Today we had one of our regular meetings at fabrik Potsdam; Sabine, Martin and me discussing and projecting what might happen in two and a half weeks when we're all together for mode05. Kind of hard... how to prepare an open process, knowing that all meaning and fixations are up to the process itself and the energy of 30 people starting a one week exploration on the issue of dance/choreography education?
For us, there are few things we can fix and be sure of (apart from organisational issues), preparing the set up - time, spaces, facilities, invitations - for an experiment to find out about an issue we are no experts in and have no clear intention where to end up with. We keep repeating the importance of openness, collaboration, equal participation, experimental character, shared responsibility... and focus on how to stimulate this kind of process that we sometimes call "meeting", "workshop", "site for shared knowledge production", "complex improvisation", etc.
Over the last weeks and months we have investigated game stuctures, the use of internet technology, theories, texts and models we came across talking to people or researching in the internet. We have been consulting with Lorenz Kielwein, who gives great input and clearness into the project's preparations and are in permanent exchange with Florian Schneider about the technical applications we plan to make use of (and already are, e.g. through the weblogs). We brought in themes and issues we think are relevant to discuss as well as several pages filled with questions we have in mind thinking about dance/choreography education.
For the meeting in Potsdam itself, we have fixed five different spaces and working areas (two large "avtivity spaces", the silent "library", a studio for smaller exercices, screenings, talks and the "meeting/eating room"), the whole technical set up (internet access, text writing software, video equipment, screening facilities, etc.), a timeframe, the group of participants, a few guest lectures (by Irit Rogoff from Goldsmith University, London and Geoffrey Garrison from Jan van Eyck Academy, Maastricht) and two Feldenkrais Sessions offered by Irene Sieben from Berlin. And we are preparing rules, frames and exercises that might stimulate or moderate the working processes.
During the week we would like to hang up a big schedule to be filled by everybody, with themes to work on, proposals for presentations, film screenings, games, physical exercises, writing exercises, discussion rounds, evaluating rounds, off-time, whatever will emerge.
We can't wait to let things go and see the long prepared set up be filled by meaning and practice.
