DANCE OF COMPANIONSHIP
Figures
Companions
notes
The Dance of Companionship is at once a score, a class and a performance. It gets activated in a variety of contexts and changes function while remaining exactly the same.
Since 2020 I started passing it on as repertoire. The process is each time a joyful mixture of nerdy precision in understanding the syntax and structure of the score and of personal imaginaries joining in to word an experience of coexistence.
November 2020, masters exerce in Montpellier with Pauline Lavogez, Acauã Sereia, Yu-Hsuan Chiu, Leonce Noah, Mariagiulia Serantoni, Mathilde Rance
November 2022, Atelier de Paris with Jacquelyn Elder, Marine Bikard, Stéphanie Bayle, Mairi Pardalaki, Jeanne Emeriau
July 2022, ImPulsTanz Vienna with Sara Ostertag, Irene Cantero Sanz, Joseph Lau, Sofie Burgoyne, Thea Patterson, Louise Dahl, Hana Erdman, Raphaël Beau, Paloma Hubert-Sagot
February 2023, MA dance & participation with Manon, Sigrid, Mark, Aline, Alice Martucci, Polena, Maxine, Paulina
March 2023, Hangar Barcelona with Ion Munduate, Estela Santos, Alexis José Eupierre, Gemma Polo, Ivan Björn Ekemark, Lu Chieregati, Margherita Isolda, Marja Christians, Michal Agasi, Flor Campise
September 2023, MA dance & performance Uniarts Helsinki with Inka Auvinen, Altinay Kapsiz, Saila Pönkä, Joma Richter, Sointu Saraste, Marjukka Savolainen, Mathilda Vesa, Paulina Sjöberg
The Dance of Companionship (2014) is a guided dance framed by a spoken text and involving the writing of poems. The text weaves together propositions for dance and narrative fragments about forms of togetherness. It is a practice of being-with: with dance, with oneself, with each other, in attentive and intimate distance. As we focus with ever more detail on the present events, dance – our companion – continuously moves away as that which exceeds the dancer’s own doings. It is a horizon: a partner that remains unknown, whose unknowability obliges and displaces.
The Dance of Companionship is about an hour long.
"We will be moving for about (20' / 50') minutes. I will be talking most of the time; whenever you can't hear or understand what I'm saying, you can either decide that it's ok or that you do want to know, in which case please just ask for a repeat.
Ok, so let's start with moving (...) this is our dance right now (...) we're dancing to keep ourselves company (...) we keep the dance company (...) the dance keeps us company (...) our dance keep the others company (...) the other dances keep us company (...) "
From then on, the host keeps alternating between introducing figures of companionship and zooming in to elements of what composes a dancing person: the companions to the dance.
The dance ends with a period during which people take turns taking notes (in the form of poetry), so that dancing and writing keep each other company.
DANCE OF COMPANIONSHIP
Figures
Companions
notes
The Dance of Companionship is at once a score, a class and a performance. It gets activated in a variety of contexts and changes function while remaining exactly the same.
Since 2020 I started passing it on as repertoire. The process is each time a joyful mixture of nerdy precision in understanding the syntax and structure of the score and of personal imaginaries joining in to word an experience of coexistence.
November 2020, masters exerce in Montpellier with Pauline Lavogez, Acauã Sereia, Yu-Hsuan Chiu, Leonce Noah, Mariagiulia Serantoni, Mathilde Rance
November 2022, Atelier de Paris with Jacquelyn Elder, Marine Bikard, Stéphanie Bayle, Mairi Pardalaki, Jeanne Emeriau
July 2022, ImPulsTanz Vienna with Sara Ostertag, Irene Cantero Sanz, Joseph Lau, Sofie Burgoyne, Thea Patterson, Louise Dahl, Hana Erdman, Raphaël Beau, Paloma Hubert-Sagot
February 2023, MA dance & participation with Manon, Sigrid, Mark, Aline, Alice Martucci, Polena, Maxine, Paulina
March 2023, Hangar Barcelona with Ion Munduate, Estela Santos, Alexis José Eupierre, Gemma Polo, Ivan Björn Ekemark, Lu Chieregati, Margherita Isolda, Marja Christians, Michal Agasi, Flor Campise
September 2023, MA dance & performance Uniarts Helsinki with Inka Auvinen, Altinay Kapsiz, Saila Pönkä, Joma Richter, Sointu Saraste, Marjukka Savolainen, Mathilda Vesa, Paulina Sjöberg
The Dance of Companionship (2014) is a guided dance framed by a spoken text and involving the writing of poems. The text weaves together propositions for dance and narrative fragments about forms of togetherness. It is a practice of being-with: with dance, with oneself, with each other, in attentive and intimate distance. As we focus with ever more detail on the present events, dance – our companion – continuously moves away as that which exceeds the dancer’s own doings. It is a horizon: a partner that remains unknown, whose unknowability obliges and displaces.
The Dance of Companionship is about an hour long.
"We will be moving for about (20' / 50') minutes. I will be talking most of the time; whenever you can't hear or understand what I'm saying, you can either decide that it's ok or that you do want to know, in which case please just ask for a repeat.
Ok, so let's start with moving (...) this is our dance right now (...) we're dancing to keep ourselves company (...) we keep the dance company (...) the dance keeps us company (...) our dance keep the others company (...) the other dances keep us company (...) "
From then on, the host keeps alternating between introducing figures of companionship and zooming in to elements of what composes a dancing person: the companions to the dance.
The dance ends with a period during which people take turns taking notes (in the form of poetry), so that dancing and writing keep each other company.