B.I.D.E.

Barcelona International Dance Exchange

Home ~ Media ~ Thoughts
Thoughts Print
***
Jungyeon Kim
Report on BIDE 2010
It's not about me
I was nervous. There were about 45 dance artists from different countries. But all of them gathered there under the title of . The concept of exchange seemed vague to me. What can I offer to them, and what can I expect to be offered? From the slight tension on their faces, I could sense that everyone else shared the similar feeling. No one was yet sure of how much one could reveal oneself in the middle of this foreign mass.
The first night was spent dancing together in the form of jam. From the second day there was 3 days consisting of so called 'labbing' and 'showing'. Each day in the morning, anyone could propose a theme that she wanted to invite people for the day and research together about. Usually the proposals were many, so the organizers had to decide which themes would be worked on that day. 3~5 groups were formed each day. And they were given 3 hours in the morning and another 3 hours in the afternoon to work as a group in separated studios. In the evening, each group presented a short show in front of the other groups, out of whatever the group could get during this one day research. As a result, every night were there performances which had been composed within the short time frame.
There was a group research proposed and moderated by me on the third day. The title of the research was given: "Hot Dance and Cold Dance". It was about how one can indulge in contact dance and fully be in the moment of dancing, but at the same time keep the compositional mind and be aware of one's own choices. In contact improvisation dance, one needs to let go of her own control and be in the dialogue between partners and her own physical reality. Contact dancers enjoy this specific form of dance not only as a physical activity but also as a place where they can experience social, sensual, playful -or someone even may say spiritual- interaction between individuals. As a dance maker, my interest was not only in enjoying dancing contact but also using it in performance situation. Since each group was supposed to present a short showing in the evening, there was a good condition to work on contact improvisation in its performative aspect.
The group was small; Susan, Natalia, Claudio, and Ivan. All of them were professional dancers, but with a little experience in contact dance. At first, we started from dancing together in improvisation. As I observed, when the group started to dance in contact, our dance was not reaching through the space. Each body was busy dealing with another. The focus of one's eyes was in- and downward. Everyone could be attentive to the others, but not to the space we were creating together. We were pushing, pulling, rolling on and lifting each other, but I couldn't find subtle dialogues between moving bodies which could be brought only in contact dance.
Exercises were proposed, focusing on sensation of one's own axis, and using off-balance in dance. Off-balance is one of the main physical qualities which appear in contact dance. By being out of one's own center of gravity, the two partners find a new balance in shared axis. One moment flows into the next, not because of anyone's control, but because of spontaneity innate in this subtle stability. One can repossesses her own balance, of course, which accentuates the dynamic and playfulness in this physical communication.
Being out of one's balance doesn't mean her body collapses on another's. In order to be in common balance and not to dump one's whole weight on the other, one needs to sense her axis. When one's spine is being elongated and mobile at the same time, she is free from depending on the other. She can have various ways of staying with or leaving the partner, thanks to the mobility achieved by her physical awareness. Elongated axis enables us to look forward rather than look down, which was also crucial for our aim; dancing with partners while composing the whole view.
Exercises were simple. One is standing still, and the other puts her hand on the chest of the standing person. The one standing senses the invitation from the hand, and slightly leans on it with her whole axis. From this state, we went on to various exercises; walking together, falling together, carrying the one on top of the other, etc. It took time for each one to arrive at this specific physical state, because as dancers we are used to aligning our bodies on our own feet by establishing tension around our spine. As a moderator of this research group, I was hesitating to teach any kind of lesson to the group. But, since the group was showing positive responses and eager to try out, I continued to offer techniques and principles around the theme, till the early afternoon.
The group dynamic during the last couple of hours was ideal. When we started to prepare for the night's show, there came active voices from the participants. We went through several times of group improvisation with different settings of time and music. Each time after, new ideas and feedbacks arose among us. Whenever I as a moderator felt lost in the middle of many opinions, Susan, the most experienced one in the group reminded the group that we were working not for the result but for the process itself. Everyone else could agree and share the same attitude.
10 minutes before the showing. We were standing in a circle with our arms around each other, while another group was performing on the stage. Long silence and relaxed breath were wrapping us as a group. It was not about 'me'. In fact, the pressure had been within each one, given the fact that one was supposed to perform in front of others every night. The show was more than satisfying. Each one was independent, but also listening to the others. We were dancing in sense of composing space, time and dynamic, at the same time being in subtle dialogues either in physical contact or in invisible one. After the show, we could celebrate what we had done from our truthful hearts.
When the spring was lighting up this beautiful city of southern Europe, 45 dancers from around the world were busy with working together. Some of them found their potential colleagues, others shared information. Some of them gained satisfaction through this event of exchange, others couldn't find their places to become more open and active. Some found this event very enriching and inspiring, others might say that it could have been better.
And I learned how important it is to open myself, in order to grow from working with others. There was nothing that I needed to protect myself from, show off myself about, disguise myself with, in this horizontal way of group working. Wonderful things happened when trust, responsibility and willingness were shared among us. It is not about me, just as when I dance with others. I am with myself in this togetherness.

