The TIME, SPACE, and GESTURE in a crossdisciplinary context
(2024)
author(s): Elina Akselrud
published in: RUUKKU - Studies in Artistic Research
In any performance genre, the use of time is a fundamental element that shapes the artistic experience. When artists from different disciplines come together to collaborate on the same material, the perception and utilization of time as an artistic device can undergo significant transformations. This exposition delves into the intricate realm of non-verbal artistic communication between performers from diverse disciplines, with a specific focus on how the actions of one artist can profoundly influence and shape the decisions of another.
To explore this dynamic interplay, a compelling case study is presented, examining the enchanting character miniatures for solo piano composed by Alexander Scriabin during the middle and late periods of his life. These exquisite musical pieces are interwoven with the fluidity and spontaneity of contemporary dance improvisation, creating a rich tapestry of artistic expression.
Within this crossdisciplinary collaboration, the exposition sheds light on the ephemeral layers of communication that exist between performers. It delves into thought-provoking topics such as the sense of flow, movement, and structure within the work, the role of physical distance between performers and its intricate relationship with the passage of time, the density of content (i.e., musical material) in the context of crossdisciplinary exploration, and the profound significance of gestural communication between artists.
Through this crosspollination of ideas and artistic exchange, the potential for profound and transformative artistic impact emerges. In essence, this exposition offers a thought-provoking exploration of the transcendent power of artistic communication between performers from different disciplines.
FRAGMENTE2
(2024)
author(s): Kerstin Frödin, Åsa Unander-Scharin
published in: RUUKKU - Studies in Artistic Research
The exposition provides an insight into the collaborative process of creating and performing Fragmente2 (2021) a choreomusical work by musician Kerstin Frödin and choreographer-dancer Åsa Unander-Scharin based on the Japanese avant-garde composer Makoto Shinohara’s solo piece for tenor recorder, Fragmente (1968). The exposition is an attempt to describe the methodology and creative process in this project, wherein music and dance intertwine in a non-hierarchical manner. The exposition follows the structure of the performance, which consists of a series of fragments, each of them analysed and descibed in terms of choreomusical interaction. We used Don Ihde’s experimental phenomenology and perspective variation (1986) as an artistic method to analyse and explore different aspects of our choreomusical materials and interaction concepts. To address and elaborate the choreomusical elements, we used Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s distinction between abstract and concrete movements (1945/2012), Pierre Schaeffer’s musical objects (1966/2017), and our own concept of choreographic objects. Furthermore, to jointly analyse and evaluate different interaction concepts we used video recordings, annotated scores, choreography scripts, movement instructions, personal reflections, and metaphorical descriptions of the 17 fragments. The process resulted in a contrapuntal choreomusical work where music and dance act as equal parts.
I HAVE THE MOON: aesthetics of contemporary classical music from a composer-performer band retreat.
(2024)
author(s): Samuel Penderbayne
published in: Research Catalogue
The artistic research project I HAVE THE MOON was an experimental group activity or 'band retreat' for five composer-performers resulting in a public performance in the aDevantgarde Festival, 2019, in Munich. Research was conducted around a central research question stated verbally at the outset of the project: how can aesthetic innovations of contemporary classical music be made accessible to audiences without specialist education or background via communicative techniques of other music genres? After a substantial verbal discussion and sessions of musical jamming, each member created an artistic response to the research question, in the form of a composition or comprovisation, which the group then premiered in the aDevantgarde Festival. The results of the discussion, artistic works and final performance (by means of a video documentation) were then analysed by the project leader and presented in this article. The artistic research position is defined a priori through the research question, during the artistic process in the form of note-taking and multimedial documentation, and a posteriori through a (novel) 'Workflow-Tool-Application Analysis' (WTAA). Together, a method of 'lingocentric intellectual scaffolding' on the emobided knowledge inside the creative process is proposed. Insofar as this embodied knowledge can be seen as a 'field' to be researched, the methodology is built on collaborative autoethnography, 'auto-', since the project leader took part in the artistic process, guiding it from within.
Sonic Silhouettes Musical Movement
(2022)
author(s): Winnie Huang
published in: Research Catalogue
An overview on musical-gestural artistic researcher identity and perspective through understanding the role of the artistic body through the exploration of various theories which clarify the performer’s physical presence, embodied interdisciplinary possibilities and collaborative processes.
