Israel Aloni 7/8/19 Israel Aloni 7/8/19

Dance Journal Hong Kong

Cross-continent, diverse dance exchange – it will come later, iCoDaCo in Hong Kong

English translation below

跨地域多元舞藝交流，iCoDaCo《將至》香港站

近年全球表演藝術產業的趨勢，傾向越來越多的多地共製，集合多地資金去支持新作發展；而為表演藝術家提供研創空間的駐留計劃，也漸漸在世界各地流行。不過，無論是多地共製，抑或是駐留空間的提供，其目的往往也只是為個別演出節目的生成而服務，長時間及跨地域的創作交流及共創巡演卻不多見。即將在七月份來港演出，發展自iCoDaCo計劃的《將至》（it will come later），或者可以為這類跨地域創作帶來一點新啟發。

iCoDaCo，全名「International Contemporary Dance Collective」，意指「國際當代舞蹈共同體」，是一個由藝術家主導的跨文化當代舞交流計劃。計劃源於2012年一個由瑞典哥登堡舞團ilDance所策劃的國際交流活動，自2014年起以iCoDaCo為名，每兩年一度，集合不同地方與背景的舞蹈家，透過持續的溝通交流，共同創作一個全新舞作，並於各地巡演。

2018至2020季度， iCoDaCo以「衍變」（Transformation）為題，六位參與藝術家分別來自五個不同國家地區，包括有份創立此計劃的舞蹈家Lee Brummer（瑞典）、去屆也曾參與的跨媒介創作人Eddie Ladd（威爾斯），首次參與的編舞及表演者Imre Vass（匈牙利）、活躍於當地獨立舞壇的Weronika Pelczynska（波蘭），以及計劃首兩位亞洲代表：香港舞蹈家梅卓燕及李偉能。

整個計劃集駐場藝術家、社區外展活動、共創、巡迴及紀錄等元素，旨在現代舞的領域下促進交流，為創作及表演打造新概念。團隊早在去年八月於香港首次碰面，相互認識了解，並展開實驗編創過程，然後他們再到威爾斯的卡迪夫城（Cardiff）及瑞典之烏德瓦拉市（Uddevalla）聚首，繼續發展作品。

各參與藝術家在不同城市駐留期間，除了持續協作孵化一齣全新舞作，並作階段展演外，也會帶領不同活動，跟當地社群交流。例如去年計劃於香港駐留時，波蘭編舞家Weronika就與克拉科夫編舞中心（Krakow Choreographic Centre）的經理及製作人Marta Wołowiec，介紹了當地的舞蹈策劃與發展面貌；而梅卓燕及李偉能也於海外駐留時，也曾帶領舞蹈工作坊。

此外，各藝術家在過程中也會撰寫觀察報告與感想，部分更會上載至計劃網站，一方面可以與公眾分享經驗，讓更多人了解舞作及其計劃背後的發展過程與理念，另一方面也為舞蹈創作提供一個很好的紀錄平台。

梅卓燕表示這次參與iCoDaCo的經驗十分難得，縱使過去曾於歐洲大小城市演出，但卻鮮有機會穿梭不同國家城市，而以往也只集中在一個空間專注創作。如此跨地駐留的創作設定，也逼使眾藝術家要在同一空間內短兵相接，嘗試在不同之文化衝擊下合作，跟她過往編創的經驗大大不同。

至於李偉能則認為，鑑於眾創作人的文化及訓練背景各異，要取得共識一起編創並演繹作品，過程的確困難，尤其眾創作人都有一定的創作經驗，不容易開放自己去尋找共同的目標與信念。而創作過程亦引發了他對民主體制能否應用到藝術創作的思考，以這次計劃為例，並沒有一個所謂的總導演或編舞，而是集眾人之力，平衡、平均地投入創作，當中如何作出決定，值得深思。

駐留計劃的演出成果《將至》，去年十一月已率先於波蘭的第二大城市克拉科夫（Krakow）之BalletOFFFestival內首演，之後在今年三至四月期間先後在瑞典、匈牙利及波蘭等地展開了歐洲巡演。今年七月團隊將回到香港，且看這個由六位編舞共編共演之舞作，經歷過整年的演進後，會否為跨地域舞蹈協作帶來新啟示。

筆者：陳瑋鑫

資深藝評人、媒體及劇場製作人，近年主要從事表演藝術研究。

Co-producing and co-financing new art project has become a trend in performing arts industry in recent years. Residency schemes for performing artists that provides space for creation is also getting more popular around the world. Yet, these examples mostly serves the purpose of making one production. It is rare to see any long-term, cross-continent creative exchanges and co-production touring. “it will come later” of iCoDaCo, which is coming to Hong Kong in July, will perhaps bring us new inspiration about cross-continent creation.

iCoDaCo, which stands for "International Contemporary Dance Collective", is an international contemporary dance community, an artist-led cross-cultural contemporary dance exchange program. The program originated from an international exchange event planned in 2012 by ilDance, a Swedish dance company in Gothenburg Dance. Since 2014, iCoDaCo has been named officially. Every two years, dancers from different places and backgrounds come together, communicate in different forms and create a new dance piece together and touring around.

The theme of the current edition of iCoDaCo (2018 – 2020) is “Transformation”. Six artists come from five different countries, including the dancer Lee Brummer (Sweden) who is one of the founderd of iCoDaCo, Eddie Ladd (Wales), artist working across theatre and dance and has joined the last edition, Imre Vass (Hungary), choreographer and performer joining for the first time, Weronika Pelczynska (Poland) active in her local independent dance scene, and the first two Asian representatives: Hong Kong dancer Mui Cheuk Yin and Joseph Lee.

The entire program includes artist-in-residency, community outreach activities, co-creation, tour and documentation, which aim to promote exchange in the framework of modern dance and create new concepts for creation and performance. The team met for the first time in Hong Kong in August last year. They got to know each other and started the experimental process. Then they went to Cardiff in Wales and Uddevalla in Sweden to continue to develop the work.

During the creative residencies in various cities, besides creating the new work and showing the work-in-progress to the public, the collective had also organised different activities and exchanged ideas with the local communities. For example, during the residency in Hong Kong last year, Polish choreographer Weronika and Marta Wołowiec, manager and producer of the Krakow Choreographic Centre, have given a presentation about the Polish local dance curation and development; while Mui Cheuk Yin and Joseph Lee also taught dance workshops during their stay in other countries.

In addition, artists will also write observation reports and impressions in the process, and some will be uploaded to the official website of iCoDaCo. On one hand, they can share experiences with the public, let more people understand the development process and ideas behind the dance and its plans. On the other hand, it also provides a good record platform for dance creation.

Mui Cheuk-yin said that the experience of participating in iCoDaCo is very precious. Even though she has performed in European cities in different scales, she has little chance to travel to different cities from one to another and she used to focus on creating the work in one space only. The execution of such cross-continent creation also drives the artists to confront with each other, to work together in the same room amid different cultural background. This is very much different from the practice of her previous creations.

