Philippe Riéra / SUPERAMAS
COACHING PROJECT: Performing Performance
Coaching Project
Week 4, 7.8.–11.8.2006
09:45–15:45
D
Performing Performance
Remember the statement of American minimalist Frank Stella?:
« What you see is what you see. »
As a breakpoint, back then, it has been quite something. But of course we now are free to reconsider the way we feel, think or perceive reality as well as our relation to it.
This workshop is designed for dancers and performers who want to challenge and increase their quality of presence. Performing has not only to do with skills, but with the setting of a context and connection from which the performance can reach and be hopefully understood by the audience. Strong emphasis will be put on two aspects ; the action of the performance and its surrounding context. We will play with various strategies to modify, contradict and newly define the previous performed elements. Instead of being concerned with concepts such as ‘authenticity’ we will favor many differing versions that will turn all valid.
Here lies our goal.
Performing-Reframing-Recontextualizing
To reach these goals, we will be accompanied by video clips (Gondry, Spike Jonze …), visual art installation (Gillian Wearing, Bernhardt Loibner, Markus Schinwald…) and emotional pop songs (line-up :The Streets, daft punk, Madonna…).
This 5 days workshop is understood as a special moment for stage performers where we allow ourselves to enhance our sensitivity to the different factors which are constituting any public presentation.
Philippe Rièra
Philippe Rièra is a founding member of SUPERAMAS. Since their first work Building (1999), SUPERAMAS have seen their task as taking on dance with materials from other areas of life. The group uses “untreated”, often unspectacular circumstances as well as readymades coming from everyday culture, and it treats those elements equally. SUPERAMAS are especially interested in attributes developing from the combined presentation of materials and their newly derived connections. “Showing” here means “letting see”, “expose to view”. In the context of public performance, SUPERAMAS call their work “dé-montrer”, separating and dismantling that which in its original state presented a unit or entity. According to this concept, visible facts are questioned. Samples from films and cutting techniques are implemented in the artistic work.
Philippe Riéra / SUPERAMAS