{"id":174,"date":"2013-07-23T15:18:52","date_gmt":"2013-07-23T15:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/?p=174"},"modified":"2013-07-23T15:18:52","modified_gmt":"2013-07-23T15:18:52","slug":"beginnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/07\/beginnings\/","title":{"rendered":"Beginnings…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday was my first day of watching rehearsals, and for most groups it was their second day into the work. I left in the evening with a variety of very touching impressions, of people from different places getting to know each other.<\/p>\n

When I entered the room of Beijing choreographer Zeng Huangxing’s rehearsal, I was struck by the quietness he had created in the room. The six dancers were paired up, with one lying on their front on the floor and the other on top of them, back to back. They were immobile for what seemed an eternity, yet suddenly what Zeng called an ‘explosion’ occurred: the dancer on the bottom would start kind of shaking and very rapidly stand up, bringing the person on top to standing.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0473\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Zeng Huangxing<\/p>\n

There was a distinct skill and quality at stake here, that Zeng was after. The person lying on top needed to be very relaxed, to be able to go with the ‘explosion’. As he said, if the person on top can’t really relax, the person below can’t really explode.<\/p>\n

The group then proceeded to work on exercises that would allow them to locate and move from their centre. When lowering while bending their knees, Zeng asked them to be aware of a sense of the lower they sank, the more space there would be above their heads. Also, while to an onlooker the dancer\/practitioner might look calm from the outside, inside much should be at work — a sense of expansion into all directions.\u00a0Zeng then provided weights to be placed on the dancers’ heads, to further\u00a0emphasise control and stillness, asking them eventually to move so quickly to the side that the weight would drop onto the ground next to them.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0476\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Zeng Huangxing<\/p>\n

At least this part of the session that I witnessed was solely used by Zeng to prepare his dancers for the work to come, in terms of a unified way of relating to mind and body. His work seemed strongly influenced by Taoist principles, at least I recognised direct correspondences to my own practice of Wu style taijiquan.<\/p>\n

Much time seems to have been spent in making the dancers move yesterday, to find out ‘who they are’ in movement terms. In Ho Hsiao Mei\u2019s first rehearsal (she had arrived for this session straight from the airport!), the choreographer from Taipei paired her six dancers up into three couples and gave each a theme for improvisation. They loosely were\u00a0contact and non-contact, control and hiding. She would work with each pair and highlight and emphasise aspects of movement that worked for her.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0480\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ho Hsiao Mei<\/p>\n

Similarly, Beijing-based Zhao Liang watched his dancers for a long, long time improvising individually with long rubber bands that were stretched across the studio:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0481\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Zhao Liang<\/p>\n

Vera Tussing (German and London-based) made her six dancers work in two groups of three, working on a game with simple rules \u2013 call out a name \u2013 move but stay in relation to each other, either rotating or changing place \u2013 play with levels\u2026 and make decisions on time\/timing.\u00a0In a next step she asked the dancers to map a structure, in their own way, on paper:<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0487\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Vera Tussing<\/p>\n

Dam Van Huynh (originally from Southern Vietnam and London-based) worked on a phrase with his dancers. After they had learned it, he emphasised that the movement itself is not that important, but how it is translated by each dancer is what matters to him. The same movement will be done differently by each individual, and in a following exercise Dam asked them to explore different \u2018textures\u2019, that are highly specific. He stated clearly that he needs to know \u2018who\u2019 the dancers are, how the \u2018gut feel\u2019, how they experience their body. Each of them have their own identity, how can you put this in movement? For instance, the fact that you like Bruce Lee (as was his own example)… Dam\u2019s instructions were to \u2018mess that phrase up\u2019, to dissect it, open it up. \u2018I need to know who you are by the end of this exercise \u2013 surprise me!\u2019<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0495\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dam Van Huynh<\/p>\n

In all these very early stages of the works I have witnessed yesterday it struck me that much time was spend to set up the \u2018how\u2019 of the movement, or how to relate to movement. The different choreographers approached this in their distinct ways, and some focused more on working with the dancers as a group, while others worked on exercises that emphasised something \u2018individual\u2019.<\/p>\n

Within these approaches there is the idea that you can put \u2018something\u2019 or \u2018yourself\u2019 into<\/i> movement. We all know what we mean here, but how might we better articulate such processes?<\/p>\n