For Joseph Lee, in view of the different cultures and training and practices of each of them, it is difficult to achieve a unanimous to create and interpret the works together. Especially the artists have already obtained certain experience in creating and it is not easy to open themselves up to find common goals and faiths. The creative process also led to his thoughts on whether democracy can be applied to artistic creation. Take this project as an example: there is no such thing as a director or choreographer, but a collective effort to create the work on a balance and equal basis. The strategy of decision-making is worth a discussion.

The result of the residency program, "it will come later” was premiered in the BalletOFFFestival of Krakow, Poland's second largest city last November, and then in Sweden, Hungary and Poland from March to April this year. After the Europe tour, the team will come back to Hong Kong in July this year. Come to see the dance work co-created by these six choreographers. After a year of evolution, will it bring new enlightenment (inspiration) to cross-continent dance collaboration?

Writer: William Chan

Experienced art critic

original article

Lee Brummer 5/28/19 Lee Brummer 5/28/19

Blog Post Title One

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Lee Brummer 5/28/19 Lee Brummer 5/28/19

Blog Post Title Two

It all begins with an idea.

Lee Brummer 5/28/19 Lee Brummer 5/28/19

Blog Post Title Three

It all begins with an idea.

Lee Brummer 5/28/19 Lee Brummer 5/28/19

Blog Post Title Four

It all begins with an idea.

Israel Aloni 5/23/19 Israel Aloni 5/23/19

Interview with Imre Vass by Gábor Csatádi for Pótszé Foglaló - translated to English

’a performance that triggers an intense physical experience in the viewers, making them sweat too’ – an interview

18th April 2019

it will come later, a new performance by iCoDaCo, will premiere at Trafó next Wednesday, 24th April. We talked to Imre Vass, one of the six creators, about the transposed meaning of effort, the significance of dedicating time, about iCoDaCo, the diversity of contemporary dance and the ’sensitizing’ role of dance...

Making an effort to do something – what does it mean to you these days?
Many aspects of effort have appeared in relation to the project, especially since it was created by six people of different ages and backgrounds. As a result, it sort of ended up belonging to everyone and no one at the same time. For me making an effort isn’t equivalent to strain, it simply means that I have to make an effort to continuously keep my attention focused on something I’m working on. Although my focused attention may weaver at times, the mutual trust keeps pulsating between us in the sense that we are able to focus our attention on each other and on the work we do together. This kind of focus may involuntarily create a sense of effort, but for me what it truly means is whether I’m able to continuously sustain my attention or not.
When you said this performance belongs to everyone and no one, what did you mean?
Perhaps it was somebody from the project who said that. What may lie behind this sentence is that had it been our individual choice, none of us would have aimed to create a performance of this kind. I don’t fully agree with this though, as I can imagine myself creating a similar performance. This piece, however, is common ground. We did all the work together, we never broke up into smaller groups, hence the end result is something that could only come to life due to the price of our joint effort. The most valuable aspect of this process for me was that we were able to make decisions together, which at first seemed a bit like a mission impossible, but we managed to carry it through. it will come later paints an image of what we are capable of together, thus it belongs to us. However, the performance also throws light upon a higher scale, which we, as creators, don’t really have the right to call our own... I think.
This makes me all the more curious: what exactly is this performance?
We tried to say something about effort, something that is beyond the effort the six of us made to create this performance. About the personal and social aspects of effort, what it means to the individual opposed to the efforts of a community or the effort resulting from the operating mechanisms of the universe. We try to show that these different levels of effort each carry a very different meaning in relation to each other, and also how small one can become when viewed next to another! We try to contrast these efforts in order to better understand their relative scales. For this reason we perform in the round. 97% of this performance is dance, a continuous joint movement, with individual actions, that can be solos or duets, constantly leaving and re-joining the main group. This performance is the constant fluctuation of movement between these two poles, showing how individual and communal levels can grow or diminish in relation to each other.
This project was created as part of the international collaboration called iCoDaCo. Can you tell us a little about this?
It was originally initiated by the two directors and founders of ilDance, Israel Aloni, who takes part in our project as a producer, and Lee Brummer, who is a dancer and one of the choreographers in the collective. This show is the fourth process and cycle of iCoDaCo, which grew from being a duo, into a quartet, and has been constantly expanding ever since. There is always an overlap and interchange of creative artists between the different projects, so continuity and reform both characterize iCoDaCo. The dancer-choreographers chosen for this present work are all of various ages, mindsets and aesthetics. We had held video calls with the participating artists and producers already about one year before the first residency and the performance itself was created during a 8 week residency.
What can you gain from such a collaborative work?
Working together for me was very inspiring. The aim was exactly this, to let dancers of different knowledge and experience come together and see what they can get out of each other. The fact that we are all of different ages is in itself a very exciting aspect. It is incredible to dance together with a traditional Chinese dancer-choreographer who has 40 years of experience, a Welsh performer with 30 years of experience, with dancer educated at SEAD and The PLACE, or with dancers who trained in the Gaga movement method. Of course, it is not about the years or the levels of education. Everybody has very widespread professional experiences, which add even more layers to this collaboration. I have worked in projects of various consistencies, but even for me this present one was somewhat of a novelty. The creative roles of observing, executing and initiating were constantly changing. It was necessary for everybody to have firm opinions and open focus at the same time.
In your opinion, which of the following has a better effect on contemporary dance with respect to taste and genre: homogeneity or heterogeneity?
It’s not so easy to decide. You see many examples of both diversity and synchronicity. Almost all of the productions I have taken part in are based on diversity. For me it is probably this present dance project that involves the most varied group of people. Besides diversity, of course, we are all highly experienced and well-trained dancers and creative artists, which places us on a common base. We are all dancers, there are no skateboarders or influencers among us. Luckily dance doesn’t concern itself whether either of the above-mentioned directions are more functional or useful than the other, it simply keeps spreading and growing in all directions.
By the way: there is the issue of caring. How can today’s contemporary dance help its viewers to care more about others and themselves?
It is the aim of every dance and theatre performance to pass on some kind of an essence, or knowledge even when it is not telling a story. Of all performing art forms dance is the most able to create an effect where the viewer can feel that they have been physically touched as well. As they watch they find themselves in a receptive position where they experience physical stimulus prior to the emotional. Dance attempts to share something about the body, and body consciousness: let us inhibit our bodies and view with our bodies - let us experience our own lives.
It is a kind of sensitizing as well, isn’t it?
Absolutely! After all, our performance, it will come later, is also about sitting around in a circle, about being together. This performance can create a very intense physical experience. Hopefully some of the effort we, performers make in order to sustain our attention towards each other, will transfer to the viewers as well, making them sweat as they watch us, make them stiffen and their muscles tighten, and with this ’muscle work’ they help our work too.

Written by: Gábor Csatádi

Translated from Hungarian to English by: Emma Vidovszky

For the interview in Hungarian as it was published in Pótszékfoglaló.hu please click HERE

Israel Aloni 3/26/19 Israel Aloni 3/26/19

it will come later - reflections by Joseph Lee

Reflections

by Joseph Lee

It’s about collective efforts to work as a collective, so there’s inevitable struggle to pull together

what we believe, whilst push away others to stay individual as everyone wants to be seen as

unique, perhaps we are too used to be unique.

