Over the past two weeks, I had the great privilege of working with Peggy Baker, one of Canada’s foremost contemporary dance practitioners, and a cohort of nine emerging artists, as part of an ‘Action Lab’ presented through Peggy Baker Dance Projects. It was a wonderful experience.
The process that Peggy guided us through – based on word and text, conceived of in all aspects (calligraphic, phonetic, semantic/semiotic, etc.), and acted upon in silence under the pressure of time – was quite new to me, and challenging! I experimented with new ways of undertaking choreography, while gently confronting my personal motivations and reservations as a dancer. It was inspiring to work alongside so many talented, creative, and generous artists; our discussions were sites of such interesting ideas that are still steeping in my mind.
You can watch Peggy talking about some of the principles we worked with here. I am sure I will take these ideas forward into my practice.
For the time being, I wanted to share some personal insights that emerged for me through the Action Lab. One day, we took some time to consider our “aspirations for the affect of our work” – ie. what’s important for us in creation, what values do we work from and what qualities do we hope to evoke. It was such a comforting task – a moment to define our artistic selves. I feel that this list, basic as it is and inconclusive as it will surely turn out to be, will help me ground myself as I venture tentatively into contemporary movement creation.
I want my dance work to be…
- …of nature
- …of weight/density, of gravity
- …of meditation
- …of symmetry
- …of integrity
- …of tradition
- …of rhythm and repetition
- …of joy
- …of energy
- …of respect
- …of magic
Gaman Thaale 