This is true for\u00a0the\u00a0audience, of\u00a0course, who have little reason to\u00a0believe otherwise. And\u00a0in\u00a0my\u00a0experience, it is also true for\u00a0practitioners, since setting the\u00a0final material often involves channelling the\u00a0full range of\u00a0earlier possibilities into the\u00a0single act or\u00a0outcome. In\u00a0so doing, all previous potentiality is dismissed, erased, or\u00a0brought to\u00a0heel. Sometimes, it\u2019s simply not possible to\u00a0perform well without doing that.<\/p>\n
Here, though, in\u00a0the\u00a0dying hours of\u00a0the\u00a0work in\u00a0all its mess and\u00a0multiplicity, I\u2019ll reflect a\u00a0little on\u00a0the\u00a0project as\u00a0a\u00a0whole. And\u00a0here may be an\u00a0apt location, since this blog itself records more \u2013 by\u00a0no means all \u2013 of\u00a0the\u00a0variety of\u00a0ArtsCross<\/em> than ordinarily remains in\u00a0the\u00a0public domain once a\u00a0work stakes its singular right to\u00a0exist.<\/p>\n The\u00a0other day, I\u00a0sat and\u00a0read the\u00a0blog through. It\u2019s a\u00a0lot to\u00a0absorb, and\u00a0there\u2019s a\u00a0remarkable diversity of\u00a0voices, styles and\u00a0perspectives, even within this limited sample of\u00a0the\u00a0wider ArtsCross<\/em> workforce. One thing that comes across is how multi-faceted the\u00a0project is. One has the\u00a0sense that, while it could not have come about without the\u00a0immense energy and\u00a0commitment of\u00a0certain key individuals, no-one<\/em> really has a\u00a0grasp on\u00a0the\u00a0whole thing. Even at\u00a0the\u00a0institutional level, there is such a\u00a0range of\u00a0investments and\u00a0relationships that one suspects it would be very hard to\u00a0draw a\u00a0straight line between any one stated goal and\u00a0its outcome. Not only do alternative and\u00a0complementary institutional expectations and\u00a0operating procedures constantly thicken or\u00a0bifurcate such intentions, but they are all being realised by\u00a0individuals who themselves have a\u00a0huge range of\u00a0attitudes and\u00a0abilities, and\u00a0whose own divergent interrelations further knit, knot or\u00a0strain all the\u00a0sayings, doings and\u00a0knowings that need to\u00a0happen in\u00a0order to\u00a0realise the\u00a0project.<\/p>\n Moreover, those \u2018sayings, doings and\u00a0knowings\u2019 are more-than-usually complicated by\u00a0the\u00a0breadth of\u00a0the\u00a0spectrum of\u00a0activities that ArtsCross<\/em> entails. Anyone who has made a\u00a0dance or\u00a0organised a\u00a0conference knows it\u2019s a\u00a0complex process. To\u00a0make ten dances and\u00a0a\u00a0colloquium internationally intensifies this complexity substantially. Consider any one participants\u2019 experience of\u00a0a\u00a0day at\u00a0ArtsCross<\/em>: one may be interacting with researchers, artists, administrators, translators. One may move from an\u00a0improvised or\u00a0process-based rehearsal to\u00a0an\u00a0exacting repetition of\u00a0clearly defined gestures and\u00a0phrases; from a\u00a0monolingual to\u00a0a\u00a0multi-lingual environment; from selecting what you want for\u00a0dinner to\u00a0debating the\u00a0diverse meanings of\u00a0\u2018modern\u2019 and\u00a0\u2018modernity\u2019. At\u00a0a\u00a0strictly material level, it is this combination of\u00a0variety and\u00a0intensity (along with the\u00a0encroaching exhaustion it entails) that defines ArtsCross<\/em>.