So it’s not about collectiveness, it’s about otherness.

We define, re-define, re-redefine what others means to us.

What we can accept, what we can’t. What defines us as an creator. What defines us to be as equal

as the one seated. What can’t define us. Who to define. Who defines.

Or what we heard so often in the process, “Name it.”

We also name.

We name to define.

We push to survive.

No matter how close we get, we are still on our own, yet, the stronger we use our body to sustain

as one, the more rewarding we can expect at the end.

It’s not about the process, but how the process leading to the end. If we don’t see the end of the

show as the end, you might then realize, what will come later.

Israel Aloni 1/14/19 Israel Aloni 1/14/19

What does 'it' mean? by Zsuzsanna Komjáthy (Hungary)

Original text in Hungarian below.

What does ‘it’ mean?

“>>It<< makes a move. >>It<< could be a man, a woman, a louse, an elephant.”

Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari

It will come later – after seeing the latest work-in-progress performance of iCoDaCo in Budapest, this title makes me wonder: what might come later? The premiere, the moment we recognise a message behind, the dance itself, or something else?

What might come later? What might be hiding behind, or rather, between and beyond the words? What does ‘it’ mean?

The questions are tempting yet challenging to answer, as the field where we can seek for the explanation – i.e. both the environment that is evolving onstage and the context wherein the whole project is embedded – is a transforming space that does not have an exact, final shape. Moreover, it is an ephemeral, precarious mutability, "a becoming-space of the body, and a becoming-body of space, a becoming-thing of the organic, a becoming-organic of things.” (Lepecki 2016: 181.)

On the level of iCoDaCo project, ‘it’ engages itself in a critique towards the concept of interculturality that stems from island-premiss, and relies on “the separatist character of cultures” (Welsch 1999). Instead, the project proposes the concept of transculturality that proclaims that “authenticity has become folklore” (Welsch 1999) and entails a more hybrid and constantly forming approach (becoming-space) both on the macro-level of conceptualizing and on the micro-level of working.

It is not unintended that Israel Aloni, the leading producer of iCoDaCo, suggested ‘Transformations’ as a working title. Here, six artists from four different countries that faced with a serious social challenge at the beginning of the project in 2016 (the fundamental principles of democratic model has shaken somehow) meet and share their energies to bring a virtual level of creation to existence. They gear together and compose a new surface that has neither a starting nor an ending point – only the middle.

‘How do you make decisions?’ I ask them.

‘Collectively,’ answers Imre Vass and laughs. I laugh back at him, however, I know, it must be true.

‘We do not work separately on our own. Regarding the creating process, we do everything together. We start floating our ideas, and see how they develop. Sometimes, one movement transforms into something new and we are surprised and flattered like children. We experiment, and then we see’ explains Lee Brummer (not with these exact words).

Besides this permanently renewable democracy of creating, the milieu as the environment of creating also changes constantly. All the participants spend two weeks in each other’s native country and through workshops, work-in-progress performances, artist talks and so on, they engage with the local people. By each gathering, at each stage, the production transforms and develops by the effects and experiences.

So we can say, that on each plane of creating:

1th plane: macro level of context (countries);

2th plane: micro level of context (locations);

3th plane: macro level of creating (working),

there are similar assemblages in the proximity, and the only ‘fixed’ line that intersects them is transformation itself. It is a ‘following’ approach (i.e. it engages in a continuous variation of variables), where planes intersect each other through transformations to form a shared, smooth surface. This process points toward an abstract labour, a vortical flow or an itinerant line that always escapes from us when we try to define it.

But what might ‘it’ mean on the level of performance? What might lie/hide/escape in the middle of the 4th stratum (micro level of creating)? - A kind of danger, one might say and s/he would be certainly right as ‘it’ feeds from that becoming-space that we endeavoured and failed to name above.

In the middle of the middle, there is a white, semi-transparent curtain hanging on the stage.

‘Watching the performance I tried to unravel the whole time what might the role of the curtain be’ – says Dorottya Albert (dance critic), a guest of the work-in-progress performance, and her words made me wonder. Is the curtain symbolizing that ‘it’? Or being exterior to resemblance, is ‘it’ the curtain itself?

For me, the curtain assigns that ‘itinerant line’ (or ‘line of flight’) that I have referred to above. It connects, mobilizes and sometimes obscures events that are developing onstage, and creates “indivisible distances that are ceaselessly transformed, and cannot be divided or transformed without their elements changing in nature each time”. (Deleuze–Guattari 1987: 31-33.)

In this ceaselessness, there are the six dancers moving or rather being “moved by some thing”. (cf. Lepecki 2016: 60-70) The movements are strange, quite apersonal and obsessed as if they did not belong to the performers exactly. As if they were constantly being overwritten by the becoming-thing they convey, and in parallel, as if they were also overwriting that becoming that bears them.

Sometimes, the performers shudder in cramp performing subordinated muscle-statues that are seemingly moved by against their will. In other cases, they coagulate (even though distorted) trying to be that intensity that make thing(s) happen. What could that all mean? Where does this conjunction point to?

Following André Lepecki’s argumentation on understanding “being moved by a thing”, we can say that this process might mark a point of singularization. A critical move that glimmers on the edge of subjectivity, and opens up a more radical assemblage in proxy: a moving-towards-impossibility, or a moving towards moving-as-thing.

But this, as far as I know, will come later. Moving-as-thing will come later. Once it is here, we can say that we have transformed into that beast or that machine that can dance gracefully. Since the goal might have always been this: to dance gracefully.

Zsuzsanna Komjáthy

References:

André Lepecki. Singularities: Dance in the Age of Performance. New York: Routledge, 2016.

Wolfgang Welsch. Transculturality - the Puzzling Form of Cultures Today in Spaces of Culture: City, Nation, World, ed. by Mike Featherstone and Scott Lash, London: Sage 1999, 194-213. <http://www2.uni-jena.de/welsch/papers/W_Wlelsch_Transculturality.html, 01/12/2018.>

Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. A Thousand Plateaus. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1987.

Mit jelent “az”?

“>>Az<< tesz egy mozdulatot. >>Az << lehet egy férfi, egy nő, egy tetű, egy elefént.”

Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari

It will come later, magyarra fordítva: [Az] később következik – sokatmondó cím. Az iCoDaCo legutóbbi, Budapesten tartott munkabemutatóját követően pedig egyre csak azon tűnődöm: vajon mi következhet később? A bemutató, a pillanat, mikor felismerünk egy rejtett üzenetet, maga a tánc vagy valami egészen más?

Mi búvik e szavak ([Az] később következik) mögött, között és azokon túl? Mit jelent “az”?

