Tilburg Dansstad, Fontys Dansacademie and Kunstbalie present Past, present and future of urban dance Reader for the Talentweek conference, Thursday Jan 27th, 2011 Fontys Dance Academy & Kunstbalie 26-1-2011 Introduction Many young and international choreographers were invited to the Talentweek in Tilburg. Besides participants from The Netherlands there were people from Belgium, India, Senegal, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Russia en Czech. These young talents will engage themselves with the theme Public | Space. On this particular conference we have involved ourselves with urban dance. What are the relationships between dance from the streets and dance from the stage? ͚Raw vs academic͛ was one of the titles of an evening Tilburg Dansstad organized earlier. Today it͛s the collaboration of ͚raw and academic͛, of choreographers coming from the street and academy, together discovering the future possibilities of urban dance . Programme Host of the day: Allies Swinnen time title Presented by 09:30 Workshop Jam* Johnny Lloyd 5 10:15 Lecture History of Urban Dance Johnny Lloyd 2 11:15 Break 11:30 Lecture McDance Nishant Bhola 2 12:30 Lunch 3 13:30 Workshop Contemporary Urban Languages* Joshua Trebi 5 14:00 Presentation Altermodernism 2 14:30 Break 14:45 Lecture The new dance body is curious John Wooter 2 15:45 Closing words 2 17:00 End 2 Table of contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2 Programme ............................................................................................................................................. 2 Floorplan ................................................................................................................................................. 3 Presentations .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Nishant Bhola ʹ McDance ................................................................................................................... 4 Joshua Trebi - Contemporary Urban Language in African point of view ............................................ 7 Niels van der Steen - Urban dance and its position in the current Art world ..................................... 8 John Wooter - The dance body is curious ......................................................................................... 19 Addtional content ................................................................................................................................. 22 Pablo Cabenda on Blaze .................................................................................................................... 22 Participants ........................................................................................................................................... 25 Organisation ...................................................................................................................................... 25 Choreographers ................................................................................................................................ 25 Guests ............................................................................................................................................... 25 Floorplan 3 Presentations Nishant Bhola Ȃ McDance Below you will find the powerpoint-presentation by Nishant Bhola 4 5 6 http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/video/2009/dec/09/akram-khan-dance http://vimeo.com/4146546 Joshua Trebi - Contemporary Urban Language in African point of view It is clear that Globalization have had strong impact on dance; no matter where is coming from. And with that, dance has made a tremendous transformation from it extreme cultural belonging to a share global entity. This notion has allowed dance to move from it specific technical orientation and ŚĂƐďĞĐŽŵĞĂŶĞĐůĞĐƚŝĐĂŶĚǀĞƌLJĞdžƉĞƌŝŵĞŶƚĂůŝŶƚŽĚĂLJ͛ƐĐƌĞĂƚŝǀĞǁŽƌůĚŝŶƚŚĞƵƌďĂŶĚŝƐĐŝƉůŝŶĞ͘ Dance in Africa for some time now, has anchored strongly to this transformation, which has put African dance from its traditional point of view to a contemporary African urban movement language. This style was created to serve in a global arena. Its technical orientation is eclectic, but strongly African, which is suitable to both technical and none technical dancers . This style is vibrant, energetic, expressive, static accent with flow and very rhythmic, 7 Niels van der Steen - Urban dance and its position in the current Art world When I studied choreography we concluded that we were at the end of a very long period called post-modernism waiting for a next thing to come. With a reference to the swing of a pendulum, the ĐŚĂŶŐĞƚŽ͞ǁŚĂƚĞǀĞƌŶĞdžƚǁŽƵůĚĐŽŵĞ͟ǁĂƐƐƵƉƉŽƐĞĚƚŽďƌŝŶŐĞdžĐŝƚing times. Not even a year late, writing