In\u00a0many ways the\u00a0meeting with the\u00a0choreographers on\u00a0the\u00a07th of\u00a0August captured the\u00a0ArtsCross challenge quite adequately. And\u00a0I\u00a0don\u2019t just mean finding moments when we can say \u2018 This is so Artscross!\u2019 but when we get into the\u00a0breach of\u00a0media that comes with any practice-as-research project. The\u00a0choreographers are primarily dealing with their groups\u2019 evolving work and\u00a0when we met they apparently needed to\u00a0switch to\u00a0another communicative mode to\u00a0face the\u00a0challenge of\u00a0ArtsCross.<\/p>\n
Coincidentally, precisely such switches in\u00a0modes of\u00a0conducting practice-as-research were brought up in\u00a0previous seminars by\u00a0Martin and\u00a0Vida Midgelow. I\u00a0called it the\u00a0missing link when we spoke with Vida and\u00a0what I\u00a0hinted at\u00a0was the\u00a0fact that we are still not quite sure how \u2018translatable\u2019 practical modes of\u00a0exploring themes and\u00a0material are with linguistic explication. During the research methodology seminars we have mentioned the slow progress in the UK and elsewhere as regards quality and assessment criteria in practice-as-research. I agree and often find myself wondering after reading typical practice-as-research outcomes in the form of books and DVDs if they are indeed differed from previous performance analyses about performance works. And\u00a0this is of\u00a0course a\u00a0challenge for\u00a0us who are involved in\u00a0ArtsCross as\u00a0well: are we doing anything new or\u00a0are we essentially combining previous modes of\u00a0research? Ironically, I\u00a0believe that the\u00a0answer to\u00a0this question depends on\u00a0how we pose the\u00a0question and\u00a0how we plan to\u00a0respond to\u00a0it.<\/p>\n
Let me once again approach the\u00a0matter from a\u00a0multi-disciplinary vista. One way of\u00a0discussing whether it is possible to\u00a0translate practice into conceptual modes of\u00a0reasoning is to\u00a0ask whether they are \u2018commensurate\u2019 at\u00a0all. The\u00a0term \u2018commensurate\u2019 is taken from Thomas Kuhn\u2019s investigation into paradigmatic revolutions in\u00a0scientific research. When Copernicus decided to\u00a0study our physical world with the\u00a0sun, rather than our planet, in\u00a0the\u00a0middle of\u00a0a\u00a0system of\u00a0physical entities he changed the\u00a0rules for\u00a0his research to\u00a0such an\u00a0extent that it was deemed incommensurate with the\u00a0previously dominating astronomy of\u00a0Aristotle and\u00a0Ptolemy. However, it wasn\u2019t the\u00a0fact that Copernicus worked with a\u00a0telescope, texts and\u00a0graphs that made his research incommensurate with Aristotle\u2019s research, but the\u00a0theories and\u00a0principles of\u00a0what they studied. So the\u00a0rules of\u00a0the\u00a0game changed for\u00a0a\u00a0long time in\u00a0physics, but researchers were still looking at\u00a0the\u00a0sky, talking about what they saw, inventing new techniques for\u00a0telescopes, writing and\u00a0publishing texts, working on\u00a0graphs, presenting findings in\u00a0lectures, planning research projects, and\u00a0so forth. And\u00a0it is in\u00a0all these research-related activities that Kuhn found the\u00a0very rationale behind revolutions in\u00a0scientific paradigms; research cultures as\u00a0such steer different debates and\u00a0experiments toward potential innovations and\u00a0they have always been multi-modal in\u00a0terms of\u00a0approaches and\u00a0media.<\/p>\n
We can compare the\u00a0conditions and\u00a0shifts of\u00a0research in\u00a0the\u00a0arts and\u00a0in\u00a0science respectively on\u00a0Kuhn\u2019s premises, for\u00a0instance, if we consider the\u00a0practice of\u00a0dance as\u00a0a\u00a0mode of\u00a0research in\u00a0its own right, i.e., as\u00a0a\u00a0fundamentally different, perhaps even incommensurate, way of\u00a0exploring dance from a\u00a0textual approach as\u00a0was the\u00a0case for\u00a0a\u00a0long time in\u00a0the\u00a0arts and\u00a0humanities. So let\u2019s assume that we consider practicing dance as\u00a0the\u00a0best way to\u00a0find out about dance and\u00a0that we want to\u00a0find out something in\u00a0a\u00a0dance piece: isn\u2019t the\u00a0logical move then to\u00a0start dancing the\u00a0piece? Here we \u00a0reach a\u00a0rather na\u00efve turning point in\u00a0the\u00a0practice-as-research discourse where we need to\u00a0differentiate between various interests, approaches, methods, aims and\u00a0objectives. Perhaps we are interested in\u00a0something more than just understanding what it is like to\u00a0dance, or\u00a0to\u00a0merely look at\u00a0dance. Suppose we want to\u00a0meet and\u00a0mix different dance traditions in\u00a0order to\u00a0exchange skills in\u00a0dance, concepts of\u00a0dance, traditions in\u00a0dance, rules of\u00a0dance training, conditions behind contemporary changes in\u00a0dance, and\u00a0so forth. I\u00a0seem to\u00a0move in\u00a0a\u00a0circle; now I’m are back at\u00a0the\u00a0point where I\u00a0started, in\u00a0our ArtsCross meeting.<\/p>\n
