The Spring Lab: A solid proof of peer to peer exchange!

​The Spring Lab – Last edition of CHOREOLAB.EU of this season – took place in Berlin between 26 May and June 1st.

The third lab of the season was inspirational for everyone. The participants where challenged and challenging; and the peer to peer setting we aimed for in the first place became a fact: the channels of communication were guided and organized to avoid falling in endless discussions, but nonetheless there was space for everyone to take the lead and share their interests and the questions they were facing in their present day and time.

Actually, one of the great rewards of this lab was receiving the overall feedback that a couple of days more would have been ideal to deepen into the questions and experiences lived during the sessions!

The guided labs brought us in touch with many a different concept:

• We delved into specific work on musicality, physically composing in connection to rythm structure, melody, or emotional interpretation of it. How different is the movement when our focus centers with one or the other? Which choice do I make when composing and am I even aware of it? Am I playing with it, or do I choose to go against? And how does this choice affect the interpreter physically?

• Meditation as a means for improvisation implied a test of exploration of the self. The be at ease in emptiness is not something many can do in a jump, and nonetheless, the open space for the mind to come with impulses and for the body to react to them at the same time is quite different after a meditation than before. The awareness is different, the presence for a viewer as well.

• The resources for theatricality where worked on by building up instant and rythmical compositions in space; and by using the physical aspects of a character as mere movement material. Freed of their origin, the source was theatrical but the result had no need need to be narrative. How much of the theatrical source do we want to keep or recognise? How much do we let the story of the character sip through the choreography we make?

• The Create it Forward lab, led by Sanne Clifford, was an enriching experience for all participants to get in touch with a specific method for choreographic composition. Divided into small groups with different tasks, we were able to work with different resources, where movement evolved thanks to the simple but not so obvious fact of “passing it on”. Be it by means of concept or strict physical material, choreography took unexpected paths thanks to the collaboration of the many. Although the starting point was known to all, the result evolved in unexpected ways thanks to the input of every individual. creative decison-making. A very interesting exercise of letting go and observe different processes of creative decision-making. 

 
Next to the labs, the pedagogical sessions and playgrounds opened up space for debates and exchange amongst participants and choreographers alike: Everyone could share his or her question and each of us had something to offer as well. Teams were organized, and off we went. Even though time was of the essence and we had the feeling of it not being enough, several topics where addressed: different methodologies and approaches to solo and group work, different ways to communicate with a group of dancers as a dance makers, how to compose a piece based on a very personal and intimate memory and emotion, and have the essence of it still remain in the final work without falling in the obvious, etc.

The overall feeling was of success, we as organizers are happy with the feedback we received and look forward to the set up of the next season!

In 2016 – 17 we are going to BARCELONA and LISBON. Click here for our latest updates!