”From Movement out of Reflection in Becoming: The Dancer and the Creative Process”

The project took its starting point in the work in the creation of Ina Christel Johannessen’s dance piece NOW SHE KNOWS, where Cecilia Roos, was one of the dancers. Periodically, the other researchers observed the rehearsals of this piece, following Cecilia’s artistic process. The research methods grew out of the teamwork, inspired by the preparation of Johannessen’s choreography and by discussions of dance theoretical and philosophical texts. Early on, the need arose to have an exchange also in movement, so the group started to devote a part of the regular meetings to physical exercise and studying aspects of the choreography. The focus was both that of the dancer from within the process, and that of external observers. These perspectives were not deadlocked but rather aimed at an interaction and a dialogue between the theoretical and the practical levels.

In the beginning of the project, conceptualization of the dancer’s creative process seemed essential so we searched for texts that could provide or help develop an adequate terminology. As time went by, we came to realize that there were different ways to articulate this process, and that we could have recourse to a great variety of language forms in approaching the questions that appeared. Moreover, the very gap between the perceived and the verbally articulated is a multilayered and ambiguous space that is crucial for the working process, both with movement and with thought. A number of issues were explored: How does the dancer work in the process where the dance – either improvised or written – takes shape? How does the understanding of a movement material shift through the actual performing of it?_ What is it to understand or experience a movement from the perspective of the performer? What is it to understand or experience a movement from the perspective of the spectator? What kind of body is the dancing body and how can it create a variety of meanings? Through what concepts are we to think the dancer’s practice and corporeality?’

The research project begins with the rehearsal of the dance work "Now She Knows", choreographed by Ina Christel Johannesen. It will premiere in May 2010 and Cecilia Roos will participate as a dancer. The fact that this is an original piece is a prerequisite for the project to work as material for the reserach. Co-researchers are Cecilia Sjöholm, Professor of Aesthetics at Södertörn University; Anna Petronella Fredlund, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Södertörn University and Katarina Elam, PhD in Aesthetics. They are following the work with "Now She Knows" but also the work with "Apartment" by Mats Ek where Cecilia Roos works as a repetiteur. Experiences from previous artistic processes are woven into the project. Through a continuous dialog between the project participants, inner and outer perspectives will be intertwined to gradually form the whole that constitutes the ultimate goal of the study, namely a deeper understanding of the artistic process through the example of dance.

The Swedish Research Council

2010–2013

The reserach project on DiVA