When we speak of \u2018being elsewhere\u2019 we tend to think in terms of geographical shifts, such as flying from Beijing or Taipei to London, or vice versa, or migrating to another place from where we were born, raised or \u2018socialised\u2019 \u2013 as I did in 1999 when I left my native Germany to live in the UK and later New Zealand. The choreographer Riccardo Buscarini also used a spatial metaphor, commenting after yesterday\u2019s rehearsal that for him, being elsewhere meant having no roots (like a tree dislodged from the earth), or embarking on an Odyssey.<\/p>\n
Being elsewhere can, however, be taken in several less literal senses, as encapsulating distractedness, boredom, or alternative modes of consciousness such as ecstasy: a word derived from the Ancient Greek ekstasis<\/em>, meaning standing outside oneself i.e. a removal to \u2018elsewhere\u2019. Ecstasy is a topos that has been used extensively in dance: not just in the classic example of Turkish dervish dances; but also in Western theatre dance, for instance some of Mary Wigman\u2019s works; and indeed as part of \u2018rave\u2019 club culture. It entails a complete letting go or abandonment of conventions and forms of control in order to seek different or \u2018higher\u2019 forms of consciousness.<\/p>\n I think this invites another approach to habitus<\/i>, which was mentioned at the opening event and subsequently on the discussion forum: a notion closely associated with Bourdieu, created in the interstice between the subject\u2019s will and (societal and other) structures. In dance, the notion could be applied to the habits formed as a result of our daily training which comes with an internalisation of certain bodily codes and practices. When I first arrived to study in Cambridge, I vividly remember taking my first RAD ballet class and my sheer astonishment at the fact that\u00a0everyone seemed to know and was able to execute their exercises even before the teachers entered the studio (such syllabus-based classes are all but unknown in Germany).<\/p>\n These differences are not just of genre and style, but essentially of corporeal habits. In the rehearsals I observed yesterday and last year in Beijing, performers had to jettison some of their learned physical training and acquire new skills which could even be at odds with their previous experience: for instance giving and sharing weight (aka contact improvisation exercises) as in Vera Tussing\u2019s rehearsal, partnering and lifting etc. All of this is about \u2018being elsewhere\u2019: not in the most obvious sense, but in one that is inevitably associated with a letting go of one\u2019s roots, shedding control of what has been previously learned and often accepted as normal and \u2018default\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When we speak of \u2018being elsewhere\u2019 we tend to think in terms of geographical shifts, such as flying from Beijing or Taipei to London, or vice versa, or migrating to another place from where we were born, raised or \u2018socialised\u2019 \u2013 as I did in 1999 when I left my native Germany to live in the UK and later New… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"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-430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_posts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8mnDM-6W","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1226,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/08\/leaving-london-going-elsewhere\/","url_meta":{"origin":430,"position":0},"title":"Leaving London: going elsewhere…","author":"Andrew Lang","date":"12 August 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 photo by\u00a0Dominique Rivoal","rel":"","context":"In "Photos"","block_context":{"text":"Photos","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/category\/photos\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_1556","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/IMG_1556-762x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":28,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/06\/artscross-london-2013-key-dates\/","url_meta":{"origin":430,"position":1},"title":"ArtsCross London 2013 Key Dates","author":"Andrew Lang","date":"24 June 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Friday 19 July \u00a0 Choreographers' workshops and\u00a0discussion Postings of\u00a0Interviews \u00a0 \u00a0 Sunday 21 July \u00a0 Rehearsals begin Postings of\u00a0rehearsal video and\u00a0artists comments \u00a0 \u00a0 Monday 29 July \u00a0 Academics begin observations Postings of\u00a0academics' observations \u2013 thoughts in\u00a0progress \u00a0 \u00a0 Saturday 10 August \u00a0 Performance Leaving home: being\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":1101,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/08\/picture-by-alessandra-rocchetti\/","url_meta":{"origin":430,"position":2},"title":"Leaving the studio: researching elsewhere","author":"Vera Tussing","date":"9 August 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "General posts"","block_context":{"text":"General posts","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/category\/general_posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"AY10yaU313QK5CRYHK3L13cM1qfeQQIMAgG-XccRaHI,-rCl0m9UAEGqD6nn_-oBep4D6W22Yv4aSVVliBPbnlQ","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/AY10yaU313QK5CRYHK3L13cM1qfeQQIMAgG-XccRaHI-rCl0m9UAEGqD6nn_-oBep4D6W22Yv4aSVVliBPbnlQ-300x201.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":183,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/07\/day-2-city-heat-ho-hsiaomei-and-zhao-liang\/","url_meta":{"origin":430,"position":3},"title":"Day 2 City heat; Ho Hsiaomei and Zhao Liang","author":"Martin Welton","date":"23 July 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"As\u00a0Steffi wrote earlier, it's cities more than nationalities that are at\u00a0play in\u00a0the\u00a0mix of\u00a0people in\u00a0the\u00a0studios. It's hot and\u00a0muggy in\u00a0London at\u00a0the\u00a0moment, and\u00a0the\u00a0city doesn't really have the\u00a0infrastructure. This heat is pretty unusual! But with the\u00a0windows open (at\u00a0least in\u00a0the\u00a0studios I\u00a0visited), the\u00a0atmosphere in\u00a0the\u00a0studio felt close to\u00a0the\u00a0city itself. 