Macbeth Projeto
(2020)
author(s): Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Aleksandar Dundjerovic
published in: Research Catalogue
Macbeth Projeto is a performing arts project that used elements of Shakespeare’s Macbeth as a framework for exploring different types of performativity. The central research question was ‘how migration of dramatic text , migratory geography deconstruction of stasis and transformation of form create different aesthetic qualities and performative experiences’? The project resulted in a series of novel rehearsal methodologies for adapting a dramatic text into a multisensorial performance via open rehearsal, creative workshops, and mixed visual and performing creative techniques. The project grew out of the researcher’s previous work with Brazilian theatre – including two co-authored books; Brazilian Collaborative Theatre ( 2017) and Brazilian Performing Arts (2019).Shakespeare’s original text was used as a framework for devising novel methodologies that combined different performance digital media methods with Brazilian collaborative contemporary theatre techniques. Rehearsals began with free collaborative improvisation workshops, out of which emerged material that was selected for further development. From this process the focus fell on the Act 3 scene 4, ‘feast’ scene. From this starting point, ‘The Party’, the relationship with Lady Macbeth, witches and ghosts became the key resources around which new narratives were developed. The research resulted in six performance cycles, each of which explored a different theatre form: Physical and group theatre; Site-specific, Solo-performance, Installation art, Augmented Reality, and Video/Performance Art (created as a remote on-line devised performance). Collaborators and co-producers with CIPA on the research project were Centrala, Digbrew (Birmingham), International Federation of Theatre Research (IFTR), VUK Theatre (Belgrade), Prague Quadrennial, AHRC, Shanghai Theatre Academy, and Teatro Os Satyros (Sao Paulo). It has been performed at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (UK), IFTR, Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design 2019 and as part of an AHRC UK-China Creative Industries Partnership Development Programme with Shanghai Theatre Academy, Shanghai.
A Singer’s Guide to Dance - A journey from classical vocalist to interdisciplinary performer
(2020)
author(s): Karin Timmerman-Deddens
published in: Codarts
This research project focuses on the relationship between choreographed dance and the voice, and seeks to discover how dance can co-exist alongside a classical vocal performance as an additional channel or avenue of personal and musical expression. This research was motivated by my desire as a classical vocalist to become more connected with my body, and to better understand and train my voice as a living, breathing instrument. Additionally, this research was motivated by the possibility for dance to provide me with a wider range of expressive possibilities. In this research project I therefore explore how I, as a classical vocalist, could experiment with contemporary dance in a vocal-dance performance of Ravel’s Shéhérazade, which served as the final artistic result of this research. In this report, I first provide an overview of my musical and dance preparation. Second, I provide an analysis of the effects of dance on my musical expression and vocal technique. Third, I examine the use of improvised dance elements versus structured choreography. Lastly, I examine and discuss how I was able to bring all of these elements together and further develop my skills as an interdisciplinary performer. In my discussion and analysis, I draw on a variety of sources of data, including experimentation, interview data, personal coaching, and literature research This report also provides a complete overview of the research ‘intervention cycles’, which explain in detail the research process and development of my final artistic result. As the contemporary performance environment increasingly demands innovative and multifaceted performers, this research can help to inspire and encourage other classical vocalists to consider the incorporation of dance as a valuable way to develop their vocal technique and musical understanding.
Furthermore, for classical vocalists already interested in incorporating dance into their vocal performance, this research can provide a number of valuable practical tools and insights, and help them to become more interdisciplinary performers.
How can a performance of Shostakovich’ piano quintet be dramatized by using words, movements, staging and lighting?
(2019)
author(s): Laura Lunansky, Coraline Groen
published in: KC Research Portal
Student Number
3026329
Supervisor(s)
Andrew Wright, Maggie Urquhart
Title
De Formule
Research Question
How can a performance of Shostakovich’ piano quintet be dramatized by using words, movements, staging and lighting?