A kérdés csábító (szinte szükségszerű) és egyben roppant komplex is, nehéz egyértelműen megválaszolni. Hiszen a mező, ahol bármiféle válasz után kutathatunk, vagyis mind a színpadon kibontakozó környezet, mind a kontextus, melybe a projekt beleágyazott, egy folyton alakuló, változó tér, melynek nincs egzakt, végső formája. Valójában egy illékony, ismeretlen kimenetelű változékonyság, „a test tér-leendése és a tér test-leendése, a szervek dolog-leendése és a dolgok szerv-leendése.” (Lepecki 2016: 181.)

A projekt szintjén “az” egy kritika felé mutat, méghozzá az interkulturalitás eszméjének kritikája felé. Az interkulturális ugyanis alapvetően az elszigeteltségben hisz, és „kultúrák elkülönülő karakterén” nyugszik (Welsch 1999). Az iCoDaCo ezzel szemben a transzkulturalitás koncepcióját követi, mely szerint „az autentitás ma már folklór” (Welsch 1999), és egy hibrid, folyamatosan változó (tér-leendés) megközelítést képvisel, mind a projekt makro-, mind a munka mikroszintjén.

Nem véletlen, hogy Israel Aloni, az iCoDaCo vezető producere munkacímként az „Átváltozások” szót választotta. Itt, hat alkotó négy különböző országból egyesíti az erejét, hogy valami újat (mást) létrehozzon. Összekapaszkodnak, és egy új felszínt, új síkot kreálnak, melynek valójában sem eleje, sem vége nincsen – csak a közepe. Beszédes, hogy a választott alkotók/táncosok egyenként olyan helyről érkeztek, melyek a projekt kezdetén (is) komoly társadalmi kihívásokkal néztek szembe (a demokratikus működési modell megingott).

- Hogyan hoztok döntéseket? – kérdezem.

- Közösen – feleli Vass Imre, a projekt magyar résztvevője, majd nevet. Visszanevetek rá, jóllehet tudom, igaz lehet.

- Nem dolgozunk csak úgy magunkban. Minden közösen csinálunk, már ami a projektet illeti. Bedobjuk az ötleteinket, és megnézzük, hová fejlődnek, mi lesz belőlük. Van, hogy egy mozdulat hirtelen egészen mássá válik, valami újjá, ilyenkor persze nagyon örülünk, hogy rátaláltunk erre a mozdulatra. Kísérletezünk, és aztán valami lesz – fejti ki részletesebben Lee Brummer (nem szó szerint ezekkel a szavakkal).

Az alkotás folyamatosan megújuló, demokratikus munkamódszere mellett maga az alkotás miliője (mint környezet) is állandóan változik. A résztvevők két-két hetet töltenek el a másik bázis országában, és ott workshopokon, munkabemutatókon, artist talk-okon stb. keresztül a helyiekkel is kapcsolatba kerülnek. A produkció minden egyes állomáson, minden egyes alkalommal ezen tapasztalatok, ezen benyomások és visszaigazolások szerint változik, módosul.

Tulajdonképpen azt mondhatjuk, hogy az alkotás minden síkján és szintjén:

sík: a kontextus makroszintje (bázis országok);
sík: a kontextus mikroszintje (alkotás helyei);
sík: a létrehozás makroszintje (munka),

hasonló elrendeződéseket követ a projekt, és az egyetlen „fix” dolog, mely mindegyiken keresztül fut, az maga a változás, a leendés. Ez egy „követő” stratégia (az „utánzó” helyett), mely a változékonyság folyamatos variációja felé kötelezi el magát, és melyben az egyes síkok éppen az átváltozások által metszik egymást, hogy aztán a metszések és mutációk által egy sima, új felszínt alkossanak. Ez a folyamat pedig egy absztrakt munka felé mutat, egy örvénylő lebegés vagy vándorló vonal felé, mely mihelyst a megnevezésére teszünk kísérletet, kicsúszik a markunkból. Elszökik.

De vajon mit jelent „az” az előadás szintjén? Mi fekhet/rejtőzhet/szökhet az alkotás negyedik szintjén (a létrehozás mikroszintjén)? – Egyfajta veszély, vághatnánk rá, és nem is teljesen alaptalanul. Mert hiszen „az” abból a tér-leendésből táplálkozik, melyet az imént hiába próbáltunk megnevezni.

A közép közepén, a színpadon egy áttetsző függöny lóg.

- Az előadás alatt végig azt próbáltam megfejteni, mi lehet a függöny szerepe. – mondja Albert Dorottya (tánckritikus) a munkabemutatót követő beszélgetésen. A szavai pedig elgondolkodtatnak. Vajon a függöny szimbolizálhatja „azt”? Vagy, a hasonlóság modelljén kívülre helyezkedve, talán úgy kérdezhetnénk: vajon a függöny „az”?

Annyi bizonyos, hogy a függöny valahol annak a „vándor vonalnak” (vagy szökésvonalnak) a helyét jelöli, melyről fentebb beszéltem. Összekapcsol, mobilizál és néha elrejt dolgokat a színpadon, létrehoz egy „oszthatatlan távolságot, mely szakadatlanul átváltozik, és melyet lehetetlen szétmorzsolni vagy megváltoztatni anélkül, hogy az elemei természetükben ne változnának minden egyes alkalommal” (Deleuze–Guattari 1987: 31-33.).

Az előadók pedig ebben a szakadatlanságban mozognak, vagy inkább vannak „mozgatva egy dolog által” (vö. Lepecki 2016: 60-70). A mozdulataik idegenek, személytelenek és megszállottak, mintha nem hozzájuk tartoznának egészen. Mintha a mozdulatokat állandóan felülírná az a dolog-leendés, melyet magukban hordoznak, és ezzel párhuzamosan, mintha ők maguk is folyamatosan felülírnák az átváltozásokat, melyek őket hordozzák.

Van, hogy a táncosok görcsös, valamiféle furcsa uralom alá vont izom-szobrokba rándulnak, melyek láthatóan az akaratuk ellenére mozognak (vagy vannak mozgatva). Máskor egyesített erővel, torz akaratként igyekeznek azzá az intenzitássá válni, ami a dolgokat, a történéseket előmozdítja. De vajon mit jelent mindez? Hová, merre mutathat?

André Lepecki gondolatmenetét követve a „mozgatva egy dolog által” összefüggéseinek megértésében, azt mondhatjuk, hogy egyfajta szingularizáció felé. Egy olyan kritikus mozgás felé, mely a szubjektivitás peremén cikáz, és mely egy radikális elrendeződést nyit meg annak közelében: egy elmozdulást a lehetetlen felé, elmozdulást a dologként-való-mozgás felé.

De ez, ha minden igaz, ez majd később jön; a dologként-való-mozgás később következik. És ha egyszer itt van, akkor majd mondhatjuk, hogy azzá a bestiává, azzá a masinává változtunk, mely képes kegyelemmel táncolni. Mert a cél sosem volt más: kegyelemmel táncolni.

Zsuzsanna Komjáthy

(Az eredeti angol, What does ‘it’ mean? című szöveg szerző általi fordítása)

Idézett szövegek:

André Lepecki. Singularities: Dance in the Age of Performance. New York: Routledge, 2016.

Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. A Thousand Plateaus. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1987.

Israel Aloni 12/18/18 Israel Aloni 12/18/18

Transformation tema för dagen / Britt Nordberg (SWE)

Britt Nordberg, a freelance culture journalist and researcher of performing arts followed the creation process of it will come later by iCoDaCo 2018-2020 during the residency in Uddevalla Sweden, in October 2018. Then, the piece was still under the working tittle - transformation.
Since then, we had the world premier of it will come later on the 22nd of November at the BalletOFFFestival in Krakow, Poland.

As the year approaches its end, it is a great moment to look back, reflect and dive into the beautiful expressions of the writers and theorists that followed our creation process.

Britt Nordberg’s text is currently available in Swedish only, but we will publish its translation into English in the coming weeks.

Transformation tema för dagen

I have transformed in my heart not yet in my mind

It keeps happening to me

Med de tre raderna klingande i bakhuvudet och synminnet av Lee Brummers upprepade försök att fysiskt åskådliggöra dessa ord lämnar jag Regionteater Väst i Uddevalla efter en heldag med två tredjedelar av den internationella dansgruppen iCoDaCo. Dansarna är gäster som artists in residence i två veckor. Detta är den näst sista dagen och dansarna förklarar valet av sitt residens i Uddevalla med att det dels var den scen som var tillgänglig i Västra Götaland och att det dessutom passade in på syftet att sprida den moderna danskonsten geografiskt. Regionteater Väst har en unik ställning i dans- Sverige med sin fasta dansensemble i Borås och sin scen för gästspel i Uddevalla för den nutida dansen. Det projekt som gruppen iCoDaCo bjudit in mig att ta del av för en dag har fått medel från EU-organet Creative Europe. Jag hamnar nu mitt i en process, som pågått i snart sex veckor. En föreställning med arbetsnamnet ”It will come later” är i vardande. Van att se ett dansverk först i samband med premiär sätter jag mig med spänning på åskådarplats framför en scen med fyra nästan tak-till-golv-långa vita gardinvådor som scenografi. De kan ömsom utgöra en vägg eller snörpas åt i midjan för att skapa öppningar i rummet.

Redan i entrén till teatern har jag mött sju ungdomar från Uddevallas dansgymnasium, sex flickor och en pojke. De är inbjudna att delta i den dagliga inledande uppvärmningen.

Den igångsätts av en synnerligen laddad, entusiastisk och leende Eddie Ladd, dansare och koreograf från Wales med diger meritlista, bland annat som ”kontroversiell” TV och radio-gäst. Senast 2016 fick hon den walesiska teaterns pris som bästa dansare. Nu ska hon få med sig sju morgontrötta gymnasieelever i en träning som inleds med att springa fritt runt på golvet i allt högre tempo. Fascinerad av hennes lust och energi rycks också jag upp på golvet en stund.

Grejen är att göra snabba val i att tvärvända eller stoppa, är ett av flera kommandon.

Snart beordrar hon ”Pick a partner” och övningarna övergår till att göras två och två och blir lite mer fysiskt avancerade, varpå två av eleverna avviker med ont i rygg respektive ben som ursäkt.

Efteråt enas eleverna, om än fåordigt, om att det varit givande att få delta i en annorlunda träning än den på skolan och att lära sig ta instruktioner på engelska.

Efter hand har också ytterligare tre dansare i projektet anslutit sig till träningen. Där är Lee Brummer, som är projektets ledare tillsammans med koreografen Israel Aloni. De är båda också grundare av det göteborgsbaserade internationella danskompaniet ilDance, varur ensemblen ilCoDaCo bildats och där Lee Brummer representerar Sverige, trots sin multikulturella, brittisk-israelisk-svenska, bakgrund. Övriga två dansare på plats i Uddevalla är Mui Cheuk-Yin och Joseph Lee med imponerande meritlistor från deltagande runt om i världen men med sin bas fortfarande i hemlandet Hong Kong. Det tycks helt i linje med Creative Europes policy att kontakter knyts också utanför Europa.

Jag väntar med spänning på att ytterligare två dansare ska infinna sig men får, till min besvikelse, veta att Weronika Pelczyńska från Polen och Imre Vasi från Ungern redan avvikit från repetitionerna i Sverige för att åka hem inför nästa residens i Budapest. Jag inser att de spänningsfält som kunnat uppstå mellan representanter från så skilda kulturer som det av Kina hårt ansatta Hong Kong, de allt mer politiskt pressade eu-länderna ur det före detta kommunistiska östblocket, ett evigt ifrågasatt Israel, det brittiska Wales och ett Sverige i jakt på en ny regering i alla fall inte står på dagordningen denna dag. Det gör däremot Kroppen! Och nu följer ett utforskande av överraskande slag.

Efter uppvärmningen tar nämligen en programpunkt kallad ”exercising the brain” plats i fikarummet. Det handlar om att gå igenom de idéer som ska ta form med Lee Brummer som effektiv förande av ord och anteckningar. Rubrik för dagen är ”Transformation”. Inte bara i betydelsen förändring utan om att komma vidare till något som inte prövats tidigare, både individuellt och i grupp. Följer gör en ordväxling som bygger vidare på tidigare samtal och strategier, som jag inte varit delaktig i och därför har vissa svårigheter att följa. Som tillfällig deltagare får jag successivt en uppfattning om hur ett helt igenom improviserat modernt dansverk kan byggas upp bit för bit för att sedan, om möjligt, bli ett sammanfogat helt. Det står ännu inte klart hur slutprodukten ska presenteras. Det är det tillståndet som arbetstiteln ”it will come later” syftar på, som ett svar på frågor som uppstått inför varje idé.

Jag inser efterhand att detta i huvudsak ska handla om kroppen. Lee Brummer refererar till tidigare övningar och jag förstår av samtalen som förs att man arbetar med olika ingångar som har med kroppens funktioner att göra. Frågorna som ställs är att finna övergångar från kroppen till huvudets anatomi, därifrån till hjärnan, kreativiteten, fantasin, andra kroppsfunktioner, olika former av transformation som också inkluderar kulturella skillnader i ritualer, vanor, lekar, förhållandet mellan information och nonsens, medicinska myter som att kunna bota sin egen cancer, om kommunikation också med publiken.

Lee Brummer noterar rutinerat för hand i en liten skrivbok, inte olik forna tiders skolhäften. Samtalet blir allt intensivare. Jag blir mer och mer medveten om att jag tar del av en väl praktiserad arbetsmetod för ett konstnärskap som ska ta form där och nu utan manus att utgå från och svårintagligt för den som inte varit med tidigare i processen. Till utforskandet av kroppens funktioner visar sig också ingå en så naturlig produkt av fysisk ansträngning som svett, för mig det mest överraskande inslaget. På scengolvet står sex små namngivna glasburkar, där dansarna förväntas samla in den svett de alstrar. Eddie Ladd tycks vara upphovet till detta inslag och också försvarare av dess plats i föreställningen. Hon demonstrerar villigt för mig hur insamlandet av svett går till. Jag snappar vidare upp att ett inslag ska handla om skulpturer och hur deras betydelse kan förändras genom tiderna, från att representera hjältar till att krossas. Idén kommer inte oväntat från den polska icke närvarande dansaren. Mui Cheuk-Yin försöker tänka ut hur hon ska gestalta sin egen födelse, så som hon fått den berättad av sin mamma.

