List of texts:
Paul Lafargue - The right to be lazy
Lauren Berlant - Slow death
Kathleen Stewart & Lauren Berlant - The hundreds
Karen Barad - Meeting the universe halfway
Mladen Stilinović - The praise of laziness
Heather Radke - Butt stuff
Kim Hiorthøy - You can't betray your best friend and learn to sing at the same time
Jo Freeman - The Tyranny of Structurelessness
Carol Gilligan - In a different voice
Maggie Nelson - Bluets
Score no.1:
The Molasses Collapse
You stand. You watch. Then your thoughts dissolve. You can now only see the periphery, not knowing when that happened. You don’t care about that. Actually you don’t care about much. You are blank, content, suspending time through boredom. Your jaw is the first to go. As it gives up you can feel the muscles very slowly disappear from the rest of the face. It takes with it the shoulders, but the rest of the face stays put. Only when it has reached the saturation point of curve in the whole of your back will the face follow the insisting neck. The knees starts bending but you hardly notice. The saliva that has gathered in your mouth is now giving in to gravity and pours down on the floor in slow drips. You see the puddle and know you will end up in it. «That’s life», you think. The thigh is beginning to take over the weight of your held, heavy, excruciatingly slow, curled up figure and your feet is giving space for the body to enter in between them. After an eternity your shoulders reach the floor and your bum the heels, and you can start to let go of the hold. Slowly you sink even further, into and through the floor underneath, your jaw still in the same open position. As melting meat your weight pushes the boarders of your body further and further away from each other. You are wide and lumpy. It’s over.
Score no.2:
Basic Monday Groove
- you must keep the rhythm * the rhythm can be the beat, or «ornamentations» but it must stay within the common «groove»
- the movements are regular, always shifting between two positions, they hit the beat, but not too sharp.
- the shifting of positions needs to be gradual, almost undetectable, and constant.
- the energy needs to be both at full blast and very lazy at the same time. Precision is key.
- the face is concentrated, serious, calm.
- you form a landscape of movements with your fellow dancers, and you support each other in your choices.
- it should border on boring, but you must enjoy it. If you find yourself in a horrible spot, shifting between positions you would rather not be in, you must figure your way out of it within the set of rules.
You are a choir. If you are too good you have failed, your greatest task is to blend. You are a workers union with pride. You are the salt of the social democracy, being part of the grey mass that sustains society. You bring your packed lunch and your coffee on a thermos to work every day, and listen to your coworkers boring stories from their weekend with a warm heart. You are a volunteer for the local marching band, baking cakes for the bake sale, driving kids here and there, listening to badly executed trumpet playing and off pitch clarinets many hours a week. You love the community. You do morning gymnastics every day. You are a sturdy character.