'The studio' is often nominalised and\u00a0abstracted as\u00a0if only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General posts"","block_context":{"text":"General posts","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/category\/general_posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_1940","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/IMG_1940-224x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":69,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/07\/artscross-london-2013-leaving-home-being-elsewhere\/","url_meta":{"origin":430,"position":4},"title":"ArtsCross London 2013 \u2013 Leaving home: being elsewhere","author":"Martin Welton","date":"20 July 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"As\u00a0ArtsCross London begins, the\u00a0project\u2019s UK directors offer some of\u00a0their thoughts on\u00a0where the\u00a0next three weeks of\u00a0collaboration and\u00a0exchange might lead. Chris Bannerman writes: I\u00a0believe it was Martin Welton who first proposed that the\u00a0theme should somehow refer to\u00a0\u2018home\u2019. After enthusiastic responses from Beijing and\u00a0Taipei, we each retreated to\u00a0mull over possible formulations, searching for\u00a0the\u00a0one\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":639,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/08\/%e7%a6%bb%e4%b9%a1%e2%80%a2%e5%9c%a8%e5%88%ab%e5%a4%84\/","url_meta":{"origin":430,"position":5},"title":"\u79bb\u4e61\u2022\u5728\u522b\u5904","author":"Liu Yan","date":"3 August 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\u53bb\u53d1\u73b0\uff0c\u662f\u4e00\u4e2a\u8fc7\u7a0b\uff0c\u662f\u4e00\u4e2a\u5f88\u6709\u8da3\u7684\u8fc7\u7a0b\u3002\u57282013 Arts Cross\u4e2d\uff0c\u6211\u4eec\u4f5c\u4e3a\u89c2\u5bdf\u8005\u4f1a\u4e0e\u7f16\u5bfc\u3001\u6f14\u5458\u4e00\u540c\u53bb\u53d1\u73b0\u521b\u4f5c\u8fc7\u7a0b\u4e2d\u5b58\u5728\u7684\u4e00\u4e9b\u6709\u8da3\u7684\u3001\u6709\u610f\u4e49\u7684\u4e8b\u60c5\u3002\u5728\uff02\u821e\u52a8\u65e0\u754c\uff02\u7684\u8fd9\u6b21\u5de5\u4f5c\u4e2d\uff0c\u6211\u8f6c\u6362\u4e86\u89d2\u8272\uff0c\u4e0e\u524d\u4e24\u6b21\u821e\u8005\u3001\u7f16\u5bfc\u7684\u8eab\u4efd\u4e0d\u540c\uff0c\u89c2\u5bdf\u8005\u7ed9\u4e86\u6211\u66f4\u591a\u53bb\u4e86\u89e3\u821e\u52a8\u3001\u5173\u6ce8\u521b\u4f5c\u7684\u89d2\u5ea6\u548c\u7eac\u5ea6\uff0c\u800c\u8fd9\u6b63\u662f\u6211\u5728\u4e0d\u65ad\u53d1\u73b0\u821e\u8e48\u9b45\u529b\u5230\u8fc7\u7a0b\u3002 \u8fd9\u6b21Arts Cross\u7684\u4e3b\u9898\u662f\uff02\u79bb\u4e61\u2022 \u5728\u522b\u5904\uff02\uff0c\u521a\u542c\u5230\u8fd9\u4e2a\u4e3b\u9898\u65f6\u6211\u6709\u4e9b\u604d\u60da\uff0c\u56e0\u4e3a\u90a3\u662f\u6211\u521a\u5230\u82f1\u56fd\u4f26\u6566\u7684\u7b2c\u4e00\u5929\uff0c\u6211\u60f3\u5230\u8fd9\u662f\u6211\uff1f\u8fd8\u6709\u4e0e\u6211\u540c\u884c\u6765\u81ea\u5317\u4eac\u7684\u5b66\u8005\u4eec\uff1f\u8fd8\u6709\u6765\u81ea\u53f0\u6e7e\u548c\u5176\u4ed6\u5730\u65b9\u7684\u5b66\u8005\u4eec\uff1f\u8fd9\u4e2a\u4e3b\u9898\u5f88\u6709\u8da3\uff0c\u8ba9\u6211\u4e0d\u65ad\u7684\u60f3\u95ee\u95ee\u9898\u3002\u6211\u5ffd\u7136\u611f\u53d7\u5230\u4e00\u79cd\u4e45\u8fdd\u7684\u60c5\u6000\uff0c\uff02\u601d\u4e61\u3001\u60c6\u6005\uff02\u3002\u8fd9\u65f6\u5019\u6211\u53c8\u6709\u4e9b\u604d\u60da\uff0c\u6211\u7684\u601d\u4e61\u662f\u5e94\u8be5\u5177\u4f53\u5230\u4f55\u5730\u5462\uff1f\u6211\u73b0\u5728\u751f\u6d3b\u5728\u5317\u4eac\uff0c\u800c