 

**********

 

We Are Not Sheep - BIDE Artists Residency 2011 // Helen Gould

Noora, Shi and I researched for a week in Trangant Dansa. On the weeks running up to the residency we were in discussion via email, sharing ideas and interests. Amazingly, even from the early stages, there seemed to be a commonality in where we hoped our journey would begin. 

My personal interest currently resides in the relationship between musicality, rhythmical awareness and the dancer. I am studying the Dalcroze Cerificate at The Royal Northern College of Music. Dalcroze Eurhythmics is a method whereby musicality is taught through movement. It was adopted across the arts as a successful and highly relevant training method in the early 20th century. The legacy of which has become somewhat lost within the dance sector over the years. The method is taught within some of the ballet conservatoires but these are sparse. Generally I have discovered that there doesn’t appear to be a relevant musical training method for most dancers studying in conservatoires. 

Dalcroze Eurhythmics became the starting point of my research. I am now in the early stages of researching more widely within the dance sector. I’ve been incorporating Dalcroze far more within my teaching practice and promoting the method within my local region. The feedback has been encouraging. I hoped that in someway we maybe able to include an element of rhythmic investigation at some point of the process. I had a few ideas but was most interested in discussing experience and observing rhythmic association in others.  

In fact Both Shi and Noora were also interested in exploring rhythmic patterning as well as looking at intimacy and audience as a starting point. All three topics inspired me equally. 

Over the course of the week we explored rhythmic response, intimacy, vulgarity, musicality and audience/performer relationship. We began through rhythmically lead improvisation tasks and started developing original movement material. We evolved a rhythmic script/score to follow. It was something none of us had previously tried and was challenging. Dancers are mostly used to having leeway in rhythmic phrasing, selecting movement material from free improvisation usually originating without any dictating musical/rhythmic score. This way of working was out of our comfort zones and very time consuming. We stuck with it and were pleased with how it developed. Still thinking along these lines, we went on to explore relationships within the space and intimacy. How, together with the rhythmic patterning, they affected the overall picture. This finally culminated in us evolving a rhythmic score. With this in place we discussed the importance to discover an inner logic, we also were keen to think of the audience more as participants than audience members, more active than passive.  

I found the working collaboration extremely productive and exciting. All three of us come from very different dance backgrounds and so it was a fabulous opportunity to share and discover. I was greatly inspired by the other dancers. We contributed very equally to the piece and therefore, from the outset, it was clear to see that our ‘creation’ would transpire to be something beyond what each of us individually would have created, this was exciting! I think having the opportunity to work collectively and understanding a joint responsibility enabled me to feel far more relaxed about our journey and direction over the 8 days. Had I been solely responsible for the creative process I know I would have struggled to allow time for some areas of our investigation, many of which proved hugely worthwhile. I took encouragement and support from the others and there was a great deal of trust between us. We were happy to risk take, although, inevitably this could have gone further.  

I have taken away a belief that collective research is highly successful. Obvious really that more brains are better than one but often something that we don’t do. Egos get in the way and due to time and other pressures a collaborative way of working is not always possible. 
 

I do, however, think that it would have been interesting to have an outside eye that could have challenged us at some point in the process. Talking to Sebastian following our performance he stated that he was not surprised in the direction that we took and that it would have been possible to take our risk taking further. In refection, I think he is absolutely right. I do think this would have been virtually impossible to challenge ourselves on from within the working group. Yes, it is exciting to be given the responsibility and the opportunity to work solely together. But, working wholly internally is a risk in itself however. How can you truly challenge yourselves if you only have each other to challenge and that you don’t want to break the trust and unity of the partnership? 
 

Two weeks after the residency I am still consolidating all I discovered. It was a fabulously amazing opportunity and I’m most grateful for being offered the chance to take part. Noora, Shi and I are already discussing how we can develop some ideas further in the future. We will keep you posted!


video of the performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czgvZNAAg_0

 

**********

 

BIDE Artist Residency 2011 in La Caldera // Ria Kolbus


The residency was a glorious experience in working with professionals. As I just finished my dance education I was longing very much for this kind of work and it was a pleasure to be in this team. The difference between professionals and students is, that we can try out physical stuff much easier because of our experience and it gave me also the trust that we'll do a good performance even so we have "childish" habits during the rehearsal - playing around , making a lot of jokes, talking private stuff...
I enjoyed the easieness and during the last days the focus of everydody. And it was very intersting to see, what kind of ideas the professionals have, how they explain them to the rest of the group, how the group is responding, how the ideas are changing and how everything is growing together at the end without forcing into one direction but always searching for the best way of execution. We all are responsible for the coming out and we all had place to bring ourselves / our ideas in and the group was willing to support it. Saying YES to ideas. -The best what can happen in a team of choreographers / performers.

