MODE05: INTERNAL DOCUMENT
EDDC/ Bennington – Eva Karczag / Laban – Gill Clarke
18/03/05
talking to Eva-Maria Hoerster / Scott deLahunta (did initial notes)
EDDC -1989 an offshoot of the SNDO; ideals were carried through and changes were made. Mary Fulkerson had a concern for the internalizing tendency of the work, perceived students going inward - wanted students to be putting work out. Aim, they should perform. Aat had a pragmatic reason for defining the EDDC (then CNDO) as very different from SNDO / that dutch funding wouldn't support two schools doing the same thing. Making a break to start something new. Eva was around at this beginning. Initial students - tended to be older; average age was 25 and a lot had done previous studies not necessarily in dance. EDDC (hogeschool) was a vocational school. There was a 4 year and a 2 year program. The 4 year students were easier to work with / they were 'unformed' / versus the 2 year program. Process of unlearning had to happen in the 2 years - took the first year; only one year left. Unlearning of movement patterns that prevented one from embracing or experiencing new and different things. (gill) The more re-enforced or deeply embedded a certain pattern is the longer it takes to break down.
Some teachers wanted to work with what students brought in / some said we don't want them to do that but rather to give that up for a while. What is the time that certain types of resources need in order to be embodied? Over time, it took less time for students to assimilate new physical ideas - because teaching became more efficient; students could look to older students to model themselves after. Over the years, as EDDC's reputation grew, there were larger groups to select from at the auditions for new students. There was an orientation towards "making". (Gill - cf Robert Dunn's workshop in the 60s at Judson Church was a 'composition' workshop as different from choreography). Students were stimulated from the beginning to be making. In the first years, Mary would prepare students from the beginning, that they would need to "make their own contexts" because they would not necessarily be auditioning for, and working in, companies. Students had classes in lighting design, music, video, and after graduating, some went into lighting design, video, BMC and Alexander teaching, etc.
At EDDC at the beginning students had 'practice' classes, training to be shifted away from technique as style. From around 1996(?) students started to have to do more signature techniques as the ending criteria became more and more that students should be employable as dancers - Mary and Aat began to feel pressure of Dutch education system and criteria for dance training. (Gill - Laban - demand from government funding is that 75% of students should be making living as dancers. Laban has to make the argument for "portfolio" careers – that artistis will not be working full time over the length of their careers in one job.) Ballet became an important part of the auditioning process and became part of the curriculum. Placed different demand on bodies not trained in that way and perhaps not having the physical capability. Started to make a transition to this other model of what constitutes dance training/ value of techniques, etc. in mid to late 1990s. At same time students were getting younger. EDDC was quite small - between 68 and 78 (15 to 16 taken each year). The small size was wonderful but maybe it was too small because it lacked resources to, for instance, provide both a stream of classes for students who wanted to go into a more "dancerly" mode of working / making - as well as a stream for those pursuing a "non-dancerly" mode. EDDC at the beginning was not part of the Arnhem Hogeschool dance department / but was part of the Theater department. At that time, the work of the dance department was regarded as conservative and not of interesting to EDDC - a whole other world and world-view.( Gill – the large intake at Laban makes it harder to build intimate community bonds, but has benefits in terms of resources and student choice.)
Gill mentions the difference when a program is located in one building like the EDDC, or Dartington which while an isolated college campus does place dance and theatre in contact with other disciplines . What about having one's own isolated building, buildings and spaces and isolation. Bennington - benefits of being part of a larger university community. Laban benefits in its new building form being more public and involving community and professionals in use of its resoutrces
EDDC - seven staff - and many guest teachers. Aat Hougee - a unique and creative individual, politically savvy / very manipulative / amazing talent spotter / dogmatic and control freak. He was a bad manager / no transparency / poor communication / staff felt abused. Many teachers came from NYC. (Gill - Americans as a first generation in "new dance". Economic conditions in Europe now encouraging productions / less 'movement research'; It seems there was a generation of artists in NYC who could pursue movement research, had their own spaces etc.) With longer workshop blocks (2 to 6 weeks) and same teacher teaching practice and workshop (i.e. morning and afternoon classes) EDDC gave the possibility to totally immerse in a process.