\u6211\u6765\u81ea\u5185\u8499\u53e4... \u6211\u4eec\u5728\u4e00\u6b21\u8ba8\u8bba\u4f1a\u8bae\u4e2d\u8c08\u8bba\u5230\uff02\u4e16\u754c\u4e3b\u4e49\uff02\u7684\u76f8\u5173\u8bdd\u9898\uff0c\u5728\u6211\u4eec\u4e0d\u65ad\u53d1\u95ee\uff02\u6211\u4eec\u662f\u8c01\uff1f\u6765\u81ea\u4f55\u5730\uff1f\uff02\u7684\u540c\u65f6\uff0c\u6211\u4eec\u4f1a\u8ba4\u540c\u6211\u4eec\u662f\u751f\u5b58\u5728\u5730\u7403\u4e0a\u7684\uff02\u4e16\u754c\u516c\u6c11\uff02\u3002\u8fd1\u5e74\u6765\uff0c\u65e0\u8bba\u662f\u821e\u8e48\u8fd8\u662f\u5728\u5176\u4ed6\u9886\u57df\uff0c\u770b\u5230\u8d8a\u6765\u8d8a\u5168\u7403\u5316\u7684\u4e00\u4e9b\u73b0\u8c61\uff0c\u4eba\u4eec\u4eab\u53d7\u4fbf\u5229\u7684\u540c\u65f6\u4e5f\u53d1\u73b0\u4e86\u8bb8\u591a\u95ee\u9898\uff0c\u8fd9\u540c\u6837\u662f\u4e00\u4e2a\u53d1\u73b0\u7684\u8fc7\u7a0b\u3002\u57282013Arts cross\u7684\u5e73\u53f0\u4e0a\uff0c\u6211\u4eec\u770b\u5230\u6765\u81ea\u4e0d\u540c\u5730\u65b9\u7684\u821e\u8005\u4e0e\u7f16\u5bfc\uff0c\u4ed6\u4eec\u7684\u5408\u4f5c\u8ba9\u6211\u4eec\u5728\u8fd9\u4e2a\u821e\u8e48\u9879\u76ee\u7684\u8f7d\u4f53\u4e0a\u53ef\u4ee5\u7528\u89c2\u5bdf\u821e\u8e48\u7684\u89d2\u5ea6\u53bb\u53d1\u73b0\u66f4\u591a\u95ee\u9898\uff0c\u8fd9\u5c31\u662f\u6709\u8da3\u7684\u5730\u65b9\uff0c\u5728\u89c2\u5bdf\u8005\u7684\u89d2\u5ea6\uff0c\uff02\u79bb\u4e61\u2022\u5728\u522b\u5904\uff02\u5df2\u7ecf\u8fdc\u8fdc\u8d85\u51fa\u821e\u8e48\u672c\u8eab\u7684\u7eac\u5ea6\uff0c\u800c\u88ab\u62d3\u5bbd\u5230\u66f4\u5e7f\u9614\u7684\u89c6\u91ce\u3002 \uff02\u79bb\u4e61\u2022\u5728\u522b\u5904\uff02\u6b64\u65f6\u597d\u50cf\u5728\u8bf4\u6240\u6709\u4ece\u4e0d\u540c\u57ce\u5e02\u6765\u5230\u4f26\u6566\u53c2\u4e0eArts Cross\u7684\u4eba\uff0c\u8fd9\u662f\u4e00\u4e2a\u627e\u5230\u6211\u4eec\u5171\u6027\u7684\u65b9\u5f0f\uff0c\u800c\u6211\u4eec\u5728\u4e00\u8d77\u53d1\u73b0\u66f4\u591a\u4e0d\u540c\uff0c\u5173\u4e8e\u821e\u8e48\u3001\u7f16\u521b\u3001\u52a8\u4f5c\u3001\u60f3\u6cd5\u3001\u6587\u5316\u3001\u4e60\u60ef \u7b49\u7b49\u3002\u6211\u5f88\u4eab\u53d7\u8fd9\u4e2a\u53d1\u73b0\u7684\u8fc7\u7a0b\uff0c\u5728\u8fd9\u8fc7\u7a0b\u4e2d\u6211\u4f1a\u8bb0\u5f55\u5173\u4e8e\u4e00\u4e9b\uff02\u76f8\u540c\u4e0e\u4e0d\u540c\uff02\u7684\u90e8\u5206\uff0c\u4ee5\u89c2\u5bdf\u8005\u7684\u89d2\u5ea6\u53d1\u73b0\u821e\u8e48\u521b\u4f5c\u8fc7\u7a0b\u4e2d\u6bcf\u4e00\u4f4d\u53c2\u4e0e\u8005\u7684\u53d8\u5316\u4e0e\u4e0d\u53d8\uff0c\u6211\u671f\u5f85\u8fd9\u4e2a\u8fc7\u7a0b\uff0c\u8fd9\u4e2a\uff02\u79bb\u4e61\u2022\u5728\u522b\u5904\uff02\u7684\u8fc7\u7a0b\u3002 Translation\u2026 Leaving home: being elsewhere Discovery is a\u00a0process. A\u00a0fascinating process. During the\u00a02013 ArtsCross session, we had the\u00a0opportunity, as\u00a0observers, to\u00a0discover, together with the\u00a0choreographers and\u00a0performers, some interesting, meaningful things which occurred during the\u00a0creative process. During this session of\u00a0\"Danscross\", I\u00a0took on\u00a0a\u00a0different role.\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\/430","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\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":439,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430\/revisions\/439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}