GIVE WAY

!The body rushes !The mind rushes
!The people rush !The city rush
!?Who takes space !?Who gives space
!The traffic in the city !The traffic in the head
!The ways we walk !The ways we talk !We in a trance
!?Or we in a dance !Time to
!!!GIVE WAY >>>

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As a duo, we will create an original performance piece, called GIVE WAY (working title), using dance and live drumming; on the topic of traffic, city structures and (who takes/gives space in) public space. We will explore the feeling of the city as experienced through femme bodies. As individuals, we do not generally regard ourselves as gendered subjects. This encourages social disintegration, allowing us to notice the inherent norms built into urban infrastructure, while also observing these norms as they become evermore alien. The desire to react, revolt, rebel is born within the body; an impulse, a gesture, a kick - to reassert one’s own rhythm and set a new narrative into motion.
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Our work treats major social issues, but always with a sense of levity, humour and playfulness, using personal stories and "everyday life" scenarios. Working with corporeal instinct and creative sensibility, we find new ways to confront and challenge spaces through the use of our bodies and inherent rhythms that play, mess up and transform.
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QUESTIONS:::
- Who takes / gives space in public space?
- What effect does the city infrastructure have on our body and mind?
- What are the hidden values, built into urban planning and the
infrastructures of modernity?
- Spaces for art are constantly threatened by gentrification - why are
music venues shut down due to “noise levels”, while the constant noise
of traffic is viewed as simply necessary?
- What signs and symbols inform us about how to behave in secular
societies?
- Rather than merely “successfully adapting” to our environment, how can
we challenge and change it, as we move our bodies through space?
- Can we challenge the roles, despite the material reality?
- What is the difference between safe spaces and brave spaces?
- Industrial vs intuitive rhythms
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Our VIBE is: wry, raw, fun, daring, welcoming, witty, sharp, urgent, responsive, dynamic, light yet profound, serious yet humorous, direct and cheerful
Stylistically, we will be drawing inspiration from our diverse backgrounds in training of various contemporary and urban “street” dance styles as well as a great blend of popular and “worldly” music genres - using an edgy and experimental yet entertaining and tangible corporeal and sonic language.
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PROCESS::: our project collaborations grow forth organically through jam sessions where we play and experiment together.
The research process for this project is constant as we are focusing on the experience of everyday life in the city. While living in different countries, we keep our individual practices going while communicating our thoughts and ideas online.
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SOME INSPIRATION:
Brontez Purnell (dance company) often uses live drumming / music / spoken word and pedestrian / mundane movements. Heavy topics yet ultra light vibe. Funny and punk. The dancers are usually not “professional” or “trained” https://youtu.be/SD-Howl2XTA
https://vimeo.com/75628570
https://youtu.be/DHau4cOdgp0 (brontez's band)
John Cage - on listening to traffic (example of successful adaptation) https://youtu.be/pcHnL7aS64Y
West African drum and dance - “everything is rhythm” https://youtu.be/lVPLIuBy9CY
Spontaneous dance on the bus - unknown man, our biggest role model!!
https://youtu.be/vOKNQiFmbNU
Milford Graves - the legendary free jazz drummer compares industrial and intuitive rhythm
https://youtu.be/ePiESZA2I7Y
Dancing in the street. Site specific performance
https://vimeo.com/123964750
Matt Mullican. Exhibition (universe of signs, abstract symbolism of everyday life. Road signs? Signs put us in a trance) https://youtu.be/1GfnwVEqifk?t=652
https://youtu.be/okw4JOAI_GQ (performance under hypnosis)
House dance - smooth, fast dance, one flies/glides forward / graciously moves through tight spaces spaces. This project will be influenced by such contemporary dance styles born on the street.
https://youtu.be/VJxjxXA3dCw
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PLAN
We will bring this piece to Gothenburg Fringe Festival in 2023 and Festival of young dance creativity ŽIVA in Ljubljana (both of which we have already received official invitations, see pdfs to the right >) and we also plan to tour with it to other performance and dance festivals in Scandinavia and Europe.
We are thus applying for grants to help with the financing of the project; since this is an overseas collaboration, financial support implies help to cover; travel / living expenses, and rental of rehearsal spaces - both during the creative process and the performance execution.
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CONTACT
Vida Vojić
vidavojic@gmail.com
https://vidavojic.hotglue.me/

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PRODUCER for this project
Hanna Magdalena Gödl
h_m_g@live.at
Co-director of Gothenburg Fringe Festival
Producer of ilDance Sweden

PREVIOUS COLLABORATION
“HIGH HOPES”

Performed live at The Ivy House in London, Thursday 26th of May 2022

10 min hybrid dance / music / theatre performance

Dancer: Lara Bligh-Caplan
Live sound: Vida Vojić Frankmar

“An epic tale of awkward hugs, jazz clubs and general dating stuff. As the story unfolds between Lara and an anonymous robot artist, the 'oh so relatable' scenarios might lead you to ask some questions, or not... Sit back, relax best you can and enjoy some carbs.”

Live / studio hybrid version: https://youtu.be/mWi-qZV8fZY
Studio version: https://youtu.be/yhGlToYRjl8

PLEASE MIND > this was the result of only 2 try out sessions to make a 10 min performance piece. We had a lot of fun and the reactions / feedback were beamingly enthusiastic. Thus, as professionals within our fields, we are convinced that with more time and space, we can create and produce something properly substantial, successful and profound.

Thoughts rush as cars rush. Heartbeats pulsate as engines do. On top of concrete structures, gazes create invisible rules and voices drown in the sounds of honks and throttles. The city is both a material and immaterial experience; do these structures keep us safe, or imprisoned? Who do we become in this? Whose world is this?
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Lara Bligh-Caplan
dancer / performer based in London

CV >>

LIST OF REFERENCE CONTACTS:::

Hanna Magdalena Gödl
h_m_g@live.at
Co-director of Gothenburg Fringe Festival
Producer of ilDance Sweden

Nina Meško (incl. letter of invitation)
nina.mesko@jskd.si
Choreographer and mentor
Director of JSKD Dance Ljubljana

Nikki Tomlinson (reference for Vida Vojić)
nikki@independentdance.co.uk
Producer and dramaturg
Co-director Independent Dance London

Max Gershon (reference for Lara Bligh-Caplan)
gersh.n@icloud.com
Choreographer
Director of TheEnsembleProject (London)

Graeme Miller (reference for Vida Vojić)
gmill009@gold.ac.uk
Lead Artist Tutor at MA Performance Making, Goldsmiths University London

Jill Lindström & Anna Carlson (reference for Vida Vojić)
trettonfestivalen@hotmail.com
Organisers and directors of Trettonfestivalen in Gothenburg

Hanna's CV >>

A collaboration between:

Vida Vojić
performance artist / drummer based in Gothenburg