EDDC writing skills and verbal skills often lacking, often connected to English as a second language. Rigor was not always there, (but is needed), in selection process, to find someone who was ready to be intellectually challenged. EDDC was English speaking. At the beginning there was very little willingness from students to have their own work spoken about. This needed to be encouraged and took time to develop. Feedback at Bennington was very visible and communal - EDDC feedback could be quite one on one (one teacher to one student). Transparency of teaching and feedback processes struck Eva at Bennington. Looking at and speaking about work in public/ encouraging people to think and speak analytically, effectively and positively is actively cultivated.
Gill - Dance at Dartington/ Laban/ The Place were established/ developed /stimulated in 60s 70s and supporting dance/ movement that was well in alignment with ( or leading) the professional field outside institutions - Bonnie Bird had big impact on choreography - bringing Cunningham. Then adding theory to practice in UK courses came along in order to merit becoming degree-awarding programmes. Felt added on and separate / dance hadn't yet found its own reflective practice. Typically UK HE to emphasize the academic.By 90s. vocational training in UK dropped behind professional practice. Gill was working with recent graduates coming out of institutions (from around UK). - who were resentful - felt that they had to unlearn what they had learned in the institutions before they could fit into profession.
Laban now has conservatoire status - which comes with requirements to fulfill (no. of classes per week, etc.) and they get more money per student than normal HE. Gill was brought in at a point of revalidation and move into the NEW BUILDING - a chance to revision the programme. Aims - to help shift towards practice and practice-based theory; towards collaborative / creative performers; more interchange with the professional field / to retain strong choreographic tradition and acknowledge collaboration and new contexts. Considerations - bringing a lot more practice into the degree / what was missing was performance and learning through performance practice, technique as a tool for performance and creativity. Practice as reflective and interdependence of theory and practice; and choreography could happen in other media. Articulating in a range of forms about your work and ideas / not only writing essays. Connections with profession and interaction with working artists. That we were educating creative individual artists not servicing an existing commercial need (so not musical theatre).
The first year is a building of fundamental skills and knowledge: 1. experiential body based / pilates moving into technique; 2. improvisation into choreography; 3. ways of looking at work. Trying to neutralize bad patterns/ gain in efficiency / and opening up to new ideas. For those whop come with more experience this undoing can be quite a challenge but after 5 weeks they have better learned how to learn – and through greater understanding of their own bodies as learning instrument.. Sets up expectation of the student as a proactive learner. What you do at the beginning of a program - give some tools for thinking how to think/ learning how to learn. Fundamental Skills/ Foundation; questions from questions/ critical thinking.
1st year: learning through experiencing; 2nd year about looking outward/ encouraging risk, encouraging versatility, (integrating theory and practice through a team taught ‘historical project’ - as way of learning theory/ history too, embodying historical techniques through their performance context), brief exposure to diversity of choreographic approaches hip hop/conceptual/ bharata natyam etc curated series, etc.), collaborative processes;
3rd year tries to focus more in depth, immersion in devising periods with two different individual artists (choice from diverse creative approaches - site specific/ improvisationl) / doing two five week workshops to devise a piece of work. The piece is learned and toured in the second 10-week term. They make their own work in second and third term. And they also do an extended independent research project which can be practice focused.
Its very full - Gill - it's all squeezed into these 3 years – rather then the longer course elsewhere in Europe They can choose to do an MA in Choreography or Performance . Would be great to have a fourth year - with access to space, etc and a loose fabric of support.
LABAN - first cohort that is graduating from the new course. EVIDENCE. Gill thinks they had a sense of themselves as individuals and a curiosity and openness. Sense of what drives them. That they had an openness (seen in relation to the outside choreographers). A confidence in their own ideas. Also their attitude to experience/ they had a questioning and intelligent attitude. Felt we were no longer seeing / silent conformity or passive receiving. Physicality - bodies more integrated and toned. They could immediately fit into a professional field (as per feedback from professional field) grounded had connection through their bodies. They had versatility and adaptability (less patience with didactic situations).