Thanks to everyone who made this experience happen!

video of the performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=benqI0trcWM

 

**********


How do we value..? - BIDE 2011 // Sarah Vaughan Jones


The film is a documentary of experimental improvisation collected from the Barcelona International Dance Exchange 2011.  The theme of the work questions how we value movement in terms of what we perceive to be impressive, trivial, fast or slow.  One specific laboratory and subsequent performance, practiced during the course of the week, focused on the idea of how we value movement and what it is we are trying to achieve when performing.  The film translates this idea by challenging the recipient’s perception of how they the judge the success, quality and direction of the movement.  The piece further investigates the differences in individuals’ values of speed and flight and our desire to achieve it when performing and exploring improvisational movement.  This theme also brushes upon the differences in how movement is initiated and developed, based on the different strategies practiced by individuals focusing on how performers swing and drop their weight to generate a natural direction of movement.
My intention for the piece is to expose the quality of research which was practiced during the course of the week, whilst offering an alternative perspective on the material, concentrating on one specific theme that encapsulated my main line of interest which was derived from my experience within the dance laboratories.  The audio and text provide an accessible, flexible and challenging stimulus in which to understand the subject of the work.

See the video in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR0hNFKUAb0

 

**********

 

Where thoughts are movement - BIDE Laboratory 2011 // Irene Cortina González


Facilitator: Irene Cortina González with the collaboration of Dino Spiri
Number for people joining: 15

Based on the idea that Improvisation is thinking in movement, I want to explore how my body would express thoughts in time and space. Can my body mirror my mind?

Interesting points of working in this format:
The main interesting part for me offering this laboratory was to work with group relationships inside of this theme (because the original project is a solo) and to get new information and inspiration from them.
During the laboratory my focuses were: -Duration and volume of movements and of thoughts. -Time and space. Group relations. -Clarity and precision of the movement. -Expression and transmission of thought. -Influences and stimulus. From the other bodies and from the music.
There was not time enough to work with the last point I wanted to introduce: -Out-coming sound (using the voice). As an extension on the body, connected with the volume of movement.

 

a video from the laboratory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksgMdqfFgNE

a video from the performance as a continuation of the laboratory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANawdM-Nd5I

 

***********

 

Report on BIDE 2010 // Jungyeon Kim


It's not about me


I was nervous. There were about 45 dance artists from different countries. But all of them gathered there under the title of . The concept of exchange seemed vague to me. What can I offer to them, and what can I expect to be offered? From the slight tension on their faces, I could sense that everyone else shared the similar feeling. No one was yet sure of how much one could reveal oneself in the middle of this foreign mass.


The first night was spent dancing together in the form of jam. From the second day there was 3 days consisting of so called 'labbing' and 'showing'. Each day in the morning, anyone could propose a theme that she wanted to invite people for the day and research together about. Usually the proposals were many, so the organizers had to decide which themes would be worked on that day. 3~5 groups were formed each day. And they were given 3 hours in the morning and another 3 hours in the afternoon to work as a group in separated studios. In the evening, each group presented a short show in front of the other groups, out of whatever the group could get during this one day research. As a result, every night were there performances which had been composed within the short time frame.


There was a group research proposed and moderated by me on the third day. The title of the research was given: "Hot Dance and Cold Dance". It was about how one can indulge in contact dance and fully be in the moment of dancing, but at the same time keep the compositional mind and be aware of one's own choices. In contact improvisation dance, one needs to let go of her own control and be in the dialogue between partners and her own physical reality. Contact dancers enjoy this specific form of dance not only as a physical activity but also as a place where they can experience social, sensual, playful -or someone even may say spiritual- interaction between individuals. As a dance maker, my interest was not only in enjoying dancing contact but also using it in performance situation. Since each group was supposed to present a short showing in the evening, there was a good condition to work on contact improvisation in its performative aspect.


The group was small; Susan, Natalia, Claudio, and Ivan. All of them were professional dancers, but with a little experience in contact dance. At first, we started from dancing together in improvisation. As I observed, when the group started to dance in contact, our dance was not reaching through the space. Each body was busy dealing with another. The focus of one's eyes was in- and downward. Everyone could be attentive to the others, but not to the space we were creating together. We were pushing, pulling, rolling on and lifting each other, but I couldn't find subtle dialogues between moving bodies which could be brought only in contact dance.


