more DNA dance class
additional material from DNA dance classes. dnaclass6 documents a "one breath" performance; students danced on one breath, and stopped in their tracks when their breath gave out. surprisingly, an older man outlasts the rest of the students. in dnaclass7, exercise-performances involving choreia are presented. 7 is only a very short segment. what was amazing was the spirit of the students, who were moving awkwardly, deliberately, and learning/unlearning so much in the process. the classes were taught by Foofwa d'Imobilite and myself; my own role involved Second Life material, sound, and occasional goading and performance suggestions. Oh but we had a good time. What interests me about these exercises is their contradicting the usual assumption of balance and purity in philosophy and dance. Here, dancers move from one limitation, one exaltation, to another. I think of the exhaustion Levinas describes in existence and existents as philosophical counterpoint; this is hardly the wide-awake state of Sartre's cafe life in Being and Nothingness. Exhaustion is inescapable, as is stroke for example. To write from a position of exhaustion or illness, is to write from a prison beyond prison - to wryte otherwise. And the same is true in exaltation; one carries through, is carried by, the moment; one is others; others are among one. These movements are voluntary, however, and they extend the range of performance. There's an uncomfortable edge in this, since there are people who permanently inhabit similar states. These movements, however, are not imitative; but performances that draw on any number of sources such as choreia, dancing mania (for example St. Vitus' and St. John's dances), maenadism and other dance/ecstatic rites, hypnotic displays, neurasthenia, shamanism, and even animal movements. http://www.alansondheim.org/dnaclass6.mp4 http://www.alansondheim.org/dnaclass7.mp4 Apologies for the shortness and poor quality of the videos; the ideas come through quite clearly. _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list NetBehaviour@netbehaviour.org http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
