MODE05

I don’t consider myself a dancer. I didn’t go through a dance education, although sometimes my name is mentioned in programs in the category dance or even choreography. I rather consider myself a writer, although, during 7 years at university, I hardly got any proper instructions how to write. Nevertheless, I somehow learned to write by writing. The same with critical thinking. Nobody ever taught me how to do it, I simply learned it by following and rethinking others people’s thoughts. My most critical warm-up ever (by the non-dancer Jan Kopp) started with the words: „Strzn biideda liq bulglzst flüp da blgnouggntr.“

Now I’m working on my dissertation on process-oriented and self-reflective work in contemporary choreography. One of the projects I deal with is Boris Charmatz’ artistic research project on education called ‚Bocal’. From summer 2003 to summer 2004 he and a group of about 15 professional or non-professional dancers, musicians, writers and actors (fortunately, one of them will be with us for mode05) explored the structures and methods of dance education from the perspective of artistic practice. ‘Bocal’ aimed for an alternative model of dance education that should not only produce technically perfect dancers, but responsible and critical artists. Consequently, Charmatz tried to pursue this process with the intensity of an artistic creation and without predetermined modalities of work.

So rethinking education is part of my critical writing on artistic practice.