Exercises were proposed, focusing on sensation of one's own axis, and using off-balance in dance. Off-balance is one of the main physical qualities which appear in contact dance. By being out of one's own center of gravity, the two partners find a new balance in shared axis. One moment flows into the next, not because of anyone's control, but because of spontaneity innate in this subtle stability. One can repossesses her own balance, of course, which accentuates the dynamic and playfulness in this physical communication.


Being out of one's balance doesn't mean her body collapses on another's. In order to be in common balance and not to dump one's whole weight on the other, one needs to sense her axis. When one's spine is being elongated and mobile at the same time, she is free from depending on the other. She can have various ways of staying with or leaving the partner, thanks to the mobility achieved by her physical awareness. Elongated axis enables us to look forward rather than look down, which was also crucial for our aim; dancing with partners while composing the whole view.


Exercises were simple. One is standing still, and the other puts her hand on the chest of the standing person. The one standing senses the invitation from the hand, and slightly leans on it with her whole axis. From this state, we went on to various exercises; walking together, falling together, carrying the one on top of the other, etc. It took time for each one to arrive at this specific physical state, because as dancers we are used to aligning our bodies on our own feet by establishing tension around our spine. As a moderator of this research group, I was hesitating to teach any kind of lesson to the group. But, since the group was showing positive responses and eager to try out, I continued to offer techniques and principles around the theme, till the early afternoon.


The group dynamic during the last couple of hours was ideal. When we started to prepare for the night's show, there came active voices from the participants. We went through several times of group improvisation with different settings of time and music. Each time after, new ideas and feedbacks arose among us. Whenever I as a moderator felt lost in the middle of many opinions, Susan, the most experienced one in the group reminded the group that we were working not for the result but for the process itself. Everyone else could agree and share the same attitude.


10 minutes before the showing. We were standing in a circle with our arms around each other, while another group was performing on the stage. Long silence and relaxed breath were wrapping us as a group. It was not about 'me'. In fact, the pressure had been within each one, given the fact that one was supposed to perform in front of others every night. The show was more than satisfying. Each one was independent, but also listening to the others. We were dancing in sense of composing space, time and dynamic, at the same time being in subtle dialogues either in physical contact or in invisible one. After the show, we could celebrate what we had done from our truthful hearts.


When the spring was lighting up this beautiful city of southern Europe, 45 dancers from around the world were busy with working together. Some of them found their potential colleagues, others shared information. Some of them gained satisfaction through this event of exchange, others couldn't find their places to become more open and active. Some found this event very enriching and inspiring, others might say that it could have been better.


And I learned how important it is to open myself, in order to grow from working with others. There was nothing that I needed to protect myself from, show off myself about, disguise myself with, in this horizontal way of group working. Wonderful things happened when trust, responsibility and willingness were shared among us. It is not about me, just as when I dance with others. I am with myself in this togetherness.

 
 

Your choice

Newsflash

 

Buscamos habitaciones para el BIDE 2012

Si tienes una habitación libre y quieres alquilarla, estamos buscando alojamiento para bailarines en Barcelona.
Necesitamos 10 habitaciones desde el 18 al 23 de abril.
Precio por habitación: 20 euros por persona y día
Más info y contacto: production@bide.be
******

BIDE has a new producer!

Welcome to the BIDE team, Marcela Imazio!


******

 

ARTIST RESIDENCY PERFORMANCE on July 22nd in La Caldera, Barcelona at 19.00:

"We Agree" Lili Mihajlovic, Mar Medina, Fabritia D'Intino

Free entrance! Welcome!

******

ARTIST RESIDENCY PERFORMANCES on July 1st - in  AREA at 21.20 and tragantDansa at 22.30- Free entrance, warmly welcome!

In the program:

"Pay peanuts, get monkeys" Linda Priha, Mar Medina, Trinidad Garcia, Ria Kolbus

"We are not sheep" Noora Nenonen, Shi Pratt, Helen Gould


******

CANALMONO: An evening of video dance curated by BIDE, shown on May 19th in the Centre Civic Barceloneta at 20.00. Entrance is free of charge. Warmly welcome!

In the program:

Shi Pratt - Six Words
Read more...

BIDE values

Our intention is to create a platform which supports dancers and choreographers to meet each other, exchange and develop material, knowledge and ideas. We offer a place for try-outs, collaborations, laboratories and performances. To create an inspiring and fruitful exchange, we emphasize self-responsibility. Above all, BIDE is set in action, defined and made meaningful by its participants.

  • We value giving space for artists with different backgrounds, ages and interests coming together, and various needs and ways of processing given material/ideas. Read more...
Facebook Image

BIDE on YouTube

Search