Program & Schedule

dear fellow Symposionists !

 The preparation for the upcoming Symposium was initiated by the urge to consider dancing as grounding the inquiry into what it means to be human – today. In German, the medieval “spil” is the origin for both “Spiel” (play) and “Tanz” (dance). Proposing that dance roots in play – and thus in the unnecessary, in the physical and in the relational - how does this shape the outcome of that practice? And how do we position ourselves as dance practitioners in contemporary society?

The call for the 4th Symposium, “The Importance of Being [Un]Necessary” triggered many and diverse responses. Following the proposals received, we have composed this weekend’s program.

Join us as we jump down the rabbit hole and seek embodied knowledge – concerning bodily experience, politics, and art; concerning the playful being precisely articulated. Wander with us as we pass through ground research, into dancing and discussing; questioning, answering, and sharing, then eating and drinking together.

Draw with us from the Ancient Greeks’ practice of Symposia as a sharing of insight, as a celebration of intent and community!

Welcome to the 4th IDOCDE Symposium:
The Importance of Being [Un]Necessary

Overview of events & activities from friday, 29 July to sunday, 31, July

FRIDAY, July 29

Opening
The Use of Uselessness - a Performance Lecture by Claudia Kappenberg (UK/ DE)

A performance lecture in which a garden gnome makes a claim for the human right to uselessness and unravels the history of the debates on use and uselessness in philosophy and literature. The speech is followed by a paper that argues that the arts need to develop modern rituals which celebrate idleness and uselessness.

Followed by

Politics of Necessity, a lecture and presentation by Benno Voorham (NL/ SE), who will present his work with refugee children and marginalised youngsters, placing it into the socio-political context of today and invites to discuss on the theme of politics in dance and dance education.

and Being with this World, an outdoor workshop with Paula Kramer (DE)
What do we need and desire to hone our abilities of moving, dancing, being with and responding to this world?

Our evening  Campfire & drinks will inspire us to socially warm-up and dive into the symposium weekend together!

Friday – Sunday: REFLEX Track

Meet the REFLEX Research members at their presentations! 11 dance teachers and specialists in video and written documentation who over the course of three years develop the REFLEX Tool & Guide in a series of Research Modules

Join the REFLEX Outreach activities on site and the following REFLEX Track events:

Drawing as a tool for poetic and polyphonic dance documentation with Anouk Llaurens (NL)
(ex)change perspective - laboratory with Andrea Keiz (DE)
A teaser into Video Documentationwith Martin Streit (DE)
Capacity of language - Interview with Frey Faust by Ulla Mäkinen (FI)
Fascia as narrator: Things inbetweenwith Kerstin Kussmaul (NZ/AT/DE)

ALL REFLEX events at the smyposium are free for all and open to the public!

SATURDAY, JULY 30

Join the following workshops, lectures, laboratories & more:

Food for the Day with Trude Cone (NL)
Get a fine-tuning into the body and the upcoming mental and physical workouts!

Somatic Generosity aims to make a place for explorations of vulnerability, empathetic listening and subjective awareness – with Deirdre Morris (US)

Can we find common ground in the vast field of physical diversity once we leave the assumption of a relatively homogenic professional dancer´s body?

Haptic Leap with D_TRACE DiversDance_TrainingResearchApplicationCompilationEducation
(Elisabeth Löffler, maRia Probst, Christian Apschner, Cornelia Scheuer, AT)

Borrowed Trauma – A physical laboratory and open dialogue around embodying sensationalized media images with Meryl Murman & Tarren Johnson (US)

Modelling possible approaches for leading a group for people with different abilities is also Abilities for Inclusive Dance – a presentation by Dorka Farkas (HU)

Sex & Space – Conscious Sexuality Practices in Contemporary Dance – a lecture and discussion with David Bloom (DE/ US)

The (un)importance of poetic language and poetry within dance education will be discussed in Lecture on Poetics by Jochem Naafs (NL)

Finally we will all come together in the Kitchen Table Discussion! The Kitchen Table is inspired by artist and researcher Lois Weaver who created “The Long Table”.

and the cinematic Legacy Project Premiere - what is to become a publicly available collection of video documents made by individual participants documenting lineages of valuable lessons learned.

culminating in a communal dinner! (...open end)

SUNDAY , 31 July

Food for the Day with Galaad Le Goaster (FR)

Moveable Cinema -  a movement practice heightening visual perception with Shannon Cooney (US/ BE)

Engage in cross species entanglements (earthworms) with little worms can trigger big changes - a research practice with Jasmin Hoffer (AT)

In Performance, Feedback, Revision Corinne Jola (GBR) dives into Feedback in Dance and its potential -  a „crucial topic which, if recognised, has strong potentials to change approaches to teaching and feedback beyond dance.“

A lecture for three voices: Social Body/Own Body - the body as a living art form  Gill Hart (UK) , Liz King (AT/UK) and Lucy Suggate  (UK) – the Head of Education at the National Gallery in London, D.ID Dance Identity director and UK dance artist, respectively – will share the experiences and outcomes of Dancing Museums project.

Work to be Discovered - Interview with Nancy Stark Smiht by Defne Erdur (TR)

The Unorthodox Event – with Benoit Lachambre (CAN) and Nita Little (US)

We asked Benoît Lachambre and Nita Little to each give a response regarding the theme of the Symposium from the perspective of their work, and to react onto the other's response before opening the dialogue towards all participants.  

Romain Bigé (FR) will share what he calls the artist’s privilege to displace the borders between what should be noticed and what should not  in a culminating closing lecture during the afternoon.

Bring your dance shoes and join Gabriela Zuarez’  (NL/ ARG) Tango practice and lecture oriented to contemporary dancers: Gender, transference and subjective body in the contemporary teachings of tango practice

We will certainly not miss out on letting the weekend gently close and come together at the end of sunday to celebrate- more info soon. J

The detailed program and schedule is available here as an ONLINE PDF!