Så läggs en pusselbit till en annan och en erfaren koreograf som Lee Brummer börjar se hur delarna kan haka i varandra till en helhet. Det börjar stå klart för mig att det ska bli ett dansverk som också inbegriper text både dansarna sinsemellan och i kommunikation med publiken.

Efter lunchpaus återupptas det fysiska gestaltandet av de idéer som tidigare diskuterats. Jag lyckas totalt missförstå ett hårdfört drama som jag i efterhand får förstå ska illustrera en ansträngning som går ut på att alstra svett och inte, som jag tolkade det, att handla om förtryck i någon mening.

Fler scener repeteras, upprepas och diskuteras. Stämningen är god och lekfull med samtal och synpunkter som leder vidare i själva utförandet. Tankar som uppstår under arbetets gång skrivs spontant ner på lappar som fästs på golvet. Det finns fler idéer än som kommer att användas, får jag veta.

Vad jag upplevt under dagen är fyra frilansande dansare från tre olika länder och kulturer men med så stor erfarenhet av internationellt utbyte att de är medvetna om de eventuella kulturella olikheter som förekommer. Att bara en av dem talar sitt modersmål, engelska, uppfattar jag inte som något större hinder. Om det gör skillnad när gruppen är fulltalig får någon annan avgöra, då tanken med projektet är att utforska både olikheter och likheter i kulturer och hur man kommunicerar utifrån olika språkliga bakgrunder. Det är å andra sidan det som gäller inom de flesta större europeiska danskompanier.

Även om vissa av dansarna i detta projekt från början varit nya för varandra så tycks sex veckors intensivt samarbete ha utvecklat en väl fungerande grupp. Så har jag upplevt något av en högst kreativ och professionell workshop som ska fortsätta i Budapest och avslutas i Krakow, där resultatet av ”It will come later” ska ha sin premiär den 22 november. När det blir Sveriges tur är inte avgjort ännu. Men med tanke på att Sverige ofta ligger lite i utkanten av de internationella kulturella korsvägarna så ser jag längtansfullt fram emot att uppleva vad de sex dansarna i detta projekt slutligen arbetat fram.

Britt Nordberg

frilansande kulturjournalist och recensent av scenkonst

Israel Aloni 11/4/18 Israel Aloni 11/4/18

Text contribution by Dylan Huw (Wales)

It’s like group therapy almost

On the margins of language, movement and creation

I have no verbs probably to describe what the hell just happened

Lee Brummer, dancer, Wednesday 12.09.18

***

On my first day observing the early stages of the ICoDaCo process in Cardiff’s Chapter arts centre, it is Lee’s turn to propose a group exercise. She would like to probe the meaning of transformation (the project’s “guide word”) more deeply – to question and deepen her collaborators’ assumptions about what it fundamentally means to transform, to be transformed, or to experience transformation.

The task she sets is simple. Each of the dancers is to sit alone – it ends up being for around an hour – and write about a transformation they have personally experienced, which they then read aloud to the group. They can approach their text, and indeed the idea of “transformation,” in any which way they choose.

I know words better than I know dance; I feel safer, somehow, listening and responding to language. As I observe the dancers writing – sat in separate corners of the room, deep in the strain and internal chaos of personal reflection – I realise this safeness has a more profound dimension than I might have initially assumed. What I am observing is artists at work; producing something (in this case, writing; usually dance) out of the raw material of memory and imagination. Does the specific medium of an artist’s response to a topic, an idea or a memory truly matter that much? A (dance) artist at work is an artist at work. This becomes a central theme of the day.

Transcultural collaboration in movement, with the goal of creating a group dance piece, which is the premise of ICoDaCo, nonetheless becomes something very different once you reduce (if only briefly) that collaboration to a language-, speech- or writing-based kind. Its intercultural nature is a central part of ICoDaCo’s fabric, but the pleasures or difficulties which we usually project onto intercultural communication are largely absent in a movement-based practice; different languages, accents, worldviews, backgrounds, approaches are elided when a group’s collaboration is so purely physical. Lee’s task foregrounds these elements to the group’s collaborative relationship, introducing the issue of language to the group dynamic.

The individual transformations explored by each of the performers in their responses to Lee’s task range from the banal to the immensely poignant. Joseph reads bilingually, in his native Cantonese and in English, withholding the specifics of his transformation to the rest of us in the room, who do not speak Cantonese. Thus, we only hear about the impact this mysterious seismic event had on him. Eddie’s – also delivered bilingually – is a two-pronged narrative, about a boy in Eddie’s school who replied to a teacher asking what he wants to be when he grows up with “I want to be a horse,” and evokes the story of the martyred Welsh Benedictine monk, Saint John Roberts. Vasi recalls the first time he witnessed contemporary dance – a piece entitled Group Therapy – and invites us, his listeners, to dream with him, imagining ourselves travelling through time like the figures in Chris Marker’s La jetée. Veronica addresses a rehearsal in which she and a collaborator appeared to switch bodies, a transcendentally intimate experience. “Language,” she says, “seems to poor to describe it.” Finally, Lee opens up with two comparably intimate experiences, exploring what it means to belong to someone in the most primal sense.

After everyone has recited their transformation, one of the dancers verbalises what we are all thinking: this exercise, it’s like group therapy almost.

***

Do we think transformations as necessarily having a before and after? Or are ‘transformative’ events usually more suspended in time? This becomes the defining conundrum of the day, around which all others necessarily revolve. I keep returning to how Joseph kept self-correcting as he read his transformation. Remembering is fluid, and so are writing and reciting. How do we express the act of reflecting, that fluidity, in movement? What rituals, and which details, might make very personal reflections into something collective?

***

The next step in Lee’s exercise is a more challenging one. The dancers are to recite isolated lines from their transformative texts at random, all at the same time, creating a collective rhythm in which their narratives collide and complement each other. They gradually begin to seem to tune into one another.

“We call it group therapy.”

“Dwishe bod yn geffyl” – I want to be a horse.

“Why does this keep happening to me?”

“It just felt right.”

“I was standing stage right.”

“Forgetting is definitely not an option.”

“What a waste of life.”

These phrases, birthed in different languages and from very different contexts, begin to assume the character of a large abstract narrative, an obscure sound essay on the many different voices of transformation, a choose-your-own-adventure story, perhaps.

Someone interrupts the vocal collage to ask: Is transformation always poetic? What does (or how would) non-poetic transformation look and feel like? Nobody has the answer.

***

After my first day with ICoDaCo, snippets of speech from the group voice exercise ring around my head like a stream of nonsense consciousness:

“From outside, there is one noticeable transformation.”