However, let\u2019s pay a\u00a0bit more attention to\u00a0Kuhn\u2019s considerations of\u00a0a\u00a0\u2018scientific community\u2019, i.e., the\u00a0scientific, historical, institutional, material, and\u00a0discursive contexts of\u00a0a\u00a0researcher like Copernicus. What would we consider to\u00a0be the\u00a0greater impetus in\u00a0Copernicus\u2019 scientific revolution: the\u00a0man himself or\u00a0his research tradition and\u00a0environment? Well, even if Copernicus should not be deprived of\u00a0any credibility (which he and\u00a0especially Galileo Galilei indeed were in\u00a0the\u00a016th century), the\u00a0contextual factors of\u00a0the\u00a0scientific community in\u00a0which he functioned is almost certainly the\u00a0greater reason for\u00a0his achievement. Can we distance ourselves and\u00a0assume our meeting in\u00a0a\u00a0similar from a\u00a0similar perspective? Well, perhaps not in\u00a0time but certainly in\u00a0cultural distance. If Copernicus contemporaries stood with one foot in\u00a0a\u00a0medieval era and\u00a0one in\u00a0a\u00a0renaissance era, we can say that we are finding our footing in\u00a0East Asian cultures and\u00a0Western cultures respectively.<\/p>\n
So whichever kind of\u00a0dance phenomenon that emerges in\u00a0ArtsCross that can be considered to\u00a0be new, or\u00a0contributing to\u00a0the\u00a0cultural exchange between our countries, it will probably not take effect just by\u00a0somebody pointing to\u00a0a\u00a0choreographed experiment and\u00a0saying: \u201cThis is it.\u201d Nor is it plausible to\u00a0imagine a\u00a0dance in\u00a0itself as\u00a0new or\u00a0innovative. It takes a\u00a0community to\u00a0do so. The\u00a0meeting with the\u00a0choreographers, which was a\u00a0kind of\u00a0marking exercise between choreographic instructions and\u00a0academic reflection, provided us with good indications that such a\u00a0culture is underway within ArtsCross.<\/p>\n
Just the\u00a0fact that people discussed the\u00a0ArtsCross trademark is a\u00a0good sign. And\u00a0that Guo Lei said that he felt he \u2018can do anything\u2019 by\u00a0playing with the\u00a0adaptability of\u00a0the\u00a0Nuo tradition of\u00a0music and\u00a0dance with his trilateral performers. In\u00a0a\u00a0similar manner, Vera made clear from the\u00a0start that she intended to\u00a0approach her work as\u00a0research. And\u00a0those are just two examples of\u00a0many that indicate an\u00a0open and\u00a0curious attitude that yield experimentation in\u00a0our meeting. The\u00a0important thing to\u00a0recognise here is the\u00a0continuum between performers, choreographers and\u00a0academics. Herein lies, I\u00a0think, the\u00a0promise and\u00a0potential of\u00a0original art and\u00a0research, although not original in\u00a0reference to\u00a0a\u00a0national or\u00a0linguistic departure point, nor an\u00a0aesthetic or\u00a0art-specific destination, but in\u00a0a\u00a0diasporic community with multi-modal possibilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In\u00a0many ways the\u00a0meeting with the\u00a0choreographers on\u00a0the\u00a07th of\u00a0August captured the\u00a0ArtsCross challenge quite adequately. And\u00a0I\u00a0don\u2019t just mean finding moments when we can say \u2018 This is so Artscross!