Summary
This research was carried out in and through the practice and performances of ensemble ‘de Formule’, a piano quintet in which we both play the violin. As a result of this research, our goal was to perform the Shostakovich piano quintet in a dramatized way, which we did in 2018. The research text describes the internal research process. By looking at (historical) sources about the composer and the piece, and by analyzing the score we got an impression of the context and atmosphere of the quintet, and we created a story to go with it. We found that the piece fitted today’s very important topic about finding your identity within the (mass) society, knowing the history of Shostakovich’ own struggles and the expressions he creates in his melodies, harmonies, instrumentation etc.: sometimes searching, sometimes dragged along in sarcastic happiness and sometimes screaming for help. All these elements we used to conduct the research process, which included translation of the story lines and expressions into movements, words, light effects and different stagings. As a result of this dramatization, we noticed that the audience seemed to understand the music better, and for ourselves, the performance was a more meaningful experience.
Short Bio
Coraline Groen obtained a bachelor’s degree from the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Her teachers have included Vera Beths, Peter Brunt and Philippe Graffin in The Hague, and Rodney Friend at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Groen was a member of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Academy 2018-2019 and played with the Bayrische Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra and the Residentie Orchestra. She was appointed principal of the second violins of the NJO, the RAM Symphony Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Academy Orchestra. Groen is a member of the Volkmann Trio, De Formule, and a duo with bayan player Robbrecht Van Cauwenberghe.
The Red Shoes Project Revisited
(2018)
author(s): Lise Hovik
published in: Journal for Artistic Research
The author addresses various approaches to artistic research on the basis of her own artistic research project, The Red Shoes Project (2008-14), which consists of three closely related theatre performances for young children (0-3 years). The project was concerned with the development of dance theatre for the youngest children, in which opportunity was given for the children to participate actively and bodily in the performances. As a PhD project The Red Shoes Project (Hovik, 2014) explored the theatre event through three different art settings, following theories on performative aesthetics. Methods and research design are from the field of artistic research. The Red Shoes [De Røde Skoene] (2008) was a dance theatre performance for 1-year olds, Red Shoe Missing [Rød Sko Savnet] (2011) was an art installation, and Mum´s Dancing [Mamma Danser] (2011) was an improvised dance concert, both for 0-3 year-olds. All of these productions had red shoes as a connecting theme and playful artistic material. Playing and musical communication are core concepts guiding this interdisciplinary artistic research practice.
The research methodology changed during the 6 years of artistic research and theoretical studies. Henk Borgdorff’s division into an interpretative, instrumental and performative research perspective (Borgdorff, 2012) provided a comprehensive theory for the development of this research process. These research perspectives together are helpful methodologies in the artistic process of creating art for the very young, and the artworks demonstrates the possibility of creating common artistic experiences between performers and children, in which both can take part in reciprocal interaction and improvisation.
This exposition aims to give a presentation of the artistic research process as a whole, leaving out the more theoretical discussions from the PhD thesis, emphasizing the visual aspects of the artistic works .
As the initial research questions from 2008 might be outdated today - there are a multitude of interactive performances for babies in 2018 - the presentation will touch upon some new relevant works and perspectives within this topic. Looking back on the research process and outcomes, focus will be on the investigating progress and methods in this specific artistic research. The exposition will connect text and visual research material, and open some internal reflections on the development of the research questions along the way. The shifts in methodological perspectives will be highlighted as this still can be fruitful in further research on the topic, both as artistic and academic research.
Master proposal -Music curating, performances and connectedness within community
(last edited: 2023)
author(s): Laura Sophie von der Goltz
archived in: KC Research Portal
This Proposal is a draft of an investigation on the relationship between music curating and connectedness within community and between audiences and performers.
Besides a literature based analysis of the field and the issue, there will be there cases studies ofwhich role music can play within a group or community. Further more there will be examples of curated multimedia music performances given how for each of these groups. These examples will be in take the form of a documentation of the process from research, conceptualisation, realisation and conclude in a evaluation of the results.
An overview on musical-gestural artistic researcher identity and perspective through understanding the role of the artistic body through the exploration of various theories which clarify the performer’s physical presence, embodied interdisciplinary possibilities and collaborative processes.open exposition comments (0)
This Proposal is a draft of an investigation on the relationship between music curating and connectedness within community and between audiences and performers. Besides a literature based analysis of the field and the issue, there will be there cases studies ofwhich role music can play within a group or community. Further more there will be examples of curated multimedia music performances given how for each of these groups. These examples will be in take the form of a documentation of the process from research, conceptualisation, realisation and conclude in a evaluation of the results.open exposition comments (0)