The term site-specific dance performance is defined as
dance performance created in response to and performed within a specific site
or location, where dance and movement are the dominant components as opposed to
theatre- or installation-derived genres.
Hunter, Victoria. Moving
Sites: Investigating Site-Specific Dance Performance. London,
Routledge, 2015.
Rehearsing again and again,
responding to the place in this site-specific dance performance, alters the
piece numerous times. Trying to embody the directions of my instructors and
have a dialogue with the building itself as well as with my collaborators led
to a different piece from the one I had imagined.
The experience was
amazing, it was out of my comfort zone, something unique, something that gave
me food for thought on how a performance should be. Having the audience so
close when performing in a high place from where you could fall on them, makes
you feel… Well, it makes you feel that a stage would never be enough now!
The strongest memory that
I have from that night, was the time I was performing Vicky Spanovangelis‘ piece
and I was tracing the audience with a chalk in a piece of paper. Then a couple
came to me and they started to interact with me becoming a part of my dancing.
It was a remarkable experience!
I really hope I will have
the chance to be a part again in a site-specific dance performance.
Thank you!
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Dance, the mother of all
movement forms, requires honesty, truthfulness. This includes a commitment
toward not harming self or others in the process of art making. You make
ethical choices when you are working with other people’s bodies. Then the body
will open. Taking stock allows you to arrive,
fully in the moment, ready to begin.
Olsen, Andrea. The
Place of Dance: A Somatic Guide to Dancing and Dance Making. Wesleyan
University Press, 2013, pp. 49-50
It has been difficult to
collaborate with the other dancer because I had to protect her for harming
herself when practicing at the unfit floor at Deree but it was more challenging
when we had to dance on the skin at Benaki. Most of the escobilla part
(footwork) had to change because of the space. We couldn’t move freely in such
a tiny space and I couldn’t risk it. Furthermore, I had to change my original
idea about the vibration of the skin because the dancer with the cajon couldn’t
move and engage other parts of the building too. However, this change led to a
beautiful triangle – like a tablao – where we could dance and hear very
different sounds. The place changed the way we would perform and transformed
our dancing into a part of the space.
Space shapes the body, and the body shapes space.
Olsen, Andrea. The
Place of Dance: A Somatic Guide to Dancing and Dance Making. Wesleyan
University Press, 2013, p. 113
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As I was thinking the
sound that the skin made and how it travelled from one square to the other, I
decided to collaborate with two more dancers, one producing sound with flamenco
shoes, and the other one producing sound with a cajon.
Therefore, we will be able
to feel this vibration, this music that the building produces louder and with
variations.
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It is difficult to put
together a choreography based so much on the space itself if you can’t be there
rehearsing when the idea comes. I found a place in BlackBox theatre at Deree
under the stairs where I can try some moves but I am concern whether the
producing sound would be similar to the one at Benaki. But as Olsen writes:
“Pliés
and tendus graced kitchens, balconies, and an empty ice cream parlor. On tour
without a studio or stage, we simply found a space to move. Being resourceful
is part of dancing, requiring both inner and outer endurance and creativity.”
Olsen, Andrea. The
Place of Dance: A Somatic Guide to Dancing and Dance Making. Wesleyan
University Press, 2013, p. 50
Furthermore, my other
concern is how I could combine the Flamenco elements with the Contemporary
Dance elements. I was doing some research and I came across to this video which
made me think differently.
Flamenco and Contemporary Collide to Create a New
Dance Genre
As the Flamenco dancer
says and I feel the same, she was nervous because she was used to work within
her own dance form, doing things with a certain way. But in the process, she discovered
that Flamenco and Contemporary are a lot more similar than we realized. And I
am starting to feel the same way…
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Rhythm? What is this? Is music the only rhythm that
you feel? What about the rhythm of the nature? What about the rhythm of the
city? What about the rhythm of your heart?
Rhythm is everywhere. In the falling leaves. In the
moving cars. In the language we speak. In the footsteps of our stride. In the
heartbeats of our chest… We live because of that heartbeat, we breath because
of it, we walk because of it, why not dance because of it?
As a dancer, I was always dancing with a music, or a
tempo, it was vital to me. But trying to find my tempo for this piece I
remember my inner rhythm, my own tempo, my heart.
I was always amazed by this organ and how it influences
our life but how also our life influences its pace. When I was dancing, I could
feel it changed its pace, following my movement. Hence, for this piece I
decided to follow the rhythm of my heart and explore how it is influenced by
the outside world, maybe the sound of a cajon or the producing sound of the
skin of a museum, but also how the inner rhythm can influence the movement of
the body.
“Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances. ”
Maya Angelou
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Today we visited the
museum. While I was walking, I noticed the skin of this beautiful modern building.
And so, my idea of collaboration with a piece changed… Once I touched the metal
and heard the producing sound, I was sure that I wanted to dance with my
flamenco shoes in it… That I wanted to be engaged in a dialogue with the museum
itself…
And therefore, the inspiration
alters…
As a task for the Choreography as a Collaborative Practice we should choreograph a piece for the Benaki Museum. I was inspired by one painting about the Marathon Dam because I found this place beautiful and I have been there a lot of times to admire the nature. It intrigued me to explore the relation between the nature and the humanity, how humans can alter it (through the dam or the fire that burned down the forest) but in the same time how the nature can adapt and reform through these changes.
Brainstorming:
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| Βroadway Theatre of Greece (Χορεύοντας αισθάνομαι) |
Hello there! My name is
Niki Dialyna and here is what you should know about me. In the mornings, you
can find me at Deere College studying for the Contemporary Dance Practice while
in the afternoons … I become an English / Musical / Dance teacher!
Want to know
more about myself? Well, I am a 26 years old woman who dances for more than 18
years. I have done different kinds of dance like ballet, modern, hip hop, jazz,
musical, oriental, latin and tango but my heart truly belongs to flamenco. When
I listen to flamenco music I just feel so many things that I can’t hold back
from dancing!
 |
| Badminton Theatre (Carmen) |
Where have I performed? In many places, in Badminton Theatre, in Greek
National Opera, in Gialino Music Theatre and of course, in my kitchen while
cooking!
 |
| Trianon Theatre ( The Cats) |
Finally, what about choreographing? I have choreographed many pieces
for my students and myself but my favourite work was the musical “The Cats” that
I put
