{"id":377,"date":"2013-07-27T12:54:03","date_gmt":"2013-07-27T12:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/?p=377"},"modified":"2013-07-29T21:35:18","modified_gmt":"2013-07-29T21:35:18","slug":"language-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/07\/language-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Language and beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since one of my tasks at this particular Artscross event is to focus on \u2018language\u2019 as part of a group of academics, my attention has been drawn on the sorts of languages that are being used in the rehearsal spaces. In many instances I have witnessed a \u2018searching\u2019 for the \u2018right\u2019 words or expressions by choreographers and dancers, when working a movement out together. What is the word that will make the dancers understand what the movement is about, how it is motivated?<\/p>\n

Yesterday in Dam Van Huynh\u2019s rehearsals for instance I observed the group working on a particular group sequence. There was a moment where verbal instruction was clearly at its limit and Dam proceeded after actually being asked by his dancers to \u2018show\u2019 what he meant. However beyond this, to further refine what the dancers had picked up through his demonstration, he added more instructions through words. Such instructions can be of very different kinds, one of them was for instance to start a particular section that involves long reaches and jumps \u2018from the core\u2019, as he told his dancers. In other parts of the same sequence I heard a dancer make reference to imagining grasping a ball and hitting it with his head in a particular moment. Or I recall during auditions there being given an instruction of initiating a movement from the ear.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0521\"<\/a>Dam Van Huynh<\/p>\n

While these examples are very typical kinds of movement instructions, I am still interested in those moments in which practitioners transition from verbal instruction to instructions that involve physical demonstration or touch. What importance and role but also what limits does verbal language have in the practice of choreography-making<\/nobr>? The examples of verbal instructions I relayed here seem crucial for establishing a specific intention and\/or quality of the movement, to draw a line to Martin\u2019s recent blogs \u2013 yet words of course never seem enough.<\/p>\n

Due to the intercultural nature of the project, the issue of language as such is of course heightened. In some of the processes much Mandarin is being spoken, where choreographers are less comfortable with speaking English themselves, and certainly vice versa! Of course there are very efficient translators in every rehearsal, yet it is obvious that not everything<\/i> can be translated, and any translation \u2018misses\u2019 something. One of the translators interestingly told me that she felt it works much better for a choreographer to give instructions in English, even if their English is not very good, rather than relying solely on the translator, as of course a speaker does not only communicate in words\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since one of my tasks at this particular Artscross event is to focus on \u2018language\u2019 as part of a group of academics, my attention has been drawn on the sorts of languages that are being used in the rehearsal spaces. In many instances I have witnessed a \u2018searching\u2019 for the \u2018right\u2019 words or expressions by choreographers and dancers, when working a movement out together.… <\/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-377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_posts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8mnDM-65","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":205,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/07\/working-through-question-marks-over-and-over-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":377,"position":0},"title":"Working through question marks, over and over time","author":"Steffi Sachsenmaier","date":"25 July 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the\u00a0past couple of\u00a0days it has become noticeable to\u00a0me in\u00a0each rehearsal space that a\u00a0shift has already occurred in\u00a0each group from a\u00a0stage of\u00a0early beginnings and\u00a0getting to\u00a0know each other to\u00a0\u2018setting something up\u2019. The\u00a0feeling that I\u00a0got in\u00a0each space, albeit distinct with each group, is one related to\u00a0a\u00a0working with many ideas that yet bring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General posts"","block_context":{"text":"General posts","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/category\/general_posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_0511","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/IMG_0511-300x238.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":174,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/07\/beginnings\/","url_meta":{"origin":377,"position":1},"title":"Beginnings…","author":"Steffi Sachsenmaier","date":"23 July 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday was my\u00a0first day of\u00a0watching rehearsals, and\u00a0for\u00a0most groups it was their second day into the\u00a0work. I\u00a0left in\u00a0the\u00a0evening with a\u00a0variety of\u00a0very touching impressions, of\u00a0people from different places getting to\u00a0know each other. When I\u00a0entered the\u00a0room of\u00a0Beijing choreographer Zeng Huangxing's rehearsal, I\u00a0was struck by\u00a0the\u00a0quietness he had created in\u00a0the\u00a0room. The\u00a0six dancers were paired up,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General posts"","block_context":{"text":"General posts","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/category\/general_posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_0473","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/IMG_0473-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1125,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/08\/after-the-fact-group-c\/","url_meta":{"origin":377,"position":2},"title":"After-the-Fact: Group C","author":"Donald Hutera","date":"10 August 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"[Another collection of\u00a0in-studio notes from the\u00a0recent past, here distilled\u2026] In\u00a0silence Dam Van Huynh\u2019s dancers jerk, wiggle and\u00a0vibrate with an\u00a0assertive sense of\u00a0exploration. What are a\u00a0dancer\u2019s habits and\u00a0how can they be (positively) broken? Dam spends a\u00a0bit of\u00a0time wiggling on\u00a0his own over by\u00a0the\u00a0windows in\u00a0the\u00a0Founders Studio \u2013 or\u00a0is he riffing off of\u00a0their wiggles? I\u00a0note\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":846,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/08\/the-medium-of-choreography-is-people-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":377,"position":3},"title":"The medium of choreography is people… Part 2","author":"Sanjoy Roy","date":"6 August 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm picking up from where I\u00a0left off in\u00a0Part 1, in\u00a0the\u00a0studio with Vera Tussing and\u00a0her dancers.\u00a0How are they working together? So far, it looks like Vera has worked on\u00a0improvisational tasks (mostly, it seems, to\u00a0do with giving weight, and\u00a0with a\u00a0kind of\u00a0proposal-response structure), so that the\u00a0substance if not the\u00a0design of\u00a0the\u00a0choreography comes directly from\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":972,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/08\/rethink-translation-in-a-process-of-artcrossing\/","url_meta":{"origin":377,"position":4},"title":"Rethink translation in a process of “artcrossing”","author":"I-Ying Wu","date":"7 August 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"As\u00a0an\u00a0interpreter, I\u00a0feel myself as\u00a0a\u00a0medium or\u00a0a\u00a0bridge between choreographers and\u00a0dancers, and\u00a0between Chinese speakers and\u00a0English speakers in\u00a0this project. This experience has made me question what translation means for\u00a0performing arts and\u00a0how to\u00a0translate in\u00a0an\u00a0artistic process that involves dancers and\u00a0choreographers from diverse cultural backgrounds and\u00a0linguistic or\u00a0cognitive systems. Is there an\u00a0alternative mode besides language emerging in\u00a0this process?\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":449,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/07\/working-out-the-work-and-its-logic\/","url_meta":{"origin":377,"position":5},"title":"Working out \u2018the work\u2019 and its logic","author":"Steffi Sachsenmaier","date":"29 July 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We are over a\u00a0week into rehearsals now and\u00a0it is fascinating to\u00a0see small sections of\u00a0choreographies coming together in\u00a0the\u00a0different spaces. The\u00a0work on\u00a0different exercises and\u00a0improvisations that was being done at\u00a0the\u00a0beginning of\u00a0the\u00a0process has now in\u00a0most if not all groups led to\u00a0a\u00a0first \u2018putting together\u2019 of\u00a0performance material. Small run-throughs are happening here and\u00a0there, and\u00a0much detail is\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\/377","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=377"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":464,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377\/revisions\/464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}