my thesis I tumbled on what is believed to be the new era after postmodernism, that long awaited beginning of something new, start of a new swing; Altermodernism. Nicolas Bourriaud introduced this philosophy in 2009 with his exhibition at Tate Modern in London. Through Urbanization different (non western) cultures are furiously coming in contact with each ŽƚŚĞƌƚŽĂƐƚĂŐĞǁŚĞƌĞƚŚĞLJĐĂŶŶŽƚďĞƐĞƉĂƌĂƚĞĚĂŶLJŵŽƌĞ͚͘ŚĂŶŐŝŶŐďLJĞdžĐŚĂŶŐŝŶŐ͕͛ĂŶĞǁĞƌĂ called Altermodernism. Many post-modern artists searched into history to present their roots, their culture and their identity as the content of their work. Those artists will stay in the same place and one place only to become a logo of their own culture. An altermodern artist will move beyond the coexisting of dance ƐƚLJůĞƐǁŚŽ͛ƐĂƵƚŽŶŽŵLJŚĂƐƚŽďĞƉƌĞƐĞƌǀĞĚĂŶĚŝŶĚŽŝŶŐƐŽǁŝůůĞŶƚĞƌĂƐŚĂred theoretical space ǁŚĞƌĞĂůůĂƌƚĐĂŶďĞũƵĚŐĞĚŶŽƚ͚ĂĐĐŽƌĚŝŶŐƚŽ͛;ǁŚŝĐŚĂƵƚŽŵĂƚŝĐĂůůLJĞdžĐůƵĚĞŚŝŵĨƌŽŵŽƚŚĞƌĂƌƚ forms) but with the same set of universal rules. Urban dance as a movement language seems to fit in perfectly as it arose out of a constant process of blending cultures. Nevertheless we see that not all urban dance practitioners have freed themselves from rules and restrict the dance form by a strict set of rules in vocabulary and presentation. To them I would say that if you believe that your dance is art and you want to position yourself in that environment, it should be judged in the same theoretical space as other art forms and so you will have to move beyond a framed dance idiom. It is beneficial to train yourself in specific styles who have become codified techniques like popping, locking (and like Graham or Cunningham) and study them in their pure form but to perform and present it in an artistic setting, it has to move beyond those original steps and moves to become a personalized movement language, able to express oneself. This is the freedom of an artist. Just looking at the theatre program and the amount that urban companies have taken, but also looking at the content of companies that used to be modern, it feels safe to say that there is a increasing interest in the use of Urban dance language. But did this new interest and its appearance in theatres elevates urban dance from its purely entertainment quality, giving it a greater status of art, and if so, where it do so, what are its parameters? Can this new increased interest be understood by the changing character of the art world? ͚ůƚĞƌŵŽĚĞƌŶŝƐŵ͛ĂŶĚ͚EĞǁƌƚ͛ĂƌĞŶĞǁƚĞƌŵƐŝŶǀŽůǀĞĚŝŶƚŚĞƌĞ-examination of the art worlds character. 8 When I wrote my thesis on this matter there was nobody that made the link from Altermodernism to dance. Although I saw the connection to the Urban dance developments, I was still very careful to do so. But in the past year I noticed that more people are making the comparisment. I would not feel very comfortable to make statements on other dance forms besides the Urban ones because it is not really my field of expertise but nevertheless I would like to qouto Sally Banes that makes an ŝŶƚĞƌĞƐƚŝŶŐŽďƐĞƌǀĂƚŝŽŶŽŶĚĂŶĐĞĂŶĚƚŚĞŵŽĚĞƌŶŝƚLJ͛Ɛ͘^ŚĞƐƚĂƚĞƐƚŚat ͞/ŶĚĂŶĐĞ͕ƚŚĞĐŽŶĨƵƐŝŽŶƚŚĞƚĞƌŵ͞ƉŽƐƚ-ŵŽĚĞƌŶ͟ĐƌĞĂƚĞƐŝƐĨƵƌƚŚĞƌĐŽŵƉůŝĐĂƚĞĚďLJƚŚĞĨĂĐƚƚŚĂƚ historical modern dance was never really modernist. Often it has been precisely in the arena of post- modern dance that issues of modernism in the other arts have arisen; the acknowledgement of the mediums materials, the revealing of ĚĂŶĐĞƐ͛ essential qualities as an art form, the separation of formal elements, the abstraction of forms and the elimination of external references as subjects. Thus in many respects it is post-modern dance that functions as modernist arts. (Banes, 1987, p,XV) I could get the impression that with Urban dance, dance has caught up with the other art forms and conforms itself with the aspects that give shape to the latest modernity, altermodern. Altermodern stands first of all for the cultural globalisation that is taking place in the first decade of the 21st century, and the reactions to that. The new artists are global citizens and reflect on society. In an online interview Nicolas Bourriaud states: ͞tŚĂƚŵĂƚƚĞƌƐƚŽĚĂLJŝƐƚŽƚƌĂŶƐůĂƚĞƚŚĞĐƵůƚƵƌĂůǀĂůƵĞƐŽĨĐƵůƚƵƌĂůŐƌŽƵƉƐĂŶĚƚŽĐŽŶŶĞĐƚƚŚĞŵƚŽƚŚĞ ǁŽƌůĚŶĞƚǁŽƌŬ͘dŚŝƐ͞ƌĞůŽĂĚŝŶŐƉƌŽĐĞƐƐ͟ŽĨŵŽĚĞƌŶŝƐŵĂĐĐŽƌĚŝŶŐƚŽƚŚĞϮϭƐƚĐĞŶƚƵƌLJŝƐƐƵĞƐĐŽƵůĚďĞ called altermodernism, a movement connected to the creolisation of cultures and the fight for ĂƵƚŽŶŽŵLJ͕ďƵƚĂůƐŽƚŚĞƉŽƐƐŝďŝůŝƚLJŽĨƉƌŽĚƵĐŝŶŐƐŝŶŐƵůĂƌŝƚŝĞƐŝŶĂŵŽƌĞĂŶĚŵŽƌĞƐƚĂŶĚĂƌĚŝnjĞĚǁŽƌůĚ͟ (Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2005) Altermodern art is made in today's global context, which is a reaction against cultural standardization and commercialization. This art is characterized by artists' cross-border, cross- cultural negotiations. He defines