Another definition

The choreography of a piece is that which is repeatable between iterations.
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The improvisation of a piece is that which is not repeatable between iterations.

5 new words

infrapresentationologist -  one who studies what lies below the surface of presentation

maltempotude - the condition of having the incorrect temporal relationship with another

anteformology - the study of what comes before a shape comes into existence

heterokinespherism - the state of existing in at least two different shapes

quasicorpologist - one who has seemingly studied the human form and its potentialities

A definition of art

Art is something that you need to be told to look at.

Another definition for Contact

Con -
1. a prefix meaning “with,” “together,” “in association”
2. a verb meaning "to commit to memory" or "to study or examine closely"
3. an adverb meaning "on the negative side" or "in opposition"

4. a verb meaning "swindle", "manipulate", "persuade", or "cajole"

Tact -

1.a keen sense of what to say or do to avoid giving offense; skill in dealing with difficult or delicate situations.
2.a keen sense of what is appropriate, tasteful, or aesthetically pleasing; taste; discrimination.
3.touch or the sense of touch.

A defintion

Improvisation: bodies manifesting and dissolving dynamic temporal-spatial structures according to aesthetic and physical potentialities and proclivities in a planar arena.

More definitions

Dance is the theater of the object.

Theater is the dance of the subject.

Logic determined beforehand

A piece is choreographed if the logic is determined before the piece begins.

Another definition

Art is that which provides no comfort, gain, or reward to its creator.

corporate welfare

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Presence vs. Awareness

Presence.

What is it?

There are many workshops that deal with presence.  Practicing it, creating different kinds of presence.

But there is only one kind of presence - either you are in the room or you are not.  It’s digital,a binary.  Either the food is in your belly or it is not.  Either the whisky is in your glass or it is not.  Either you’re pregnant or you’re not.

If we are to look at the etymology of the word (and a little part of me dies when I do this), we see that presence comes from Latin praesentia - “a being before”.  The origins of the word have nothing to do with awareness.  Before...in front of...location...place...space...either you are before someone or not.

Does this mean that practicing presence is an exercise in punctuality?  You are either in the studio or not.  Punctuality is something that many dancers could practice.  Oh, the irony...we of time based art have a hard time showing up at the correct time.

What people really mean when they say presence is awareness.  When people say that someone is not very present, they mean that someone’s awareness is on something other than what they themselves are focused on.  Differing awarenesses.

Seeing dancers who are not very “present” on stage... well, that’s impossible.  If they weren’t present, you couldn’t see them.  They appear “not present” because their awareness is elsewhere.  Frequently inexperienced dancers seem “not present”.  Their awareness is probably taken up by nervousness, or anticipation of messing up the choreography.  Their awareness is of the moment they are in, but their awareness of that moment is of a different variable than what the viewer is aware of.  The nervous dancer is aware of his or her panic about the upcoming moments, getting that lift right, or freaked out in an open improvisation because s/he is “stuck” center stage in a ball facing the floor.  It seemed like a brilliant choice 2 minutes ago...what do I do now?

The “unpresent” dancers, though, have not disappeared.  They are just focused on something else than the viewer is.

Injuries can also come from lack of “presence”.  This, though, is a result of a difference in awareness.  Imagine a contact jam.  Person X is very present in (or aware of) his sensations - the weight on his torso, the sweat of his partner, the exertion of his muscles etc.  He is so caught up in his sensory perceptions, that his awareness doesn’t see the heel headed towards his face.

BAM!

Heel meets face.  Ouch.  If he really weren’t present, then he would have not been hit.  If his awareness were outwards, he might have been able to avoid the incoming heel.  His awareness could have changed his presence to another location and avoided the calcaneal(is that a word?) collision.

presence, awareness, presence, awareness...

By conflating the two terms, and I would say that people favor presence, giving it greater value, we are favoring the mind over the body.

Maybe this is a Cartesian remnant, a vestigial thought held over from the Enlightenment - I think therefore I am - favoring the mind over the body.

Choreo vs. Impro

Choreography is knowing the other's response to your actions.

Improvisation is not knowing the other's response to your actions

Somatic - Compositional

Now – Future

Need – Want

Have to React – Want to React

Body – Space

Kinesphere – Spatial

Sensing Self –Sensing Space

Reaction to Self – Reaction to Other

For Self – For Other

Solo – Group

Self – Other

I – We

Compensating – Creating

Reacting to Change – Creating Change

Following - Leading

Habitual – Non-habitual

Unconscious – Conscious

Automatic – Forced

Exothermic – Endothermic

Anatomical – Cerebral

Poetic – Formulaic

Inner – Outer

Process – Product

Observational – Generative

Subject – Object

Instinctual – Cognitive

Fast - Slow

Evolving – Abrupt

a list of binaries generated during my third semester of my MA SODA at the HZT in Berlin

Subject vs. Object

Contact Improvisation has become a dance of the subject, not the object.




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A Quote

Dance [is] a practice that remobilizes language - Biba Bell, May 5, 2012

Art vs. Craft

In craft there is a right and a wrong.

In art, there is neither.

Allusion/Illusion

Theater uses illusion and allusion.

Dance uses neither.

More Definitions

Theater is that which the form and the content are different entities. 

In dance the form and the content are the same entity.

A pessimistic view?

Art is a creation of the creator's limitations.

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A fashion show is a dance performance with an emphasis on costume.

A concert is a dance performance with an emphasis on sound.

A construction site is a dance performance with emphasis on set.

A play is a dance performance with emphasis on text.

A fireworks show is a dance performance with emphasis on lighting.

A dance performance is a dance performance with emphasis on movement.

A presidential debate is a dance performance with emphasis on performer.

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Choreo, Memory, and Impro

The more closely linked an event is to memory, the more choreographed it is. The less connected to memory, the more improvised it is.

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