“Sai’n cofio beth wedes i.” – I can’t remember what it was I said.

“I tried to find respect.”

I was struck then – and the sensation lingered – by how easily these alternately profound and life-altering and disturbing recollections were rendered sort of banal through endless repetition, the phrases weaved among one another in so many ways as to make their meanings, well, meaningless.

The transformations the collaborators addressed were all very different, but some pertinent themes appeared in all of them. The voice-collage exercise, in particular, appeared to emphasise the strange continuities in these very different narratives. Almost all the dancers’ transformations addressed an element of being lost – and most of them contained an element of transformation in the sense of wanting to be someone else. Someone uses the phrase “different losts,” a method of making sense of the chaotic disorientation to which Lee’s task gave way.

What better phrase to describe the challenge, the awkwardness, the joy, of trying to evoke transformation in collective movement – or of the act of collaboration itself. We are always in the process of navigating the “different losts” which dictate our lives and creative outputs. Through the kind of collaboration which ICoDaCo enacts, we tread paths that, if they might not show us ways of being less lost, might at least guide us in making those different losts into something beautiful; perhaps, even, something transformative.

Dylan Huw

Israel Aloni 10/10/18 Israel Aloni 10/10/18

Hong Kong, the first physical meeting by Gwyn Emberton (English & Welsh)

I am writing this at 5.09am British Summer Time on Sunday 26th August. I have been back on the Isle of Britain from Hong Kong Island for about 36 hours and the jet lag got me out of bed at 4.30am – 11.30am in Hong Kong. International collaboration

I miss it but I am glad to be home.

I miss the team after our first meeting. I miss the space, I miss the Ding Ding that we took to the studio, I miss the bento lunch boxes we ate, I miss my new colleagues from across the globe, I miss hearing the artists finding out about each other and figuring out how they are going to work together, I miss seeing this happen, I miss being surprised when I hear the new ideas, inspirations, developments that are being talked about.

The first meeting is always the hardest.

There are so many questions.

Who are these other people in the room?

What do they do?

What kind of artist are they?

Where do they come from?

Why are they here?

How can we possibly make a work together?

This is added to the fact that the subject matter is so broad - Transformation is a huge topic.

How will six people who have very different approaches to making dances and theatre choose where to start?

It is like putting six pins on the map of the universe…

Some will dive into a process, some will consider, some will consider then dive then consider some more, some will dive then consider if that was the right place then back up and start again….

The first residency is done. Wow, that was fast. We are a fifth of the way there already. The work is moving forward. A new process has started, and it is exciting.

Hong Kong

Y cyfarfod wyneb yn wyneb cyntaf

Rwy'n ysgrifennu hwn am 5.09am Amser Haf Prydain, ddydd Sul 26 Awst. Rydw i wedi bod yn ôl ar Ynys Prydain o Hong Kong ers tua 36 awr, ac oherwydd y jetludded dihunais am 4.30am – 11.30am yn Hong Kong. Cydweithio rhyngwladol...

Rwy'n gweld eisiau'r profiad, ond rwy'n falch i fod gartref.

Rwy'n gweld eisiau'r tîm ar ôl ein cyfarfod cyntaf. Rwy'n gweld eisiau'r stiwdio, rwy'n gweld eisiau'r Ding Ding oedd yn ein cludo ni yno, rwy'n gweld eisiau bwyta o'r bocsys bwyd bento, rwy'n gweld eisiau fy nghydweithwyr newydd ar ochr draw'r byd, rwy'n gweld eisiau clywed yr artistiaid yn dysgu am ei gilydd ac yn penderfynu ar sut i gydweithio, rwy'n gweld eisiau gweld hyn yn digwydd, rwy'n gweld eisiau cael fy syfrdanu wrth glywed y syniadau, ysbrydoliaethau a datblygiadau newydd sy'n cael eu trafod.

Y cyfarfod cyntaf yw'r anoddaf, bob tro.

Mae cymaint o gwestiynau.

· Pwy yw'r bobl eraill yma yn yr ystafell?

· Beth maen nhw'n ei wneud?

· Pa fath o artistiaid ydyn nhw?

· O ble maen nhw'n dod?

· Pam ydyn nhw yma?

· Ym mha ffyrdd posibl allwn ni gydweithio?

Mae hyn yn ogystal â'r ffaith bod y pwnc dan sylw mor eang – mae Trawsnewid yn bwnc enfawr.

Sut bydd chwe pherson sydd â dulliau gwahanol iawn o greu dawnsiau a theatr yn dewis man cychwyn?

Mae fel rhoi chwe phin ar fap o'r bydysawd...

Bydd rhai'n bwrw ati i ddilyn proses, bydd eraill yn pendroni, bydd rhai'n pendroni ac yna'n bwrw ati ac yna'n pendroni mwy, bydd rhai'n bwrw ati ac yna'n ystyried ai dyna oedd y lle cywir i ddechrau ac yna'n camu yn ôl i ddechrau eto...

Mae'r cyfnod preswyl cyntaf ar ben. Waw, roedd hynny'n gyflym. Rydyn ni wedi gorffen un rhan o bump o'r broses yn barod. Mae'r gwaith yn symud ymlaen. Mae proses newydd wedi dechrau, ac mae'n gyffrous.

Israel Aloni 10/10/18 Israel Aloni 10/10/18

Reflections in Hong Kong, August 2018.

Jacqueline Wong, iCoDaCo producer in Hong Kong wrote on the 17th of August:

Before the first open rehearsal taken place, I was hesitate to predict what reactions would come from the audience. Though the residency in Hong Kong was the first encounter of the collective after 8 months of online communication, the first open rehearsal was taken place on the fourth day of the residency which implied that we could expect very few to share with the audience. Surprisingly (at least to me), the audience has shown tremendous concentration and stayed curious throughout the one-hour-sharing, which started with improvisation by the collective and followed by a session led by Weronika that was inspired by the politically related statues of Poland.

Wayson Poon, dancer from Hong Kong

Wrote on the 20th of August 2018, in reflection on the iCoDaCo work in progress sharing in Hong Kong:

Simple yet decent, the ambience in the room was one of the enticements to the audience. The immense possibilities created by the collective, of which each member comes from a unique cultural background, dance training and practice, made me curious for how the work will be developed in the following creative residencies in other countries.

Israel Aloni 10/10/18 Israel Aloni 10/10/18

Marta Wołowiec after the 1st residency in Hong Kong. Written 27th of August 2018

I didn’t suppose the collective work can be so difficult.

It was very interesting to observe the artists’ work. Their struggles, feelings and communication. Can’t wait to see what will happen with the process and creation in the next residencies.

Today, after two weeks I have some doubts if democracy is the best system for cooperation.

I hope to think differently after two years of the whole project.

Israel Aloni 10/10/18 Israel Aloni 10/10/18

Notes by Imre Vass from the 28th of August 2018

22 hrs after a deadline, 40 minutes before take off sitting in front of gate nr. 161.

Wednesday, 8th of November 2056.