\u2019 but when we get into the\u00a0breach of\u00a0media that comes with any practice-as-research project. The\u00a0choreographers… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"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-691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_posts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8mnDM-b9","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1147,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/08\/a-brief-post-reception\/","url_meta":{"origin":691,"position":0},"title":"A brief post-reception","author":"Donald Hutera","date":"11 August 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The\u00a0facts and\u00a0figures anchoring ArtsCross London impress: 30 dancers, 15 interpreters etc plus at\u00a0the\u00a0Asia House reception a\u00a0small stage littered with partners. I\u00a0admire Chris Bannerman\u2019s style: both diplomatic and\u00a0witty, he knows how to\u00a0put across his words with a\u00a0bounce that keep formulaic dullness at\u00a0bay. There\u2019s talk\u00a0\u2014 from someone\u00a0\u2014 of\u00a0\u2018the\u00a0particularities of\u00a0art process and\u00a0practice\u2019 which\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":28,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/06\/artscross-london-2013-key-dates\/","url_meta":{"origin":691,"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":69,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/07\/artscross-london-2013-leaving-home-being-elsewhere\/","url_meta":{"origin":691,"position":2},"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":630,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/08\/how-do-we-do-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":691,"position":3},"title":"How do we do it?","author":"Ola Johansson","date":"3 August 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In\u00a0connection to\u00a0talks in\u00a0the\u00a0working group \u2018Crossing disciplines\u2019 I\u00a0have tried to\u00a0see what is potentially unique about the\u00a0ArtsCross concept from a\u00a0disciplinary perspective. Discussing disciplinary approaches is of\u00a0course inspiring in\u00a0light of\u00a0the\u00a0versatile framework of\u00a0the\u00a0project, in\u00a0which national, linguistic, cultural, pedagogic and\u00a0aesthetic boundaries are crossed \u2013 just as\u00a0the\u00a0theme of\u00a0this year\u2019s edition of\u00a0ArtsCross indicates. However, rather than navigating\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":1352,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2014\/11\/embodied-translation-artscross-5th-anniversary-performance-beijing-dance-academy-october-2014\/","url_meta":{"origin":691,"position":4},"title":"Embodied translation: Artscross 5th Anniversary Performance, Beijing Dance Academy October 2014","author":"Rebecca Loukes","date":"10 November 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve been in\u00a0Beijing for\u00a0just under a\u00a0week, observing the\u00a0final rehearsals and\u00a0performance of\u00a0nine pieces selected from the\u00a0past five years of\u00a0ArtsCross. The\u00a0programme for\u00a0the\u00a0show on\u00a023rd October consisted of\u00a0works by\u00a0chorographers from Beijing, Taipei and\u00a0London. The\u00a0pieces were reworked in\u00a0various ways and\u00a0included some of\u00a0the\u00a0original dancers and\u00a0some new performers. As\u00a0a\u00a0spectator and\u00a0academic participant in\u00a0ArtsCross since 2011, it was very\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":173,"url":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/2013\/07\/here-comes-beijing-london-taipei-in-alphabetical-order\/","url_meta":{"origin":691,"position":5},"title":"Here comes… Beijing! London! Taipei! (in alphabetical order…)","author":"Steffi Sachsenmaier","date":"22 July 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"After two phases of\u00a0Artscross I\u00a0attended in\u00a0Taipei in\u00a02011 and\u00a0in\u00a0Beijing in\u00a02o12 so far, an\u00a0important shift took place for\u00a0me at\u00a0the\u00a0auditions for\u00a0this 2013 phase in\u00a0London. I\u00a0had always been highly sensitive to\u00a0the\u00a0discourses that emerged around the\u00a0dancers and\u00a0choreographers, as\u00a0well as\u00a0academics, representing in\u00a0some ways their 'countries'. Very easily, in\u00a0my\u00a0view, discussions arise in\u00a0which generalisations happen about Chinese-ness, British-ness\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General posts"","block_context":{"text":"General posts","link":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/category\/general_posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_0465","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/IMG_0465-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691","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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1088,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691\/revisions\/1088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rescen.net\/blog5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}