Through many of his previous works, Jefta van Dinther has been developing performances that merge the elements of body, sound, light and material into a new – fifth body. An amalgam where the definitions of each separate element dissolves to become a perceptive bastard. In this Field Project the question will be how to relocate this working method from the stage onto the body, creating a «Gesamtkunstwerk« out of the performing body. By letting visual and external perceptions give way to subjective and internal ones and coordinates of time and space outside of the body be replaced by sensations of time and space inside of the body, the dancing body becomes the site of attention. Starting from sound as a motor for movement, and gradually letting this sound be confused with touch, expression, communication and emotionality, the body starts to perform through its lack of control. By heightening the present moment through a continuous «practising of materials« by ways of explorations and scores, this operation vehemently stages each individual practitioner, broadcasting them and putting their very existence at stake. In this way, the navigation through one’s own experience and the bumpy ride of sense-making in each individual person turns into the very performance we watch.
Work will focus on guided movement explorations and then the layering of activities, parameters and time and space coordinates into complex practices. These practices are framed performatively, finding how they can be managed by the practitioner and at the same time holding the attention in the spectator. Scores will be created and tested, in a continuous exchange between performing and watching, talking and feedbacking.
This Field Project is for dance and performance artists, students and professionals with experience of performing and making.