Date of my departure from this 3D land, the interweb says so.

I am checking another site, the result is: 29th of June, 2047. I stop checking.

Stretched between data, numbers, characters, symbols, information I am aware of the need of locating oneself in the spacetime fabric.

I am aware. But am I interested in locating \ defining?

Transformation happens on it's own accord. I respect that. The universal machinery just works fine. Doesn't need me to fix things or to improve stuff. But I am happy to do the daycare, to change diapers, do the shopping or art.

Observing the air passing through my nostrils, the skin of my palms touching and sensing the plasctic chair, my back giving its wait to the backrest. Am I being autistic or somatic now?

My body has to be transported now elsewhere... it is boarding time.

Israel Aloni 10/10/18 Israel Aloni 10/10/18

From Edinburgh by Joseph Lee, written on 16th of August 2018

As I was performing in Edinburgh Festival Fringe, I couldn’t physically be present in the first residency in Hong Kong, but then I came up with an idea of conducting “workshop” from afar, with the help of another local choreographer, Cherry Leung, in light of putting idea of transformation into the process of creation by passing on my initial ideas to another artist and see how that will change the expected outcome, or even the process itself.

It turned out to be interesting enough as she was not in the discussion process beforehand, so she only knew little about the theme of the project except the bits that I’ve told her, and that actually allows her to change the structure of the workshop according to what interests her at that moment under the notion of “transformation”.

Hopefully I will get to see that live soon and be involved in it, so see you all in Tanzmesse in two days!!

Israel Aloni 10/7/18 Israel Aloni 10/7/18

Wales, 9-15 September 2018 by Joseph Lee

It has been an intensive week!
The first time really sharing the space with 4 other collective members in the creation process is definitely nothing I could imagine before. It was full of surprises, sometimes frustration, overwhelming, yet exciting. It was not an easy process to keep generating new ideas, and each artist takes on very different path of creation. I am looking forward to what might come up at the end of the week!

Key words of the week

Before & After
Transformative moments in life
Anchor point
Direction of transformation
Past
History
Time
Efforts

10.9.2018

“Transformation is about how you adjust yourself in the current situation.” Weronika said. And that she actually takes on as her strategy to different tasks proposed by other artists this week－－adaptation, adjustment, be present.

11.9.2018

I led the open class with the collective together with local dance and performing artists. Mainly focus on sharing my practice on movements these days and it was so lovely to see how they take on the tasks and physical ideas. It offered me another angle to look closely at the collective as well as the other artists in the space.

Afternoon was my research on personal history, together with Simon and Kathy, who are the set and lighting designers of this production. We had some deep talks after some try-out on the visual ideas and possible way to research further. Totally burnt out from whole day of work, but the beautiful input of the collective made it worthwhile.

12.9.2018

In the morning, the collective went on to take a Gaga class with Natalia Iwaniec at Rubicon Dance, which is one of the important dance venues in Cardiff. Trying to build up connection to the local community from a different approach as well as warming up our own bodies for the day ahead.

We started our process in the afternoon by writing upon our personal transformation. Sharing of stories, different trials on texts till 8pm today, definitely a LONG day.

Exiting the Rubicon after morning Gaga class

Israel Aloni 10/7/18 Israel Aloni 10/7/18

iCoDaCo 2018 - 2020 in Cardiff September 2018 by Lee Brummer

iCoDaCo 2018-2020 arrived in Cardiff. Multilingual bathroom shelf.

13 September 2018

One step forward, 1 step back, 1 drop to floor
In hebrew we say “things that we see from here you can’t see from there” it doesn’t translate that well, yet the essence remains. Step back, step out and you will see things from a different angle and discover something new. Sometimes seeing something from up close make it blurry.

Today I unfortunately sprained my ankle. In an ecstatic attempt to sweat my heart out, exhaustion kicked in and I lost concentration for a moment which was long enough for me to go over my ankle and hit the floor.

*enter frustration

*enter sadness

On the upside, it was incredible to witness what was going on from the outside. Eddie had an idea for which we needed to collect sweat in jars, I will not expand on this due to potential spoiler... but for this reason the collective needed to produce large amounts of sweat (Joseph excelled at and won this task). It was incredible to see the focus, determination and also fun in the room during the morning sessions. There was a light heartedness together with immense will power. Everyone dressed in bin bags (we found this produces more sweat) working towards the same task, even if in their own way. The clear goal, and product that we were trying to achieve made the journey pretty mad. Each individual brought their strength and their support for each other into this task and it was quite touching to witness. This may have been the first time we were all totally on the same page.

Sad I had to watch it from the outside.

15 September 2018

One of these weeks, where the beauty and struggle of creating a collective work, has shown

its 2 very different heads. Often in collective processes I feel conversations become like mini peace processes. Diplomatic, but with an underlining of frustration when people want different things and are trying to uncover the common ground with hope that it is wide enough for both, or in this case all, sides to stand on.

As time goes on we discover more and more the commonalities within the collective and also, our differences in volume, in tone, in the filters through which we see things, our attractions and our ways of communication.

The moments we see eye to eye our magical. From the moments when we don’t, we learn and grow the most. We are challenging each other and through this challenging ourselves.

We are still getting to know each other on so many levels. What are the other interested in?

What is their process? How do they touch? Whats on their shelf in the fridge?

The journey continues...

18 September 2018

Progress has been made,
Memories,
tracing memories,
tracing thoughts,
undoing patterns.
Understanding.

Not understanding.

Try again,
try different
just try.

All for one
one for one
one for all.

Project on something
project on someone
project

Replay
retry
Say it the same
say if different
say something.

Make it loud
make it meaningful
be aware
make it work

Israel Aloni 8/27/18 Israel Aloni 8/27/18

Notes from Tuesday 21st August

By iCoDaCo 2018-2020 artist Lee Brummer

Small pockets of inspiration.

Today's rehearsal was meaningful. For me, it was the first rehearsal where a leap was made and we treaded somewhat less carefully around topics, dialogue and well... eachother.
Teeth were dug deep into one thing, deep enough so that we could start tasting something. Even if we are still unsure what that something might be and how fond we are of that taste.

We connected transformation through body parts and repetition to contact, and we left it about as open as that. It was immensely interesting to further discover each of our personalities, the way we touch, the way we approach contact, the choices we make, or don’t make and how we see the same task through different glasses.

As we paired up, each of us (at some point) met with every other collective member and also witnessed the other meetings, the wealth of the collective became even more apparent.

As seen in picture, I jotted down some post-it notes from each session. Moments that were meaningful for one reason or another. Re-opening each of them almost feels like a window in advent calendar. Every opening bringing us a bit closer towards the “thing” the thing being that metal idea, understanding or moment when maybe while looking through different glasses we all get a kick out of the same or a similar thing.

Personally, it feels incredible to be in a room with these 4 inspiring individuals, each with a strong, powerful and enchanting world. I’m enjoying the journey between each of these worlds and the open invitation for them to visit mine.

Lee Brummer's notes from residency in Hong Kong August 2018