I will continue watching now\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday was my first day of watching rehearsals, and for most groups it was their second day into the work. I left in the evening with a variety of very touching impressions, of people from different places getting to know each other. When I entered the room of Beijing choreographer Zeng Huangxing’s rehearsal, I was struck… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_posts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8mnDM-2O","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":282,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/07\/rehearsal-clip-day-4-zeng-huanxin\/","url_meta":{"origin":174,"position":0},"title":"Rehearsal clip: Day 4, Zeng Huanxin","author":"Andrew Lang","date":"25 July 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/71012740","rel":"","context":"In "Video"","block_context":{"text":"Video","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/category\/video\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":617,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/08\/laboring-to-learn-in-zengs-rehearsal\/","url_meta":{"origin":174,"position":1},"title":"Laboring to learn in Zeng’s rehearsal","author":"Ted Warburton","date":"3 August 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"When I\u00a0walk into Zeng Huanxin's Friday rehearsal around 12:30pm, Zeng is working with Kenny\u00a0on\u00a0a\u00a0solo section. Kenny's intent focused physique, strained visage, and\u00a0sweat stained clothing attest to\u00a0the\u00a0fact that he and\u00a0Zeng have been working steadily for\u00a0quite some time before my\u00a0arrival, probably beginning around 11am. Add that to\u00a0the\u00a090 minutes that I\u00a0observe Zeng and\u00a0Kenny\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General posts"","block_context":{"text":"General posts","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/category\/general_posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_2878","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/IMG_2878-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1118,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/08\/after-the-fact-group-b\/","url_meta":{"origin":174,"position":2},"title":"After-the-Fact: Group B","author":"Donald Hutera","date":"10 August 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"[Things have undoubtedly moved on\u00a0since I\u00a0scribbled down what I\u00a0am now shaping into the\u00a0following observations, but here they are for\u00a0the\u00a0record\u2026] Founders Studio: The\u00a0dancers chosen by\u00a0choreographer Ho, Hsiao-Mei include four Westerners. Two of\u00a0them \u2013 Azzurra Ardovini (small, contained and\u00a0often low to\u00a0the\u00a0floor) and\u00a0Henry Curtis (tall, expansive, rangey) \u2013 are in\u00a0the\u00a0centre of\u00a0the\u00a0space acutely attuned\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General posts"","block_context":{"text":"General posts","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/category\/general_posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":220,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/07\/qualities-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":174,"position":3},"title":"Qualities (Part 1)","author":"Martin Welton","date":"23 July 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It's now Day Three