APPROXIMATIONS
Karlsruhe, October 14th 2020
Good evening,
As we discussed on the phone the Kunstverein's invitation to perform here, Mira asked how corona had affected my work. I've been teaching on zoom a lot, sometimes complete strangers – supporting someone in doing something with close to zero knowledge of either. My ongoing preoccupation with distance, intimacy and impersonal commitment was challenged.
The dance we will practice tonight is called “Dancing as a Way of Listening”. The proposition is to dance in order to support listening, and to watch as a support to listening. To listen together: you watching, me dancing.
Gilles recorded the sounds of backyards in Berlin, in 2007.
Siegmar reads a text called Blanche and Stanley by Dodie Bellamy, from 2006.
As we keep our distance in an act of care, you might not see me all the time. That's okay. The dance is here, our attention too. The track is 31 minutes long.
In resonance, Alice Chauchat
Thank you Siegmar Zacharias, Gilles Aubry, Yves Mettler and Johannes Thimm.
Stockholm, October 13th 2018
Good evening,
Preparing for tonight I rummaged through my collection of scores to find one we could do, in this set up of you sitting and watching, and me dancing. Two scores of mine have done that job several times before, and even though I like dancing the Telepathic Dance and the Dance of Companionship I thought it's about time I bring out something else.
I propose we listen to a text called “Rooms”. It is one of three parts in a book by Gertrude Stein called “Tender Buttons”, which was published in 1914. I love this text very much, and I hope you will like it, too. I asked my friend Siegmar to read it for me, and she lent it her so beautiful voice. She was very busy and recorded over breakfast, before running on to her day. You can hear here and there how reading is an activity, not a demonstration. You can hear her practice.
And I propose that we practice, tonight, listening together. Dancing as listening. Letting dance support listening.
Thinking about the invitation to “perform my practice” I also had to consider the difference between practicing my practice and performing it. I asked my friend Alix and she suggested I put on a costume and see what that changes. So I chose a costume. I think we all did, and that the costume you're wearing now is just the right one. This room is also a splendid costume. We're ready to perform this practice together. The recording is 40 minutes long.
In resonance,
Alice Chauchat
Thank you Siegmar Zacharias, Alix Eynaudi, Yves Mettler, Ellen Söderhult, Andrew Champlin, Chrysa Parkinson, and every one who practiced this with me this week.
APPROXIMATIONS
Karlsruhe, October 14th 2020
Good evening,
As we discussed on the phone the Kunstverein's invitation to perform here, Mira asked how corona had affected my work. I've been teaching on zoom a lot, sometimes complete strangers – supporting someone in doing something with close to zero knowledge of either. My ongoing preoccupation with distance, intimacy and impersonal commitment was challenged.
The dance we will practice tonight is called “Dancing as a Way of Listening”. The proposition is to dance in order to support listening, and to watch as a support to listening. To listen together: you watching, me dancing.
Gilles recorded the sounds of backyards in Berlin, in 2007.
Siegmar reads a text called Blanche and Stanley by Dodie Bellamy, from 2006.
As we keep our distance in an act of care, you might not see me all the time. That's okay. The dance is here, our attention too. The track is 31 minutes long.
In resonance, Alice Chauchat
Thank you Siegmar Zacharias, Gilles Aubry, Yves Mettler and Johannes Thimm.
Stockholm, October 13th 2018
Good evening,
Preparing for tonight I rummaged through my collection of scores to find one we could do, in this set up of you sitting and watching, and me dancing. Two scores of mine have done that job several times before, and even though I like dancing the Telepathic Dance and the Dance of Companionship I thought it's about time I bring out something else.
I propose we listen to a text called “Rooms”. It is one of three parts in a book by Gertrude Stein called “Tender Buttons”, which was published in 1914. I love this text very much, and I hope you will like it, too. I asked my friend Siegmar to read it for me, and she lent it her so beautiful voice. She was very busy and recorded over breakfast, before running on to her day. You can hear here and there how reading is an activity, not a demonstration. You can hear her practice.
And I propose that we practice, tonight, listening together. Dancing as listening. Letting dance support listening.
Thinking about the invitation to “perform my practice” I also had to consider the difference between practicing my practice and performing it. I asked my friend Alix and she suggested I put on a costume and see what that changes. So I chose a costume. I think we all did, and that the costume you're wearing now is just the right one. This room is also a splendid costume. We're ready to perform this practice together. The recording is 40 minutes long.
In resonance,
Alice Chauchat
Thank you Siegmar Zacharias, Alix Eynaudi, Yves Mettler, Ellen Söderhult, Andrew Champlin, Chrysa Parkinson, and every one who practiced this with me this week.