<\/p>\n On\u00a0Tuesday, some of\u00a0us \u2018overseas\u2019 academics spoke with the\u00a0Beijing academics (through interpreters) about our research interests and\u00a0methods. The\u00a0next time we met, Theresa Beattie gave a\u00a0talk about the\u00a0UK independent dance sector, and\u00a0instantly that same group was plunged into an\u00a0entirely different conversation. It was fascinating to\u00a0me that, so late in\u00a0the\u00a0project, the\u00a0whole thing could still be turning on\u00a0a\u00a0pinhead, scrambling its components in\u00a0order to\u00a0take on\u00a0a\u00a0different form or\u00a0face. I\u00a0began to\u00a0glimpse the\u00a0dizzying potential of\u00a0this intricate arrangement to\u00a0keep shifting, changing, and\u00a0to\u00a0facilitate some genuinely novel relations between \u2018sectors\u2019 (to\u00a0use Theresa\u2019s term) that so often hold themselves at\u00a0arms-length form each other.<\/p>\n This capacity of\u00a0this project to\u00a0change over time is also an\u00a0important feature of\u00a0its identity. Reading the\u00a0earliest posts by\u00a0Donald, who had already clocked off by\u00a0the\u00a0time I\u00a0arrived, is to\u00a0encounter a\u00a0process I\u00a0can see obliquely sustained into my\u00a0own experiences. Donald writes<\/a>, for\u00a0instance, of\u00a0one dancer standing out at\u00a0the\u00a0audition because, “with his compact body and\u00a0floppy mop of\u00a0platinum-blond hair [he] looked like a\u00a0trend-setting Shetland pony.” As\u00a0it happens, Ming is amongst the\u00a0most prominent dancers in\u00a0Avatara\u2019s 14-strong piece. In\u00a0interview yesterday, she said she found him amongst the\u00a0most willing to\u00a0push himself, to\u00a0take risks, to\u00a0engage most directly with the\u00a0material and\u00a0developing ideas. One wonders now whether it was only Ming\u2019s hair that drew Donald\u2019s attention all those many days-that-seem-like-months ago, or\u00a0whether, already there was something more about Ming intruding upon his sensibilities, without his recognising it. Maybe Donald knew unawares what Ming was capable of, but put dancerly insistence down to\u00a0platinum hair out of\u00a0convenience, \u2018reterritorializing\u2019 the\u00a0dancer\u2019s deterritorializing potentiality upon his most distinguishing feature.<\/p>\n Or\u00a0maybe not. It\u2019s a\u00a0bit of\u00a0a\u00a0hair and\u00a0solo question: which came first? What is the\u00a0relation between them? How might one produce or\u00a0sustain the\u00a0other \u2013 and\u00a0where does Meng\u2019s musculature, stature, campiness, personality come into this? The\u00a0reason I\u00a0have titled this posting \u2018The\u00a0ArtsCross Assemblage\u2019, and\u00a0not the\u00a0\u2018ArtsCross Network\u2019 is because, whereas networks tend to\u00a0draw our attention to\u00a0inter-institutional or\u00a0inter-personal interactions, assemblages exist at\u00a0all scales, as\u00a0well as\u00a0across and\u00a0between modes and\u00a0media. Ming\u2019s hair is an\u00a0assemblage of\u00a0chemicals and\u00a0follicles. Ming is an\u00a0assemblage. The\u00a0dance he is in\u00a0is an\u00a0assemblage. The\u00a0dancers, Avatara, me watching and\u00a0Avatara\u2019s mum sitting quietly in\u00a0the\u00a0corner is an\u00a0assemblage. Avatara talking into a\u00a0microphone giving instructions to\u00a0the\u00a0technicians about exactly how to\u00a0fly in\u00a0the\u00a0legs (theatre curtains that normally create \u2018wings\u2019) while her dancers familiarise themselves with the\u00a0space of\u00a0the\u00a0stage: this is an\u00a0assemblage. Me blogging about it and\u00a0you reading it\u2026well, you get the\u00a0picture.<\/p>\n ArtsCross Taipei is coming to\u00a0an\u00a0end. The\u00a0colloquium began this morning; the\u00a0performances will premiere this evening. Tomorrow night we all start leaving. Of\u00a0course, in\u00a0important ways, this weekend is what it has all been about. A\u00a0crystallizing moment. Almost everyone involved has been working… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":714,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704\/revisions\/714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/IMG_1759-1024x768.jpg\")
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