of\u00a0rehearsals, and, impressively, in\u00a0the\u00a0studios I\u00a0visited today, ideas are taking shape and\u00a0companies are coming together. I\u00a0spent some time today observing rehearsals of\u00a0Su Weichia, Riccardo Buscarini, and\u00a0Zeng Huangxing. The\u00a0choreographies are already looking quite different (as\u00a0one might expect), but I\u00a0wanted to\u00a0take a\u00a0moment in\u00a0this posting to\u00a0reflect on\u00a0some similarities amongst them\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General posts"","block_context":{"text":"General posts","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/category\/general_posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_1950","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/IMG_1950-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":996,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/08\/home-is-where-the-heart-is\/","url_meta":{"origin":174,"position":4},"title":"“Home” is where the heart is…","author":"LIN Ya-tin","date":"8 August 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 After a\u00a0week of\u00a0intensive academics seminars, group discussion, and\u00a0of\u00a0course, observations in\u00a0the\u00a0studios with various choreographers and\u00a0dancers involved in\u00a0this 2013 ArtsCross London project, I\u00a0am drawn to\u00a0the\u00a0concept of\u00a0home\/elsewhere\u2014the\u00a0rich theme for\u00a0this year. Yesterday, some choreographers shared their thoughts regarding to\u00a0this topic.\u00a0 Later our group furthered the\u00a0conversation, with engaging talk about our own hometowns\u2014referring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General posts"","block_context":{"text":"General posts","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/category\/general_posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Unknown","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Unknown.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":614,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/08\/%e8%b7%a8%e8%89%ba%c2%b7%e8%a7%82%e5%af%9f%ef%bc%88%e4%b8%80%ef%bc%89\/","url_meta":{"origin":174,"position":5},"title":"\u8de8\u827a\u00b7\u89c2\u5bdf\uff08\u4e00\uff09","author":"TONG Yan","date":"3 August 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\u7ec8\u4e8e\u770b\u5230\u6392\u7ec3\u4e86\uff0c\u5728\u4ed6\u4e61\u770b\u5230\u4e86\u9886\u5bfc\u2014\u2014\u7f16\u5bfc\u90ed\u78ca\u9662\u957f\uff0c\u540c\u4e8b\u2014\u2014\u7f16\u5bfc\u963f\u66fe\u8001\u5e08\uff0c\u201c\u8001\u6218\u53cb\u201d\u2014\u2014\u77e5\u535a\uff08\u77e5\u535a\u662f\u5317\u4eac\u821e\u8005\u4e2d\u552f\u4e00\u53c2\u4e0e\u56db\u6b21\u7684\uff0c\u6211\u662f\u5317\u4eac\u5b66\u8005\u4e2d\u552f\u4e00\u53c2\u4e0e\u56db\u6b21\u7684\uff09\uff0c\u5b66\u751f\u2014\u2014\u6b66\u5e05\uff08\u6211\u4eec\u7b2c\u4e09\u6b21\u5728\u821e\u52a8\u4e2d\u5e08\u751f\u76f8\u9022\u4e86\uff09\u3002\u770b\u4e86\u4e0a\u5348\u573a\u7684\u5c3e\u58f0\u3001\u4e0b\u5348\u548c\u665a\u4e0a\u7684\u6392\u7ec3\u2014\u2014\u7ba1\u4e2d\u7aa5\u8c79\uff0c\u53ea\u89c1\u4e00\u6591\u3002 \u8fd9\u4e00\u5929\u6240\u770b\u5230\u7684\u4f5c\u54c1\u4ee5\u73b0\u4ee3\u821e\u5c45\u591a\uff0c\u53ea\u6709\u90ed\u9662\u7684\u4f5c\u54c1\u4ee5\u5176\u8d63\u5357\u50a9\u821e\u4e3a\u7d20\u6750\uff0c\u662f\u4e00\u4e2a\u5178\u578b\u7684\u6709\u4e2d\u56fd\u7279\u8272\uff08\u5728\u56fd\u5185\u6211\u4eec\u901a\u5e38\u79f0\u4e3a\u6709\u6c11\u65cf\u7279\u8272\uff0c\u7531\u6b64\u53ef\u89c1\uff0c\u6c11\u65cf\u4e0e\u56fd\u5bb6\u7684\u6982\u5ff5\u4f1a\u968f\u7740\u73af\u5883\u7684\u53d8\u5316\u800c\u51fa\u73b0\u90e8\u5206\u7684\u76f8\u4e92\u6307\u4ee3\uff09\u7684\u4f5c\u54c1\u3002\u5f53\u7136\uff0c\u6587\u5316\u65f6\u7a7a\u8bed\u5883\u7684\u53d8\u5316\u5e26\u6765\u4e86\u65b0\u7684\u5448\u73b0\uff0c\u7279\u522b\u662f\u5176\u4e2d\u552f\u4e00\u4e00\u4f4d\u4f26\u6566\u821e\u8005\u5e26\u7740\u50a9\u821e\u9762\u5177\u8d77\u821e\u65f6\uff0c\u4e2d\u56fd\u7684\u5f62\u5f0f\u5143\u7d20\u5728\u897f\u65b9\u821e\u8005\u8eab\u4f53\u4e0a\u5448\u73b0\uff0c\u8fd9\u79cd\u6587\u5316\u4ea4\u878d\u7684\u51b2\u7a81\u6027\u5e76\u672a\u8ba9\u6211\u611f\u5230\u4e0d\u8212\u670d\uff0c\u800c\u662f\u8ba9\u6211\u771f\u5207\u5730\u611f\u5230\u4e86\u201c\u821e\u52a8\u65e0\u754c\u201d\u548c\u201c\u5728\u522b\u5904\u201d\u3002\u50a9\u821e\u7684\u5f62\u5f0f\u6216\u5185\u6db5\u6216\u8005\u6709\u7740\u660e\u663e\u7684\u5730\u533a\u3001\u6c11\u65cf\u3001\u5b97\u6559\u7684\u8272\u5f69\uff0c\u4f46\u662f\u5176\u4e2d\u7948\u6c42\u5e73\u5b89\u662f\u5728\u8fd9\u4e2a\u5371\u673a\u56db\u4f0f\u7684\u65f6\u4ee3\u4e2d\u6bcf\u4e2a\u4eba\u7684\u5185\u5fc3\u671f\u8bb8\u3002 \u5728\u4e0d\u540c\u7684\u6392\u7ec3\u6559\u5ba4\u611f\u53d7\u5230\u7684\u76f8\u8fd1\u7684\u4e1c\u897f\u5c31\u662f\u201c\u547c\u5438\u201d\u4e0e\u201c\u81ea\u7136\u201d\u4e86\u3002\u6c14\u606f\u5728\u821e\u8e48\u4e2d\u65e2\u662f\u5b58\u5728\u548c\u663e\u73b0\uff0c\u4e5f\u662f\u8282\u594f\u548c\u60c5\u611f\u3002\u4e5f\u6b63\u662f\u56e0\u4e3a\u5982\u6b64\uff0c\u821e\u8e48\u7684\u771f\u5b9e\u548c\u65e0\u53ef\u590d\u5236\uff0c\u4f7f\u5176\u5728\u201c\u673a\u68b0\u590d\u5236\u65f6\u4ee3\u201d\uff08Walter Benjamin\uff09\u4ecd\u7136\u5177\u6709\u5176\u6c14\u97f5\uff08Aura\uff09\u3002\u4e2d\u56fd\u4f20\u7edf\u6587\u5316\u975e\u5e38\u6ce8\u91cd\u201c\u6c14\u201d\u7684\u6982\u5ff5\uff0c\u897f\u65b9\u73b0\u4ee3\u821e\u4e5f\u6b63\u662f\u4ee5\u81ea\u7136\u4e4b\u547c\u5438\u6765\u53cd\u5bf9\u82ad\u857e\u7684\u50f5\u5316\u4e0e\u4fdd\u5b88\u3002\u5982\u679c\u4ee5\u672c\u96c5\u660e\u5bf9Auro\u7684\u754c\u5b9a\uff0c\u90a3\u4e48\u821e\u8e48\u662f\u6700\u5177\u539f\u771f\u6027\u7684\u827a\u672f\u4e4b\u4e00\uff0c\u5b83\u6c38\u8fdc\u90fd\u662f\u5728\u771f\u5b9e\u5730\u8bb2\u8ff0\u5386\u53f2\u3002\u6240\u4ee5\uff0c\u5373\u4fbf\u79bb\u5bb6\uff0c\u5728\u522b\u5904\uff0c\u5317\u4eac\u3001\u53f0\u5317\u3001\u4f26\u6566\u7684\u7f16\u5bfc\u90fd\u5728\u8bb2\u8ff0\u4ece\u4e00\u4e2a\u201c\u5bb6\u201d\u2014\u2014\u57ce\u5e02\uff0c\u5230\u53e6\u4e00\u4e2a\u201c\u5bb6\u201d\u2014\u2014\u56fd\u9645\uff0f\u4e16\u754c\u7684\u771f\u5b9e\u7684\u5fc3\u8def\u5386\u7a0b\uff0c\u2014\u2014\u8fd9\u662f\u771f\u5b9e\u5386\u53f2\u7684\u7ec6\u5fae\u6784\u6210\u3002 Translation\u2026 ArtsCross Observations (1) I\u00a0finally got to\u00a0see some rehearsals. At\u00a0ArtsCross London, I\u00a0caught up with the\u00a0boss, Director Guo Lei, colleagues\u00a0\u2014 the\u00a0choreographer Zeng Huanxing, \"old comrades\"\u00a0\u2014 Zhibo (Zhibo is the\u00a0only dancer from Beijing to\u00a0have participated in\u00a0four sessions. I'm the\u00a0only Beijing academic to\u00a0have participated in\u00a0four sessions), students\u00a0\u2014 Wu Shuai\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General posts"","block_context":{"text":"General posts","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/category\/general_posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions\/219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}