of the research:

my expectation is to deepen these relationships and to find out as a dancer/artist where my training can open new possibilities as a new puppeteer. I intend to continue to collaborate with the Theatre of Details over the next two years on their future productions, interventions, parades, and stories in public spaces. The research I am conducting as a dancer/puppeteer with the support of Theatre of Details goes beyond language and is not just about one culture, but brings together different generations and cultural backgrounds. Different layers of interpretation (visual, sonic, symbolic, semiotic, infantile…), visible accessibility (connecting with the public in public spaces, courtyards, streets), universal stories, and cultural activism.I plan to take time to explore and discover where dance/body language takes me with all the puppets in the collective, and also build my version in others to fully understand puppet culture and give my best in stories and feedback. With the intention of audience interaction and anthropological rescue of the ancient technique of puppet theater mixed with contemporary dance, sound, visual, and urban social possibilities. I want to collect stories that I encounter during this control dance process and answer the questions: What are the limits of the body and the limits of the puppet? Is dance a liberation from the system and a bridge to freedom of expression? Is there a universal movement? Is it possible to escape Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s old dialectic of slave and master? Does the constant renegotiation of this dialectic make this relationship a reflection of our everyday life?

 

The research of 3 months was just enough for touching all topics mention in the project Research application.

 

Some images of the research result:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more Pictures of the Karneval Für Die Zukunft: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=artistaniaEV&set=a.262673609684350

 

 

Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media in the program NEUSTART KULTUR ( aid program DIS-TANZEN ) of the Dachverband Dance Germany. 2023