From 4 – 7 June, I was in Vienna working
with Nikolaus Gansterer and Mariella Greil within the context of our
collaborative research project, Choreo-graphic Figures: Deviations of the
Line. Specifically, we will be working together to develop a page-based
contribution to be submitted to the forthcoming issue of Performance
Research Journal, Vol. 20, No. 6: ‘On An/Notations’ (December 2015). Co-Editors: Scott deLahunta, Kim Vincs and
Sarah Whatley (Deakin University [Motion.Lab] AUS & Coventry University
[Centre for Dance Research] UK).
Notion of Notation & Notation of Notion
Drawing on findings from the first year of
the research project Choreo-graphic Figures: Deviations from the Line
(specifically from field-work undertaken during a month-long research residency
within ImPulsTanz [Vienna, July – August 2014] & within the
context of a one-week residency/workshop working with researchers at apass
[Centre of Advanced Performance & Scenography Studies, Brussels, Feb,
2015]), our intent is to share & put pressure on our recent
explorations around both the ‘notion of notation’ & the ‘notation of
notion’, exploring the format of a page-based annotated performance score,
itself a diagramming of the multiple & at times competing forces & energies
operative within artistic collaborative practice. We propose to investigate
notation (& its related technologies) through two concepts: figuring
& (choreo-graphic) figure: (1) The
Notion/Notation of Figuring: We use the term ‘figuring’ to describe a state
of emergence or experiential shift, the barely perceptible movements &
transitions at the cusp of awareness within the process of “sense-making”,
asking what different systems of notation can be developed for cultivating awareness
of & for marking and identifying the moments of “figuring” within live
investigative action? (2) The Notion/Notation of Figure: We use the term
‘figure’ to describe the point at which figuring coalesces into a recognizable
+ repeatable form, asking how might the performed ‘figure’ be a system of
notation in & of itself? Our shared quest is both for a system of notation
for honouring the process of figuring (as a live investigative event) & for
“choreo-graphic” figures for making tangible & communicating these
significant moments within the unfolding journey of collaborative practice.